The Dharma Manifesto

by Sri Dharma Pravartaka Acharya

  The purpose of the military is not to engage in unwanted wars, not to fight on foreign soil in wars that do not directly threaten our homeland, and not to serve the interests of either foreign nations or of any small cabal of powerful, self-serving individuals here at home. The military exists for one, and only one, purpose: to defend the soil, the culture, and the people of the homeland. Thus, many military bases and operations now taking place on foreign soil will be immediately shut down, and all American military personnel from these overseas bases will be brought home and deployed along the southern border of America to secure our border from the current invasion of illegal aliens devastating our culture and economy, thus bringing this current invasion to an immediate and effective end.

  We will encourage the quadrupling of the number of military schools in the nation, making such schools as West Point and the Citadel among the best and most well-funded post-secondary schools in the nation. Every state in the nation should eventually have at least one military school available for those students who wish to study the martial sciences. In addition, every high school in the nation will have the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC), and every college and university will have ROTC available to their students.

  The emphasis for our military will be on creating a very high quality of warrior, rather than merely on brute numerical strength. Special Forces units will be quadrupled in size and number. We will decrease the number of combat-ready troops by 25%. All future military planning will include the calculated involvement of an overwhelmingly well-trained cadre of ground troops in order to avoid future fiascos similar to our disastrous Iraq experience of 2003–2011.

  Since the 1960s, military culture has been under increasing attack, ridicule and suspicion in our incrementally de-masculinized and misandrist[9] society. This unhealthy rift has been the result of a systematic attempt to undermine our people’s sense of unity with the military, to undermine our military members’ morale, and to demonize a profession that is necessary, highly respectable and steeped in ancient tradition. This unwarranted demonization of the military and of martial culture must stop now. A Dharma Nation government will use the reformed educational sector, the liberated media,[10] and popular culture to repair this unnecessary psychological rift between the people and their national armed forces.

  Immigration

  “It is like watching a nation busily engaged in heaping up its own funeral pyre.”[11]

  John Enoch Powell (1912–1998)

  By definition, any organically-derived people, tribe, nation and nation-state is an entity whose governing authority is geographically delimited by clearly discernible legal borders. Every nation has the legal right and the moral obligation to its people to decide who will and who will not be allowed to cross those recognized borders, and who is to be considered a citizen or member of their nation. Each nation has the right to make this determination without the interference of any other nation-state or foreign governmental body (such as the United Nations).

  The body of a nation is in many ways analogous to the nature of a human body. The nation’s borders are like the protective skin of the human body. Points of entry into the nation are similar to the pores of the skin. They regulate what enters and leaves the body. What is allowed to enter the body’s pores, and thus its circulatory system, determines the health or affliction of the body as a whole. Any person has the right and obligation to regulate what he will allow to enter his physiological system. Likewise, for the health of the national body, careful and strict regulation of who enters the nation is not only a right that every sovereign nation has, but it is a historically recognized obligation of any government that claims the legitimacy to rule.

  Currently, America is experiencing dire cultural, economic and political crises as a result of millions of illegal immigrants sneaking across our southern border. It has been estimated that there are at least 12–20 million illegal aliens currently living within our borders, with as many as 3 million additional illegals entering America each year from Mexico.[12] The presence of these illegal aliens has led to a rampant epidemic of crime across the nation, the eroding of our traditional American culture, the further moral degeneration of our youth, the “gentrification” and thus removal of traditional neighborhoods and communities inhabited by natal citizens, an exponential increase in cross-border violence, and a devaluing of the English language.

  A Dharma Nationalist administration will ensure that every single law currently on the books dissuading the hiring and abetting of illegals is strictly enforced. We will also severely penalize any attempt to aid and abet illegal immigration by either public or private entities, such as “sanctuary cities,” to the maximal extent that the law allows. Any activists or organizations determined to be breaking the law by aiding or encouraging illegal aliens in their unlawful presence in America will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. It will be unlawful to expend any taxpayer funds on illegals. All government employees on every level of government, as well as the common citizens, will be encouraged to report the presence of illegal aliens. The enforcement duties of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) will be emphasized over and above any other duties, and the INS will be re-geared toward the capture and deportation of illegal aliens as swiftly as the law allows.

  Those captured after having illegally entered the nation will not be allowed appeals or hearings to remain. There will be no statute of limitations on illegal entry; if a person entered our nation illegally 30 years or 40 years previously and has been captured, they will be deported. The “anchor baby” phenomenon will be eradicated; if it is determined that illegal alien parents purposefully entered the nation with the intent to have their baby born here in the hopes of gaining citizenship, both the parents and child in question will be immediately deported.

  English as the Official Language of Government

  Language, along with a shared sense of culture, spirituality and genetic ethnicity, defines a people’s identity. Language is an important unifying element of any people and nation. If there exists more than one operational language in any nation, then there exists more than one people in that nation. There are currently 158 nations that have included specific measures in their constitutions proclaiming national languages for their nations. America is one of the relatively few nations in the world today that does not include such a measure in its constitution. America is one nation, undivided. Thus, we will only recognize one language in government operations, business and commerce, the media, and the general culture: standard, North American English.

  Requirements for Naturalized Citizenship

  The following will be the requirements for acquiring citizenship: residency in America for a minimum of 20 years; fluency in the English language; a record free of all criminal activity; a demonstrable skill, educational degree, talent or previous heroic act demonstrable as being of service to the nation; a proficient understanding of our nation’s history, constitution, uniqueness and culture; and a legally binding oath of allegiance to the nation.

  National Voter ID Card

  A national identification card will be issued to all citizens who are eligible to vote. No one will be allowed to vote without this national identification card.

  Voting Eligibility

  The requirements for eligibility to vote in all American elections — federal, state and local — will be the following: all eligible voters must be natural born citizens; all eligible voters must be a minimum of 25 years of age; no one convicted of a serious crime requiring penal sentencing is eligible to vote; and a valid voter identification card will be required to be presented to polling officials previous to casting a vote.

  Environmental Sustainability and Protection

  “A fool sees not the same tree that a wise man sees.”

  William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell

  The Natural Law outlook views all of nature
as possessing inherent worth and dignity. Both ontologically and energetically, nature is not merely a mechanistic material phenomenon, but is a living matrix of diverse and vital biospheres, alive with personality, consciousness, will and the right to thrive. The Earth herself is a sentient being, a person. Nature, and all of nature’s elements, are therefore as much an integral concern of the nation as are the nation’s human citizens. As stewards of the Earth, it is incumbent upon all human beings to act as protectors of all of our natural resources. A Dharma Nationalist government would do everything in its power to encourage environmentally friendly policies in both the private and public sectors. The elimination of all forms of pollution — air, soil, water, food, visual and sound pollution — from our environment will be a top priority. In addition we will focus on the restoration of wilderness areas and the planting of tens of millions of new trees, especially in urban and suburban areas.

  Animal Protection

  “Until one has loved an animal, part of their soul remains unawakened.”

  Anatole France (1844–1924)

  Life, in all its forms, must be respected. This certainly includes the life of animals and other non-human species. Consequently, the purposeful abuse of animals, including vivisection, animal cruelty on farms, and other forms of abuse will be legislatively banned. Also banned will be any form of religious food preparation that involves the torture of animals, such as kosher and halal slaughter. We will cultivate a culture of compassion toward all innocent sentient beings.

  Genuine War on Crime and Corruption

  “Mercy to the guilty is cruelty to the innocent.”

  Adam Smith (1723–1790)[13]

  The primary function of any genuine government is the protection of the good and innocent citizens from that minority sector of ethically failed citizens who have chosen a life of crime and the abuse of the good and innocent. It is for this reason that all traditionally Vedic, or arya (noble), societies have recognized the danda (the staff, or the scepter, of punishment) as one of the prominent symbols of the Dharmic ruler. The danda is used in order to punish criminals, corrupt officials, sociopaths and abusers. Simultaneously, however, the danda is also a peaceful symbol and sacred accoutrement of the sage, signaling that the transcendent laws of Dharma are the source of both peace for the good and punishment for the evil.

  One of the new national symbols of governmental authority to be introduced will be a danda that will be possessed by the ruler of the nation.

  A Dharma Nation enforces a zero tolerance policing environment vis-à-vis crime, abuse, theft and official corruption.

  Capital Offence Sentencing

  Justice is often depicted in the Western world as a blindfolded woman who is holding the balancing scales of justice in her hands. The scale symbolizes the fact that the search for justice is an attempt to rebalance Natural Law. When a crime is committed, the natural order is then out of balance morally. When natural order is out of balance, societal order is then at peril. The fact that balance needs to be restored is not only true with lesser crimes, but is especially true of capital crimes. When a person is murdered, or when a truly horrendous crime is committed, the universe itself is crying out for a rebalance. The only way to meet that balance is to then execute the murderer or offender in kind.

  In addition to restoring the cosmic balance necessary for justice to have been served, capital punishment has been repeatedly shown to be a powerful deterrent to ensure that fewer murders and capital offences will take place in the future. Capital punishment only serves as a deterrent, however, when it is carried out fairly, swiftly and consistently. A Dharmic government will institute the death penalty nationally for the following crimes: murder, rape, child molestation, torture, kidnapping for ransom, bestiality, and treason against the nation.

  Promotion of Organic Family Structure

  “I am he, you are she.

  I am song, you are verse.

  I am heaven, you are earth.

  We two shall here together dwell, becoming parents of children.”

  Atharva Veda, 14.2.71

  The traditional family (consisting of a male husband and a female wife, with a variable number of children) is one of the most natural and longstanding human structures in existence, as well as the primary foundation stone of any and all human civilization. The family unit is the foundation of the nation. It is from the fundamental organizational structure of the family that the greater managerial principles of the nation are themselves derived. Without the traditional family unit as the very bedrock of the nation, the nation itself ceases to exist in any meaningful capacity. Men represent the mind and the protective element of the nation. Women represent the heart and the nurturing soil of the nation. The elderly are the historical treasure and repositories of wisdom of the nation. Given the vital role of the traditional family unit, the traditional family structure must be at all times and in all circumstances defended and promoted by both the state and culture.

  Children’s Welfare

  “We should not make light of the troubles of children.

  They are worse than ours, because we can see the end

  of our trouble and they can never see any end.”[14]

  William Middleton

  (grand-uncle of W. B. Yeats)

  Children represent the immortal duration of the nation within the context of time, and its most precious of gifts. Children are the reason and purpose of the nation. All of society exists for the well-being of the society’s children. The primary protecting institution of children’s welfare will always be the family. The well-being of children within the self-governing culture of each individual family is absolute. Any and all legislation, rules or practices of the last fifty years that have deprived parents of their rights to raise and make all decisions for their children’s well-being will be rendered void.

  Abortion

  “A slayer of an embryo is like the slayer of a priest.”

  Krishna Yajur Veda, 6.5.10

  The presence of the physiological symptoms of biological life in any existent living entity means that there is also the presence of consciousness, or soul, in that given living entity. Consciousness, and thus life, is consequently present in any organic embryo from the moment of conception until the post-mortem state. Abortion is the killing of an innocent life, and will be illegal in every state of the Union, with the exception of rape, incest, or when the mother’s life would be at risk without such a procedure.

  LGBT Issues

  “There is no nonsense so gross that society will not, at some time, make a doctrine of it and defend it with every weapon of communal stupidity.”

  Robertson Davies (1913–1995)[15]

  Whereas the Abrahamic ideologies feel that homosexuality is a chosen behavior that can be changed at will, Dharma reveals to us that the sexual proclivity of homosexuals and lesbians is genetically determined. People are born either gay or straight, and thus have no biological choice but to follow their natural sexual proclivities. If a person is born homosexual, then there is no program or philosophical construct that can make them straight, any more than a straight person can be artificially forced to be homosexual. Thus, homosexuals are not expected to “change” their natural sexual proclivity in any way, since the Natural Law teaches that one’s sexual orientation is karmically, and thus genetically, determined, and not a matter of choice. They are, however, expected to exercise the maximal moderation and restraint in their sexual proclivity for the greater good of society.

  Despite the fact that homosexuality is a genetically-determined behavior, we do not support the creation or celebration of a separate homosexual culture, political concern or identity. We do not support the imposition upon the greater public of special “rights,” laws, affirmative action legislation, or protections for homosexuals over and above those recognized for the general populace. We do not support the
public celebration or display of homosexuality, nor the recognition of a distinct homosexual “community,” nor the legitimacy of any form of homosexual movement, political or otherwise. Under a Dharma Nationalist government, homosexuals will be neither persecuted, nor celebrated. Neither will it be recognized as a distinct community with special privileges above those of the rest of the people.

  Both gay and straight citizens are encouraged to observe sexual fidelity and sexual continence as much as is within their power, and within the confines of the law. For straight citizens, this means that sexuality should only be expressed within the vows of marriage. For gay citizens, this means that sexual expression should only occur within the context of a monogamous and committed relationship, and from inside the closet. Sexuality is a purely private matter, and must not be intrusively displayed to the public for personal gain or as a social statement.