“The American Union will last as long as God pleases. It is the duty of every American Citizen to exert his utmost abilities and endeavours to preserve it as long as possible and to pray with submission to Providence “esto perpetua”.” – John Adams to Charles Carroll, August 2, 1820 (in James H. Hutson, ed., The Founders on Religion, 15).
Happy Independence Day! Happy Birthday, America! May God grant you 250 more!
The United States, the most blessed and incredible confederation in human history, turns 250 years old this July 4. It has not been a tranquil existence. As military veteran and author Thomas W. Chittum observed, “America was born in blood. America suckled on blood. America gorged on blood and grew into a giant, and America will drown in blood” (Thomas W. Chittum, Civil War Two: The Coming Breakup of America, 1).
“Angel of Liberty – The Vision of George Washington” by Jon McNaughton
Because we have been an immensely blessed people, we have been targeted by sinister forces that want to pry apart our Union and reduce us to slavery in a high-tech feudal system whose framework has already been built. The Lord’s hand has been over this nation while Satan’s henchmen have assaulted her. As we have grown in wealth, power, and prestige in our short existence, malign forces have studied ways to turn our blessings into curses. As so often happens with mighty societies, our greatness and exceptionalism have led to pride and apathy – to bread and circuses. We have become so wealthy and privileged that we have grown materialistic. As our love of material things has increased, our virtue has dissipated, our morality has decreased, and our devotion to God in all but lip service has wavered.
As our righteousness has waned, Heaven’s protection has gradually withdrawn. Now, the forces of despotism, degeneracy, and disunion are stronger than ever and threaten the overthrow of this wonderful Republic. We should never fall victim to the erroneous idea that “it can’t happen here” – that America could never fall. Our history proves otherwise. It also proves that national morality and faithfulness to Jesus Christ are required to save us from the enemy at the gates.
Our American Union has nearly collapsed several times under attacks from without and within. Its first trials came during the American Revolution when it is said that a third of the people were against Independence, a third supported it, and the remaining third didn’t care one way or the other. With God’s help, the patriot cause prevailed. In the midst of the fighting, General George Washington was so stunned by God’s obvious intervention that we wrote, “The hand of Providence has been so conspicuous in all this, that he must be worse than an infidel that lacks faith, and more than wicked, that has not gratitude enough to acknowledge his obligations” (George Washington to Thomas Nelson, August 20, 1778). After the war, his conclusion was the same,
“The man must be bad indeed who can look upon the events of the American Revolution without feeling the warmest gratitude towards the great Author of the Universe whose divine interposition was so frequently manifested in our behalf—And it is my earnest prayer that we may so conduct ourselves as to merit a continuance of those blessings with which we have hitherto been favoured” (George Washington to Samuel Langdon, September 28, 1789).
Notwithstanding God’s favor, immediately following the Revolution, Americans – who had not been truly united in the Revolution – remained divided as to their worldview and goals, and the Union devolved into anarchy and economic turmoil. The fledgling Republic verged toward disunion and potential civil war and was only salvaged by the miracle at Philadelphia – the God-inspired Constitution. The Constitution is an unparalleled blessing. It bears the divine stamp of approval of Almighty God and has stood the test of time. Reflecting on the Constitution and the Union, James Madison wrote, “The happy Union of these States is a wonder; their Constn. a miracle; their example the hope of Liberty throughout the world. Woe to the ambition that would meditate the destruction of either!” (James Madison, “Outline,” September 1829, memorandum for the Virginia Constitutional Convention, in The Writings of James Madison, vol. 9, ed. Gaillard Hunt, 351–57)
Forging an empire of Liberty, as Jefferson phrased it, out of despotic Old World thinking and habits, was a challenge. America was then, and remains, a work in progress. The nation was again nearly split during the War of 1812 as New England threatened secession. South Carolina later threatened secession in 1832 over the Tariff of Abomination, to which President Jackson vowed military reprisals. The early Republic was a time of general prosperity, expansion, and optimism, but forces were hard at work undermining Liberty.
“Angel of Marye’s Heights” by Mort Kunstler
The scourge of slavery and the political quarreling it evoked, partly fostered by agent provocateurs operating on behest of European powers, led to the bloody Civil War with 700,000 slaughtered Americans and the near intervention of England to finish the work of disunion. In his April 1863 call for a day of fasting and prayer, Abraham Lincoln correctly identified the causes of the Civil War thus,
“Whereas the Senate of the United States, devoutly recognizing the supreme authority and just government of Almighty God in all the affairs of men and of nations, has by a resolution requested the President to designate and set apart a day for national prayer and humiliation; and
“Whereas it is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon, and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord;
“And, insomuch as we know that by His divine law nations, like individuals, are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world, may we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war which now desolates the land may be but a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole people? We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.
“It behooves us, then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.”
We need not only a national day of prayer and fasting, but a national movement of repentance, prayer, fasting, scripture study, church attendance, and service. As during the Civil War, America needs the Lord’s clemency for our collective sins.
The Civil War, however, did not end the nation. We survived, though scarred. The struggles of the Progressive uprising and the horrors of two world wars and economic depression did severe damage to the Republic and its constitutional fabric. The communist-inspired cultural upheavals and sexual revolution of the 60s and 70s did further damage that has not been undone – the counterculture became the dominant culture.
Unconstitutional wars, terror attacks, false-flag events, public assassinations, stolen national elections, deception campaigns by the intelligence community, brainwashing in public schools and institutions of higher learning, desensitizing by Hollywood, court opinions that have bludgeoned morality and the family unit, and domestic insurgencies by Marxian radicals have contributed to the rising chaos and greatly diminished faith. From elite pedophile rings in government and Hollywood to the Israeli lobby drawing us into endless wars to assaults on free speech and free thought to the murderous rampaging of Black Live Matter and Antifa to the rise of Wicca and New Age spiritualism to the mental rape of America’s youth through public schooling to the entrenching of jihadists on city councils and in government, America has been hobbled in her progress and is teetering on the brink of ruin. The fact that admitted socialists are being elected and now hold institutional power is a black mark we must confront.
“Flag and Union Imperiled” by Mort Kunstler
Through it all, though battered and bruised and much transformed in principle and posture, the American Republic stands and possesses boundless potential that we may seize and cultivate if we will. No other nation has such remarkable potential. No other nation has been as blessed and prospered by God. No other people enjoy such mineral-rich land, abundant soil for growing food, and evident geographic advantages as America. The second verse of “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee” comes to mind,
“My native country, thee, land of the noble free, thy name I love; I love thy rocks and rills, thy woods and templed hills; my heart with rapture thrills, like that above.”
Our nation is so richly blessed. It is stunningly beautiful! I have been privileged to explore the mountains of Alaska and Idaho, the gentle plains and myriad lakes of Kansas and Nebraska, the mysterious bayous of Louisiana and Alabama, the serene beaches of Florida, the endless verdant forests of the South, the shimmering deserts of Arizona, and the tropical isles of Hawaii. While an individual nation-state such as Switzerland, Italy, or Canada may possess exquisite beauty, no nation anywhere has as much variety in its beauty. You could spend your entire life exploring the United States and never see it all.
It is not just in beautiful and abundant land that God has blessed America. The quality of our people and our institutions is unrivaled. Though severely misguided and often ignorant, we are still predominantly a kind people. We help others. We serve. We donate our money and time. We rush to the aid of the distressed during disasters. We want to do the right things. We believe in justice and mercy, God and the Republic. Notwithstanding our many flaws, we are fundamentally good to one another and to strangers, even if we do not win ourselves any points by being sexually immoral and so careless and apathetic that small groups of dedicated crazy people are able to elect wolves in sheep’s clothing to every conceivable position from president to schoolboard to local sheriff.
The World Cup is currently underway in the United States. Tens of thousands of foreigners, especially Europeans, have traveled to the United States for the first time. They have filled the internet with their testimonials about how incredible the United States is, how they were lied to about our nation, and how stunned they are by the kindness of our people, the advanced nature of our society, the abundance of our material blessings, the hugeness of our territory, and the loveliness of our land. Their appraisals are not rosy-eyed “there are no cats in America” style naivety, but honest comparisons of their own sinking societies with ours. If only Americans could capture the same vision and realize what they have and what they risk by allowing it to be polluted by socialists, minorities, illegal invaders, and Republicans and Democrats who lie to get into office and then sell out our birthright to the highest bidder.
We have great potential, wonderful innate talent and resources, and an unmatched heritage of Liberty, but for the reasons outlined above we are now in a precarious situation. From New York to New Orleans and Miami to Chicago, the United States is vulnerable to attack. We have hitherto been spared the types of routine terror attacks perpetrated in Israel or becoming increasingly common in Europe. We do not normally see public beheadings, machete attacks, or car bombings. These are things that happen in London, Paris, Abuja, Damascus, or Tijuana. Apart from a few select ghetto neighborhoods polluted by gangs and uncivilized minorities, we enjoy a general sense of safety throughout the nation even in 2026.
Yet, as America heads into Independence Day, we are more vulnerable than ever because we have backslid in our faithfulness to God, allowed vice to canker our culture, looked the other way as Antifa, Black Lives Matter, and other domestic terror groups have grown and spread their networks with the help of elite money, shrugged as DAs, judges, and police have become soft on crime and bastardized justice, and have permitted tens of millions of illegal third-world invaders to swarm our borders and infest our nation with drugs, human trafficking, socialist mindsets, and foreign culture. And we have allowed our government to label anyone who patriotically opposed this wickedness racists, Nazis, white supremacists, right-wing extremists, or domestic terrorists.
There has never been a more open society than the United States. This is one of the things the World Cup visitors love and marvel at. However, because of our openness and tolerance, there has never been a greater opportunity for evildoers to harm the innocent. Only God’s watch-care over us has preserved us from routine attacks and the permanent splitting of this nation into regional factions. However, there is legitimate concern that He is withdrawing His protection.
How can a People that murders 80+ million innocent babies, permits Satanists to parade in the streets, allows men in drag to fraternize with their children in schools, coddles the mentally ill in their transgender and homosexual delusions, normalizes sexual debauchery and pornographic indulgence, permits their national elections to be stolen so blatantly, forces poisoned vaccines upon people in delirium and panic, allows invaders and criminals to swarm across an open border, lets drugs and cartel gangs flood the streets, and be persuaded to hate their ancestors and self-flagellate in offensive white guilt rituals, expect God’s favor and protection? The only thing we can expect unless we repent in sackcloth and ashes is divine wrath.
Jefferson correctly concluded and warned,
“And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with his wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep forever” (Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, Query XVIII).
We must finally accept the Biblical truths that “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord” (Psalm 33:12) and “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14:34). Accepting them means repenting, and repenting means changing. We must change our habits, exchanging bad for good practices. We must change our way of thinking. We must become righteous, good, and honorable. We must exalt morality and religion in public as well as private. Our schools must teach of God and our public speeches must mention Christ who is the God of this land. We must put the Ten Commandments back in schools and make prayer and fasting popular again. This is and always has been a Christian country. The only way forward that does not involve collapse and civil war is to embrace our Christian heritage and to choose the Lord Jesus for our God.
This Independence Day week as festivities and fireworks happen, keep your head on a swivel. Large crowds present juicy targets for those who would do harm. Be prepared to defend your family and also be situationally aware. Don’t shrug off things that look or feel wrong. Listen to the quiet voice of conscience. And have fun with your family as you teach them the meaning of Independence Day, the glorious heritage of America, the brave heroes of our past, the significance of human Liberty, and the sacrifices it has required and will yet require to preserve and perpetuate Freedom.
Perhaps most importantly, pray. Pray to the Lord for His protection to cover this beautiful nation on the Fourth – on our magnificent birthday. Pray for His watch-care over us as we take time to celebrate our Liberty, remember our gallant forebears, and, hopefully, remember the Lord who made our Independence possible. Pray for big targets like New Orleans, Philadelphia, Boston, and D.C. and that the designs of evil men both in and out of our country to be thwarted. Pray for the security and perpetuation of your own family. Pray for good people everywhere to remain good, and for Christians to live their religion. Pray for personal and national repentance that divine wrath may be turned away. And pray with John Adams “esto pepetua” – that our Union may endure forever.
Do we comprehend how blessed we are because we have the Constitution as our system of government? The federal Constitution of the United States is the most inspired work ever created by human wisdom. Indeed, it was not created by human wisdom at all, but was inspired by the Lord through noble, wise, and worthy men who loved by the Lord and the Liberty wherewith He had made them free. This Constitution Day, a long-neglected holiday by ungrateful and unthinking Americans, I plead for you to show gratitude to our inspired national charter of rights, to the men who fought and labored for it, and to the Lord Jesus Christ who blessed us with its bounties.
It must be admitted that America in 2025 is a vastly different place than it was in 1789 when George Washington became the first President of these United States. Not only have technology and social norms evolved, but our understanding of republicanism has evolved. Sadly, our comprehension of republicanism, federalism, constitutionalism, and sound governmental principles has lapsed. The average American knows practically nothing about the Constitution – most have never read it and wouldn’t understand it if they did. America is also a less free place in 2025 than it was in 1789.
Some balk at the idea that we are a less free nation now than in the past. What about slavery? What about women’s rights? What about this or that or whatever ideological talking point you remember from your government education? Even though slavery has been formally abolished, for U.S. citizens, Liberty has in fact decreased. A very quick overview looks like this: Government has ballooned in size (starting primarily with Abraham Lincoln), an unelected bureaucracy reigns regardless of changes in administration, intelligence agencies spy on everyone and collect our data without warrant or just cause, the Federal Reserve and Congress have utterly destroyed the purchasing power of the dollar while racking up unheard of debt totaling $37.5 trillion as of this writing, free speech is under withering attack and socialistic “hate speech” laws plague us, all fifty states have gun laws in blatant disregard of the Second Amendment, crime so often goes unpunished by corrupt judges and district attorneys, private property is being seized left and right by federal and state agencies, and we are being nickled and dimed to death by insane fees and taxes far exceeding those that enraged our forefathers and caused them to rebel against the tyrannical British. The list could go on and on. The fact is that the U.S. Constitution is hanging by a brittle thread and the Republic, which functions more like an empire, is on the blink of collapse.
“I do not believe the greatest threat to our future is from bombs or guided missiles. I do not think our civilization will die that way. I think it will die when we no longer care, when the spiritual forces that make us wish to be right and noble die in the hearts of men, when we disregard the importance of law and order.
“If American freedom is lost, if America is destroyed, if our blood-bought freedom is surrendered, it will be because of Americans. What’s more, it will probably not be only the work of subversive and criminal Americans. The Benedict Arnolds will not be the only ones to forfeit our freedom. . . .
“If America is destroyed, it may be by Americans who salute the flag, sing the national anthem, march in patriotic parades, cheer Fourth of July speakers–normally good Americans, but Americans who fail to comprehend what is required to keep our country strong and free – Americans who have been lulled away into a false security.
“Great nations are never conquered from outside unless they are rotten inside. Our greatest national problem today is erosion, not the erosion of the soil, but erosion of the national morality – erosion of traditional enforcement of law and order.
“In this blessed land we have exalted security, comfort, and ease above freedom. If we dwelled at length on the many things that are disturbing in the life of America today, we might well become discouraged. I mention only a few of the reported startling evidences of our national illness, our moral erosion.
“There is a decline of U.S. morals and moral fiber, a turning to pleasure and away from hard work and high standards of the past. . . .
“America is the biggest market for narcotics.
“Although we consider ourselves a people who believe in law and order, we have seen much evidence of the passion of the mob. . . .
“The sky-rocketing cost of the welfare state. . . .
“Inflation has struck a serious blow to the value of the American dollar.
“We continue to move in the direction of more federal intervention, more concentration of power, more spending, more taxing, more paternalism, more state-ism. . . .
“The facts are clear. Our problem centers in Washington, D.C. And this applies to the administration of both political parties. In the words of James Madison, “Since the general civilization of mankind, I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power, than by violent and sudden usurpations.” (Elliot’s Debates, Vol. 3, p. 87.)
“If America is to withstand these influences and trends, there must be a renewal of the spirit of our forefathers, an appreciation of the American way of life, a strengthening of muscle and sinew and the character of the nation. America needs guts as well as guns. National character is the core of national defense.”
Benson was correct. Our biggest problems – and we have many – are our immorality and apathy. We are shockingly complacent. As our national house burns down around us, we sit absentmindedly scrolling on social media. We perpetuate a cycle of pride, contention, sacrilege, hedonism, and both political and spiritual blindness. Most Christians are Christians-in-name-only but do not follow the teachings of the Savior of the world. They certainly do not follow His laws governing morality and sexual relations. We have become a nation of porn-addicted, degenerate, self-centered pleasure-seekers instead of seekers of God, goodness, and the general welfare.
Separation of Church and State by Jon McNaughton
Because we have abandoned the God of this land, who is Jesus Christ, He has left us to our own devices – or, if you will, to our own vices. These vices, apathy, and ignorance have been our undoing as we have allowed – usually by electing them – vipers and monsters into office at all levels of government. The Lord has given us what we deserve – and what we deserve is pedophiles, adulterers, liars, Satanists, and corrupt self-aggrandizers in our government. These wolves in sheep’s clothing come in two sizes – Republican and Democrat. Neither fights for the American People. The fact that so many conservatives still believe that the Republican Party is on their side is indicative of how low we have sunk as a nation. If we want to have moral, upright, and good people restored to offices in government, we must do what the Lord told the Israelites through His prophet Isaiah and repent. I quote the inspired words:
“Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.
“Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.
“From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.
“Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.
“And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.
“Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah. . . .
“Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
“Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
“If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:
“But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
“How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.
“Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water:
“Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.
“Therefore saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts, the mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies:
“And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin:
“And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city.
“Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness.
“And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the Lord shall be consumed.” (Isaiah 1:4-9, 16-28).
If you care about America, repent. Turn to the Redeemer Jesus Christ. Rid yourself of unworthiness and of the corruption and demoralizing taint of the world. The Savior stands with open arms ready to save. Everyone is welcome – none are forbidden to partake of His mercy. He bled in Gethsemane for your sins, suffered scourging, an unjust mock trial, and endured crucifixion as the great and last blood sacrifice, for you. No matter what you have done, you may repent. You cannot merely claim Jesus and think that cleanses you. It does not. Neither does deathbed repentance benefit you. Only a sincere, abiding repentance – that is, a turning away from evil and a turning to good – has the power to save you, cleanse you, and make you reborn sons and daughters of the Lord of lords. I repeat, if you love America, repent.
Washington’s Prayer by Jon McNaughton
This Constitution Day, it is imperative to drink deeply from the wells of wisdom of our ancestors. Our forefathers were paragons of truth and political brilliance. In my studies of world history, I find no comparable group of men – men who understood so thoroughly the principles of Liberty, the dangers of tyranny, and the price required to both obtain and maintain Freedom. It is incumbent upon you to study our national documents – the Declaration of Independence and Constitution – and learn their holy and just principles.
James Wilson, one of the legal geniuses among the Founding Fathers, gave us important advice when he said that we cannot truly comprehend or love Liberty if we do not also comprehend and love law. We lie to ourselves if we claim to love Liberty but do not understand law – in our context, if we do not understand the Constitution. Wilson recommended that we all study the science of law through which we gain Liberty. He observed:
“Were I called upon for my reasons why I deem so highly of the American character, I would assign them in a very few words—That character has been eminently distinguished by the love of liberty, and the love of law. . . .
“In free countries—in free countries, especially, that boast the blessing of a common law, springing warm and spontaneous from the manners of the people—Law should be studied and taught as a historical science. . . .
“. . . Before we can be distinguished by the same honours [as illustrious men like Benjamin Franklin], we must be distinguished by the same virtues.
“What are those virtues? They are chiefly the same virtues, which we have already seen to be descriptive of the American character—the love of liberty, and the love of law. But law and liberty cannot rationally become the objects of our love, unless they first become the objects of our knowledge. The same course of study, properly directed, will lead us to the knowledge of both. Indeed, neither of them can be known, because neither of them can exist, without the other. Without liberty, law loses its nature and its name, and becomes oppression. Without law, liberty also loses its nature and its name, and becomes licentiousness. In denominating, therefore, that science, by which the knowledge of both is acquired, it is unnecessary to preserve, in terms, the distinction between them. That science may be named, as it has been named, the science of law.
“The science of law should, in some measure, and in some degree, be the study of every free citizen, and of every free man. Every free citizen and every free man has duties to perform and rights to claim. Unless, in some measure, and in some degree, he knows those duties and those rights, he can never act a just and an independent part.”
If we want to regain the same level of Liberty our forefathers enjoyed, we must love and study law as they did. We must study the workings of our federal Constitution. We must study the principles of the Declaration of Independence. We must know what are our God-given rights and what are the responsibilities and delegates powers of government. We must become truly engaged patriots, not merely sunshine or armchair patriots.
As I said before, if you truly love America, repent. If you have not read the Constitution, acknowledge your fault, repent, and read it. If you are a parent, read it together with your spouse and children. Study it. Inculcate the principles into your children. Live them and hold your elected representatives accountable to that which they hypocritically swear an oath every two, four, or six years. There are many marvelous resources for comprehending the principles therein written if you do not trust in your own native reasoning ability.
Resources for better understanding the Constitution include:
W. Cleon Skousen, The Making of America: The Substance and Meaning of the Constitution Paul B. Skousen, How to Read the Constitution & the Declaration of Independence David Barton, Original Intent: The Courts, the Constitution, and Religion Philip B. Kurland and Ralph Lerner, ed., The Founders’ Constitution series Connor Boyack, The Tuttle Twins series, for the kids Madison, Hamilton, and Jay, The Federalist Papers Paul B. Skousen, The Federalist Papers Made Easier: The Complete and Original Text Subdivided and Annotated for Easier Understanding W. Cleon Skousen, The Miracle of America video lesson series
One Nation Under God by Jon McNaughton
However you choose to study and learn the Constitution, learn it. Internalize it. Live it. Freedom was purchased with blood. It may require blood to fully restore. But Liberty is worth it. The alternative – high-tech feudalism and oppression – is unacceptable. No good parent would put their children through a future of slavery and oppression and life in a decadent, godless society. Be a good parent. Turn to Christ. Be an example of the believers for your children, for your community, and for the world. You just might save your country, but you will certainly save your soul.
Happy Constitution Day. God be praised for sending the Founding Fathers to earth to carve out a haven of Liberty for the oppressed of the world and to institute the wisest document of Freedom ever seen in world history, the U.S. Constitution.
The Holy Bible once held a spot in every school in America. It was the chief textbook and source of truth, wisdom, and history. From the time the Pilgrims landed in New England, Americans have based their governmental structures, constitutions, laws, public standards, and expectations on God’s word. The dramatic increase in society’s manifold problems correlates directly to society’s departure from the Bible and Christian norms in both public and private. Now, and rising group of patriots is attempting to once again enshrine the Bible in schools and Christianity in society.
Several states are making significant strides to bring America back to her Christian roots. And her roots are in fact Christian. William J. Federer has done amazing work on the question of America’s Christian heritage. His books The Original 13: A Documentary History of Religion in America’s First Thirteen States and The Ten Commandments & their Influence on American Law – a study in history use primary documents and statements to shatter the myth that American law and jurisprudence were based on anything other than Biblical Christianity.
A page from The New-England Primer, America’s first schoolbook used for generations.
David Barton and his WallBuilders organization have also done phenomenal, perhaps unsurpassed, work in this field, bringing to life firsthand sources that show how deeply grounded in faith our forefathers were. Barton’s books Original Intent: The Courts, the Constitution, & Religion, The Founders’ Bible, Separation of Church & State: What the Founders Meant, and Education and the Founding Fathers are worthy additions to any patriot’s library. His research meticulously demonstrates how integral Christianity and Biblical precedent were in the lives, philosophies, policies, lawmaking, and decision of our Founding Fathers and other early Americans.
W. Cleon Skousen, whom I consider the greatest scholar and historian of modern times, has provided three texts that are of critical importance on the topic of religion in American history: The Majesty of God’s Law, The Making of America: The Substance and Meaning of the Constitution, and The 5,000 Year Leap. These texts reveal the reality of America’s godly past in which our forefathers worshipped the Lord, used the Holy Bible in public policy, and espoused the inseparable link between religion, morality, and Freedom.
In general terms, our ancestors saw religion and morality as the indispensable supports for civil society and Liberty. President George Washington testified of this truth in 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 connections with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked: Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice? And 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. The rule, indeed, extends with more or less force to every species of free government. Who that is a sincere friend to it can look with indifference upon attempts to shake the foundation of the fabric?” (George Washington, Farewell Address, 1796).
The idea that free government could be maintained without religion and morality was preposterous to the Father of our Country. This is why, another time, he called these twin agents “the essential pillars of civil society” (George Washington to the Protestant Clergy of Philadelphia, March 3, 1797). Anyone who would undermine them would also undermine society. This was the general view at the time, and I submit that it is true today.
George Washington praying, setting an example for the rest of us
Dr. Benjamin Rush, another Founding Father, placed particular emphasis on education and championed schooling. In his influential tract, “A Defence of the Use of the Bible in Schools,” Dr. Rush gave a sweeping overview of the benefits of using the Bible as a textbook. At eleven pages, the tract is too long to reproduce here, and it is a pity to break it into pieces. However, the good doctor spoke plainly about the “constitution of the human mind” and the fact that “the influence of early impressions are very great upon subsequent life; and in a world where false prejudices do so much mischief, it would discover great weakness not to oppose them by such as are true.” He noted that “knowledge is most durable, and religious instruction most useful, when imparted in early life.” Dr. Rush also argued that “the Bible, when not read in schools, is seldom read in any subsequent period of life.”
Few would debate that the information given to a child when his mind is most malleable from birth until the age of eight sticks the longest and has a guiding influence over the remainder of his life. This has been a self-evident truth for millennia. Perhaps it is for this reason that the Lord instructed ancient Israelite parents to so diligently teach their children:
“And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
“And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
“And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.
“And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates” (Deuteronomy 6:6-9).
Unfortunately, today, many grow up without ever cracking the Bible, without ever hearing a sermon, without knowing the Ten Commandments, and with religious feeling at all. This is dangerous. It is also the deliberate design of those who would undermine and radically transform our society, removing Christ as our King, Lawgiver, and Judge. Dr. Rush foresaw this happening if the Bible was removed from schools. He predicted:
“The present fashionable practice of rejecting the Bible from our schools, I suspect, has originated with the Deists. They discover great ingenuity in this new mode of attacking Christianity. If they proceed in it, they will do more in half a century in extirpating our religion, than Bollingbroke or Voltaire could have effected in a thousand years.”
If Dr. Rush could see our society today, he would no doubt be appalled at the immorality, hedonism, and anti-Christian mockery in every corner of society, from schools to entertainment to courts. Generations are growing up without any fear of God, knowledge of His attributes, or understanding of His teachings. Instead, the values of crass materialism and me-centered hedonism rule the modern mind. To reverse this course, we must again educate children from a young age in God’s word. The home is the best place to do this, but school is a failsafe. What is taught to one generation becomes the policy of the next. If we want a brighter future, we must teach a brighter doctrine – the doctrine of Jesus Christ.
Martin Luther nailing his 95 Theses to the church door
In my high school, I recently concluded teaching a unit on the Reformation, Renaissance, and Medieval Europe. I taught my students Catholic ideas like works and purgatory, the five solas of Martin Luther and his ideas on grace vs. works, the concept of predestination as taught by John Calvin, the Doctrine of the Lesser Magistrate promulgated at Magdeburg and beyond, and more. It is utterly impossible to discuss Medieval European history without speaking of religion and the Roman Catholic Church. It is impossible to talk about Europe from the 1500s to the present without discussing Protestantism, the wars of religion, and the revolutionary impact of groups like the Lutherans, Anabaptists, and Calvinists. It is also impossible to properly discuss the Scientific Revolution, Renaissance, the birth of modern society, the Pilgrim and Puritan voyages to America, or the establishment of the United States, without also discussing God, the Bible, and Christianity. Anyone who attempts it is a fraud and teaches insufficient and lopsided history.
Even the sciences cannot be taught effectively without religion. Most of the major thinkers in science were men of God who compared their findings to God’s word. On this point, Dr. Rush noted:
“The sciences have been compared to a circle, of which religion composes a part. To understand any one of them perfectly, it is necessary to have some knowledge of them all. Bacon, Boyle, and Newton included the Scriptures in the inquiries to which their universal geniuses disposed them, and their philosophy was aided by their knowledge in them.”
To deprive students of the knowledge that the great thinkers of the past often attributed their discoveries to God and relied upon the Bible as a source of knowledge is to deprive them of truth and to hurt them in the long run. So, too, by stripping them of the ability to learn directly from the world’s most printed and read book, the book upon which our society is inarguably founded, is to strip them of true educational opportunities and chances for growth, reflection, and understanding. Indeed, it is to destroy the field of history entirely, converting it into secular state-sanctioned talking points.
As a teacher, I see the delinquency that is rife in schools. Much of this could be corrected by universal instruction in the Bible and its doctrines and by teaching Christian standards. Something as simple as exposure to the Ten Commandments and God’s basic expectations for righteous conduct would contribute greatly to improving behavior. Boyd K. Packer, late leader in the Church which I attend, gave this poignant observation back in 1986:
“True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and behavior.
“The study of the doctrines of the gospel will improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior. Preoccupation with unworthy behavior can lead to unworthy behavior. That is why we stress so forcefully the study of the doctrines of the gospel” (Elder Boyd K. Packer, “Little Children,” General Conference, October, 1986).
An interesting correlation exists between our nation’s decline in religious observance and the proliferation of self-help books, therapy, crime, and sexual immorality. We have taken away from generations of Americans the greatest self-help book of them all – the Bible. We have severed – even criminalized – this important link to divine wisdom, leaving people to grapple with man-made philosophies that so often contradict each other, lead to detrimental behavior and thought patterns, and erode Freedom.
An easy solution is to simply introduce children to scripture from a young age. Yes, they ought to learn it at home; their parents are primarily responsible for teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ and inculcating in them good morals and worthy habits. However, that is not happening. An alternative check, therefore, must be the reintroduction of the Holy Bible in schools.
Several states are making great efforts to resurrect religion in schools. Oklahoma as just ordered 500 copies of the Bible be issued for use in AP American Government courses. An additional 55,000 Bibles are being ordered to be placed in every classroom alongside the Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, and Bill of Rights. The Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Ryan Walters, issued an official statement on November 14, calling the move “the first in the nation Bible purchase explicitly for use in schools as an academic and literary resource and is the first step toward providing Bibles for every classroom in the state.” He further explained:
“We are focused on ensuring we get Bibles available in every classroom in our state as quickly as we can. I will take every step possible to ensure Oklahoma students have the resources they need to fully understand American history. By acting now, Oklahoma is leading the country on a path toward greater focus on academic excellence by providing critical historical, cultural, and literary context for our students. We are not going to change our history, and the Bible is a major part of that.”
Of course, the anti-religionists have filed lawsuits and complaints to counter this action, with some school districts outright refusing to comply. Powerful forces like the ACLU and lobby organizations that hate God are trying to overturn Walters’ decision. Let us pray that their attempts fail and that God has at least one state that honors Him in its schools.
Louisiana has also mandated that the Ten Commandments be displayed in their public schools. However, one activist federal judge, John W. DeGravelles, has attempted to block the move, calling it “discriminatory and coercive” and “unconstitutional,” despite the long history of displaying the Ten Commandments in schools for most of U.S. history, using the Ten Commandments in court cases, and using them as a basis for crafting laws. The state, however, is pushing forward. May they succeed.
In my home state, the Idaho Family Policy Center is readying a bill that would bring back a former statute requiring Bible readings in the classroom. Read this recent editorial by IFPC head Blaine Conzatti making the case that history and tradition, both in Idaho and throughout the United States, supports bringing the Bible back to schools. Conzatti reasoned:
“Even the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the practice [of using the Bible as a textbook] in Vidal v. Girard’s Executors (1844): “Why may not the Bible, and especially the New Testament, without note or comment, be read and taught as a divine revelation in the [schools] — its general precepts expounded, its evidences explained, and its glorious principles of morality inculcated?”
“Likewise, our Idaho founding fathers wanted the Bible to be read in public schools — and they intentionally crafted our state constitution to allow the practice.
“James W. Reid, D-Nez Perce, vice president of the Idaho Constitutional Convention, aptly captured the sentiments of Idaho’s founders when he said, “It is because the Bible is read, preached, and taught in the schools that this country is great and glorious.””
If we truly wish to make America great again, we must bring the Bible back to schools and repent in humility before the Lord Jesus.
The final example of a state-wide effort to bring the Bible back to school occurred last week in Texas when the State Board of Education approved a Bible-based curriculum for students K-5 called the Texas Education Agency’s (TEA) Bluebonnet Learning program. Governor Greg Abbott praised the program, stating:
“The passage of Bluebonnet Learning is a critical step forward to bring students back to the basics of education and provide the best education in the nation. These transformative educational materials are voluntary and free for schools and teachers to use. And with parents also able to access these materials online, we will ensure young Texans have access to high-quality, grade-level appropriate curricula that will provide the necessary fundamentals in math, reading, science, and other core subjects and boost student outcomes across Texas.”
Tyndale’s last words before being burned at the stake were, “Lord, open the King of England’s eyes.”
It says a lot about the unions and lobbies that they would attack a voluntary program that does not even mandate, but merely allows, the Bible to be taught as one option among many. They love to use the word “choice,” yet vehemently oppose choice whenever it involves something with which they disagree. The true agenda, of course, is to convince students that God is dead and snatch souls away from Christ. And they will burn at the stake every modern William Tyndale they must to achieve this nefarious purpose because they know that their agenda withers and dies when the word of God gets into the hands, minds, and hearts of the People.
Those in favor of broader educational opportunities and school choice applaud Texas’ move. Christians who see the Bible as fundamental to proper education, and morality and religion as the indispensable pillars of free and civil society, see it as a first step in the right direction. But it is only one step; more work must be done.
However, those in favor of broader educational opportunities applaud Texas’ move. And Christians who see the Bible as fundamental to proper education, and morality and religion as the indispensable pillars of free and civil society, see it as a first step in the right direction.
I was privileged to be raised by a history teacher who also happened to be a real Christian. We read the holy scriptures in our home every day. We prayed together. We gave service together. We went to Church each Sunday. Religious imagery, quotes, and Bible verses abounded in the house – in the kitchen, in the living room, in our bedrooms, in the bathroom. One of the first books I ever remember opening was a gigantic illustrated copy of the Bible. The colorful image of Jonah being swallowed by the fish has always stayed with me. I served a two-year mission to Russia to spread the Gospel and have held callings in several congregations precisely because of my witness of Christ which was kindled in my early years at home and later confirmed by the Holy Spirit.
I can therefore testify from personal experience of the positive influence having the symbols of Christ and His teachings constantly around you. It is necessary in every Christian home. It is equally necessary in the public square. As a teacher, I can’t think of anything that would improve behavior, principles, motivation, and academic output better than using the Bible in the classroom. Our eminently literate and wise Founding Fathers studied from the Bible, quoted it more than any other source in their writings and speeches, and sought to base American society on scripture.
The National Monument to the Forefathers
American history supports placing the Bible back in the classroom, using it as a textbook, and teaching God’s law to the youth. This is our past and it will be our future. It will be an uphill battle, though, because systematic evil exists and has a stranglehold over the current Marxian iteration of the education system. Patriotic Christians throughout the country, however, are rising up and exercising their power and pushing hard to make Christ King once more in America. Join the fight. Pray for our success. Use the sword of the Spirit to slash falsehoods and repel our enemies. And may the Lord grant us repentance and wisdom that we might turn to Him once more.
I tire of the phrases, “It’s my constitutional right” and “I have a constitutional right to . . .” – fill in the blank. No, you don’t have a “constitutional right” to anything. Constitutions don’t give rights. Governments don’t bestow rights upon you. Rights don’t come from men, employers, leaders, kings, diplomats, elected representatives, parents, priests, polls, popular consent, treaties, agreements, grants, charters, court rulings, or constitutions. Rights come from God. Period.
To say that you have a “constitutional right” to something is an admission of defeat, submission, and servility. If a constitution gives you that “right,” it is really a privilege and can be taken away. If a constitution gives you a right, then that right can be altered or changed if the constitution is changed. Would you cease to have the right to keep and bear arms in your own private self-defense if the political Elite passed an amendment to repeal the Second Amendment? If you think that’s how rights work, you are not my ideological ally, but are an enemy to the Republic.
Our Founding Fathers knew the source of mankind’s sacred rights. They declared: “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.”
This statement, enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, is formal U.S. law. A belief that that God exists and granted us inalienable rights is part of our DNA as Americans. Someone who denies these key tenets denies the foundation America was built upon, denies the Declaration of Independence, denies the colonists’ argument for Independence, and denies Freedom itself.
Alexander Hamilton explained that our rights did not come from documents. While speaking of the right of revolution, Hamilton made these overarching remarks:
“The sacred rights of mankind are not to be rummaged for, among old parchments, or musty records. They are written, as with a sun beam, in the whole volume of human nature, by the hand of the divinity itself; and can never be erased or obscured by mortal power.
“The nations of Turkey, Russia, France, Spain, and all other despotic kingdoms, in the world, have an inherent right, when ever they please, to shake off the yoke of servitude, (though sanctified by the immemorial usage of their ancestors;) and to model their government, upon the principles of civil liberty” (Hamilton, The Farmer Refuted).
Hamilton knew that dusty old documents, charters, and constitutions are incapable of granting a single right to anyone. They may reiterate rights, formally declare them, or reinforce them, but they do not create them or bestow them upon anybody.
The beautiful thing about rights is that they belong to everyone equally at the same time. We inherit them at birth and carry them with us every second of the day until death. The only true human equality, therefore, is in individual Freedom that may be enjoyed by every person, black, white, male female, without cost.
The only exception to the fact that no human power can justifiably strip any person of their God-given rights is if the individual forfeits them by violating the rights of another person. Notice I did not say that rights may be taken if someone refuses to inject poison into their bodies, or inhibit the free flow of oxygen into their lungs by covering their mouth with a mask, or opt out of using the twisted vocabulary an overly offended group demands you use, or acknowledge a man’s deluded fantasy when he says he’s a woman. None of that makes one liable to lose his rights. Only the actions of a person to infringe upon the rights of another person can cause them to forfeit their own sacred, undeniable, and inalienable rights.
Thomas Jefferson put it best when he defined Liberty thus:
“[R]ightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will, within the limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add ‘within the limits of the law’; because law is often but the tyrant’s will, and always so when it violates the right of an individual” (Thomas Jefferson to Isaac H. Tiffany, April 4, 1819).
Your rights are yours. They are free gifts from God. He endowed your spirit with Liberty and free will when He placed you here on this planet that He created to test your obedience to His laws and your ability to follow His Son Jesus Christ in the face of opposition. He has never rescinded our rights. The thought, then, that government dares abrogate our rights is offensive and repugnant. Jefferson said: “The God who gave us life gave us liberty at the same time; the hand of force may destroy, but cannot disjoin them” (Jefferson, A Summary View of the Rights of British America). And so it is.
Please refrain from saying that the Constitution – as inspired, brilliant, and incredible it is – gives you your rights. That is what you say, whether you mean to or not, when you refer to “constitutional rights.” If you want to use the phrase “constitutionally guaranteed rights,” that is more acceptable. The Constitution was written to define the proper role and scope of government so as to prevent government from infringing upon our God-given rights. Said otherwise, it was written to protect our rights from the greedy and tyrannical hand of government.
I love Liberty. I love my rights. I declare that all of us – every man, woman, and child – was granted fundamental rights by their Father in Heaven, that they were activated upon birth in mortality, and that unless a person forfeits them by maliciously infringing upon another’s equal rights, no government, no society, no poll, no consensus, no referendum, may take them from him.
Stand in defense of your rights. God gave them to you; don’t fear what rasping, desperate, demonic politicians and schemers threaten to do to you. Their corrupt temple of evil is beginning to crumble. The Lord has promised it will be thrown down and the last vestiges of wickedness will be destroyed, burned, and abolished.
The Devil’s days are numbered, though in his death throes his rage will be terrible and will cause much destruction. Brace for it. Prepare for it. Call on the Lord to protect your family. Focus your faith on the Savior Jesus Christ. Repent and get right with your redeeming Advocate. “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free” (Galatians 5:1).
Daily, I see conservative pundits gush about the political awakening they see happening in America and around the world. They say, “We’re winning!” and “The political Elite are petrified!” and “They’re running scared!” No, we’re not, and no, they’re not. A political awakening without a religious revival equals defeat.
On the surface, it appears that the side of truth, light, and right is winning. Bumbling Biden’s corrupt regime is crumbling as more information about his bribery and duplicity emerges despite the best attempts of the controlled press to conceal it. The House of Representatives has opened an impeachment inquiry against the cognitively impaired fake “president,” and his crack-addict son Hunter is facing a felony indictment for lying about his drug habit while purchasing a firearm. Lies of every type are being exposed, whistleblowers are coming out of the woodwork, the January 6th “insurrection” lie is unraveling, the complicity of Big Tech and the Establishment is now well known, the Coronahoax charade is collapsing as the slogan “We will not comply” is trending, judicial victories are proliferating for conservative defendants prosecuted by the tyrannical Establishment, and more.
Meanwhile, Trump’s support is larger than it ever has been notwithstanding the fraudulent indictments and court cases the political Establishment is throwing at him. Many Democrats have abandoned ship and are now Team Trump. Increasing numbers of minority voters, which have always voted Democrat, are now openly and vocally on Trump’s side. While Biden can’t string two coherent sentences together and is literally being mocked on the world stage, Trump is out there looking as robust as ever at mass rallies and events. The controlled press is collapsing as viewers shift toward independent media. Establishment Republican presidential candidates like Chris Christie, Nikki Haley, Mike Pence, Ron DeSantis, and Vivek Ramaswamy, brought in around 12 million viewers to the first presidential debate whereas Trump’s interview with Tucker Carlson on the same night brought in 250 million.
By every political metric, it appears the conservative cause is full-steam-ahead while liberalism is collapsing in almost comical fashion. However, appearances are often deceiving. I fully admit that a global awakening is now underway. I wrote about this in my 2022 article “Slaves Rising.” Politically, the curtain has fallen, and every honest and aware investigator knows who is really pulling the strings and that they are trying to crush us. We know the demonic agenda that is in the works and the hellish high-tech slavery that is being prepared for us. Yet, I fail to see the necessary religious revival materialize alongside this gratifying political awakening.
Sure, some Christians are becoming more hardcore, vocal, and organized, but the overall number of Christians is rapidly decreasing while atheists, New Agers, Satanists, and Wiccans are flourishing. Social media outlets like Gab.com are fighting hard against the Satanic conspiracy for the glory of the Lord, but the conspiracy retains its stranglehold on the levers of power in society. Movies like Sound of Freedom, based on the anti-human trafficking efforts of Latter-day Saint Tim Ballard, are outperforming Hollywood’s corrupt excuses for entertainment, yet Ballard is now at the center of malicious smear attack that has turned some of his supporters against him.
The conservative side has also placed many of their representatives in government, but are these representatives truly religious and moral? Let’s take a case in point. Representative Lauren Boebert from Colorado has been one of the most outspoken critics of the regime and supporters of self-defense rights, the Constitution, and so on. She has openly defied many of the regime’s absurd restrictions, such as when she walked into a session at the Capital armed, and has asserted her rights. Yet do you recall the incident that happened this week? Boebert was kicked out of a theater with her date after vaping and groping her partner while wearing an immodest dress. Then she denied it and lied about doing both, which denial has been contradicted by video evidence. After the video emerged, she admitted her lies. This is one of our side’s most ardent representatives, and yet she is morally bankrupt and a liar to boot.
Vivek Ramaswamy has risen dramatically in the polls as of late. He says many of the right things yet has a shady past and even shadier connections. The kicker, however, is that he is Hindu. I have nothing against Hindus (in fact, I love Indian culture, cuisine, clothing style, history, etc.), but, in America, we can only afford to have Christians fill the seats of government; not Jews, Muslims, Hindus, atheists, or worse. Christ is the God of this land and it is our duty to vote for Christians if we want His divine favor.
Why should the fact that a non-Christian and a lying Christian are so popular on our side be a surprise? After all, Donald Trump is essentially worshiped as the savior by conservatives. Trump, you’ll recall, was a braggadocious serial adulterer and a crass individual. I believe he has changed for the better since he first took office, as we all thankfully have the opportunity to do because of the Atonement and grace of Jesus Christ, but his moral qualities – or lack thereof – make him suspect. His lack of virtue, I believe, impairs his ability to discern truth from error, and make correct decisions.
Think of the vicious and corrupt men Trump surrounded himself with during his first term – men who have almost universally now been exposed as enemies to the Republic who undermined him and his policies at every turn. Had he had a modicum of the Holy Spirit with him, he would have been able to discern between the traitors and patriots and would have achieved far more while in office.
I’ll quickly add that the Lord sometimes uses those who don’t know Him to further His purposes. Cyrus the Great comes to mind. However, I believe He designed America to be different. This is His land. He founded it. He established the Constitution. He preserved our forefathers and delivered them out of bondage.
The Lord’s omnipotent hand was so evident in the War for Independence that George Washington was forced to write: “The hand of Providence has been so conspicuous in all this, that he must be worse than an infidel that lacks faith, and more than wicked, that has not gratitude enough to acknowledge his obligations” (George Washington to Thomas Nelson, August 20, 1778).
Later, the good General again asserted:
“The man must be bad indeed who can look upon the events of the American Revolution without feeling the warmest gratitude towards the great Author of the Universe whose divine interposition was so frequently manifested in our behalf—And it is my earnest prayer that we may so conduct ourselves as to merit a continuance of those blessings with which we have hitherto been favoured” (George Washington to Samuel Langdon, September 28, 1789).
The God who raised up our nation expects us to worship Him, keep His commandments, and follow His laws. The Bible says: “The Lord is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you” (2 Chronicles 15:2). This leaves little room for error. We either remain a moral and Christian People, or we are destined to collapse into ruin and be cleansed by an offended God.
The Apostle Paul detailed many of the reasons why God judges and forsakes nations. As you read his words, consider whether America is guilty of these sins and bad behaviors:
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness. . . .
“. . . when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
“Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
“And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
“Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
“Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
“For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
“And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
“And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
“Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
“Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
“Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
“Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them” (Romans 1:18, 21-32).
Paul cited lust, fornication, homosexuality, oath-breaking, lying, contention, anger, envy, gossiping, pridefulness, atheism, ingratitude, corruption, vanity, idol worship, and other sins, as reasons why God forsakes and condemns a nation. Is America guilty of these things? She is.
Let’s consider the following. We have the world’s largest porn industry and sex-industrial complex (Russia is #2). The American People, once chaste and pure, are hedonistic and sensual. A study from 1949-2003 showed that premarital sex (i.e. fornication) was nearly universal. Here’s a quote:
“Data from the 2002 survey indicate that by age 20, 77% of respondents had had sex, 75% had had premarital sex, and 12% had married; by age 44, 95% of respondents (94% of women, 96% of men, and 97% of those who had ever had sex) had had premarital sex. Even among those who abstained until at least age 20, 81% had had premarital sex by age 44. Among cohorts of women turning 15 between 1964 and 1993, at least 91% had had premarital sex by age 30. Among those turning 15 between 1954 and 1963, 82% had had premarital sex by age 30, and 88% had done so by age 44.”
These are shocking numbers. It is more shocking when you understand that sexual sin ranks right behind denying the Holy Ghost and murder in terms of seriousness in God’s eyes. How can a nation where all but a few don’t commit sexual sin expect the Lord’s blessings? Even 67% of Christians, according to a recent Gallup poll, believe that sex between unmarried individuals is ok either “always,” “sometimes,” or “rarely.” A mere 32% of Christians polled actually stood for the Biblical truth that sex before marriage is always sin.
You may have noticed that the two polls cited disagree slightly. Either the Christians polled in the second instance were lying and fornicating while claiming to believe it’s wrong, or the first poll slightly exaggerated how many people fornicate. Either way, the numbers are astronomically horrific and demonstrate how wicked our society has become.
Drunkenness, substance abuse, contention, backbiting, gossiping, deceiving, lying, covenant-breaking, homosexuality, transgenderism, child abuse, lust, adultery, fornication, immodesty, criminality, profane language, irresponsibility, laziness, disrespect, dishonorable behavior, disobedience to parents, divorce, domestic violence, infanticide, pride, and so many more iniquitous actions and patterns, characterize modern American and Western culture. Frankly, the entire world suffers from this exact same wickedness, but it is more prominently on full display in living color here in America thanks to the cultural Marxists who are deliberately attempting to rot our nation from the inside.
Not only do we do these despicable things, but we celebrate them! We call people “heroes” for breaking the Lord’s commandments and flaunting their perversions. California just declared August to be transgender month. Transgenderism is, as many professionals have declared it, a mental disorder. I would classify it more correctly as a spiritual disorder. Yet, despite the science and the common sense, we coddle and play into the fantasies of these people who desperately need our help to free them from the Satanic grip of identity crisis, low self-esteem, depression, and perversion.
Homosexuality, which is celebrated with gay pride month, is also fawned over by the media, Hollywood, schools, business, and sycophants everywhere. They have their parades, parties, and award shows. People pander to the Sodomites by wearing rainbow stickers, hoisting rainbow flags, and standing in solidarity with them like good comrades/.
Heterosexual fornication and adultery are no less evil. Most people, unfortunately, don’t think twice about sleeping around and being sexually active outside of marriage, beginning often in middle or high school. It’s just what you do these days. “Everyone’s doing it,” Lucifer, the Father of Lies, whispers in their ears. So prevalent is our perversion that sexual sin is not merely displayed everywhere, but is presented as “cool,” “normal,” “natural,” “good,” and even “healthy.”
Alcoholism and drug abuse are also eroding the moral fabric of society. The fentanyl crisis, fueled intentionally by Red China as part of the long-term communist strategy of softening us up through drugs, is only one of many drug-related pits out of which we must crawl. The media has gone out of its way to conceal the marijuana-related crime – including auto accidents and deaths – that has followed in the wake of its legalization in places like Colorado. Caffeine, classified as a psychoactive drug, also has us in its grip. On all sides, illicit and dangerous substances are being used to deaden our minds and souls and weaken us in preparation for the enemy’s end game.
Can a nation that celebrates so much decadence survive? No. It has often been said that if God spared America, He would have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah. He would also need to apologize to the House of Israel whom He punished and scattered throughout the world for their sexual sins, disobedience, and other wickedness if He lets us get away with the very same sins.
The reality is that no political fix can pull us out of our morass of immorality. No election will solve our problems. No political savior will save us. To think Donald Trump, or the 2024 election which may never happen, or any other political solution will rescue us, is folly.
Only Jesus can save us. He is our true Savior. Yet, He will not save us in sin. He can’t save us in sin! He can change us and then save us as we repent of sin, and faith in Him, repentance, and a sincere striving to keep His commandments are prerequisites.
Is America repenting of her gross violations of divine law? I don’t see it. From my perspective, hearts are becoming more hardened, people and institutions are becoming more corrupt, faith is diminishing, rudeness, vulgarity, and immorality are increasing, marriages and families are imploding, ignorance and superstition are deepening, music and art are becoming more profane, daily interactions are becoming more contentious, government is devolving into tit-for-tat tyranny, tribalism is growing alarmingly, hatred is being fanned, and evil is being celebrated and legalized more than ever before.
Where in the scriptures can you find the hope that blinds conservatives? When I read the scriptures, I see a progressive worsening of events, conditions, and behavior until the time the Lord returns and cleanses the earth. I don’t see a new golden age of prosperity, peace, Freedom, and prophesied for the time preceding the Second Coming. Rather, I see the following foretold for our day:
“And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
“For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
“All these are the beginning of sorrows.
“Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.
“And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
“And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
“And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. . . .
“. . . then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
“And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those adays shall be shortened. . . .
“For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect” (Matthew 24: 6-12, 21-22, 24).
“And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?
“And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
“And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
“And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
“And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:4-8; by some researchers’ calculations, we are currently living in the forty two months when the first Beast reigns, and that its bloody demise – paving the way for the second Beast and the Anti-Christ – is slated for 2024).
“I say unto you that before this great day shall come the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall be turned into blood, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and there shall be greater signs in heaven above and in the earth beneath;
“And there shall be weeping and wailing among the hosts of men;
“And there shall be a great hailstorm sent forth to destroy the crops of the earth.
“And it shall come to pass, because of the wickedness of the world, that I will take vengeance upon the wicked, for they will not repent; for the cup of mine indignation is full; for behold, my blood shall not cleanse them if they hear me not.
“Wherefore, I the Lord God will send forth flies upon the face of the earth, which shall take hold of the inhabitants thereof, and shall eat their flesh, and shall cause maggots to come in upon them;
“And their tongues shall be stayed that they shall not utter against me; and their flesh shall fall from off their bones, and their eyes from their sockets;
“And it shall come to pass that the beasts of the forest and the fowls of the air shall devour them up.
“And the great and abominable church, which is the whore of all the earth, shall be cast down by devouring fire, according as it is spoken by the mouth of Ezekiel the prophet, who spoke of these things, which have not come to pass but surely must, as I live, for abominations shall not reign” (Doctrine and Covenants 29:14-21).
Don’t buy the hopium so many conservatives are selling. Don’t stake everything on the upcoming presidential election. Don’t put your trust in the arm of flesh, but in the God of Heaven and His Son Jesus Christ.
I testify that Jesus is the God of this land, that He was with our forefathers, and that He established the United States. I witness that He lived, that He lives, and that He is the Savior. He will return soon, but before He does the earth will be bathed in blood, fire, pestilence, perversion, anguish, suffering, tribulation, misery, tyranny, darkness, and evil. Things will not get better, but progressively and exponentially worse. Steel yourself for the coming hardships and shore up your spiritual foundation.
Remember and apply the parable of the Master:
“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
“Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
“And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
“Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon fa rock:
“And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a crock.
“And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
“And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it” (Matthew 7:21-27).
The fall is coming. Prepare now. Don’t misplace your hope and trust. Don’t believe in idols, false prophets, and political demigods. Build upon the one and only foundation that will never fall, the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, our Master, Redeemer, and King.
In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we are taught to “liken the scriptures to ourselves.” We often insert our name into the text or change a pronoun to make a passage refer more personally to us. Today, I perform the same exercise and apply an ancient sacred text to America. In it, a holy Israelite prophet recounted how the Lord had delivered his faithful father and his people from physical and spiritual captivity. As you read his words, keep in mind America’s founding generation as well as our present one and ponder what principles may be applied to us:
“[T]hey were delivered out of the hands of the people of king [George III], by the mercy and power of God.
“. . . they were in captivity, and again the Lord delivered them out of bondage by the power of his word. . . .
“. . . have you sufficiently retained in remembrance the captivity of your fathers? Yea, and have you sufficiently retained in remembrace his mercy and longsuffering towards them? And moreover, have ye sufficiently retained in remembrance that he has delvered their souls from hell?
“Behold, he changed their hearts; yea, he awakened them out of a deep sleep, and they awoke unto God. . . .
“. . . a mighty change was also wrought in their hearts, and they humbled themselves and put their trust in the true and living God. And behold, they were faithful until the end; therefore, they were saved.
“And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of [America], have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?
“Do ye exercise faith in the redemption of him who created you? Do you look forward with an eye of faith, and view this mortal body raised in immortality, and this corruption raised in incorruption, to stand before God to be judged according to the deeds which have been done in the mortal body? . . . .
“And now behold, I say unto you, my [countrymen], if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?” (Alma 5:4-7, 13-15, 26).
This history resembles remarkably the way that the American People were blessed to become the first free people in modern times. Our forefathers fled the religious and political persecutions and oppressions of Europe to plant the standard of Liberty and faith here in the New World.
The men of the Mayflower wrote and signed a mission statement for all subsequent peoples who came to this land. They said they came here “for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian Faith.” In consequence, they “solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God and one another, Covenant[ed] and Combine[ed] [themselves] together into a Civil Body Politick, for [their] better ordering and preservation, and furtherance of the ends aforesaid.”
In 1630, the Puritan governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, John Winthrop, famously referred to America as a “city on a hill” with a prophetic destiny. He explained:
“Now the only way to avoid this shipwreck, and to provide for our posterity, is to follow the counsel of Micah, to do justly, to love mercy, to walk humbly with our God. For this end, we must be knit together, in this work, as one man. We must entertain each other in brotherly affection. We must be willing to abridge ourselves of our superfluities, for the supply of others’ necessities. We must uphold a familiar commerce together in all meekness, gentleness, patience and liberality. We must delight in each other; make others’ conditions our own; rejoice together, mourn together, labor and suffer together, always having before our eyes our commission and community in the work, as members of the same body. So shall we keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. The Lord will be our God, and delight to dwell among us, as His own people, and will command a blessing upon us in all our ways, so that we shall see much more of His wisdom, power, goodness and truth, than formerly we have been acquainted with. We shall find that the God of Israel is among us, when ten of us shall be able to resist a thousand of our enemies; when He shall make us a praise and glory that men shall say of succeeding plantations, “may the Lord make it like that of New England.” For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us. So that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken, and so cause Him to withdraw His present help from us, we shall be made a story and a by-word through the world. We shall open the mouths of enemies to speak evil of the ways of God, and all professors for God’s sake. We shall shame the faces of many of God’s worthy servants, and cause their prayers to be turned into curses upon us till we be consumed out of the good land whither we are going.
“And to shut this discourse with that exhortation of Moses, that faithful servant of the Lord, in his last farewell to Israel, Deut. 30. “Beloved, there is now set before us life and death, good and evil,” in that we are commanded this day to love the Lord our God, and to love one another, to walk in his ways and to keep his Commandments and his ordinance and his laws, and the articles of our Covenant with Him, that we may live and be multiplied, and that the Lord our God may bless us in the land whither we go to possess it. But if our hearts shall turn away, so that we will not obey, but shall be seduced, and worship other Gods, our pleasure and profits, and serve them; it is propounded unto us this day, we shall surely perish out of the good land whither we pass over this vast sea to possess it.
“Therefore let us choose life, that we and our seed may live, by obeying His voice and cleaving to Him, for He is our life and our prosperity.”
Later groups of settlers chose the godly life and entered into similar covenants to serve God and make America a haven of virtue, goodness, and Christianity. Their pious lives, faithful devotions, and reverent educational pursuits evidence their sincerity.
The first book published in the New World was The Bay Psalm Book. Another of the early texts was the Bible in the hieroglyphic Mi’kmaq Indian language. These early American Christians took their charge to take the Gospel to all the world and preach it to every creature seriously (Mark 16:15-16).
Americans not only evangelized the Indians, but also taught their children from the Bible. Children both at home and at school learned to read from the Bible. The New-England Primer of 1690 was used in schools for over a century. It taught children the ABCs in a Gospel context.
In the Primer, A stood for: “In Adam’s Fall We sinned all.” Adam and Eve were displayed next to a tree with the Luciferian serpent coiled around it. B was rendered: “Thy Life to mend This Book attend.” The book pictured was the Bible. J was given as: “Sweet Jesus He Dy’d on a Tree.” Christ was shown crucified on the cross. And so forth.
The book also contains an exhortation written by the first Protestant martyr under bloody Queen Mary, the Reverend John Rogers, who had been burned at the stake in England in 1555. His crime? Compiling William Tyndale’s and Myles Coverdale’s translations of the Bible. Dubbed the “Matthew Bible,” this version was sanctioned by King Henry VII, making it the first authorized English Bible. Part of Roger’s heartfelt exhortation read:
“Give ear my Children to my words, whom God has dearly bought, Lay up His laws within your heart, and print them in your thought. . . . Keep always GOD before your eyes, with all your whole intent; Commit no sin in any wise, keep his Commandment. Abhor that arrant Whore of Rome, and all her Blasphemies; And drink not of her cursed Cup, obey not her decrees. . . . Give of your Portion to the Poor, as Riches do arise; And from the needy naked Soul turn not away your eyes. For he that doth not hear the cry of those that stand in need, Shall cry himself and not be heard, when he does hope to speed. If GOD hath given you increase and blessed well your store, Remember you are put in trust, and should relieve the poor. . . . Be always thankful to the Lord, with Prayer and with Praise, Begging of him to bless your work, and to direct your ways. Seek first I say the living GOD, and always Him adore; And then be sure that he will bless, your basket and your store.”
To the Gospel ABCs and Reverend Roger’s exhortation was added a catechism of faith that defined such matters as the Fall of man, Christ’s redemption, adoption and satisfaction, and the Ten Commandments. Thus, The New-England Primer, which served as a foundational text in American schools, helped establish the religion of the Savior Jesus Christ in the Americas.
Subsequent generations of Americans followed the Puritan tradition, though perhaps not as fervently. They became somewhat lax. This laxity of piety coincided with an increase of British intervention and despotism. A remarkable thing called the First Great Awakening then occurred. From the 1730s into the 1770s, America was ablaze with religious revival. Steeples defined the skyline, church bells rang out, and people became more stridently religious and patriotic.
It is no coincidence that the men who would later declare Independence and forge a new nation were born or raised during this defining period. For instance, George Washington was born in 1732, John Adams in 1735, James Wilson in 1742, Thomas Jefferson in 1743, James Madison in 1751, and so on. These men grew up in the milieu of revival, reformation, and restoration. Theirs was a Christian education and one that broke with the monarchical, top-down, aristocratic traditions of Europe.
This great spiritual and political awakening was led by the pastors and preachers of America’s Christian churches. Men like Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, and John Wesley lit up the colonies with their preaching. In History of the American Revolution, Reverend William Gordon wrote of the importance of these preachers in shaping attitudes toward not only God, but government:
“The ministers of New England being mostly congregationalists, are from that circumstance, in a professional way more attached and habituated to the principles of liberty than if they had spiritual superiors to lord it over them, and were in hopes of possessing in their turn, through the gift of government, the seat of power. They oppose arbitrary rule in civil concerns from the love of freedom, as well as from a desire of guarding against its introduction into religious matters. . . . The clergy of this colony [Massachusetts] are virtuous, sensible and learned a set of men, as will probably be found in any part of the globe of equal size and equally populous. . . . [I]t is certainly a duty of the clergy to accommodate their discourses to the times; to preach against such sins as are most prevalent, and to recommend such virtues as are most wanted. . . . You have frequently remarked that though the partizans of arbitrary power will freely censure that preacher, who speaks boldly for the liberties of the people, they will admire as an excellent divine, the parson whose discourse is wholly the opposite, and teaches, that magistrates have a divine right for doing wrong, and are to be implicitly obeyed; men professing Christianity, as if the religion of the blessed Jesus bound them tamely to part with their natural and social rights, and slavishly to bow their neck to any tyrant” (Ellis Sandoz, ed., Political Sermons of the American Founding Era, 1730-1805, Vol. 1, xiii).
The Baptist minister John Allen gave a red-hot oration on Thanksgiving, December 3, 1772. It gives a flavor of some of the overtly political sermons that American Christians feasted upon during the period immediately before the War for Independence. The specific political controversy that occasioned the fiery thoughts was the Gaspee Affair which just had its 250th anniversary on June 9th.
The HMS Gaspee was a British ship sent to enforce tyrannical maritime laws on the colonists. The latter resented the unjust impositions and, as the Gaspee sat grounded in a sand bar, fifty-five men snuck aboard, arrested the crew, and burned the vessel. One online source said: “The Gaspee Affair was one of the earliest acts of rebellion in the colonies, and acted as a catalyst in the revolution.” Indeed, it was sometimes called America’s “first blow for Freedom.” To learn a little more, watch this lecture by author Steven Park.
I now quote from John Allen’s oration addressed to the Earl of Dartmouth:
“When I view the original right, power and charter, confirm’d, sealed, and ratified to the province, or inhabitants of Rhode-Island, and its standing in full force, and unrepealed for more than an hundred years, which is as follows: “Be it enacted, that no freeman, shall be taken, or imprisoned, or deprived of his freehold, or liberty, or free custom, or be out-law’d, or exil’d, or othewrise destroy’d, nor shall be oppressed, judged or condemned, but by the law of this colony. And that no man of what state or condition soever, shall be put out of his lands of tenements, nor taken, nor imprisoned, nor disinherited, nor banished (observe this my Lord), nor any ways destroy’d, or molested, without being, for it, brought to answer, by a due course of law in this colony”: Methinks, that even your Lordship, will not blame them if they stand fast in the liberty wherein they were made free.
“As a fly, or as a worm, by the law of nature has as great a right to liberty, and freedom (according to their little sphere in life), as the most potent monarch upon the earth: And as there can be no other difference between your Lordship, and myself, but what is political, I therefore without any further apology, take leave to ask your Lordship, whether any one that fears GOD, loves his neighbour as himself (which is the true scripture-mark of a christian), will oppress his fellow-creatures? If they will, where are the beauties of Christianity? . . . .
“Are not the liberties of the Americans as dear to them as those of Britons? Suppose your Lordship had broke the laws of his king, and country, would not your Lordship be willing to be try’d by a jury of your peers, according to the laws of the land? How would your Lordship like to be fetter’d with irons, and drag’d three thousand miles, in a hell upon earth? No! but in a hell upon water, to take your trial? is not this contrary to the spirit of the law, and the rights of an Englishman? Yet thus you have given direction, as the king’s agent or the agent of the ministry to destroy the rights and laws of the Americans. How your Lordship can answer for this agency of injustice before GOD, and man, will be very difficult: . . . I think, my Lord, that such men, who will take away the rights of the people, are neither fit for heaven; nor earth, neither fit for the land or the dunghil. . . .
“. . . [the King’s] attempt to destroy the rights of the people – destroys his right as king to reign over them, for according to his coronation oath, he has no longer a right to the British crown or throne, than he maintains inviolable firm the laws and rights of the people. For violating the people’s rights, Charles Stewart, king of England, lost his head, and if another king, who is more solemnly bound than ever Charles Stewart, was, should tread in the same steps, what can he expect? I reverence and love my king, but I revere the rights of an Englishman before the authority of any king upon the earth. . . .
“. . . Then, surely, that man must be a tyrant in his soul, that shall deem it rebellion in the Rhode-Islanders, supposing they should kill every man, that shall attempt to destroy their laws, rights and liberties. . . .
“. . . my Lord, there is no other idea arises in my mind . . . which is, if there is any law broke, it is the king and the ministry who have broke it; for I would be glad to know my Lord, what right the king and ministry has to send an armed schooner to Rhode-Island, to take away the property of the people, any more than they have to send an armed schooner into Brest, and demand the property of France? Know this, that the king of England has no more right, according to the laws of God and nature, to claim the lands of America, than he has the lands of France – America, my Lord, in the native rights of the Americans, it is the blood-bought treasure of their forefathers; and they have the same essential right to their native laws, as they have to the air they breathe in, or to the light of the morning, when the sun rises; and therefore they who oppress the Americans must be as great enemies to the rights of the laws of nature, as they who would (if it were in their power) vail the light of the sun from the universe. Remember my Lord, the Americans have a priviledge to boast of above all the world. They never were in bondage to any man, and therefore it is more for them to give up their rights into the hands of the Turks; consider what English tyranny their forefathers fled from, what seas of distress they met with, what savages they fought with, what blood-bought treasures, as the dear inheritance of their lives, they have left to their children, and without any aid from the king of England; and yet after this, these free-born people must be counted rebels, if they will not loose every right of liberty, which their forefathers bought, with their blood, and submit again to English ministerial tyranny – O America! O America!
“. . . Therefore, my Lord, must it certainly be, that the Gaspee schooner has committed the transgression, & broke the laws of the freedom of this country. No doubt, my Lord, but they have a right to tax the strangers, that come to dwell in their country; but to tax the children, which are free in their own native country, this will not do! Nature forbids it; the law of GOD condemns it. And no law, but that of tyranny, can desire it.
“And therefore it was, my Lord, that the children (who are by the law of GOD, and the law of nature free), looked upon the Gaspee schooner as a stranger, as such they treated her; but when the stranger attempted to gather tax of the children who are free then they looked upon her, as a pirate, who took away their property without their consent, by violence, by arms, by guns, by oaths and damnations. . . .
“If there is any law broke, it is this, that the Gaspee schooner, by the power of the English ministry and admiralty, have broke the laws, and taken away the rights of the Americans. And yet the Americans must be punish’d for it, contrary to their own laws. O! Amazing! I would be glad to know my Lord, what right the king of England has to America? it cannot be an hereditary right, that lies in Hanover, it cannot be a parliamentary right that lies in Britain, not a victorious right, for the king of England never conquered America. Then he can have no more right to America, than what the people have, by compact, invested him with, which is only a power to protect them, and defend their rights civil and religious; and to sign, seal, and confirm, as their steward, such laws as the people of America shall consent to . . . consider then, my Lord, how cruel, how unjust, how unanswerable before God and man it must be, by any violence and power to destroy the rights of the Americans. . . .
“. . . Supposing my Lord, that the Rhode-Islanders, for the sake of blood bought liberties of their forefathers, for the sake of the birthrights of their children, should shew a spirit of resentment against a tyrannical arbitrary power that attempts to destroy their lives, liberties and property, would it not be unsufferable, cruel, for this (which the law of nature and nations teachers them to do) to be butchered, assassinated and slaughtered in their own streets by their king? Consider, my Lord, that we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, and that it would be a cold cordial for your Lordship, at the bar of God, to have thousands of Americans rise up in judgment against you. Yet I would rather this was the case, tho’ I suffer’d death with them, than they should lose their essential rights as Americans.
“But it may be meet to let your Lordship know, that if the Americans unite (as there seems a good prospect of it) to stand as a band of brethren for their liberties, they have a right, by the law of GOD, of nature, and of nations, to reluct at, and even to resist any military and marine force, surely they must be intended in readiness for the French, and not for Americans, for can it ever enter into the heart of a mother to murder her children? of a king to kill his subjects? of an agent to destroy the rights of the colonies he represents? But suppose my Lord, that this should be the bloody intent of the ministry, to make the Americans subject to their slavery, then let blood for blood, life for life, and death for death decide the contention. This bloody scene can never be executed but at the expence of the destruction of England, and you will find, my Lord, that the Americans will not submit to be slaves, they know the use of the gun, and the military art, as well as any of his majesty’s troops at St. James’s, and where his majesty has one soldier, who art in general the refuse of the earth, America can produce fifty, free men, and all volunteers, and raise a more potent army of men in three weeks, than England can in three years . . . they will not give up their rights; they will not be slaves to any power on earth” (John Allen, “An Oration, Upon the Beauties of Liberty, Or the Essential Rights of the Americans,” December 3, 1772, in Ellis Sandoz, ed., Political Sermons of the American Founding Era, 1730-1805, Vol. 1, 305-314).
Revolutionary preaching of this sort filled America’s pulpits in the years leading up to 1776. Americans were instructed clearly and copiously in natural law. They knew their God-given rights. As Thomas Jefferson later expressed, these rights were self-evident and publicly acknowledged. Every true American then, and now, understood that the purpose of all government was to protect natural rights and defend Freedom. They recognized when their rights were being violated. This was due in part to the fact that pastors like John Allen raised their passionate voices against British abuses and roused Americans to take up arms in defense of their divine birthright of Liberty.
It was the Christian pastors and preachers, and their congregants, who stood up against King George III and championed religious and political Liberty. It was the Reverend Jonas Clark who, with his parishioners, grabbed their weapons and stood toe to toe with the oppressive British Redcoat troops at Lexington in 1775. Pulpit patriots inspired red-white-and-blue-blooded Americans in armed rebellion against tyrants attempting to deprive them of their God-given rights.
For all their flaws, these early Americans went forward to battle in the strength of the Lord. They had faith in Jesus Christ. They carried and read the Bible. They attended church services. They demanded and achieved a high level of public morality. Not only public, however, but private morality was common. All the sages of the day acknowledged and taught that virtue and religion were essential to free republics.
Here are a few of their statements. Record them. Remember them. Heed them:
“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” (George Washington, Farewell Address, 1796).
“The only foundation of a free constitution is pure virtue, and if this cannot be inspired into our people in a greater measure than they have it now, they may change their rulers and the forms of government, but they will not obtain a lasting liberty. They will only exchange tyrants and tyrannies” (John Adams to Zabdiel Adams, June 21, 1776).
“We have no Government armed with Power capable of contending with human Passions unbridled by morality and Religion. Avarice, Ambition, Revenge or Galantry, would break the strongest Cords of our Constitution as a Whale goes through a Net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious People. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other” (John Adams to the Massachusetts Militia, October, 11, 1798).
“Nothing is more certain than that a general profligacy and corruption of manners make a people ripe for destruction. A good form of government may hold the rotten materials together for some time, but beyond a certain pitch, even the best constitution will be ineffectual, and slavery must ensue. On the other hand, when the manners of a nation are pure, when true religion and internal principles maintain their vigor, the attempts of the most powerful enemies to oppress them are commonly baffled and disappointed” (John Witherspoon, “The Dominion of Providence over the Passions of Man,” May 17, 1776).
“I love the People of Boston. I once thought, that City would be the Christian Sparta. But Alas! Will men never be free! They will be free no longer than while they remain virtuous. Sidney tells us, there are times when People are not worth saving. Meaning, when they have lost their Virtue. I pray God, this may never be truly said of my beloved Town” (Samuel Adams to John Scollay, December 30, 1780).
“[W]e are generally apt to ascribe too much to the efficacy of laws and government, as if they alone could secure the happiness of the people; but no laws will be sufficient to counteract the influence of manners which are corrupted by vice and voluptuousness; and it is beyond the power of any government to render the circumstances of the citizens easy and prosperous, if they want the habits of industry and frugality. – Government is necessary, to preserve the public peace, the persons and property of individuals; but our social happiness must chiefly depend upon other causes; upon simplicity and purity of manners; upon the education that we give our children; upon a steady adherence to the customs and institutions of our ancestors; upon the general diffusion of knowledge, and the prevalence of piety and benevolent affections among the people.
“Our forms of government, are, doubtless, like all other institutions, imperfect; but they will ensure the blessings of freedom to the citizens, and preserve their tranquillity, so long as they are virtuous; and no constitution, that has been, or can be formed, will secure those blessings to a depraved and vicious people” (Caleb Strong, January 17, 1806, in Patriotism and Piety, 138).
George Washington attending Christ Church
“[O]nly a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters” (Benjamin Franklin to Abbes Chalut and Arnoux, April 17, 1787).
“If ye be with God, become a praying and religious people, acting up to your covenant relation and engagements to him, walking in all holy obedience to his laws, and attendance upon his worship and ordinances; God will be with you, and give you the tokens of his gracious presence, in providential mercies. The name of your land will be Jehovah Shammah, the Lord is there. God’s presence with you, will be your surest defence, your highest glory, your truest felicity. This will derive a blessing upon all your labours, husbandry, merchandize, fishery, & whatever you set your hands unto – and upon all your enjoyments. This will make your governour a Nehemiah, seeking your prosperity; this will give you wise & faithful rulers, skilful and upright judges, zealous and godly magistrates; and will make your officers peace, and your exactors righteousness: this will give you holy & orthodox ministers, pure and peaceable churches, learned & flourishing academies; and, in time of war, valiant soldiers and victorious armies. Yea, if you are indeed religiously with God, he will afford his gracious spiritual presence with his word and ordinances; this will make you a holy, as his providential presence will make you, a happy people” (Samuel Dunbar, “The Presence of God With His People,” 1760, in Ellis Sandoz, ed., Political Sermons of the American Founding Era, 1730-1805, 229-230).
These were the types of refrains echoing in our forefathers’ ears as they contemplated Independence, as they made war to defend their Liberty, and as they erected a new nation. They humbled themselves before God Almighty and He blessed their land according to His word:
“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).
Even the most unperceptive recognized magnificent interventions from Heaven on their behalf. During the heavy fighting of 1778, as the Continental Army was being miraculously preserved time and time again, General George Washington declared:
“The hand of Providence has been so conspicuous in all this, that he must be worse than an infidel that lacks faith, and more than wicked, that has not gratitude enough to acknowledge his obligations” (George Washington to Thomas Nelson, August 20, 1778).
“No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than those of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency.”
On July 4, 1796, John Lathrop, commemorating the Declaration of Independence, proclaimed:
“Liberty descended from Heaven on the 4th of July, 1776. . . .
“The first promulgation of the Gospel of Liberty was the declaration of American independence . . . the Americans were elected by God to redeem from bondage the miserable victims of arbitrary power” (See Celebrate Liberty! Famous Patriotic Speeches and Sermons, compiled by David Barton).
America is a special land. It is a promise land of covenant. It was prophesied about by ancient seers like Isaiah whose foretellings were recorded in the Bible and other holy scriptures. It is a safe haven reserved by God for a righteous people – a people that will serve Him and make Him their King. Christ is the only rightful King of America and to no other individual or authority will any real American bend the knee.
The Puritan preacher Increase Mather was right when he said:
“This is Immanuel’s land. Christ by a wonderful Providence hath dispossessed Satan, who reigned securely in these Ends of the Earth, for Ages the Lord Knoweth how many, and here the Lord hath caused as it were New Jerusalem to come down from Heaven; He dwels in this place” (Increase Mather, in Michael G. Hall, The Last American Puritan: The Life of Increase Mather, 1639-1723, 99).
Christ dwells with the righteous. “[H]e loveth those who will have him to be their God” (1 Nephi 17:40). As He said: “I, the Lord, am merciful and gracious unto those who fear me, and delight to honor those who serve me in righteousness and in truth unto the end” (Doctrine and Covenants 76:5). He will be with the American People if they will be with Him. He will defend them if they defend His name, love Him, keep His commandments, and stand for His truth.
Again, I repeat, that America is a special land of covenant. An ancient prophet of Jehovah who lived here 1,600 years ago wrote to modern inhabitants of the land with this promise and warning:
“And now, we can behold the decrees of God concerning this land, that it is a land of promise; and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall serve God, or they shall be swept off when the fulness of his wrath shall come upon them. And the fulness of his wrath cometh upon them when they are ripened in iniquity.
“For behold, this is a land which is choice above all other lands; wherefore he that doth possess it shall serve God or shall be swept off; for it is the everlasting decree of God. And it is not until the fulness of iniquity among the children of the land, that they are swept off.
“And this cometh unto you, O ye Gentiles, that ye may know the decrees of God—that ye may repent, and not continue in your iniquities until the fulness come, that ye may not bring down the fulness of the wrath of God upon you as the inhabitants of the land have hitherto done.
“Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ, who hath been manifested by the things which we have written” (Ether 2:9-12).
I testify with all my strength and sincerity that this is true. Jesus is the God of this land. He is the God of the world. He honors, blesses, and protects those who serve Him faithfully. He has prospered and blessed America beyond any nation because we have traditionally been a righteous people. Our forefathers turned their hearts to Christ and were saved from British tyranny twice, from the destruction of civil war once, and from other national ailments. He has given us so many chances to be good, to deal justly, and to be a shining city on a hill for others nations.
Today, our nation is crumbling. Our light is not as bright as it once was. We have lost the full exercise of many of our rights. Our wealth has been eaten up. Our people are not as virtuous as they were in the past. Yet, it is by looking to the past that we can gather strength, motivation, and dedication for the present struggle for our Faith, Families, and Freedom.
Remember the captivity of our forefathers. They were on the brink of enslavement to the British. Their rights of jury trial and due process were being chipped away. Their wealth was being robbed through taxes. Their voice was being extinguished by top-down governance. Their weapons were targeted and the desire existed to disarm them and make them kow-tow to London.
In these desperate circumstances, they humbled themselves, called upon the Lord, and He changed their hearts. With hearts full of faith in Jesus Christ, they marched into battle. Knowing that obedience was the price of discipleship, they bettered themselves and practiced virtue. Their judges, leaders, and generals became men of God who exercised their stewardships with honor. Freedom flourished because the American People were worthy of the blessing of self-rule.
John Adams posited the idea that the War of Independence was not the main act of the American Revolution, but only a result of the true American Revolution that happened prior through the First Great Awakening and the religious revival that swept the nation:
“But what do We mean by the American Revolution? Do We mean the American War? The Revolution was effected before the War commenced. The Revolution was in the Minds and Hearts of the People. A Change in their Religious Sentiments of their Duties and Obligations. . . .
“This radical Change in the Principles, Opinions Sentiments and Affection of the People, was the real American Revolution” (John Adams to Hezekiah Niles, February 13, 1818).
Dr. Benjamin Rush concurred and stated:
“There is nothing more common, than to confound the terms of American Revolution with those of the late American war. The American war is over: but this is far from being the case with the American revolution. On the contrary, nothing but the first act of the great drama is closed. It remains yet to establish and perfect our new forms of government; and to prepare the principles, morals, and manners of our citizens, for these forms of government, after they are established and brought to perfection” (Benjamin Rush, Address to the People of the United States, 1787, in Hezekiah Niles, ed., Principles and Acts of the Revolution, 234).
Dear reader and fellow American, the American Revolution is ongoing! You are a part of it! The war is waged anew every day. The battlefield is your mind and your heart, your child’s school and your TV, the ballot box and in the courts, on the street and in your home. You have a say in all of this. Your part is not insignificant. Could George Washington have won the War for Independence without the thousands of nameless soldiers by his side? Of course not.
The real fight is yours to decide. You can begin the fight by remembering your noble ancestors, by acknowledging what they suffered and sacrificed to make our nation free, and by studying the same ideas and principles they cherished and which made America great. You can start this journey today by sitting down and reading the Declaration of Independence. If you have children, sit them down and read it together. Teach them that their rights – such as Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness – are given by God the Creator. Teach the that government is designed with the sole purpose of securing those rights. And teach them that any government – including ours today – which fails to secure Liberty may be justly, rightly, and dutifully change, abolished, or overthrown.
Yes, remember the captivity of your fathers. Remember that they were saved from bondage by the Lord, who is Jesus Christ. Remember that He saved them because they humbled themselves, became a moral and upright people, and fought in faith for what they believed was right. Never forget that America today must become as equally righteous, humble, and devoted to Christ as our forefathers if we hope to salvage our waning Republic and restore our birthright blessings of rule of law, self-government, and Freedom.
I want to close on a personal note. This is the fifth Independence Day I have spent outside of my beloved country. I miss her and I love her! It pains my heart to think that my lovely wife and amazing daughter have not yet laid eyes on America or stepped foot on our blessed soil. I wish I was there, with them, on this singular day – a day of gratitude, devotion, and celebration for the blessings of Liberty that have been secured to our People by God, our inspired Constitution, and our own goodness; a day when we sing the song of redeeming love for ourselves and our nation.
America is a special place. It is a land of promise and covenant. It truly is Immanuel’s land. There are millions of good-hearted, faithful, sincere, Liberty-loving, patriotic Americans left. Rise up, patriots! Stand on your feet, Sons of Liberty! Take back your country in the name of your Faith, Family, and Freedom! Begin today by remembering your forefathers, cherishing their sacrifices, and humbling yourself before the God of this land who has freed, blessed, and prospered our nation and who will do so again if we turn to Him.
On March 15, 1783, General George Washington diffused a roiling rebellion of military officers against the fledgling U.S. government. This conspiracy against the Confederacy has been called the “near abortion of the Republic.” Having defeated the British at Yorktown less than two years previous, and having just signed a formal end of hostilities in January, America’s military leaders turned inward to continue the redress of grievances that began on July 4, 1776.
Under the Articles of Confederacy, especially during the war years, the American national government was fairly impotent. It could make requests, but it had no power to enforce its just demands. One of the things the Confederation Congress failed at was paying its fighting men. Congress could barely equip and feed them, let alone pay them their due. In 1782, the Congress has formally stopped paying the soldiers. It was a situation that would strain even the best of men.
“Under Major General Henry Knox, officers and soldiers drafted a memorandum to the Confederation Congress in the hope of once again receiving pay. In December of 1782, a group of senior Continental Army officers including Major General Alexander McDougall, Colonel John Brooks, and Colonel Matthias Ogden delivered the memorandum to the Confederation Congress. The memorandum asked for an option for a lump sum payment for their pensions and back pay instead of lifetime payments. It also expressed their distress over their lack of pay. Included in the memorandum was also a threat, it explained, “Any further experiments on [the Army’s] patience may have fatal effects.”
“. . . The soldier’s long-term absence from civilian life meant that they would need to readjust and adapt to a new home that adapted in their own absence. Without that pension from the Confederation Congress, many soldiers and officers alike would be left penniless and jobless.
“In Congress, the debate over whether to pay the Continental Army heated. Due to the Articles of Confederation, Congress did not have the power to tax, but the states did. Moreover, Congress was responsible for maintaining a standing army, and Congress was $6 million in debt, with only $125,000 in assets with other war debts to pay off. In lieu of the inability to tax, Congress could also only ask for funding from the states, foreign governments, and by selling Western lands. Congress could also not draft soldiers, and they could not trade. Representatives from certain states also barred their state’s representative from supporting any lifetime pension for soldiers . . . The Confederation Congress was unwilling to finance the soldier’s pensions. Upset and desperate, Continental Army officers gathered under Major General Horatio Gates, a long-time rival of George Washington’s, planned to use force.”
Anyone can understand the dilemma and the predictable, natural emotions the men were feeling as Congress dragged its heels. They had fought, bled, gone without food, been separated from their families, watched their friends die in agony, and endured the fatigues of war for years, yet, now, either their country did not want to pay them or was incapable of doing so.
The year before the Newburgh Plot gained steam, General Washington received letters from Colonel Lewis Nicola voicing support for a monarch and spurning republicanism. It seems to suggest that, should he choose, the General could become a king (though, there was never any serious movement to make him one). Colonel Nicola began by describing the neglect and offenses which the Continental Army had endured, stating:
“The injuries the troops have received in their pecuniary rights have been, & still continue to be too obvious to require a particular detail, or to have escaped your Excellencies notice . . . doubtless the particular circumstances of the times have occasioned many of these injuries, yet we have great reason to believe they are not all owing to that cause, but often occasioned by schemes of economy in the legislatures of some States, & publick ministers, founded on unjust & iniquitous principles . . . the recompence of all our toils, hardships, expence of private fortune &c. during several of the best years of our lives will be, to those who cannot earn a livelyhood by manual labour, beggary, & that we who have born the heat & labour of the day will be forgot and neglected by such as reap the benefits without suffering any of the hardships. . . .
“From several conversations I have had with officers, & some I have overheard among soldiers, I believe it is [sincerely] intended not to seperate after the peace ’till all [grievances] are redressed, engagements & promises fulfilled, but how this is to be done I am at a loss, as neither officers or soldiers can have any confidence in promises. . . .
“God forbid we should ever think of involving that country we have, under your conduct & auspices, rescued from oppression, into a new scene of blood & confusion; but it cannot be expected we should forego claims on which our future subsistance & that of our families depend.”
The colonel eventually came to his point, which he called “my scheme.” It involved an economic payment plan, which I won’t detail here, and, more poignantly, a call for monarchy. He said:
“This war must have shewn to all, but to military men in particular the weakness of republicks, & the exertions the army has been able to make by being under a proper head, therefore I little doubt, when the benefits of a mixed government are pointed out & duly considered, but such will be readily adopted; in this case it will, I believe, be uncontroverted that the same abilities which have lead us, through difficulties apparently unsurmountable by human power, to victory & glory, those qualities that have merited & obtained the universal esteem & veneration of an army, would be most likely to conduct & direct us in the smoother paths of peace.
“Some people have so connected the ideas of tyranny & monarchy as to find it very difficult to seperate them, it may therefore be requisite to give the head of such a constitution as I propose, some title apparently more moderate, but if all other things were once adjusted I believe strong arguments might be produced for admitting the title of king, which I conceive would be attended with some material advantages.
“I have hinted that I believed the United States would be benefited by my scheme, this I conceive would be done, by having a savage & cruel enemy seperated from their borders, by a body of veterans, that would be as an advanced guard, securing the main body from danger. There is no doubt but Canada will some time or other be a seperate State, and from the genious & habits of the people, that its government will be monarchical. May not casualties produce enmity between this new State & our Union, & may not its force under the direction of an active prince prove too powerful for the efforts of republicks? It may be answered that in a few years we shall acquire such vigour as to baffle all inimical attempts. I grant that our numbers & riches will encrease, but will our governments have energy enough to draw them forth? Will those States remote from the danger be zealously anxious to assist those most exposed? Individuals in Holland abound in wealth, yet the government is poor & weak.
“Republican bigots will certainly consider my opinions as heterodox, and the maintainer thereof as meriting fire & faggots, I have therefore hitherto kept them within my own breast. By freely communicating them to your Excellency, I am persuaded I run no risk, & that, tho disapproved of, I need not apprehend their ever being disclosed to my prejudice.”
This was the feeling that had seized upon many of the troops in 1782-1783. General Washington’s response to Colonel Nicola sets the stage for the main act of the Newburgh Conspiracy. He wrote:
“With a mixture of great surprise & astonishment I have read with attention the Sentiments you have submitted to my perusal. Be assured, Sir, no occurrence in the course of the War, has given me more painful sensations than your information of there being such ideas existing in the Army as you have expressed, & I must view with abhorrence, and reprehend with severity. . . .
“I am much at a loss to conceive what part of my conduct could have given encouragement to an address which to me seems big with the greatest mischiefs that can befall my Country. If I am not deceived in the knowledge of myself, you could not have found a person to whom your schemes are more disagreeable—at the same time in justice to my own feeling I must add, that no man possesses a more sincere wish to see ample Justice done to the Army than I do, and as far as my powers & influence, in a constitution[al] way extend, they shall be employed to the utmost of my abilities to effect it, should there be any occasion—Let me [conj]ure you then, if you have any regard for your Country, concern for your self or posterity—or respect for me, to banish these thoughts from your Mind, & never communicate, as from yourself, or any one else, a sentiment of the like nature.”
To my mind, it’s a powerful witness of the greatness of George Washington that the one man whom people would trust with the omnipotent power of a monarch was the one man who despised the idea more than any other. Was it not Washington who had, at his own personal expense, raised an army of 1,000 men to fight the British monarchy and rescue Boston in 1775? George Washington was not only public enemy #1 to the British crown, but to all systems of tyranny. He was the ultimate freeman!
Colonel Nicola was not alone, however. By 1783, not only soldiers, but politicians, were involved in a conspiracy to mutiny against General Washington and take over the reins of both the military and government. In “How General Washington and his Spectacles Saved the Republic,” George L. Marshall, Jr., explained:
“As luck would have it, a high-ranking weak link did exist. Maj. Gen. Horatio Gates, once associated with a petty plot (the so-called Conway Cabal) to replace Washington, still possessed some political influence. He was also second in command at Newburgh. . . .
“Gates, still smarting from his failure to discredit and oust Washington, saw a potential opportunity to even the score. Thus were laid plans aimed at the removal of Washington as well as for a military takeover of the Congress and the country. The exact details of the methods to be used are now lost in time, but by early January 1783 Gates was in touch with those in Philadelphia whom he thought would support the plan.
“However, Gates, along with several others, was being deceived and used. The devious Federalist faction in Philadelphia was fanning the fire of rebellion with one hand and trying to douse it with water with the other. What they wanted was an unsuccessful uprising of the army, enough to secure their will in Congress but stopping well short of complete anarchy or military dictatorship. They were playing a dangerous chess game in which Gates, Washington, Congress and the army were to be the pawns.
“Conscious of Washington’s pivotal role in the scheme of things, Hamilton wrote his former superior a carefully worded letter in which he discussed the severe crisis then existing in congressional finances and alluded to the general state of affairs within the army and the desirability of continued pressure for the redress of grievances. Hamilton went on to suggest that Washington, as commander in chief, would likely need to use his great prestige to “keep a complaining and suffering army within the bounds of moderation” if the seething unrest turned into open rebellion. He further noted that forces were at work within the army to diminish the general’s degree of influence. Finally, he suggested that Washington check with Knox to verify the truth of the allegations contained in his letter.
“This letter, along with a second from one of Washington’s friends in Congress, Joseph Jones, warning of “dangerous combinations” and “sinister practices” in the army, convinced Washington to conduct his own investigation of the alleged state of affairs. What he discovered alarmed him greatly. The situation was worse than he thought. Gates and his followers were engaged in some sort of plot to coerce Congress and perhaps worse.
“Washington found himself in a dilemma. Should he support his officers and the army and guide this nascent movement to correct obvious wrongs? Or was his first duty to Congress? Like [Henry] Knox, Washington made a momentous decision: He would not lead what he considered an improper and irregular attempt to rectify those egregious wrongs.”
Modern historians are split on whether Alexander Hamilton was involved in the Newburgh Conspiracy – at least to the degree of trying to provoke a mild outburst that would prompt Congress to finally act to resolve its problems. It does come off as something he might do, given his betrayal of America by setting up a national bank, but there is little direct evidence. What we know is that General Washington trusted him and that Hamilton wrote to Washington in February of 1783 the following:
“If the war continues it would seem th[at] the army must in June subsist itself to defend the [country;] if peace should take place it will subsist itself to pr[ocure] justice to itself. It appears to be a prevailing opini[on in] the army that the disposition to recompence their s[ervices] will cease with the necessity for them, and that if they [once] lay down their arms, they will part with the means of ob[taining] justice. It is to be lamented that appearances aff[ord] too much ground for their distrust.
“It becomes a serious inquiry what will be the true line of policy. The claims of the army urged with moderation, but with firmness, may operate on those weak minds which are influenced by their apprehensions more than their judgments; so as to produce a concurrence in the measures which the exigencies of affairs demand. They may add weight to the applications of Congress to the several states. So far an useful turn may be given to them. But the difficulty will be to keep a complaining and suffering army within the bounds of moderation.
“This Your Excellency’s influence must effect. In order to it, it will be adviseable not to discountenance their endeavours to procure redress, but rather by the intervention of confidential and prudent persons, to take the direction of them. This however must not appear: it is of moment to the public tranquillity that Your Excellency should preserve the confidence of the army without losing that of the people. This will enable you in case of extremity to guide the torrent, and bring order perhaps even good, out of confusion.”
Whatever the truth behind this particular accusation, from Washington’s second-in-command to lower officers to others in the civilian sphere, the plot to turn the army into a weapon of mutiny and rebellion was spreading in March 1783. Being alerted by several letters from trusted sources, the General began to look into the claims of conspiracy. He was repulsed by the idea of disorder and mutiny, believing it a duty to respect constituted authority. He had fought so hard for representative government to allow the popular will to be turned out of its course by a conspiracy.
As the idea of revolt was being transmitted to the army, Horatio Gates and the others called a meeting for Saturday, March 15, 1783. As the meeting began, General George Washington gate crashed and asked to speak to the stunned audience. Though mutinous and mad, who among them was going to tell the old General “no” to his face?
In a short talk now referred to as the Newburgh Address, General Washington rebuked the author of documents calling for mutiny, opposed the conspiracy, and pleaded for patience and reason:
“In the moment of this summons, another anonymous production was sent into circulation; addressed more to the feelings & passions, than to the reason & judgment of the Army. The Author of the piece, is entitled to much credit for the goodness of his Pen: and I could wish he had as much credit for the rectitude of his Heart . . . he had another plan in view, in which candor and liberality of Sentiment, regard to justice, and love of Country, have no part; and he was right, to insinuate the darkest suspicion, to effect the blackest designs.
“That the Address is drawn with great art, and is designed to answer the most insidious purposes. That it is calculated to impress the Mind, with an idea of premeditated injustice in the Sovereign power of the United States, and rouse all those resentments which must unavoidably flow from such a belief. That the secret Mover of this Scheme (whoever he may be) intended to take advantage of the passions, while they were warmed by the recollection of past distresses, without giving time for cool, deliberative thinking, & that composure of Mind which is so necessary to give dignity & stability to measures, is rendered too obvious, by the mode of conducting the business, to need other proof than a reference to the proceeding.
“. . . If my conduct heretofore, has not evinced to you, that I have been a faithful friend to the Army; my declaration of it at this time wd be equally unavailing & improper—But as I was among the first who embarked in the cause of our common Country—As I have never left your side one moment, but when called from you, on public duty—As I have been the constant companion & witness of your Distresses, and not among the last to feel, & acknowledge your Merits—As I have ever considered my own Military reputation as inseperably connected with that of the Army—As my Heart has ever expanded wth joy, when I have heard its praises—and my indignation has arisen, when the Mouth of detraction has been opened against it—it can scarcely be supposed, at this late stage of the War, that I am indifferent to its interests.
“But—how are they to be promoted? The way is plain, says the anonymous Addresser—If War continues, remove into the unsettled Country—there establish yourselves, and leave an ungrateful Country to defend itself—But who are they to defend? Our Wives, our Children, our Farms and other property which we leave behind us. or—in this state of hostile seperation, are we to take the two first (the latter cannot be removed) to perish in a Wilderness, with hunger cold & nakedness? If Peace takes place, never sheath your Sword says he untill you have obtained full and ample Justice—this dreadful alternative, of either deserting our Country in the extremest hour of her distress, or turning our Army against it, (which is the apparent object, unless Congress can be compelled into an instant compliance) has something so shocking in it, that humanity revolts at the idea. My God! What can this Writer have in view, by recommending such measures? Can he be a friend to the Army? Can he be a friend to this Country? Rather, is he not an insidious Foe? Some Emissary, perhaps, from New York, plotting the ruin of both, by sowing the seeds of discord & seperation between the Civil & Military powers of the Continent? . . . .
“. . . With respect to the advice given by the Author—to suspect the Man, who shall recommend moderate measures and longer forbearance—I spurn it—as every Man, who regards that liberty, & reveres that Justice for which we contend, undoubtedly must—for if Men are to be precluded from offering their sentiments on a matter, which may involve the most serious and alarming consequences, that can invite the consideration of Mankind; reason is of no use to us—the freedom of Speech may be taken away—and, dumb & silent we may be led, like sheep, to the Slaughter.
“I cannot, in justice to my own belief, & what I have great reason to conceive is the intention of Congress, conclude this Address, without giving it as my decided opinion; that that Honble Body, entertain exalted sentiments of the Services of the Army; and, from a full conviction of its Merits & sufferings, will do it compleat Justice: That their endeavors, to discover & establish funds for this purpose, have been unwearied, and will not cease, till they have succeeded, I have not a doubt. But, like all other large Bodies, where there is a variety of different Interests to reconcile, their deliberations are slow. Why then should we distrust them? and, in consequence of that distrust, adopt measures, which may cast a shade over that glory which, has been so justly acquired; and tarnish the reputation of an Army which is celebrated thro’ all Europe, for its fortitude and Patriotism? and for what is this done? to bring the object we seek for nearer? No! most certainly, in my opinion, it will cast it at a greater distance.
“For myself (and I take no merit in giving the assurance, being induced to it from principles of gratitude, veracity & justice)—a grateful sence of the confidence you have ever placed in me—a recollection of the Chearful assistance, & prompt obedience I have experienced from you, under every vicisitude of Fortune, and the sincere affection I feel for an Army, I have so long had the honor to Command, will oblige me to declare, in this public & solemn manner, that, in the attainment of compleat justice for all your toils & dangers, and in the gratification of every wish, so far as may be done consistently with the great duty I owe my Country, and those powers we are bound to respect, you may freely command my services to the utmost of my abilities.
“While I give you these assurances, and pledge my self in the most unequivocal manner, to exert whatever ability I am possesed of, in your favor—let me entreat you, Gentlemen, on your part, not to take any measures, which, viewed in the calm light of reason, will lessen the dignity, & sully the glory you have hitherto maintained—let me request you to rely on the plighted faith of your Country, and place a full confidence in the purity of the intentions of Congress. . . .
“And let me conjure you, in the name of our common Country–as you value your own sacred honor—as you respect the rights of humanity, & as you regard the Military & national character of America, to express your utmost horror & detestation of the Man who wishes, under any specious pretences, to overturn the liberties of our Country, & who wickedly attempts to open the flood Gates of Civil discord, & deluge our rising Empire in Blood.”
If the General’s impassioned words had not already swayed the would-be conspirators, what he did next did. Upon closing his own remarks, he produced a letter from Congress to read. Because of the tininess of the text, he faltered in reading. He then pulled out his glasses, expressing a statement which will live in eternal glory: “Gentlemen, you will permit me to put on my spectacles, for, I have grown not only gray, but almost blind in the service of my country.”
The words were electrifying, causing many in the audience to cry. They were remined of how much their General had sacrificed, how long he had fought for them and for their country, and how he had suffered alongside them and continued doing so at that very moment. One officer present, Major Samuel Shaw, later recounted:
“There was something so natural, so unaffected in this appeal, as rendered it superior to the most studied oratory; it forced its way to the heart, and you might see sensibility moisten every eye.
“Happy for America that she has a patriot army, and equally so that Washington is its leader. I rejoice in the opportunities I have had of seeing this great man in a variety of situations;– calm and intrepid when the battle raged; patient and persevering under the pressure of misfortune; moderate and possessing himself in the full career of victory. Great as these qualifications deservedly render him, he never appeared to me more truly so than at the assembly we have been speaking of. On other occasions he has been supported by the exertions of an army and the countenance of his friends; but on this he stood single and alone. There was no saying where the passions of an army which were not a little inflamed might lead; but it was generally allowed that further forbearance was dangerous, and moderation had ceased to be a virtue. Under these circumstances he appeared, not at the head of his troops, but as it were in opposition to them; and for a dreadful moment the interests of the army and its general seemed to be in competition! He spoke,– every doubt was dispelled, and the tide of patriotism rolled again in its wonted course. Illustrious man! What he says of the army may with equal justice be applied to his own character:– ‘Had this day been wanting, the world had never seen the last stage of perfection to which human nature is capable of attaining’” (Washington Irving, Life of George Washington, Vol. 3, 1371-1372).
Major Shaw related that when the General finished and departed, a resolution was unanimously passed by the group declaring their undying support of General Washington, their trust in Congress, and their commitment to never tarnish the good name of the Continental Army. Thus, with a few short words of passion from a true leader, hero, and patriot, the villainous Newburgh Conspiracy died.
The above account cuts right to the point – the greatness of George Washington! There has never been a military commander in secular history who was so dutiful, upright, and unwavering. He was the greatest of men on the earth in his day and one of the most illustrious figures who has ever lived. His mere presence, and the passion of his soul expressed in such plain speech and sincere emotion, was all that was necessary to diffuse a mutiny by men who had fought through a grueling war without pay.
I say again, General George Washington was a great man! He was a true patriot. Indeed, perhaps no man ever lived that embodied in the fullest terms the label “patriot.” He was a true friend to Liberty. He fiercely opposed mutiny and discord while simultaneously safeguarding free speech. He insisted on order and propriety while not restricting Freedom. He put his country first while never asking for anything in return. He attempted to retire but his country called him from his farm to save her time and time again.
May the name George Washington live in the hearts of all true Americans. May we remember how indispensable he was to the birth of America. May we thank the God of Heaven for putting George Washington, and all of the other noble Sons of Liberty, in a position to erect the first free society in modern history. Godspeed, General Washington.
I’ve said it before, but I’m going to say it again: Thank God that you are an American! This Thanksgiving, I’m profoundly grateful for the United States of America. America is unlike any other nation on earth. Our heritage of Freedom is unique and unparalleled in greatness and achievement. Our People are different in character and build. Our institutions are noble and inspired. America is geographically distinctive and blessed beyond measure – the richest of all fruited plains in the world. This Thanksgiving, I give my unashamed and unapologetic love, adulation, and thanks to my homeland, America.
I’ve spent most of the past two and a half years outside of my beloved country. Nothing more is required to feel deep longing and love for America than to be away from her for any prolonged period of time. I miss her more than I can say. I miss her majestic mountains, radiant rivers, and fantastic forests. I miss her hardy, down-to-earth people. I miss my fellow patriots, the protections guaranteed under the Constitution, and my birthright of Freedom.
I also miss my Liberty’s teeth – my guns. I miss being able to have a legal right of self-defense – and fellow countrymen who acknowledge and support it. I’m truly grateful for the natural law of self-defense and for the fact that America still safeguards it even in the face of malicious attempts to enslave the population.
Let’s be honest: The only thing holding back the flood waters of global tyranny is America. And the only element of society in America holding back the onslaught of Satanic despotism is the mostly white, Christian, constitutionalist gun-owner – the “bitter clingers” and “deplorables” in the “fly-over” states.
In fly-over America, the rebellious, independent, manly spirit of the Founding Fathers lives on. It’s the rednecks, not the white-collar city-dwellers, who represent real America. It’s in the rural areas, in middle America, in the communities no one has ever heard of, where Americana dwells.
Rebellion to tyrants and obedience to God is the American tradition. The most rebellious and, simultaneously, religious swaths of America are found in the red states. We’re the ones called “domestic terrorists” because we won’t let Antifa burn down our cities, because we don’t march with the Marxist front group Black Lives Matter, because we don’t tear down statues of our national heroes, because we reject schools teaching communism to our kids, and because we refuse to be injected with bioweapons of mass genocide disguised as “godsend” vaccines. We’re true America and all those who support the enemy’s agenda are imposters and traitors.
America is much more than a political entity. America didn’t suddenly begin in 1776 or when the Mayflower landed or when Colombus arrived. Rather, America is an idea and a land of prophetic purpose, history, and destiny. The idea is summed up by the great triumvirate of values: Faith, Family, Freedom. America is the ultimate home to those who worship God, who seek to raise their families in righteousness, and who love their Liberty.
America has an ancient history. She was home to several great civilizations that historians have scarcely acknowledged and which average people know practically nothing about. My own religious tradition, which I attest I know to be true through the Holy Spirit which has touched my heart, teaches that God led various peoples to this Promised Land. An ancient seer recorded the special significance of this land, identified as Zion, and the promises offered to those who faithfully dwell here:
“And this land shall be a land of liberty unto the Gentiles, and there shall be no kings upon the land, who shall raise up unto the Gentiles.
“And I will fortify this land against all other nations.
“And he that fighteth against Zion shall perish, saith God.
“For he that raiseth up a king against me shall perish, for I, the Lord, the king of heaven, will be their king, and I will be a light unto them forever, that hear my words.
“Wherefore, for this cause, that my covenants may be fulfilled which I have made unto the children of men, that I will do unto them while they are in the flesh, I must needs destroy the secret works of darkness, and of murders, and of abominations.
“Wherefore, he that fighteth against Zion, both Jew and Gentile, both bond and free, both male and female, shall perish” (2 Nephi 10:11-16).
This promise has been fulfulled thus far. America has had no king. As Thomas Paine said, the law is king of America. Autocrats have no place here. America was reserved for a free people – a people that would serve God and obey His laws. It was, as Isaiah and other ancient Hebrew prophets foretold, the land where the Lord would establish Zion prior to His Second Coming.
Another olden day Israelite prophet recorded similar promises made to another group of Ancient Americans and which apply to modern America with equal force:
“And the Lord would not suffer that they should stop beyond the sea in the wilderness, but he would that they should come forth even unto the land of promise, which was choice above all other lands, which the Lord God had preserved for a righteous people. . . .
“And now, we can behold the decrees of God concerning this land, that it is a land of promise; and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall serve God, or they shall be swept off when the fulness of his wrath shall come upon them. And the fulness of his wrath cometh upon them when they are ripened in iniquity.
“For behold, this is a land which is choice above all other lands; wherefore he that doth possess it shall serve God or shall be swept off; for it is the everlasting decree of God. And it is not until the fulness of iniquity among the children of the land, that they are swept off.
“And this cometh unto you, O ye Gentiles, that ye may know the decrees of God—that ye may repent, and not continue in your iniquities until the fulness come, that ye may not bring down the fulness of the wrath of God upon you as the inhabitants of the land have hitherto done.
“Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ” (Ether 2:7, 9-12).
Again, these glorious promises have been and are being fulfilled. Inasmuch as Americans have worshiped Christ and have honored His commandments, we have prospered and enjoyed more Freedom than any other nation in history. Yet, as we’ve allowed communism, LGBT mania, political correctness, infanticide, feminism, New Age philosophy, and immorality and perversions of a thousand types, creep into the land, we’ve gradually lost our rights, decreased in prosperity and unity, and are on the verge of completely abdicating our Liberty. The Lord’s wrath is starting to come upon us to chasten us and humble us so that we will once more return to Him so that He may pour out even greater blessings on this Promised Land of Zion.
Dear reader, even if you disbelieve the inspired words of the ancient prophets cited above, our own American Founders repeated the very same thoughts, cementing forever the notion that virtue and religion are necessary to the maintenance of a free state. John Adams bluntly stated:
“The only foundation of a free constitution is pure virtue, and if this cannot be inspired into our people in a greater measure than they have it now, they may change their rulers and the forms of government, but they will not obtain a lasting liberty. They will only exchange tyrants and tyrannies” (John Adams to Zabdiel Adams, June 21, 1776).
A close associate of Mr. Adams, and a distance relative of mine, Caleb Strong, added:
“Indeed, we are generally apt to ascribe too much to the efficacy of laws and government, as if they alone could secure the happiness of the people; but no laws will be sufficient to counteract the influence of manners which are corrupted by vice and voluptuousness; and it is beyond the power of any government to render the circumstances of the citizens easy and prosperous, if they want the habits of industry and frugality. – Government is necessary, to preserve the public peace, the persons and property of individuals; but our social happiness must chiefly depend upon other causes; upon simplicity and purity of manners; upon the education that we give our children; upon a steady adherence to the customs and institutions of our ancestors; upon the general diffusion of knowledge, and the prevalence of piety and benevolent affections among the people.
“Our forms of government, are, doubtless, like all other institutions, imperfect; but they will secure the blessings of freedom to the citizens, and preserve their tranquility, as long as they are virtuous; and no constitution, that has been, or can be formed, will secure those blessings to a depraved and vicious people” (Patriotism and Piety, 138).
President George Washington concurred with his two esteemed compatriots, stating:
“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” (George Washington, Farewell Address, 1796).
National Monument to the Forefathers
Other such statements could fill volumes. The great sages of our past all believed in God and held that America was set apart by Him for inspired reasons. This belief was handed down by our noble Pilgrim and Puritan forefathers who likewise believed that America was a special place reserved by God for higher purposes. The notable preacher Increase Mather, for instance, had declared:
“This is Immanuel’s land. Christ by a wonderful Providence hath dispossessed Satan, who reigned securely in these Ends of the Earth, for Ages the Lord Knoweth how many, and here the Lord hath caused as it were New Jerusalem to come down from Heaven; He dwels in this place” (Increase Mather, in Michael G. Hall, The Last American Puritan: The Life of Increase Mather, 1639-1723, 99).
The idea that America was the New Jerusalem and the abode of God persisted through the ages and was firmly rooted in the minds of the men and women who established the United States. To cite only one example, in 1796, John Lathrop delivered an Independence Day oration wherein he asserted:
“Liberty descended from Heaven on the 4th of July, 1776. . . .
“The first promulgation of the Gospel of Liberty was the declaration of American independence . . . the Americans were elected by God to redeem from bondage the miserable victims of arbitrary power.”
To peoples of other nations, it no doubt sounds presumptuous and prideful to hear Americans assert that we are a chosen people of God and that America itself is a blessed and unique land – the very Zion of the Almighty. Yet, it’s true! It was the belief of the ancients who inhabited this land. It was the testimony of the Pilgrims who tamed this wild continent and the Founding Fathers who erected a constitutional Republic. And it is my fervent witness that I happily share at this time.
I thank God for America! There’s nowhere else on earth like her. Her beauty is awe-inspiring, spanning splendid mountain ranges, effulgent forests, rugged deserts, extensive plains, rich farmland, teeming lakes and rivers, tropical islands, and artic expanses. Her achievements in technology, medicine, and science are unrivalled. She has raised more people farther out of poverty than any other nation has ever dreamed. Her People have been traditionally good, gracious, and godly. Her advancements in the art of government, science of law, and principles of Liberty are unmatched. And, significantly, God has planted His standard – His ensign to the nations – in America.
An inscription on the National Monument to the Forefathers
Lastly, I ask, what’s in a name? Most people believe that the name “America” comes from the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci. This, however, is perhaps not the case. The true origin may be far more ancient and more significant. The name may actually derive from a name meaning “Kingdom of Heaven.” If true, it’s a fitting title for God’s Zion and New Jerusalem.
My heart is full of love for America. I love Lady Liberty. She’s beautiful to my sight, to my mind, and to my soul. I long for the day I can finally bring my wife and daughter to this special place to experience the spirit of destiny and divine purpose that possesses the nation from sea to shining sea. Immanuel’s land is the only place for me. I ask my Heavenly Father and His Son, my Savior, Jesus Christ, to preserve a righteous remnant here, to speedily establish Zion, and to let the New Jerusalem be built up and shine its light to the world. God bless America!
American Freedom was purchased with the blood of patriots. Liberty has always required tremendous sacrifices to obtain and maintain. Thomas Paine said it best in 1776:
“These are the times that try men’s souls: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: It is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to set a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed, if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated” (Thomas Paine, The American Crisis, 1776).
To sum up Paine in modern lingo, “Freedom isn’t free.” As an American, you are indebted to your ancestors for the Liberty and Independence you enjoy. They slogged through the hell of war, waded through affliction and tears, and risked everything dear to them in order to hand down a heritage of Freedom, self-rule, and peace.
John Adams colorfully said:
“Posterity! You will never know, how much it cost the present Generation, to preserve your Freedom! I hope you will make a good Use of it. If you do not, I shall repent in Heaven, that I ever took half the Pains to preserve it” (John Adams to Abigail Adams, April 26, 1777).
It cost a great deal to purchase American Freedom. It cost blood, toil, and treasure. Lives were cut short, families were split asunder, and civic life was upended. Yet, what patriot would dare say it was all in vain? If our forefathers were willing to fight and die for the gift of Liberty, surely we, the beneficiaries of that gift, should feel the stir of gratitude for the patriot blood that was spilled to quench the parched tree of Liberty in 1776.
When you gather with fellow believers and attend the church of your choice this Independence Day Sunday, remember that without patriot blood you might not be able to enjoy this inestimable blessing. The next time you purchase a firearm, consider that it’s not your Visa card that’s buying it, but the patriot blood of ages past that affords you the opportunity to arm yourself as a freeman. The next time you express a political opinion in public, or go to the polls to vote, or throw your name in the hat in a local election, consider that there are billions of people in other countries who cannot do so because the blood of patriots has not fertilized their ground sufficiently for the tree of Liberty to grow.
We live in a blessed land. America is a land of covenant. It’s a sacred spot chosen by Almighty God for special purposes. In 1630, John Withrop envisioned a glorious future for this continent. He expressed it this way:
“The Lord will be our God, and delight to dwell among us, as His own people, and will command a blessing upon us in all our ways, so that we shall see much more of His wisdom, power, goodness and truth, than formerly we have been acquainted with. We shall find that the God of Israel is among us, when ten of us shall be able to resist a thousand of our enemies; when He shall make us a praise and glory that men shall say of succeeding plantations, “may the Lord make it like that of New England.” For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us. So that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken, and so cause Him to withdraw His present help from us, we shall be made a story and a by-word through the world. We shall open the mouths of enemies to speak evil of the ways of God, and all professors for God’s sake. We shall shame the faces of many of God’s worthy servants, and cause their prayers to be turned into curses upon us till we be consumed out of the good land whither we are going.”
For many years, America fulfilled Winthrop’s vision. We became, and remain, the envy of the world. The hand of the Lord prospered us, gave us technology, revealed systems of good government, and kept us out of the perpetual wars of other countries. No People has ever been so richly blessed. So startlingly remarkable are these manifestations of divine favor that President George Washington, in his First Inaugural Address, stated:
“No People can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand, which conducts the Affairs of men more than the People of the United States. Every step, by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation, seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency.”
Yet, as we view our beloved America today, we see that she has fallen from her former glory. She’s not as free as she once was. She’s not as virtuous and just as she once was. She’s not even as proud, peaceful, or prosperous as she once was. Lady Liberty took sledgehammer blows to the kneecaps in 2020 and 2021. The hammer (and sickle) wielders are gearing up to swing again even more violently and maliciously as she falters and attempts to rise – as millions of good-hearted Americans realize they’ve been conned and attempt to extricate themselves from the jaws of political despotism, medical tyranny, and media lies.
Some of the finest branches of the American tree of Liberty have wilted and withered. Some have stopped bearing fruit while others produce slightly bitter fruit. Yet, there are many new buds blossoming on some of the younger branches and the harvest looks promising. These new buds must be guarded and nourished as they grow stronger. But how can we nourish and cultivate this precious plant? Long ago, Thomas Jefferson explained the only sure way to do it when he said:
It will require a Herculean effort to revive the tree of Liberty. Tragically, as the Sage of Monticello observed, it will require, as it always has, the blood of patriots and tyrants. But the prize is worth the price.
It won’t be easy, though. Restoring our lost rights will require a dramatic change in our hearts and minds. Our forefathers didn’t just pick up their muskets one day and fight their British oppressors. Rather, they were schooled in the principles of Liberty for years prior to the fighting. They understood their religious and civic duty to rebel against tyrants and to defend their Faith, Families, and Freedom. They knew about, and participated in, self-rule. They understood what being freemen was all about.
Our patriot forefathers knew that principled patriotism – in private conduct as well as public life – was the panacea to their national maladies. John Adams affirmed:
If we want things to be different, we have to be different. We have to alter our ways of thinking, raise our standards and principles, and adjust our behavior accordingly. Ultimately, we have to turn our hearts and minds back to the Lord of Liberty, Jesus Christ. Atheists did not win the American War for Independence; Christians did.
America’s fiery patriot leaders did not trust in themselves, but, like General Washington who found himself praying mightily for deliverance, had faith in their Creator and Redeemer. Had they not shouted from the rooftops that “for the support of this Declaration [of Independence], with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor”?
Without turning to Christ, everything else we do is a half-measure and will fail. But, with God, all things are possible (Matthew 19:26; Luke 1:37). The Lord has clearly promised to prosper and protect those who turn to Him. He said:
“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).
And again, through Isaiah, the Lord promised to shine upon those nations who embrace His covenants and repent:
“If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land. . . .
“And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city” (Isaiah 1:16-27).
America is the greatest land on earth; the most blessed and amazing nation to be found anywhere. I love her! I love her Constitution, her heritage of Freedom, her pantheon of heroes, her promise of guaranteed natural rights, and her unrivaled opportunities for growth and ingenuity, prosperity and joy. Her fruited plains are beautiful to my eyes and I marvel at how special, how unique, and how blessed America truly is by the hand of the Almighty.
Yet, America needs restoring. She needs mending. She needs once more to bask in the shade of the tree of Liberty. It will be difficult. It demands gut-wrenching sacrifices. The tree of Liberty requires the blood of good men and women – patriot blood – to nourish its fledgling blossoms. With John Adams, I recognize what it will cost. But, with John Adams, I also excitedly envision what we will gain:
“I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. – Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction” (John Adams to Abigail Adams, July 3, 1776).
This Independence Day, and every day, let’s triumph in our ancestors’ War for Independence. Let’s remember that we live in a blood-bought Republic. Let’s recall with tender gratitude the sacrifices it took to achieve the Liberty we so abundantly enjoy and let’s steel ourselves for the daunting task ahead – the restoration of our rights and the nourishing of the tree of Liberty. With God’s help, we and our children will one day breathe free air and again bask in the ravishing light and glory of Freedom.
This Thanksgiving, we turn our minds back to the men and women who laid the foundation for the greatest nation in human history, the United States of America. In particular, we review the values and ethics the early American colonists brought with them and carefully cultivated in this New World. As we examine the faith and fortitude of the Pilgrims, it is my wish that a part of their intrepid spirit will rest upon you and that you will not only feel grateful for them and their sacrifices to forge a civilization on this wild continent, but that you will seek to be more like them in fighting for a better world.
The other day, a friend posted a copy of the Mayflower Compact on social media. A person commented on the post that they had never read the document until then. It made me wonder how many other people have never read this foundational text. For those who may have never read this Pilgrim constitution, I reproduce is below. First, however, let me provide important context for the European settlement of America.
Seventeenth Century Europe was a place of religious, economic, and social oppression. Popes, kings, and tsars oppressed all who disagreed with them. Christian sects persecuted each other. Church and state were combined in an exceptionally dangerous union. In Rome and many parts of Europe, the pope governed not only in ecclesiastical, but secular matters – often tyrannizing, hunting, and killing so-called “heretics” for dissent. In the British Isles, the Church of England wielded the power of the state against its dissenters. In Russia, the empire forced Russian Orthodoxy on the populace and ostracized “Old Believers.” Though the Dark Ages had formally ended, darkness prevailed throughout Europe in actual fact.
At the time of the War for Independence, the fiery patriot Thomas Paine described the world’s situation:
“O ye that love mankind! Ye that dare oppose, not only the tyranny, but the tyrant, stand forth! Every spot of the old world is overrun with oppression. Freedom hath been hunted round the globe. Asia, and Africa, have long expelled her. Europe regards her like a stranger, and England hath given her warning to depart. O! receive the fugitive, and prepare in time an asylum for mankind.”
The “asylum for mankind,” of course, was and is America. In another spot in Common Sense, Paine wrote:
“But Britain is the parent country, say some. Then the more shame upon her conduct. Even brutes do not devour their young, nor savages make war upon their families; wherefore the assertion, if true, turns to her reproach; but it happens not to be true, or only partly so, and the phrase parent or mother country hath been jesuitically adopted by the king and his parasites, with a low papistical design of gaining an unfair bias on the credulous weakness of our minds. Europe, and not England, is the parent country of America. This new world hath been the asylum for the persecuted lovers of civil and religious liberty from every part of Europe. Hither have they fled, not from the tender embraces of the mother, but from the cruelty of the monster; and it is so far true of England, that the same tyranny which drove the first emigrants from home, pursues their descendants still.”
Paine was correct. Freedom was a phantom in nearly all parts of the globe. The Dark Ages prevailed in a very real sense in Africa, Asia, the Pacific, Latin America, Europe, and the uncivilized parts of North America. Only in the aptly-named New World did the fire of Freedom and Independence burn. This Liberty inferno was sparked by the Pilgrims over a century before.
The Pilgrims, as Paine noted, came not only from Britain, but from numerous nations in Europe. Germans, Swedes, English, French, Dutch, Irish, Scottish, Danes, Swiss, and many others, often risked life and limb to abandon Europe and make America their home. These European outcasts threw off their shackles and became among the first Americans.
These men and women came to this continent for Freedom, prosperity, a second chance at life, to escape immorality and worldliness, and to practice their religion free from oppression of other sects. While it is true that some colonists set up their own politico-religious jurisdictions that discriminated against others not of their particular sect, their overarching ideal, which found its ultimate expression in the American Revolution and U.S. Constitution, was that all men should be free to worship according to the dictates of their own conscience and without oppression.
The core group of early Pilgrims were in fact English. They did not, however, subscribe to the Church of England’s theology and practice. Some were Puritans who wanted to purify the Church of England’s corrupt theology. Others were labeled Separatists because they rejected the Church of England altogether. These groups were persecuted for their non-conformity. Many eventually fled to the Netherlands where they were allowed to worship God in a manner pleasing to them. This is important: They did not flee from England to the Netherlands for crass economic reasons! Their motivation was religious Freedom.
After a short time, however, the Pilgrims found the Netherlands, like England, to be unsuitable. They disliked what they considered Dutch worldliness. They also worried about the Netherlands’ embroilment in European wars and intrigues. With their minds fixed on the welfare of their children and of their immortal souls, the Pilgrims left the Netherlands seeking a new hope in the New World.
The first batch of Pilgrims to arrive in America made their now famous voyage in September 1620 aboard the Mayflower. Though they sought to land in Virginia, which received its first settlers in Jamestown thirteen years previous, inclement weather had a different plan. In November of 1620, the little ship arrived off the coast of Massachusetts near Cape Cod. The Pilgrims eventually made a nearby location, which they called Plymouth, their permanent residence. Before they disembarked the Mayflower, however, they gathered to form a new government – the Mayflower Compact.
The Mayflower Compact is a significant document. Not only did the Compact govern Plymouth for 71 years, but it set forth the ideological concept of America and sparked the tradition of establishing governments through formal compacts and written constitutions. Before discussing the Compact, I encourage you to read it now in full:
“IN the Name of God, Amen. We whose Names are under-written, the Loyal Subjects of our dread Soveraign Lord King James, by the grace of God of Great Britain, France and Ireland, King, Defendor of the Faith &c. Having undertaken for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honour of our Kng and Countrey, a Voyage to plant the first Colony in the Northern parts of Virginia; Do by these Presents, solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God and one another, Covenant and Combine our selves together into a Civil Body Politick, for our better ordering and preservation, and furtherance of the ends aforesaid: and by virtue hereof do enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions and Officers, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the Colony; unto which we promise all due submission and obedience. In witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our Names at Cape Cod, the eleventh of November, in the Reign of our Soveraign Lord King James, of England, France and Ireland the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty fourth, Anno Dom. 1620.”
The document was then signed by forty-one individuals, among whom were William Bradford, Myles Standish, John Carver, and other personalities of note. Please highlight the reason these settlers gave for coming to the New World: The “advancement of the Christian Faith.” Religious Liberty has often been called “the First Freedom.” So it was for the Pilgrim fathers. They fled England not for gold or glory, but for God. They bound themselves together “into a Civil Body Politick,” established “ordered” Liberty, and pledged to work together to advance Christendom. This Christian settlement at Plymouth, not that at Jamestown, was the true birth place of the American nation.
In an article released just in time for Thanksgiving 2020, Eric Patterson and Rebecca Blessing highlighted and underscored the fact that the Mayflower Compact, as you have just seen for yourself, was not created because of politics, social theory, or activism, but was, rather, an organic outgrowth of the Pilgrims’ Christian faith:
“In November 1620, the individuals we know as the Pilgrims created the first social contract in the New World. It was their Protestant faith, rather than some sort of political theory, that provided the idea of covenanting together to form a civil body politic. . . .
“What are we to learn from this today? Most important, the organizing principle for the Compact was the theological motif of covenant. The idea of dedicating oneself to others, before God, in a covenant relationship was essential to many Puritans as well as the Separatists. Covenantalism became a fundamental theological principle for how Presbyterian and Congregationalist churches operated in the 16th and 17th centuries, as well as how they operate today. Therefore, the claim that the social contract theory is necessarily and uniformly secular is utterly inaccurate: the Pilgrims created a theologically informed, non-coercive social compact sans Leviathan. . . .
“At a time when some challenge the morality and religious character of America’s first founders, the plain facts of the 1620 Mayflower Compact, a theologically informed social compact for believers and non-believers alike, remind us of the good seeds planted in our shared past. It is up to us to cultivate those seeds in our own time.”
The Pilgrims of New England planted the good seeds of Faith, Family, and Freedom that were later cultivated and tended to by later generations of Americans; most notably, the generation that won American Independence and nourished the tree of Liberty with their own blood. The Pilgrims established the religious, cultural, social, and even economic patterns that were followed by later Americans and finally codified in our constitutional system. The standout quality of these early Americans was, of course, their reliance upon God – or, as later Americans would declare, their “firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence.”
My own family line, the Strong family, arrived in America in 1635. The first of our clan, Elder John Strong, settled his family in Hingham, Plymouth Colony, and, later, Northampton, Massachusetts. A man by the name of Benjamin W. Dwight, in researching his own family history, found so much information about the influence of the Strongs in early America that he wrote a lengthy book in 1871 detailing our family history up to that point. At the beginning of the book, he made several observations that apply to the Pilgrims generally. I heartily second these words:
“If any part of the world’s history hitherto deserves to be cherished in grateful and admiring remembrance, it is that of this country from its first settlement to the present hour; and the men, that wrought under God all the great benefits which we now enjoy into their present shape, deserve, for the moral purity of their characters, the heroism of their lives, and the greatness of the social results achieved for this nation and for all mankind by their industry and their virtue, to be embalmed forever in the hearts of their descendants. Whatever may occur in future years to change greatly the elements or courses of our development as a people, the fact can never be impaired, that the real builders of this nation, and the inspirers of its aims and purposes, were the Puritans of New England and their immediate descendants. Who and what they were in their every day life; how they spread from point to point over this wide land, first conquered by themselves to Christian civilization, penetrating every part of it with the ideas and institutions of their early homes; and how, from the precious seed which they bore forth and scattered, and often with much weeping, in the waste parts of the wilderness before them, the glorious harvest of our times has grown up for us, it is pleasant to find for one’s self, and to be able to show unto others. The processes of the early settlement of this country, and of the wide-spread development of the active principles of home colonization, which have made out of a few religious strangers here at the first, one of the mightiest nations of the world in so short a time, are among the greatest marvels of human history.
“The Puritan element, whose influence has been so all-conquering and beneficent among the social forces that have made us what we are as a people, is becoming manifestly every year a more and more diminishing quantity among the agencies at work to perpetuate and enlarge our greatness among the nations of the earth. How carefully, therefore, should we secure the memorials, while we may, of the long procession of true-hearted men and women that have borne down, with many tears and toils and prayers, the precious ark of God’s covenant and of our liberties to the present hour. We will not, we cannot, forget those who toiled and dared and endured so much for God and for us. To enjoy the splendid heritage of good which they so laboriously and lovingly prepared for us, as if that were all that we of this day cared for, and to forget them as the magnanimous bestowers of its rich benefits upon us, would be the strongest possible proof of our utter degeneracy from the noble historic stock to which we belong.
“Our fathers were workers. They ate their own bread, and were almost all of them at the first honest and earnest tillers of the ground. Self-help was the universal law of life. Nothing, next to vice itself, was more odious to them than idleness. Ministers and people alike, husbands and wives, fathers, mothers, and children, all helped themselves and helped each other. Self-indulgence was no part of the original fabric of our constitution as a people. It is pleasant to convey the records of the lives and deeds of such a sturdy and God-fearing ancestry as ours, to those who shall succeed us, as among the most precious remembrances of all past times. These were they who used to pray regularly at their firesides, and in their sanctuaries, that “God would bless their children and children’s children to the latest generation;” and in what a fullness of all good things has the blessing that they prayed for, been rained down upon us! The aroma of their many virtues, which is so fresh in our hearts, who live within the very precincts of their times, we would fain perpetuate, if possible, in the happy consciousness of all their posterity” (Benjamin D. Dwight, The History and Descendants of Elder John Strong, of Northampton, Mass., Vol. 1, 1-2).
These glowing praises are not unfounded. The early Pilgrims, while not perfect, were God-fearing, hard-working, pious, virtuous, and zealous. They were humble men and women who put God, family, and community above self. Their principles of “self-help,” community service, faith in God, reliance on the Almighty, and “moral purity,”distinguished them. They forged a community dedicated to Jesus Christ, virtue, and personal Liberty.
Our Pilgrim fathers were made of the stuff that all true Americans in every age have been made of. They possessed integrity, heroism, diligence, discipline, and faith. We owe an unpayable debt to these humble “Separatists.” Had they not separated themselves from the corruptions and contentions of Europe, the makeup of this nation – if we would have become a nation at all – would be vastly different. As it turned out, the Pilgrims infused their religion and ethics into the very fabric of America, recreating this land in their image. The Mayflower Compact which they drafted firmly established America as an outpost of Christianity – an asylum for all who wished to be free and worship their God in peace.
Paul Strand has observed of our Pilgrim ancestors:
“The Pilgrims didn’t just give America Thanksgiving celebrations. They believed religious freedom and liberty were worth dying for. They made the Bible America’s most-read guide to life. And the Pilgrims’ covenant with God and man in 1620 and the form of self-rule they pioneered would eventually shape America’s Constitution and the entire government.”
This Thanksgiving, let us remember that the Pilgrims “toiled and dared and endured so much for God and for us.” They set the example of writing constitutions to bind people together in voluntary compacts for the greater good and for the advancement of Christendom. They left us a legacy of fervent faith in God Almighty, as well as an example of hard work and perseverance. These good men and women would not have seen themselves as heroes, but we rightly view them today as larger-than-life figures who crossed an ocean, left behind everything they knew, tamed a wilderness, forged a new nation through written contracts, and did their best to put into practice their noble values.
I give sincere thanks on this special day to my God for the Pilgrims, including for my own Strong family – past and present. I cherish the heritage of Faith, Family, and Freedom handed down by these faithful individuals. God help us remember them, honor their sacrifices, and reenthrone their values – the values that made America great – so that we may win for ourselves and our countrymen God’s marvelous protection, blessings, and grace. All of this and more can we accomplish if we will do as our forebears did and enter into a covenant to serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ. Happy Thanksgiving.
The American Citadel 