For some time now, I have been disappointed that no one will really step up and just say what the REAL conflict in this country is over. The fact that Pres O and his band of 60's radicals are trying to turn our country into a socialist utopia is a symptom of the real conflict going on. Corruption in Washington, Congress ignoring the will of the people, the arrogance of elitists like Nancy Pelosi, almost daily revelations of scandals at all levels of government, political correctness gone to the extreme of suppression of free speech and the general assault on our American history and heritage are also just symptoms of the real conflict.
This is the biggest issue American's have to face up to. It is bigger than we are as a nation and even bigger than the international rancor about us. The issue reaches deep into the heart of who America is as a country and who her people claim to be. If this issue is not resolved correctly, we will lose a part of ourselves and a part of our heritage. The issue is critical to the survival of this nation as we know it.
Pundits seem to be reticent to put their finger on the issue. I have heard Glenn Beck mention it only in passing but never has he identified it as the main issue facing America. He, and others, seem to concentrate on the first symptom I brought up. Namely, Pres O and his cronies.
Our real conflict in this country is will we be one nation under God or not? Christianity versus Atheism, pure and simple. Are we a Christian country or not? Our Founding Fathers saw us as one. Only a Christian country can have true freedom of religion because in protecting the rights of others to practice their religion, Christians are free to worship as they choose. To quote George Washington from his Farewell Address, "Of all the dispositions and habits, which lead to political prosperity, Religion and Morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of Men and Citizens. The mere Politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connexions with private and public felicity. Let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect, that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle. It is substantially true, that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government."
Religion and Morality are called "indispensible supports" of political prosperity. He also warnns that "reason and experience both forbid us to expect, that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle." Religion and morality are inescapably linked. They must both be present for our system to work. Therefore, although not creating a state-run religion, our government should be advocating that all men find some form of religion to practice. Preferably one which teaches morality as Christianity does. Virtues like honesty and compassion need to be taught. Character traits of courage, kindness and generosity need to be encouraged. Basically what Christianity calls the "fruit of the spirit" (Galatians 5:22-23): love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Imagine teaching these values in our schools. Can you imagine what kind of generation we would raise?
In Christianity, these principles come from God. Not Allah or Buddah or Mao or Marx. The God of the Bible. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The God of Israel. The God that created everything in this world according to the Bible. The God of our Founding Fathers.
Most importantly, our Founding Fathers believed that our unalienable rights came from our Creator, the God of the Bible. These rights to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" were not granted by any government except that of the Most High God. America was founded as a Republic inheriting our rights from God's theocracy in Heaven. Just as God gives life to each soul through man, God gave birth to America through men. God created this country to be a beacon of freedom, opportunity, justice and morality to the world. True freedom reflective of the Christian's freedom in Christ. And what is the watchman of our morality? Religion. Without Religion, we will wander into the amoral, repressive wasteland of rule by men. Where God rules, there is justice. Where man rules without God, there is despotism.
You want moral, responsible, trustworthy men and women in Congress? Then vote for those candidates who are religious and who are dedicated to their religion and to the righteous teachings of that religion. Our Founding Fathers did not want a state-run religion but they fully intended for religion to influence government and to keep those governing us on track.
Ask the hard questions of the candidates. Will your faith and religious values influence your votes in the legislature? The answer better be a resounding "Yes".
Screw political correctness. All we get are wishy-washy candidates who will say whatever they think the voters want to hear. Vote for people who will vote their convictions.
Screw partisanship. Vote for those that do not put their party's platform ahead of the wishes of their constituents. We want people of character in Washington. Once elected, we want people in Congress who will shed their identity as a Republican or Democrat and work for the good of the American people.
Demand this of your candidates. Tell them outright that they may not count on your vote unless you can count on them. Make them convince you that they will sincerely serve their constituency and always tell you the truth. We too often assume too much of what candidates believe or will do. Make them commit in writing or in person to doing what is right.
And above all else, demand honesty and transpanency from your candidates.
Just to be safe, keep a recall petition handy in case your elected official betrays your trust. Gather all the signatures you need but leave the name blank. Send a copy to whoever is elected with a note saying that this petition is waiting for their name to be filled in and a recall to be filed if they should stray from what they have promised. Let them know that the American public will pull the plug on their political career in a heartbeat if we feel betrayed. Remind them that they are just borrowing our power for the moment. Ultimately, we the people, are in charge and hold all the power according to the Constitution.
More to come in keeping God in American government. Separation of church and state has only to do with a state-run church and that is not what I am advocating here. I am advocating that we make sure that we are governed by God-fearing people and the rest should take care of itself.
Thanks for reading my blog. Please comment and let me know what you think.
-Doug Cochran
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I suggest that you study the 18th century enlightment in order to get a picture of what the founding fathers and mothers figured when they set up this country. No this is not a Christian nation, there are many peoples here of many backgrounds. I suggest also that you look at Thomas Jefferson's own version of the bible, if you wish to get an idea of what he considered important in the bible.
ReplyDeleteThe term "Christian nation" does not refer to the preferred religion in the country as in a "Muslim nation" like Iran. "Christian nation" refers to being a nation founded on Christian principles by Christian men. Although there are others of varied backgrounds here, the Founding Fathers considered this a nation founded on Christian principles. When George Washington referred to Religion in his farewell address, I guarantee you that he was not thinking about Islam or Buddism or Judasim. He was thinking about Catholics, Baptists, Methodists and the like. All flavors of Christians.
ReplyDeleteThe origin of the "Christian principles" was Jewish thinking circa 2000+ years ago. As for the "Founding Fathers" (and Founding mothers), as far as I can tell a number of them would not be considered particularly Christian in today's terms. "Deists" were common among them, and that (as far as I can tell) is essentially the idea that God created the world at the beginning, and then walked away. It is perilously close to Thomas Henry Huxley's 19th century concept of Agnosticism. Further, there is not much that I can see to show that Ben Franklin ever believed in any power higher than himself in the universe, and as for Thomas Jefferson --- he extracted from the King James bible the parts about ethics, and dropped the parts about deities. Actually, though I do not remember reading about Washington's personal beliefs, I suspect that he was thinking of Church of England, and just possibly Baptists, though in his day the Baptists were a minor group of English colonists --- I really doubt that he was thinking of Catholics or any other of the various Christian sects.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, there is reason to think that our revolution was "intellectually" connected to the 17th Century English Civil War (Oliver Cromwell - Lord High Protector and all that), being part of a continuing fight among the English themselves, concerning Catholicism and Protestantism in England... and concerning the old religious dogma and new ways of thinking, i.e. tending toward more democratic forms of government. At any rate, the American Revolution (and later the the American Civil Wary) were in some respects a continuation of unresolved aspects of that old English Civil War.
Now, Washington was I believe of Scottish-English ancestry, and I suspect was part of the early Scottish group that ended up in America due to Cromwell's' various decisions about colonization. That being the case, it seems unlikely that Washington would have been terribly concerned about religious dogma, far more likely that he was a pragmatist, and put his faith in whatever worked - that would be far more in line with Cromwell's thinking.
I think that I should point out that Jews have lived in North America since 1654, less than 50 years after the founding of Jamestown. They were here longer than quite a few of the English organizers of the revolution. Also, there were Jews heavily involved with the revolution itself, remember Haym Salomon, who was instrumental in enabling the revolution.
This is not a Christian nation, the founders were not particularly concerned with religion, and history is not as straight-forward as you would like to pretend.
I see lots of speculation (i.e "perilously close to") in what you write but few facts making your point. You speculate on several points which may or may not be true (referring to Cromwell) but there are no references to historical fact or writings to back that up.
ReplyDeleteChristian principles are not based on Jewish thinking of 2000 years ago. The reason Jesus was crucified was that he was so far outside the box of "Jewish thinking" that the Jewish leaders considered him a threat to their very existence. In their "thinking" he was leading the Jewish people astray. He claimed to be God incarnate. It is His thinking that drive Christian principles.
Christian principles are based on biblical principles put forth in both the New and Old Testaments. The Ten Commandments were upheld by Jesus and new commandments were given (for us to love one another as He loved us). Jesus validated the Old Testament and wrote a new testament (agreement with God) in His own blood. This is the Jesus (the biblical Jesus) that George Washington and the Founding Fathers studied and worshiped.
The Delaware Indians brought three of the chiefs' children to be educated in the public school system. Here is what Washington said to them as part of his speech in accepting the children into school. "Brothers: I am glad you have brought three of the Children of your principal Chiefs to be educated with us. ... You do well to wish to learn our arts and ways of life, and above all, the religion of Jesus Christ. These will make you a greater and happier people than you are." That does not sound like a Deist to me. GW was not a preacher or an evangelist. "Brothers: I am a Warrior. My words are few and plain;", he said as part of the speech. You can see the entire text at http://etext.virginia.edu/washington/fitzpatrick/. It is volume 15, Speech to the Delaware Chiefs.
Your point about Jews being in America since 1654 is well taken and I do not dispute the presence of Jewish immigrants in this country at all. However, 76% of Americans STILL identify themselves as Christians as of 2008 (http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_prac2.htm). That makes us a predominately Christian nation. And, by the way, the most religious nation in the world.
Back in the day of the Mayflower, the percentage would have been over 95% (maybe even 100% not counting the Indians, because it was not the Jews who were being persecuted by the Church of England) and at the time of the Revolutionary War, I doubt that the percentage was much less.
Yes, our Founding Father were particularly concerned with religion or they would not have written the Constitution and Declaration of Independence as they did. Their authority to break with England, they believed, came from the rights granted them by Almighty God. The God of the Bible they held sacred. It was only their belief that God super-ceded King George in authority that gave them courage to take the stance that could have cost them everything. And in some cases it did.
Just touching on a few points: if I gave the impression that Washington was a Deist, that was not intended. I have no particular reason to think he or Cromwell were Deists... I do not think the term even existed in Cromwell's day. The Deist idea was an outgrowth of the later Enlightenment, after Cromwell's time.
ReplyDeleteAs for Jesus himself, I really think you are quite wrong on a number of aspects. (a) he never claimed, as far as I can tell, that he was God incarnate. He was part of the Jewish thinking that preceded him by two hundred years --- see the Dead Sea Scrolls. He did not apparently come up with anything new... he was what we would consider today "right" on a variety of ethical and social stances, but he also was repeating what the Jewish philosophers had been developing for two centuries. I think Jesus would have been scandalised if anybody had denied that he was a Jewish Rabbi. (b) If anybody is responsible for the belief that Jesus was "God", it is clearly Saint Paul, and subsequently by the Emperor Constantine... Finally the whole idea was "fixed" by Saint Augustine. (c) Jesus was crucified for only one reason: he pissed off the Romans...despite your Sunday school classes, such behavior was VERY Roman, and very un-Jewish in the extreme.
Declaration of Independence... tho of course written with a marvellous turn of phrase so to speak, significant portions appear to have been cribbed (at least so far as content is concerned) from some surviving documents written by the governor of Virginia colony. As for all those inalienable rights that are referred to, they should really be credited more to John Locke than to God... again, the Enlightenment.
David, David, David. you need to do some serious study in the New Testament. As to my being wrong: (a) There are many examples in Scripture of Jesus claiming to be God incarnate. Here's one that exemplifies that fact. In Luke 5:17-26, a paralytic is healed by Jesus in front of the Jewish leaders. Jesus first says to the man that his sins are forgiven. The Jewish leaders have a problem with this statement since no one can forgive sins but God because all sin is against God in breaking His commandments - aka Jewish thinking of 2000 years ago. Jesus perceives their questioning of Him and asks them whether it is easier to forgive sins or make a paralytic walk. Just to demonstrate that He is Lord over both sin and sickness, Jesus commands the man to rise and he walks. It was all this forgiving sins stuff that made the Jewish leaders so upset. By doing this, Jesus was claiming to be God himself and, in turn, the Messiah they had be waiting for. No ethical/social Rabbinic thinking here. Just plain demonstrations of power and validation of His credentials as Messiah (Christ is the Greek word for Messiah). (b) Paul identified Jesus for who He was in Matthew 16:16 and Jesus affirmed it right there on the spot. St. Augustine did not write any of the gospel eyewitness accounts. I'm not sure how he "fixed" anything to do with the concept of the Deity of Christ. That came directly from Matt, Luke, Mark and John who witnessed the events of which they wrote. (c) Jesus did not piss off the Romans. The Jewish leaders pissed off the Romans. In the account of His last days in Scripture there are multiple trials before Roman leaders who keep refusing to grant the Jews their request to crucify Jesus. The buck keeps getting passed until Pilate finally caves in and has Jesus flogged and incarcerated at the behest of the Jewish leaders. They could not crucify Jesus themselves nor did they want His blood on their hands through an actual murder plot. However, by getting the Romans to do their dirty work through political intrigue, they accomplished (at least they thought they did) what they wanted. The Romans had a tradition of releasing one Jewish prisoner at Passover. The Jewish leaders got the crowd to call for Barabbas to be released and Jesus crucified in his place (see Wikipedia for Barabbas). All four gospels relate this account. True, having people crucified was VERY Roman and an abomination to the Jews. The disgrace of crucifixion was supposed to kill the Jesus movement right there. It would have if not for the pesky fact that Jesus rose from the grave on Sunday. Oooops! The Jewish leaders were not counting on that one.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the "marvelous [sic] turn of phrase" in the Declaration of Independence, if the Founding Fathers believed they should have credited John Locke, they would have written it as such. However, they credited their Creator with their unalienable rights. Go figure. What, did they miss the Enlightenment and all it gloriously brought to mankind or did they just simply believe what they wrote?
By the way, they held the truth of these ideas to be "self-evident".