Resolved.
I awoke this morning thanking God that we are not a Christian Nation. I’d like to say that I’m joking, but I’m not. That said, having immersed myself in the Founder’s intent for the last couple of reports, I wholeheartedly agree with George Washington and Thomas Jefferson — I lament the lack of religious and moral instruction that has so terribly degraded American society over the last several decades. Please do not misunderstand my heart.
And yet, like these great pillars of the American Spirit, I am equally certain that the state should have no authority to intrude into our spiritual lives, nor should the state have any role in imposing religious beliefs upon public life. State promoted religion is absolutely antithetical to a free society, which is why I believe the nation was not founded as a Christian nation, as bore out by the founding documents.
If you are new to the audience, or you find yourself reflexively rejecting this conclusion, please, I humbly ask, review the following reports to better understand where I’m coming from, and why this conversation is so very important:
To be very clear, I am not attacking Christianity, or any other religion, or even a lack of religion, and I am not suggesting that religion has no place in a free and prosperous society. I am making an important distinction, as did our forefathers, with laser focus and a unifying intent, between our religious and political missions.
Thus, we find a fork in the road.
There is a very real need to heal American society by virtue of religious and moral instruction. Here we need spiritual leaders to step up, and make relevant to modern society, the moral lessons endowed by the various religious traditions.
From a Christian perspective, evangelicals need to evangelize. Spread the good news. Share the story of Christ and testify to the power of Jesus in your life. Treat every interaction as a ministry, as an opportunity to plant seeds. Pray with people.
You would be amazed at how powerful praying with people can be.
That said, do not despair when you encounter nonbelievers. Do not be pushy. Do not be stuffy. Do not be prudish, pretentious, or Holier Than Thou. Remember, your role as a Christian is not to forcefully convince people to adopt your beliefs, but instead, to be the salt of the earth. Minister thoughtfully, with kindness and compassion.
Plant your seeds wisely, per the words of Jesus:
“A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. Whoever has ears, let them hear.”
Understand that many people may not be ready to receive the message—and that many others will never accept the message, because, like Thomas Jefferson, they reject the Biblical stories of Creation and Jesus Christ as a path to Salvation.
And that’s okay.
If you think about it, it has to be okay in order for a free society to function.
That’s the point that I’ve been trying to make. Pray about it.
From a more philosophical perspective, those of “peculiar mind” whom seek and are successfully able to deduce morality from Natural Law—sans the religious context—should likewise commit themselves also to sharing the good news.
In this context, the good news is that you do not have to go to church to be a good person. In fact, the good news is, you do not have to adopt religion to believe in God. But, whether you believe in God in the grandest sense, or not, you do have a moral obligation to yourself, your family, your community, and your country.
Within this framework, with both believers and nonbelievers sharing a positive and uplifting message, we find traction for the spiritual edification of society. That is, we find a practical approach to imparting meaningful moral lessons to the masses, regardless of their religious persuasion.
At the center of both approaches, indeed, the very root of morality itself, is the judicious discernment between right and wrong. There is good, there is evil, and all it takes for evil to prevail, is for the good of humanity to be emotionally divided by mental (religious) constructs and seduced into apathy.
Does this not sum up the current state of society?
Evil has been on the march since the dawn of time, but in recent memory, it appears to have been gaining momentum and amassing great power. Evil seeks power and control. Evil seeks to harm others for sadistic pleasure or selfish gain.
One need not invoke Satan to make this observation, but I do believe the in-your-face rise of Satanism in America is a testament to just how bold evil has become.
Evil is cunning. Evil is seductive. Evil is poison.
Evil is the force that seeks to rob you of your birthrights as a human being.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” —The Declaration of Independence
Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.
In my mind, this is one of the most powerful phrases ever written. Contained within these words is the wisdom of the ages, distilled into common language.
There is great depth in each word. Consider the right to life, for example.
While Christians in the modern era will undoubtedly affix this truth to opposing abortion and fighting for the unborn, it should go without saying that these words were not penned for that explicit purpose.
This affirmation to the right to life would be better understood through the lens of Natural Law, as it was intended. You, as a living, breathing human being, have an inalienable right to life—to remain living, and to live accordingly.
The implication is that no one, and especially not those who organize and refer to themselves as “the government”—i.e. the ruling class—has the right to interrupt or end your life, without due process (that’s the tricky part).
Some people deserve to die. Let us not forget:
“To everything there is a season… a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal…” —Ecclesiastes 3
One might wonder if God saw fit a time to kill the unborn, say to save the mother’s life or for some other heavenly enigmatic reason, but alas, that is beyond this report.
Nevertheless, the right to life exists, empirically, in Nature, regardless. The right to life is hardwired into humanity and it manifests as an irrepressible instinct to survive—that’s what makes it inalienable, just like the right to liberty.
Just as surely as you have an instinctual urge to survive, giving rise to your irrevokable right to life and self-defense, you also have innate qualities that make you an infinitely unique individual. You instinctively differentiate yourself from others, because you are not the same as any other person on the planet.
You own your personal preferences and proclivities, and as such, you cannot help but be your own unique self. Your unique individuality will express itself, again instinctively, whether you are thinking about it, or trying to, or not.
This is another inseparable aspect of human nature, and therefore, Natural Law.
The beauty of America as founded, is that our government was meant to be restrained by the Constitution, so that no ruling class could impinge upon your personal expression, or violate your individual liberty, again without due cause or process.
Here, it seems appropriate to quickly address the human tendency for hedonistic self-indulgence, which at once highlights the dark side of human nature and the perceived dangers of unfettered freedom, while alluding to the need for moral instruction.
Does the right to individual liberty, and by extension personal happiness, imply that your neighbor has the right to take what is yours and make it there own? Are they free to do so, if it makes them happy? Of course not.
And yet, if you think about it, they are in fact free to do just that.
Criminals prove this point each and every day, and this is just a petty matter. Think of murder, rape, child abuse, and other heinous crimes, and realize that the perpetrators of this evil are, in fact, free to act upon their evil impulse. That is, there is no “law” that can actually stop them from acting upon this impulse. This is free will.
Which is why there is a time to kill, mind you.
But the bigger point here, is that I believe this is what John Adams was getting at when he declared the Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.
“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.
It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
—John Adams
The Founder’s knew that establishing a free society, without moral restraint, would prove disastrous. Given the difficulty in developing moral restraint without religious grounding, at least for the majority of people, this would be a self-evident problem.
It’s not rocket science. I believe this is why George Washington, after confirming that morality could in theory be maintained without religion (by “peculiar” minds), he ultimately concluded that “reason and experience both forbid us to expect that National morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.”
But here’s the twist:
Can you imagine if the government tried to force everyone to go to church on Sunday?
Can you imagine if the government tried to force everyone to accept Jesus Christ?
Can you imagine if the government tried to force everyone to read the Bible?
How is this any different than the government trying to force people to embrace Marxism, accept radical environmentalism, or read the New York Times?
There is no difference.
Both instances conceal an evil impulse behind the veil of good intent.
The evil impulse is that of trying to control the personal convictions and behavior of other people, via the brute force of government mandates. Put differently, it is the impulse to suffocate the diversity of individual expression and force conformity.
Both seek control of the human spirit.
And both God and our Founding Fathers knew better.
May we each take this wisdom to heart, roll up our sleeves, and work together to unite our nation in the spirit of freedom. Let’s plant the seeds of Liberty, rather than sowing seeds of division, and set to the task of healing our great nation, with humble hearts, one meaningful conversation at a time.
P.S. I’ll get back to crushing the commie cabal next week… until then:
RESIST WE MUST!!
Share this post