Think About It

On June 6, 1944, America awoke to the news that the invasion of Europe had begun. Over 160,000 American, British and Canadian troops, supported by over 7,000 naval vessels and 13,000 air craft, were assaulting the Normandy coast, in the largest sea borne invasion in history. Success was not guaranteed. Many military planners anticipated casualty rates as high as twenty-five percent. General Eisenhower even prepared a press release accepting full responsibility for the failure of the invasion.

Back home, people stayed riveted to the radio, anxiously awaiting news about the fate of their husbands, fathers, brothers and sons. That day, major league baseball canceled all games. The New York Stock Exchange halted trading to observe two minutes of silence. In Sacramento, the Pacific Fruit Express Cannery held prayer services for over one hundred of its former employees now in uniform. Across the country, thousands of businesses closed early so their employees could attend special prayer services at their churches, synagogues and temples. That evening; President Roosevelt went on the radio, and led the nation in prayer.

“Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity. Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith. They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard for the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.”

The allies prevailed that day, and Eisenhower never had to issue his press release, but the cost was staggering. By the time the Normandy Campaign ended in August, almost 210,000 allied troops were killed, wounded or missing. However, even as late as 1944, there were many who questioned the necessity of the war. It was after all, a European affair, something that didn’t concern us, “what difference did it make to us what the Nazis in Germany did?” That question was answered on April 11, 1945, when the US Third Army liberated the Nazi death camp at Buchenwald.

It’s inconceivable that we would ever have to mount such an invasion or fight such a war again, but unfortunately, history teaches us differently. Evil is an intrinsic and undeniable part of the human condition. There will always be people and nations that will try to subjugate and exploit the weak and defenseless. However, the real question is, whether or not America will always be “the shining city on the hill,” willing to confront that evil?

Alexis de Tocqueville was a political philosopher and historian, who traveled to the United States in 1831 to develop an understanding for why the American Revolution succeeded, and the French Revolution failed. The fundamental difference of course, was that the American Revolution was a pro-religious event, while the French Revolution was an anti-religious event. The United States was established upon the Christian concept of equality, and embraced and promoted religious freedom and expression. France, on the other hand, rejected religion and established a strictly secular state. In his work “Democracy in America,” de Tocqueville concluded, “America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.” Unfortunately, America is no longer great, because we are no longer good, and although we won the Second World War, we lost the war for “our Republic, our religion and our civilization.”

Over the past fifty-years, the secular-progressive movement has succeeded in reversing the influence of religion upon the American character. We are no longer a nation that will take the time to answer the church bells, and assemble to pray for those in harm’s way. There will never again be a prayer recited over a public school intercom, or at a place of business, and no American President will ever again lead the nation in prayer. We are a different people, with different principles and values than those that waded ashore at Omaha and Utah beach.

The secular-progressives have succeeded in removing God from the public sector, and what are the results? Well, today we have a value system in which materialism and monetary success are the highest virtues, a corrupt political system that enables our elected officials to place the needs of special interests ahead of their constituents, and a culture that promotes the ecstasy of self-indulgence over the necessity of sacrifice. We are now 17.5 trillion dollars in debt, have squandered our wealth and mortgaged our children’s future. Our government has grown exponentially, inserting itself into every aspect of our lives, and now threatens the very inalienable rights on which the nation was established.

We are no longer the great power that defeated fascism and “made the world safe for democracy.” We are a nation in decline, seduced and corrupted by the notion that we no longer need God. We have vacated the moral high ground, and have invited the enemies of freedom to once again prey upon the weak and defenseless. We are no longer as Abraham Lincoln described, “the last best hope of earth.” The secular-progressives have won their war; God is dead in America. The only question that remains is, who or what will take his place?

In 1860, a poll of the clergy in Springfield Illinois revealed that twenty-three of its twenty-six members intended to vote for Stephen Douglas in the upcoming election. A disheartened Abraham Lincoln, holding a copy of the Bible, lamented to his friend Newton Bateman, “These men well know that I am for freedom, and my opponents are for slavery, and yet, with this book in their hands; they are going to vote against me; I do not understand it at all.” What Lincoln didn’t understand, was that the clergy suspected he was, as his law partner William Herndon described, “An infidel.”

Lincoln was not an infidel. Although, he abandoned his Calvinist roots, he was a self-educated man, and approached his faith in the same manner. He read the Bible regularly, and could quote chapter and verse, but as an independent thinker, Lincoln had an aversion to embracing any doctrine or dogma that wasn’t his own. As he put it, “When any church will inscribe over its altar, as its sole qualification for membership, the Savior’s condensed statement…, ‘Thou shalt love the lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul and thy neighbor as thyself,’ that church will I join with all my heart and all my soul.”

During his Presidency, Lincoln was frequently visited by members of the clergy. He was always respectful and courteous, and never refused a meeting. He genuinely enjoyed their visits, and appreciated their prayers and support. He had a special affinity for the Quakers, whom he believed were particularly pious and sincere. However, Lincoln would occasionally get annoyed with his well-wishers.

One such visit occurred on September 13, 1862, when a delegation of clergy from Chicago visited the White House, and pressed the President for the emancipation of the slaves. Lincoln had already prepared the Emancipation Proclamation, but was waiting for the right opportunity to issue it. During the meeting, one of the ministers became indignant, insisted that he was a messenger from God, and demanded that the President free the slaves immediately. Lincoln acknowledged the minister may very well be delivering a message from God, but wondered aloud, “Is it not odd that the only channel he could send it by was a roundabout route, and that awfully wicked city of Chicago?” Four days later, Lincoln’s opportunity came with a Union victory at Antietam.

Lincoln may not have been a Christian in the traditional sense, but he sincerely believed that God was a real and an active force in the world. The death of his two sons, and the terrible burden of the Civil War, tempered Lincoln’s faith, and he came to see himself as an instrument of God’s will. He said, “I know I am not a great man – and perhaps it is better that is so – for it makes me rely upon One who is great, and who has the wisdom and power to lead us safely through this great trial.”

Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address is only four paragraphs long, and took less than seven minutes to deliver, but it contains some of the most powerful words ever delivered in a Presidential address. The abolitionist Frederick Douglas said, “The address sounded more like a sermon than a state paper.” In his address, Lincoln put forth the notion that the Civil War, a war that killed and wounded a million and a half Americans, was God’s punishment for the sin of slavery. Lincoln was a practical and pragmatic politician, and knew this notion would not be well received, but he believed that it needed to be said. As he explained, “Men are not flattered by being shown that there has been a difference of purpose between the Almighty and them. To deny it; however, in this case, is to deny that there is a God governing the world.” Lincoln considered his Second Inaugural Address his best speech, and although, such notions are ridiculed by the modern secular mind, his knowledge and understanding of the Bible and history, compelled him to speak the truth.

The repetitive theme of the Old Testament is, that whenever the Israelites acknowledged the authority of God, and obeyed his laws, they flourished and prospered, and whenever they denied God, and disobeyed his laws, they suffered in exile and bondage. History has a similar theme; nations and societies that strive to be virtuous and just, thrive, while empires and cultures that become decadent and corrupt, collapse. The United States was established upon the divine truth that all men are created equal, but, for our first eighty-five years, we chose to ignore that truth. Finally, when it couldn’t be ignored any longer, we plunged ourselves into the most destructive and devastating conflict in our history.

For the past fifty-years, America has been drifting away from God. The secular-progressive movement has driven a wedge between God and the American people. We can no longer acknowledge him in public schools, at high school football games, or on the town common at Christmas. Sing “Silent Night” or “Hark the Herald Angels Sing,” at a school pageant, and prepare for an injunction and law suit.

The secular-progressives have successfully removed God from the public sector, and won the culture war. Forty-percent of our children are born out-of-wedlock, and the traditional family has been decimated. A class of federal surfs, with no real opportunity, or hope for advancement, who are permanently dependent upon the government, has been created. A generation of self-absorb automatons, incapable of interacting with another human being without the aid of a smart-phone, has reached adulthood. A government that views the Constitution as an obstacle has overcome it, and successfully inserted itself into every aspect of its citizen’s lives. And, the voices of 57 million unborn Americans have been silenced forever.

Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address on March 4, 1861, was an attempt at reconciliation, a plea with the South to avoid a Civil War. Unfortunately, the South did not heed his plea, and fired upon Fort Sumter just 39-days later. However, no one, not even Lincoln, could have imagined how horrendous that war would become. If Lincoln is right, and nations inflict their own “scourging,” I shutter when I imagine the punishment that awaits us. Whatever it might be, whatever the toll we may extract, “as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said, “The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.”

In the spring of 1860, the city of Chicago completed the construction of “The Wigwam.” It was a 12,000 seat convention hall, built to house the Republican Convention. It was only the second time the party assembled to select a Presidential Candidate. Entering the convention New York Governor William Seward was the favorite, followed by Senators Salmon P. Chase of Ohio and Simon Cameron of Pennsylvania, and Congressman Edward Bates of Missouri. The dark-horse was a little-known attorney and one-term Congressman from Illinois, named Abraham Lincoln.

As was the tradition of the day, none of the candidates attended the convention. They instead, relied upon their operatives on the floor to do the dirty work. The local son Lincoln had the advantage; his supporters packed the hall, and literally left the Seward, Chase, Cameron, and Bates supporters, outside in the cold. On the third ballot, Abraham Lincoln was nominated as the Republican Candidate for President.

Lincoln defeated a split democratic party and became the 16th President of the United States. In a display of humility that befuddles the modern political mind, Lincoln appointed his one-time adversaries to his cabinet. William Seward became the Secretary of State, Salmon Chase the Secretary of Treasury, Simon Cameron the Secretary of War, and Edward Bates the Attorney General. When asked why he selected his political rivals, Lincoln responded, “We needed the strongest men of the party in the cabinet. These were the very strongest men. I had no right to deprive the country of their services.”

Abraham Lincoln is considered by many to be the greatest American President. Russian author Leo Tolstoy said he was, “Christ in miniature, a saint of humanity, whose name will live thousands of years in the legends of future generations.” Still, understanding Lincoln’s greatness isn’t easy, because he was an extremely complex individual. He grew up in dire poverty and had an inferiority complex. He experienced the loss of two siblings and a mother early in life, and suffered from bouts of depression. Nevertheless, despite this adversity, he was, as his friend and law partner William Herndon described, “A man totally swallowed up in his ambitions.”

As President, Lincoln endured the insubordination of his military commanders, the ridicule of the press, and the scorn of his own party. Yet, he masterfully led the nation through its darkest hour, abolished slavery, and restored the Union. However, the source of Lincoln’s greatness isn’t found in his ambition or drive, or even in his accomplishments. The true foundation of Lincoln’s greatness is rooted in his compassion for others, and in his humility.

In Christian Theology, humility is one of the seven contrary virtues, which counteracts the seven deadly sins. Humility counters pride, which is the original sin, from which all other sin flows. Humility begins with the acknowledgement that we are all products of original sin. That is, flawed and imperfect beings, prone to selfishness, egotistical in nature, and often arrogant and unfeeling in our actions. Humility establishes in us an understanding of Christian equality, and affirms the inherent worth of all persons. As C.S. Lewis said, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but rather thinking about yourself less.”

Humility enables us to overcome our selfishness, and instills in us a sense of fairness, and a passion for justice. It gives us the courage to undertake the tasks, which are difficult, tedious and unglamorous, and helps us to graciously and willingly accept the sacrifices involved. Humility distinguishes the wise leader from the arrogant power-seeker, and enables us together, with the grace of God, to accomplish truly great things.

Today, however, humility is passé. It is a remnant of the Judeo-Christian ethic that is being displaced by our new incubator of virtue, the Secular-Progressive ethic.

So, what is the Secular-Progressive ethic, and what are the virtues that it promotes? The Secular-Progressive ethic rejects the notion that there is a divine moral authority, and relies solely upon the logic, reason, and moral intuition of the individual. It further rejects the concept of original sin, believing that man is inherently good, and capable of being his own moral authority. There are no moral absolutes, all morality is relative to the individual; their training, education and cultural norms. Subsequently, the focus is on the individual; their fulfillment, enjoyment and satisfaction.

The Secular-Progressive ethic gave rise to the “do your own thing,” and “if it feels, good it can’t be wrong” philosophies that emerged in America during the sixties. The primary virtue that it promotes is selfishness, because it’s all about me, what I want, and what makes me happy. The secondary virtues it promotes are; materialism, greed and arrogance.

Fifty-years of the Secular-Progressive ethic has metastasized and overwhelmed the traditional American family; half of our marriages end in divorce, forty-percent of our births are out-of-wedlock, and the number of children raised in single-parent households has doubled. It has raised a generation of self-absorbed, materialistic, and entitled narcissists, and created a class of citizens who are terminally dependent upon the state. It has produced political leaders who are arrogant, and so certain of their own infallibility, that they are unwilling to compromise, and incapable of tolerating anyone with a different opinion. The Secular-Progressive ethic has forever altered the American virtue, and the concept of what it is to be an American.

Not all of Lincoln’s cabinet members served throughout the war, Secretary Cameron, to avoid scandal and prosecution, resigned his post and became the Ambassador to Russia. He was succeeded by Secretary of War Edwin Stanton.

Lincoln first met Stanton in 1855, when Stanton, a prominent Washington lawyer was involved in a patent case against the powerful McCormick Reaper Company. The trial was scheduled to take place in Chicago, and Stanton needed a local attorney. Someone recommended Lincoln, and Lincoln sight unseen, was invited to join the legal team. However, the trial was moved to Cincinnati, and Lincoln had to pack up his briefs and travel to Ohio. Upon seeing the gangly, unkempt Lincoln for the first time, Stanton remarked, “I will not have that long-armed ape on my team.” Lincoln, handed over his research, and watch the trial from the gallery.

A decade later, Abraham Lincoln lay dying in the Petersen Boarding House, across the street from Ford’s Theater, with his son Robert, Secretary Stanton, and a number of other dignitaries gathered at his bedside. Finally, on April 15, 1865 at 7:22 in the morning, Abraham Lincoln died, and stenographer James Tanner recorded the following.

“Mr. Stanton raised his head, the tears streaming down his face, a more agonized expression I never saw on a human countenance, as he sobbed out the words: ‘He belongs to the angels now.’”

Lancaster New Hampshire is nestled at the foot of the White Mountains, a quaint New England town wedged between the Israel and Connecticut Rivers. It was carved out of the wilderness a decade before the American Revolution, by a group of settlers who barely survived their first cruel winter. However, by the middle of the nineteenth-century Lancaster was thriving. It boasted a population of two thousand citizens; cultivating farms, working in carriage factories, and manning the grist, saw and starch mills. Lancaster comes into view as you travel north along Route 3, and begin the long gradual descent down Mount Pleasant. Entering the town, there is a small common formed by the intersections of Prospect, Portland and Pleasant Streets. It’s a well-manicured spot with a brass cannon, and a solitary union soldier perched upon a granite pedestal. It’s a tribute to the over two hundred sons of Lancaster that served in the Civil War.

During the Civil War, military units were organized by state, meaning soldiers served alongside their friends and neighbors. This may have been good for the esprit de corps and morale of the troops, but it could have disastrous consequences for their hometowns. Most of the men from Lancaster served with the 5th New Hampshire Volunteers, which suffered more casualties than any other Union regiment during the war. Caldwell County North Carolina is the home of the 26th Infantry Regiment that breached the Union defenses along Cemetery Ridge at Gettysburg. Between July 1st and July 3rd, 1863, half of the male population of Caldwell County was either killed or wounded.

It’s impossible for us today, to comprehend the impact the Civil War had on America. Historians estimate that 1.5 million soldiers were either killed or wounded during the conflict. That was five percent of the country’s population in 1860. Today, that would equate to 15.7 million people. There wasn’t a family or community in the United States that didn’t suffer a loss during the Civil War.

However, Lancaster and Caldwell are not unique. In the parks and commons across the nation, there are countless monuments and memorials dedicated to those who answered the call. Just seventy-six years after the Civil War, the sons and daughters of Lancaster and Caldwell again answered the call, not as adversaries, but as brothers-in-arms in a global conflict against totalitarianism. Fourteen and a half million left their homes; put their lives on hold, and served their country. Many came home, and many did not, but they all did their duty.

One hundred and fifty years ago, this month, President Abraham Lincoln dedicated the Soldiers National Cemetery at Gettysburg. His remarks were short but poignant; just 272 words delivered on a bright, crisp November morning in less than 3 minutes, by the ‘sad, mournful, almost haggard’ President. In his speech, Lincoln asked the Nation to honor the sacrifice of those who died upon that battlefield, and rededicate itself to the cause for which they perished. It is considered by many, to be one of the greatest speeches in American history.

The concept of sacrifice is a central tenet in Christian theology, because sacrifice, the willingness to put the needs of another, ahead of your own, is an act of love. It is the message of the cross; spiritually, it sanctifies and redeems, temporally, it adds purpose and meaning. Anything of value, anything of worth, requires some degree of sacrifice. A marriage cannot succeed unless both husband and wife are willing to sacrifice a part of their individuality for the sake of the union. A family will not thrive unless each member of the family is willing to sacrifice for each other. A community or nation cannot prosper unless its citizens are willing to sacrifice in the present, for the benefit of future generations. We enjoy the freedom and prosperity we do today, because of the sacrifices made by our parents, grandparents, and those that came before us.

Our nation was founded upon a Judeo-Christian ethic which recognizes and embraces the importance of sacrifice. Today, however, it is being displaced by a Secular-Progressive ethic that instead, promotes the notion of entitlement. It’s the belief that everyone is entitled to certain benefits and privileges; simply because they’re a citizen. It’s the idea behind the Great Society, but it’s unfortunately, unsustainable.

In order for an entitlement society to work, there must be enough people willing to make the sacrifices necessary to support those who are dependent upon the entitlements. In other words, you need an abundance of people going to work each day, generating the wealth and tax revenue needed to pay for the entitlements. If you don’t maintain the right balance, the system collapses. When you reach a point where there are more people riding in the boat, than rowing the boat, the boat sinks. Today, in the United States, there are more people on food-stamps than there are full-time workers in the workforce.

Perhaps the most corrosive effects of the entitlement society are on the character of the people, because it creates the expectation that we’re all entitled to something for nothing. It discourages hard work and sacrifice, because someone else will pay for whatever it is we need or want, and encourages irresponsibility, because there are no longer any consequences for failure. The entitlement society breeds a victim mentality, and an arrogance that says if I want it now, I deserve it now, because I am entitled. It’s the reason why we are bequeathing our children and grandchildren a 17 trillion-dollar debt.

Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address is as relevant today as it was in 1863, because each generation must rededicate itself to the great task remaining before it. Each generation must resolve to honor the sacrifices of those who have gone before it, and continue their unfinished work. If we don’t, if we are unable or unwilling to make our sacrifice, then the sacrifices of those who have gone before us, as Lincoln warned, will have been in vain.

Mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner was videotaped in a Brooklyn Bakery in a heated exchange with a customer. The customer rebuked Weiner for his lewd and deviant behavior, and told him that he was unfit to hold public office. Weiner’s response was, “Who are you to judge me?”

It’s a good question. Who was that man in the bakery anyway, and who is he to judge Anthony Weiner? Well, for starters, he’s a voter who will undoubtedly pass judgment on Election Day. More importantly, he is a human being, and that’s what human beings do; we judge.

Anthropologists tell us, that what makes human beings unique, what separates us from the rest of the animal kingdom, is a highly-developed brain capable of articulate speech and abstract reasoning. Although that may be technically correct, in reality, what makes humans different from the rest of the animals is the fact that we judge.

Animals act on instinct. There is no right or wrong in their actions, and no condemnation or disapproval from the other animals. Despite what we may think when the family dog chews up the carpet, and sulks in the corner after being scolded, they have no sense of guilt or remorse. Animals are free from the constraints of a conscience. They simply do what nature compels them to do.

Human beings are much more complicated, because we are self-aware. We understand the relationship between cause and effect; that is, how others affect us, and how we affect others. Biblically speaking, we have eaten from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and have an inherent sense of right and wrong. In other words, we have morals, ethics and values, and it is these morals, ethics and values on which we base our judgments. We make judgments every day about the people we associate with, the work we do, the way we raise our children, and just about everything else, which requires the exercise of our freewill. We are compelled by nature to be exactly what we are, judgmental beings.

Anthony Weiner entered that bakery looking for votes. Had the gentlemen said, “Mr. Weiner, you are a wonderful role model and would make a great mayor,” there wouldn’t have been a confrontation. As a politician, Anthony Weiner understands that he is going to be judged. What he is actually objecting to, is the standard by which he is being judged, and the verdict of that judgment; which in this case was condemnation.

All cultures and societies must have a set of norms, or values, which it imposes on its members. Without them, it cannot survive. Any culture that does not have a common value will descend into anarchy, and any society that does not possess the correct values will collapse. Fortunately, the United States has always been a nation of diverse people unified by a common set of values that are based upon the Judeo-Christian ethic.

The Judeo-Christian ethic stems from the biblical truth that there is a divine creator who is the author of the natural laws which govern the cosmos, and the moral laws which govern mankind. These laws are universal and absolute. The natural laws, like the law of gravity, are discovered by science. The moral laws, like the Ten Commandments, are revealed to man. In the Judeo-Christian ethic, only God can determine right and wrong, all we as human beings can do, is exercise our free-will in choosing to do either right or wrong.

The Judeo-Christian ethic promotes; human dignity, the pursuit of truth, modesty, humility, honesty, integrity, hard work, the willingness to sacrifice for others, compassion for our fellow man, personal responsibility, and a love of justice. These are the values upon which the Founding Fathers established our nation. They are the reason why this country has been so successful and prosperous, and the reason why millions of immigrants have flocked to these shores from every culture on earth, to succeed and thrive.

At the turn of the twentieth-century, the progressive movement emerged in America. Led by intellectuals and elitists, it advocated using government as a force to bring about social, economic and cultural change. It later merged with what some call the secularist movement, but in reality, is the atheist movement, to create the Secular-Progressive ethic.

The Secular-Progressive ethic asserts that man, not God, is the arbitrator of good and evil, and that morality is relative. In other words, there are no moral absolutes; right and wrong is dependent upon who you are, where you were raised, and what you were taught. There are no norms or judgments in the Secular-Progressive ethic, everything is simply a matter of opinion; what’s right for you is right for you, and what’s right for me is right for me.

The Secular-Progressive ethic began to take root in America during the 1960s. “Do your own thing,” and “If it feels good, it can’t be wrong,” were the mantras of the generation that was going to change the world. Unfortunately, they succeeded, and today the fruits of the Secular-Progressive ethic are ripening. We’ve dismantled the traditional family, fifty-percent of marriages end in divorce, forty-percent of our children are born out of wedlock; we have a terminally dependent class of Americans with no employable skills and fewer opportunities, we spend a trillion dollars a year on welfare, and have consigned generations of fellow citizens to live in drug infested, and crime filled housing projects.

In his exchange with the man in the bakery, Anthony Weiner said that God will be his judge, and Mr. Weiner is correct. God is the final arbitrator of right and wrong, and the ultimate judge of the universe. Someday, we will all find ourselves having to account for what we did, or failed to do with the life he gave us. However, that never has, and never will entitle Anthony Weiner, or any of us to a free pass. The norms still apply; we are all members of the same society, and as such, are accountable to ourselves, and to each other, because after all, it’s a matter of cause and effect.

On the evening of April 18, 1775, a column of 700 British Regulars departed Boston. Their destination was Concord. Their objective; seize the rebel’s store of weapons and ammunitions, and arrest the agitators Hancock and Adams. At dawn the next morning, an advance party of 240 soldiers under the command of Major John Pitcairn arrived at Lexington, and found Captain John Parker and 75 of his Minutemen assembled on the green. Tensions mounted as Parker instructed his men, “Stand your ground. Don’t fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here.” Pitcairn rode to the front of his column and commanded, “Disperse ye villains, lay down your arms in the name of George the Sovereign King of England.” Adams responded, “We recognize no sovereign but God and no king but Jesus!”

It’s a wonderful story, but it most likely never happened, because Hancock and Adams weren’t at Lexington. They fled the night before, after being warned of the approaching British by Paul Revere and William Dawes. It’s possible that Captain Parker, the Reverend Jonas Clark, or one of the Minutemen said it, but unfortunately, there is no documented account of it ever occurring. It appears to be one of those urban legends that inexplicably evolves from folklore to historical fact. However, had Hancock or Adams been at Lexington, they would have responded to the “No sovereign but God” reply with a resounding “Huzzah!” That’s the eighteenth century equivalent of, “Yeah! And that goes for me too!” After all, they pretty much echoed those same sentiments 15 months later when they signed the Declaration of Independence.

The Declaration of Independence does more than declare our independence from Great Britain. It establishes the philosophy and ideology of the United States. It’s a philosophy and ideology that rejects the existing social order, based on European Feudalism, and creates a new order, based upon the Christian concept of equality.

At the time of the American Revolution, Europe was a society based on the feudal concept of class. There was the nobility, those who owned the land, and the commoners, those who worked the land. The commoners were economically dependent upon the nobility, and had little or no hope of improving their economic condition, or social status. Effectively, they were indentured servants or surfs, beholden to those who held the power. However, this social construct was not unique to Europe. Similar structures existed in most cultures around the world, because it is part of the human condition. Those in power will do whatever it takes to remain in power. Establishing an aristocracy with formal titles and positions is simply a way to legitimize human corruption and selfishness.

The Founding Fathers understood this, so when they created this nation, they established a classless society; a society based upon the Christian truth that all men are created equal, endowed by their creator with the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In America, we have no sovereign. We are not dependent upon or beholden to any monarch, nobility or government. We are all free and independent souls, autonomous moral agents answerable to God, and God alone.

However, the Founding Fathers were realistic. They recognized that in order for our country to survive it needed structure; laws to regulate the affairs of men, and a central government to tend to the affairs of the nation. They also understood human nature. They knew that men were corruptible, and the possibility that those in power would abuse their authority was a real and ever-present danger. They rightly feared the power of the government. The challenge they faced was how to formulate a government that would enable the nation to thrive, and at the same time guarantee the liberty and freedoms of its citizens. The solution was a Constitution and a Bill of Rights specifically designed to regulate and limit the authority and power of the government.

This is a critically important concept. The role of government in America, the impact it should have on the lives of the people is supposed to be minimal. We’re supposed to be able to live our lives free from, and unencumbered by the intrusion of government. We’re supposed to be independent, self-sufficient and self-reliant, but the more we abdicate our responsibility to govern ourselves, the more power we give the government, the more freedom we lose.

Over the past five decades, the size and power of the federal government has grown unchecked and unchallenged. Spurred on by the secular progressive left, it is hell-bent on implementing, and expanding Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society.” During that period, the nation has spent 15 trillion dollars on welfare payments, housing subsidies, and food stamps, and today, we have more people on food stamps than full-time workers. The federal government has created a class of citizens who are, and will always be economically dependent upon the government. They are terminally dependent surfs, with no marketable skills, no hope, and no future. The secular progressive left has successfully replaced European Feudalism with Federal Feudalism.

Detroit, the motor city, was once one of the wealthiest and most powerful cities in America. Built by industrialist like Henry Ford, Detroit boasted plenty of jobs, and one of the highest per-capita incomes in the country. This week, after three decades of left-leaning leadership, socialist progressive policies, political corruption, and utter incompetence, the once great city filed for bankruptcy. Perhaps they should have heeded the advice of Henry Ford, “Any man who thinks he can be happy and prosperous by letting the Government take care of him, better take a closer look at the American Indian!”

Visitors to the Nation’s capital can’t help notice the Washington Monument. It’s an imposing 555-foot obelisk towering above the skyline. Observant visitors will also notice that the monument is two different colors. That’s because the construction was interrupted by the Civil War, and when they resumed, they used marble from a different quarry that was a slightly darker shade of white. Although accidental, it is symbolic of the two most critical periods in our history. The bottom of the monument represents the American Revolution, during which our Founding Fathers laid the foundation of our Nation, and the top represents the Civil War, the conflict from which we emerged a just and rightful Nation.

Open any US History book and you’ll notice that the text is organized around the Revolution and the Civil War. That’s because these two events established and defined the United States. They are pivotal chapters in our national narrative, and our on-going story to fulfill the promise of the Declaration of Independence. It’s a promise based on the divine and Christian revelation that all men are created equal. This promise is the essence of America, and is what makes our Nation so unique and exceptional.

Understanding history is like playing connect-the-dots. You need to know what came before and after an event in order to see the big picture. In trying to explain why the United States is such an exceptional nation; you need to understand the circumstances and events that surround its birth. Just like connect-the-dots it wasn’t just one, but a series of events that precipitated the American Revolution. The Stamp Act, the Boston Tea Party and Massacre, and the Intolerable Acts are all possible answers you might have seen on your high school history final, but they are only part of the big picture. What actually helped the Colonists realize that they “ought to be free and independent States,” was according to John Adams, The Great Awakening.

The First Great Awakening was a Christian revitalization movement that swept across the American colonies in the 1730s and 1740s. It emphasized introspection and a commitment to moral living. It encouraged individuals to seek out and establish a personal relationship with God. The Great Awakening helped the Colonist understand that the authority to rule did not go from God, to the king, to the people; it went from God, to the people, to the king. It sowed the seeds that would blossom in Philadelphia in the summer of 1776, when our Founding Fathers bypassed the authority of King George III, and appealed directly to the “Supreme Judge of the World,” in our struggle for independence.

The Second Great Awakening occurred between 1800 and 1840. It reached out to the non-religious, and fueled the growth of Christianity in America. Like the First Great Awakening, it emphasized the individual’s relationship with the creator. However, believing was not enough; salvation required that one actually live the gospels of Jesus Christ, and exercise their free-will to change society for the better. It gave rise to numerous moral reforms, including the abolitionist and anti-slavery movements that helped spark the Civil War.

It is not a coincidence that the two most critical periods in our history were preceded by religious revivals. These movements forced America to take a long hard look at itself, and make some difficult decisions about our national identity. In both instances, we decided to be a Christian nation, willing to live out the divine truth and promise that “all men are created equal.”

It seems our nation only advances when it returns to the source of our greatness. We witnessed it again in the twentieth-century, when the Christian revival movement of the forties and fifties, highlighted by the Billy Graham crusades, helped to usher in the civil rights and women’s rights movements of the sixties and seventies. America moves forward when it returns to God.

In 1831, the French Political Philosopher and Historian Alexis de Tocqueville came to the United States trying to understand why the American Revolution had succeeded, while the French Revolution had failed. He noted in his book Democracy in America, “In France I had almost always seen the spirit of religion and the spirit of freedom pursuing courses diametrically opposed to each other. But in America, I found that they were intimately united, and that they reigned in common over the same country.” In other words, the American Revolution succeeded because it was a religious event, while the French Revolution failed because it was an anti-religious event.

America is an exceptional nation because America is a religious nation. We are a nation founded upon a divine truth, and dedicated to the Judeo-Christian principals of the Bible. As de Tocqueville concluded, “America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great!”

Today, the secular-progressives are steering America into perilous waters. They arrogantly view God as an obstacle to implementing their agenda, and mistakenly believe that they can move our nation forward without God. However, they willfully blind themselves to the truth of history. The lesson of the twentieth-century is clear; any nation that abandons God places itself at the mercy of the king, or as several atheist nations learned, at the mercy of a Stalin, Mao, or Hitler. One hundred million people perished during the twentieth-century because their societies vainly believed that they didn’t need God.

On December 6, 1884 the capstone was placed upon the Washington Monument. It’s a cast aluminum pyramid; 9 inches high, 6 ½ inches wide, and weighs 6 ½ pounds. Its main purpose is to function as a lightning rod, but on its east side facing the Capital is the inscription “Laus Deo” (Praise be to God). Let us hope that it also functions as a constant reminder to all the law givers who assemble in the Capital, of the one true law giver, and true source of our Nation’s exceptionalism.

If there were an official anthem for the secular-progressive movement, it would have to be John Lennon’s “Imagine.” In the song, the former Beatle asks us to imagine a world with no heaven or hell, no countries, no greed or hunger, no possessions, and no religion. It is a wistful ballad that transports the listener off to Lennon’s imaginary socialist utopia. It’s not difficult to understand where he got his inspiration. When he composed the song in 1975, there were wars raging in more than 20 countries around the globe. Couple these conflicts with major famines in Africa and Asia, and the world was a pretty ugly place.

It’s a beautiful song, but what seems out of place, if not offensive to many people of faith, is the vilification of religion. Why did John Lennon have such a negative view of religion? He was baptized and raised Anglican, sang in the church choir, attended Sunday school, and was confirmed at 15 of his own free-will. So, why did he believe that religion was an evil influence on the world?

Lennon was a European, and Europe’s religious history and tradition is vastly different than what we’ve enjoyed in the United States. Religion in Europe was often used to manipulate and control the people. The aristocracy and church conspired to promote “The Divine Right of Kings,” a doctrine that asserted that the nobility were entitled to special rights and privileges because God favored them over the common man. In England, Henry the VIII appointed himself head of both Church and State. It was a political move designed to establish royal supremacy over all aspects of British life and culture. This is why the Pilgrims and Puritans came to America; they were seeking religious freedom and escaping the persecution of the Church of England.

Additionally, many of the conflicts raging in 1975 had some type of religious underpinning. The Lebanese Civil War between Muslims and Christians resulted in the deaths of a quarter of a million people. In Belfast Northern Ireland, authorities tried to stem the violence by building a “Peace Wall” to separate the Protestant and Catholic neighborhoods. Given this reality, one can’t necessarily blame John Lennon for developing a prejudice against religion.

However, Lennon may have been literally and figuratively short sighted. We often look at individuals or radical groups that commit acts of violence in the name of religion, and assume their behavior reflects the dogma and doctrine of the faith. Individuals and radical groups will always use religion to segregate themselves from those they oppose. This is certainly the case in Northern Ireland, but any individual who justifies violence in the name of Christianity, is certainly not a Christian. Jesus of Nazareth, the founder of Christianity was the original advocate of non-violence. His teachings emphasize forgiveness and tolerance, and he instructed his followers to turn the other cheek, and love their enemies.

No other moral or philosophical teachings have had a more profound impact on human civilization than the teachings of Jesus. That’s because Christian moral and ethical teachings are based on the concept of spiritual equality. It is the notion that all human beings are created in the likeness and image of the creator, and are of infinite value to God. As Paul put it, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

Christianity introduced the concepts of equality and human rights to the world. Even Friedrich Nietzsche, the atheist philosopher who claimed, “God is dead,” recognized this writing: “Another Christian concept, no less crazy: the concept of equality of souls before God. This concept furnishes the prototype of all theories of equal rights.”

Christianity laid the philosophical and ethical foundations for the evolution of Western thought that gave us the Enlightenment, and culminated with the American Revolution. The Declaration of Independence is a reaffirmation, and the political manifestation of the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. Anyone who insists that the United States is not a Christian nation, is either deluding themselves, or is ignorant of the evolution of Western philosophy, and the history of this Nation’s founding.

Today, the secular-progressive movement is attempting to remove God from all aspects of our culture. They vainly believe that the human race has evolved to the point where God is no longer necessary or desirable. They arrogantly view God as an imposition and restriction on their personal freedoms, and deny that he is the author and benefactor of all human rights. They espouse the eradication of Christian values, and seek to implement a secular ideology based on the delusion that human beings are capable of functioning as their own moral authority. Where in the history of the human race has this ever happened? John Lennon’s imaginary socialist utopia is just that, imaginary. It has never happened and never will without the light of a divine moral authority to lead the way.

John Lennon asked us to imagine a world without religion, but we don’t have to imagine it, another Lenin gave us a real life example.

In 1917, Vladimir Lenin led the Bolshevik revolution that brought the Communist to power in Russia. Upon assuming power, he officially declared the Soviet Union an atheist state, and God dead in Russia. The Communist Party was now the sole and ultimate moral authority. They seized and destroyed thousands of churches, synagogues, mosques, and temples. They persecuted people of faith and murdered hundreds of thousands of religious clerics. Over the next 30-years, the Communists, without the restraint of a higher moral authority, and under the control of the dictator Joseph Stalin, murdered at least 20 million people. Many perishing in labor camps, executed by the secret police, or starved to death in a purposely imposed famine.

This is the future of a world without God. Can you imagine it? It’s easy if you try.

When the First Continental Congress convened in September 1774, the proposal that Congress start each day with a prayer was met by a firestorm of debate.  None of the members objected to praying.  What they debated was who should lead the prayer. There were Episcopalians, Quakers, Anabaptists, Presbyterians, and Congregationalists, each with their own denominational preferences.  Finally, the patriot and agitator Sam Adams stood up and said, “I am no bigot.  I can hear a prayer from any man of piety and virtue, who, at the same time, is a friend to his country.”  That settled the debate.  The next day, Episcopal Minister Jacob Duche opened Congress with a reading of the 35^th Psalm, and an invocation that John Adams said, “filled every bosom present.”

Although the original settlers came to America seeking religious freedom, not everyone was as tolerant as Sam Adams.  Massachusetts exiled Roger Williams and Anne Hutchison to Rogues Island; for their religious beliefs, and Charles Carroll, the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence was barred from public office in Maryland, because he was a Catholic.  Religious freedom was not something that was innate to America.  It evolved over time, finally securing its position of importance with the passage of the First Amendment.

Today, a new bigotry threatens our religious freedom.  It is the bigotry of the secular-progressive movement that is attempting to remove God from the public sector.  They insist that the acknowledgement of a divine creator by the government breaches the wall of separation of church and state that Thomas Jefferson advocated, and infringes upon their right of non-belief.  It is a dangerous and potentially fatal argument that threatens the liberty and freedom of all Americans.

Thomas Jefferson never believed that the public acknowledgment of God constituted the establishment of an official state religion.  Jefferson, unlike most of his contemporaries, was not a traditional Christian, he, by his own admission belonged to a sect of himself.  He embraced the moral and ethical teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, but rejected the divinity of Christ.  However, he believed in a Divine Creator, and based the foundation of the United States on the premise that there was a Supreme Being, who is the ultimate moral authority, and source of all human rights. Jefferson was so certain that God endowed us with our inalienable rights that he referred to it as a self-evident truth in the Declaration of Independence. Of course, the validity of Jefferson’s truth is dependent upon whether or not God actually exists.

If God does not exist, then there is no higher moral authority to endow us with anything; our inalienable rights are an illusion.  Secularists could argue that our rights don’t require the existence of God, that they are something that can be derived by a social contract between the people and the powers that govern them. This is true; in fact, it is the traditional means of establishing human and civil rights. The Magna Carter and Communist Manifesto are examples of such contracts.  The danger is that regimes change.  The benevolent leader who initially granted the rights could be replaced by someone not so benevolent. The government could default on the contract taking away or limiting the people’s rights and freedoms, as King George III did with the American Colonies, and Joseph Stalin did with the Russian people.

However, if God does exist, one can make the case, as Jefferson did, that our inalienable rights come from God. There are some very pragmatic reasons for supporting this truth.  Most importantly, it guarantees and protects an individual’s rights and freedoms from encroachment or suppression by the state.  The argument being; since my rights come from God, only God can take them away, and no human being or human institution has the authority to infringe upon, or take my rights away from me.  This is the essence and brilliance of Jefferson’s self-evident truth.  The secularists that seek to remove God from the public sector undermine this truth, and jeopardize the protection it provides the people.

Atheists and secularists that insist God be removed from the public sector because the acknowledgement of God, somehow forces a belief upon their non-belief are hypocrites, because they in the absence of proof are asserting that it is a fact, that God does not exist.  Who is right and who is wrong in the debate to maintain or remove God from the public sector, is dependent upon the evidence that God exists. What then is the evidence of God’s existence?

The body of evidence that supports the existence of God is the universe.  Creation itself is the evidence one can use to either to support or reject the existence of the creator.  There are hypotheses that can explain the creation and evolution of the universe without a creator, and hypotheses that require a creator.  There is no definitive proof that God either exists or does not exist.  The universe is either a product of some cosmic accident, or is here by design, the product of some purposeful intent.  How one interprets the evidence is a matter of choice, and subsequently, a question of faith, and a belief system.  In other words, non-belief is still a belief system, and those who seek to remove God from the public sector, are forcing their non-belief upon those who do believe.

I am no bigot. I respect the right of secularist and atheist not to believe. I have not and never will force my beliefs upon another individual.  However, I am no fool either.  I want to guarantee that my rights, and the rights of my non-believing brethren are protected from the infringement and suppression of the state.  For that reason, I am going to continue to insist that my government publicly acknowledge the existence of the Creator, and the truth that my inalienable rights come from God.

In 1796, George Washington did something extraordinary. He decided to return to his farm at Mount Vernon, and not accept a third term as President. In an era when candidates spend a billion dollars running for office, it is difficult for us to truly understand and appreciate our first President.  Washington never wanted to be President. He never sought the office, and had to be persuaded to accept it if elected.  Upon being elected, he confided in Henry Knox, that he felt like a prisoner being taken to his place of execution.   George Washington became our first President not because he wanted the office, but because he believed that as a citizen, he had a moral obligation to serve his country.

Washington and the Founding Fathers had a concept of citizenship that seems to elude the modern world.  To them, citizenship was about the willingness to sacrifice one’s individual interests in the service of one’s country.  Washington never accepted a salary as Commander In Chief of the Continental Army, or as President.  In true stoic tradition, he strove to live a life of self-discipline and restraint, subscribing to the belief that liberty and freedom enabled man to pursue happiness, and that true happiness could only be attained by living a virtuous and moral life.

The Founding Fathers understood that if our nation was going to thrive, it would have to promote good citizenship, and that good citizenship would require an education emphasizing civic responsibility and morality.  To that end, Washington signed into law the Northwest Ordinance in 1789.

The Northwest Ordinance was first proposed by Thomas Jefferson in 1776, and except for the Declaration of Independence, is perhaps the single most important piece of legislation enacted by the Continental Congress.  The ordinance established the process for admitting new states into the Union, and affirmed the rights of freedom of religion, habeas corpus, and trial by jury, that are the foundation of the Bill of Rights.  It was also instrumental in the development of public education in America because it allocated public lands for schools.  These lands would be the sites of elementary and secondary schools, and the land-grant universities that are today’s state colleges and universities.  Congress justified the use of this public land because; “Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.”

The Congress of the United States allocated public land so schools could promote good citizenship by teaching religion, morality, and knowledge? In today’s secular progressive society, this is clearly a violation of the separation of church and state.  How could the Founding Fathers do this?  What were they thinking?

Obviously, the Founding Fathers had a different understanding of the freedom of religion than the modern secular interpretation.  Freedom of religion does not mandate the exclusion of religion from the public sector. On the contrary, it is intended to promote and encourage religious expression, not for the purposes of promoting any particular faith or religion, but to promote the Judeo-Christian ethic.

The Judeo-Christian ethic is a value system found in the Bible.  It is centered on the belief that there is a divine Creator who endowed us with both a free-will, and the inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  It espouses that the Creator will hold us accountable for what we do and fail to do with the life and freedoms that he gave us.  The Judeo-Christian ethic promotes; human dignity, the pursuit of truth, a love of justice, honesty, integrity, a work ethic, compassion for our fellow man, and above all else, personal responsibility.  These are the values that the Founding Fathers knew were critical to the success of our nation.

It’s important to remember that the United States was a new type of nation, the first nation in history in which the people governed themselves.  There was no ruling class to force their morality or rules of order upon the people.  The survival and ultimate success of the infant United States was dependent upon the character and morality of its citizens, and not the power of the federal government.  The Founding Fathers understood this, and knew that religion was instrumental in developing the moral conditions of good citizenship.  This is why we have a first amendment, and why the early Congress believed that religion, morality, and knowledge were critical to good government and the happiness of the people.

Today, secular progressives are mounting an offensive to remove religion from the public sector. Under the banner of tolerance, they are replacing the concept of personal responsibility with the delusion that there are no consequences for our actions. Their goal is to supplant the truth that liberty and freedom are gifts that enable us to pursue a moral and virtuous life; with the lie, that liberty and freedom exist so we can pursue an unrestrained and immoral life.  After decades of infiltrating the culture, the results of the secular progressive movement are evident; a forty-one percent illegitimate birth rate, a terminally dependent class, a concept of citizenship that places self above service, and a nation in decline.

Apparently, it’s not just the modern world that has difficulty understanding George Washington.  He was somewhat of an enigma among his contemporaries.  Upon learning that Washington intended to return to his farm at Mount Vernon, and not seek a third term as President, King George III of England remarked, “If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world.”