By Robert Densic
In this heated election season, many politicians are telling you what the main cause of our nation’s problems is. We hear concerns of a federal government spending problem that gives drunken sailors a bad name. Someone else will offer up a concern of federal revenue or someone not paying their fair share. While these answers focus on the frightening economic conditions we find ourselves in, they often miss a larger debate: that of God-given freedom and liberty, or state control.
The forefathers who came to this continent did so with a clearly established goal. The Mayflower Compact reads, “in the name of God, Amen. We whose names are underwritten … by the grace of God … defender of Faith; having undertaken, for the Glory of God, and the advancement of the Christian faith … a voyage to plant the first colony… do by these present, and in the presence of God, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic.” Apparently the forefathers had not attended public education where they would be taught of “separation of church and state.”
Our nation’s Founding Fathers carried this vision forward throughout our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution. The italics are mine.
Declaration of Independence
“When in the course of human events it becomes necessary to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them …
“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 …
“… and for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”
The U.S. Constitution
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish the Constitution for the United States of America.”
Like so much of our nation’s history, we have forgotten where we have come from. We have ignored the lessons of the past and we have stood by as the principles that were fought and paid for with blood have been twisted or ignored. The forefathers who came to this continent did so to maximize the freedoms they recognized as coming from God. Our Founding Fathers fought a war with the most advanced and feared army and navy the world had ever seen. They won and secured that freedom not only for themselves, but for future generations.
It is our duty, it is our solemn obligation to carry on these principles. The book of Revelation warns us “Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.” (Rev 2:5). As Joshua was taking the nation of Israel to the Promised Land, representatives from the twelve tribes carried stones from the river bed of the Jordan River to create a memorial — so that future generations would learn and return to the ways of God-given freedom.
On Sept. 17, we celebrated the 225th anniversary of our Constitution. If we are to restore our nation, we must take up the burden of remembering the past, relearning the principles and returning to them. We can become in the words of Samuel Adams “the tireless, irate minority keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men!”
Here are 10 steps you can take to save the Constitution, created by Julia Shaw of The Heritage Foundation.
1. Read it.
2. Understand it (with your family).
3. Teach it. Start a Constitution study group.
4. Learn about the men who created it. Study the Founding Fathers.
5 Discover the fundamental principles behind it. Read a book.
6. Share what you know in your local community, over the backyard fence or on the front porch.
7. Spread the word. Talk to others.
8. Arm yourselves for debate. Read, read and read some more. Find original source documents.
9. Shore up the American dream. Resist the vast expansion of the federal government.
10. Commit to it. Work to strengthen your family, your church and your community.
