Judge | Mark T. Boonstra
The truth is that our Founding Fathers found their inspiration in the basic precept that our rights and freedoms come from God, not from government.
IN DEFENSE OF SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON
Judge Boonstra was appointed to the Court of Appeals in March, 2012, and he was subsequently elected in 2012, 2014, and 2020. In addition to his appellate duties, Judge Boonstra served a two-year term on the Michigan Court of Claims, by appointment of the Michigan Supreme Court, from May 1, 2015 to May 1, 2017, where his docket included cases arising out of the Flint Water Crisis. Prior to serving on the Court, Judge Boonstra was a senior principal in the law firm of Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone, P.L.C., where he practiced law for 27 years, including serving as a Deputy Chair of the firm’s Litigation practice group and as Co-Chair of its Appellate Practice section. At the time he joined the Court, he was recognized in Best Lawyers in America in the areas of: Antitrust Law; Appellate Practice; Bet-the-Company Litigation; Commercial Litigation; Litigation - Antitrust; Litigation - First Amendment; and Litigation - Securities. He previously also served as a Law Clerk to Hon. Ralph B. Guy, Jr. in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan from 1983 to 1985.
Judge Boonstra graduated from the University of Michigan in 1983 with both Juris Doctor and Master of Applied Economics degrees. He is also a 1979 Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Michigan State University, with a B.A. in Political Science. A native of Muskegon, Michigan, Judge Boonstra graduated from Western Michigan Christian High School in 1975.
Judge Boonstra has been active in the State Bar of Michigan, including serving in the Representative Assembly (2005–2011), as Chair of the Section on Antitrust, Franchising, and Trade Regulation (2000–2001), and as a Fellow of the Michigan State Bar Foundation. From 2015-2020, he also served as Chair of the Michigan Supreme Court Committee on Model Civil Jury Instructions. He has served as Vice-Chair of State of Michigan Retirement Board and as Chair of the Michigan Judges Retirement Board, and has also served numerous other community organizations, including as Chair of the Washtenaw Economic Club and board president of the Christian Montessori School of Ann Arbor.
Judge Boonstra and his wife Martha proudly share four children, five grandchildren, their love of the Friesian horses they raise, and their three-volume work entitled In Their Own Words: Today’s God-less America … What Would Our Founding Fathers Think?
Term expires January 1, 2027.
Judge Boonstra’s 3- volume work, “In Their Own Words: Today’s God-less America . . . What Would Our Founding Fathers Think?” details the religious lives and beliefs of all 118 signers of America’s 3 founding documents—the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the United States Constitution—both biographically and “In Their Own Words,” and contrasts it with examples from modern-day America. Our country having strayed far from what our Founding Fathers intended it to be, Judge Boonstra posits that the fundamental, underlying reason is that we have lost God, and he provides information enabling the reader to answer for themselves — what would the Founders think of where we are today in America?
We welcome Mark to the IM Christian Writers Association. He will be a regular contributor to our upcoming “Identity Politics” series - written by Dr. Stephen Phinney, Mark Boonstra, and a select group of authors.
The God-less Left in America (and its “media” allies) just can’t help itself. Now it’s attacking newly-elected Speaker Mike Johnson because he is unabashedly a Christian.
How sad.
With all-too-typical dishonesty and distortion, the Left employs such perjorative terms as “Christofascist” and “Christian nationalist.”
Of course, it’s all a lie, and the American people know it.
The America-hating Left actually has the gall to invoke our Founding Fathers as if they would support this fabricated drivel.
The very words of the Founding Fathers tell you otherwise. And the Left’s warped perversion of our history cannot change that. The Founding Fathers must be rolling over in their graves.
Truth is truth, even in these Orwellian times.
The truth is that our Founding Fathers found their inspiration in the basic precept that our rights and freedoms come from God, not from government. Indeed, their belief in God was central and fundamental to the very founding of this country. It was the foundational premise for our great nation.
That’s why the Declaration of Independence appealed to the “Supreme Judge of the world” in declaring that “all men are created equal,” that our “unalienable rights” derive from “the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God,” that those rights are “endowed” to us by our “Creator,” and that expressed “a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence.”
Its why the Constitution begins by talking about the “Blessings of Liberty.”
And it’s why the Founding Fathers insisted that our very liberty depends on the promotion of religion and on the basic moral principles that are founded in religion.
Here’s the truth of what some of our Founding Fathers said:
The Religion and public Liberty of a People are intimately connected; their Interests are interwoven, they cannot subsist separately; and therefore they rise and fall together. For this Reason, it is always observable, that those who are combin’d to destroy the People’s Liberties, practice every Art to poison their Morals.
-- Samuel Adams
I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth - that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an Empire can rise without his aid?
— Benjamin Franklin
There must be religion. When that ligament is torn, society is disjointed, and its members perish. . . . But the most important of all lessons is, the denunciation of ruin to every state that rejects the precepts of religion.
— Gouverneur Morris
The only foundation for a useful education in a republic is to be laid in Religion. Without this there can be no virtue, and without virtue there can be no liberty, and liberty is the object and life of all republican governments.
— Benjamin Rush
Refiners may weave as fine a web of reason as they please, but the experience of all times shews Religion to be the guardian of morals—; And he must be a very inattentive observer in our Country, who does not see that avarice is accomplishing the destruction of religion, for want of a legal obligation to contribute something to its support.
— Richard Henry Lee
Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, Religion and morality are indispensable supports. . . . And let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be maintained without religion.
— George Washington
Yes, Thomas Jefferson—who instituted the practice of holding church services in the hall of the United States House of Representatives—spoke of a “wall of separation between Church & State.”
But what the Left won’t tell you is that Jefferson’s “wall” was intended not to protect the state from religion, but rather to protect religion from the state!
The Left’s lies notwithstanding, it’s not Mike Johnson who wants to impose his worldview on anyone else.
No, it’s the authoritarian and evil Left that wants to poison your morals, destroy your liberties, and impose its God-less designs on the rest of us.
America, you know better. For the sake of your kids and grandkids, you must not let it succeed.
-Mark | Mark’s Substack
Mark Boonstra is a judge on the Michigan Court of Appeals. He is the author of a three-volume series, "In Their Own Words: Today’s God-less America . . . What Would Our Founding Fathers Think?" His appearances include Newsmax's "The Chris Salcedo Show," and "National Report," as well as numerous radio shows and podcasts.
In a culture where national loyalty equals human rights and opinionated views, the United States of America needs a miracle procured by God's hand. Lost are the testimonies of the faithful men & women of God who fought to keep our land free from oppressors of greed.
The Hand of Providence has been so conspicuous in all this, the course of the war, that he must be worse than an infidel that lacks faith. George Washington | August 20. 1778
Identity Politics will endeavor to protect the founding beliefs of a now wayward nation. Challenging readers to return to their knees and pray. Today’s essay is the first of this series.
Send us a “heart.” Make a comment to convey your support of this series. Restack and forward this essay to get the momentum going. Lastly, “cross-post” this article to open the door for interested readers. Thank you. -Dr. Phinney
Reading this made me realize that we do have real judges on the bench.
Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals Irving Kaufman was a real judge. He was appointed by John F. Kennedy. He was a Democrat that tried and convicted the Rosenberg’s for treason carrying out their execution. He’s rolling over in his grave with all that is happening in our great country. Yes, he’s a relative.
A wonderful article with a great verse Dr. Phinney. Thanks to both of you. Looking forward to more great reading.
Mark, this reminds me of a favored verse: "If My people who are called by my name humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land." (2 Chronicles 7:14)