I happened to catch a bit of the Glenn Beck radio show the other day when he was interviewing Matthew Spalding, author of the book, We Still Hold These Truths: Rediscovering Our Principles, Reclaiming Our Future . A simple statement he said rang true with me, something which serves as a common thread in my blogs, A Line Drawn in the Sand , which also linked directly to another article I’d written, Author of Liberty ; nice to have a little validation.
“The whole notion of limited government depends upon us having rights granted to us by God that we each possess. If there is no moral truth behind that, there is nothing that limits government. That's what progressivism means. What they said very clearly because they went over and studied with these really bad German philosophers and they came back and they had discovered the new truth that there was no permanent enduring timeless truth, no self evident truths as it says in the declaration. Carl Becker, one of the great historians wrote to ask whether the declaration is true or not is a meaningless question. They are relativists at their core. All truths are merely relative to one another. You like ice cream, I like eating small children, all right? It doesn't matter. Once you've accepted that philosophical assumption, there are no limits on government, the Constitution is living, the president can do whatever he wants. None of this matters.”
Compare that with what I wrote back on July 23, 2005:
“…When the citizens of a once noble society, one in which our Creator was revered and honored, now refrain from giving Him their respect and obedience; instead insist that their government is the provider of liberty and the provider of freedom, then it becomes only a matter of time when that society will become debased and unworthy of the blessings of that Creator who once they counted on for those liberties and freedoms.”
…or something else I’d written:
“…If we are then to use the word inherent within the context of any discussion of rights then it must first be expressed somewhere, “From whom are we to inherit?” Who is it that has the ability to create such characteristics and to have the power necessary to propagate characteristics? Maybe I should restructure the question; In who’s image are we created after, that we might be heirs?
“The whole notion of limited government depends upon us having rights granted to us by God that we each possess. If there is no moral truth behind that, there is nothing that limits government. That's what progressivism means. What they said very clearly because they went over and studied with these really bad German philosophers and they came back and they had discovered the new truth that there was no permanent enduring timeless truth, no self evident truths as it says in the declaration. Carl Becker, one of the great historians wrote to ask whether the declaration is true or not is a meaningless question. They are relativists at their core. All truths are merely relative to one another. You like ice cream, I like eating small children, all right? It doesn't matter. Once you've accepted that philosophical assumption, there are no limits on government, the Constitution is living, the president can do whatever he wants. None of this matters.”
Compare that with what I wrote back on July 23, 2005:
“…When the citizens of a once noble society, one in which our Creator was revered and honored, now refrain from giving Him their respect and obedience; instead insist that their government is the provider of liberty and the provider of freedom, then it becomes only a matter of time when that society will become debased and unworthy of the blessings of that Creator who once they counted on for those liberties and freedoms.”
…or something else I’d written:
“…If we are then to use the word inherent within the context of any discussion of rights then it must first be expressed somewhere, “From whom are we to inherit?” Who is it that has the ability to create such characteristics and to have the power necessary to propagate characteristics? Maybe I should restructure the question; In who’s image are we created after, that we might be heirs?
It is my opinion, rather than contention since contention seems to abound, that to ignore the source of any inheritance is to abandon the right to inherit altogether. If a person was invited to the reading of a will for the purpose of receiving a portion of an estate, then it follows that he would, by virtue of his attending that reading, acknowledge the origin of any and all benefits to be received. In the case of inherent “rights”, does it not seem natural to acknowledge the Author of those rights?”
I went back and read the comment section to my article, A Line Drawn in the Sand. The information generated in that comment section explains much about the lack of understanding and gratitude to our Father in Heaven’s gifts to His children, what we call rights. I recommend taking a few minutes to see what others think about rights, choice and freedom as they stand on their own soap boxes. Our country’s future hangs on the acceptance of this most basic idea, that individual rights come from God.
Flash forward to the present and you will find our nation in serious trouble for a number of reasons; however, at the foundation of all our issues would have to be the marginalization of God being the Author of our Liberty. How else would you explain the total disregard for our Constitutional form of government by elected representatives, a government which provides the necessary safeguards for individual rights which He provided through divinely inspired individuals we refer to as “Founding Fathers”, being thrown in the trash like yesterday’s newspaper?
A Barry McGuire tune from the anti-war era popped into my head as I wrote just now, Eve of Destruction. The frustration of a generation unclear about many basics seemed to flow out of that song; a generation not sure about the righteousness of America’s interests in Viet Nam, America’s being founded on Christian principles, America’s societal issues as pertain to race relations all came to the surface in a very negative statement against the current leadership. “Take a look around ya’, boy…It’s bound to scare ya’, boy…”
The anti-war movement generation got older, I was tempted to say they grew up; but that implies reaching levels of wisdom and maturity. Many of these folks have been elected to lead in Washington; wanting to “change” everything they thought was wrong. The way they talk and vote you’d think the whole premise of America was wrong and needed to be changed. This whole idea of America being tied in with God, that’s gotta go!
Of all the issues that bothers the Progressives, the idea that God gave individuals rights keeps them from moving forward toward their idea of Utopia, a place where the State provides everything equally to those in need. If they could just get past that sticking point they could do anything they wanted because then government in all its glory would determine what’s best, not the individual. These folks would have us believe that the America we live in has “living documents”, just pieces of paper which, while good at one time, mean little today. They deny God as the head of our government at every turn; is it any wonder that they scoff at individual rights?
In their desire to “change” America, the implication that change is always for the better; aren’t we throwing the baby out with the bathwater when the template used to get us this far is now valued so little? We were never promised Utopia here in America, only the promise of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. Our Constitution and Bill of Rights were put in place to protect individual’s God given rights from government, not to enable the monster our huge federal government has become. To achieve lofty individual goals requires going beyond merely wishing; it requires individual effort and self constraints which fall within the boundaries set up in the commandments the Lord has given to all men.
The leaders of my Church have instructed us to be optimistic in spite of dark clouds which seem to be all around us; to live up to the standards we know to be true. The war in heaven mentioned by John the Revelator, the one in which Satan was cast out of Heaven; that war is still being decided. We have the choice, as part of the agency given to us by our Father in Heaven, to live up to His expectations and be obedient to the commandments or follow the adversary; either way we choose.
I went back and read the comment section to my article, A Line Drawn in the Sand. The information generated in that comment section explains much about the lack of understanding and gratitude to our Father in Heaven’s gifts to His children, what we call rights. I recommend taking a few minutes to see what others think about rights, choice and freedom as they stand on their own soap boxes. Our country’s future hangs on the acceptance of this most basic idea, that individual rights come from God.
Flash forward to the present and you will find our nation in serious trouble for a number of reasons; however, at the foundation of all our issues would have to be the marginalization of God being the Author of our Liberty. How else would you explain the total disregard for our Constitutional form of government by elected representatives, a government which provides the necessary safeguards for individual rights which He provided through divinely inspired individuals we refer to as “Founding Fathers”, being thrown in the trash like yesterday’s newspaper?
A Barry McGuire tune from the anti-war era popped into my head as I wrote just now, Eve of Destruction. The frustration of a generation unclear about many basics seemed to flow out of that song; a generation not sure about the righteousness of America’s interests in Viet Nam, America’s being founded on Christian principles, America’s societal issues as pertain to race relations all came to the surface in a very negative statement against the current leadership. “Take a look around ya’, boy…It’s bound to scare ya’, boy…”
The anti-war movement generation got older, I was tempted to say they grew up; but that implies reaching levels of wisdom and maturity. Many of these folks have been elected to lead in Washington; wanting to “change” everything they thought was wrong. The way they talk and vote you’d think the whole premise of America was wrong and needed to be changed. This whole idea of America being tied in with God, that’s gotta go!
Of all the issues that bothers the Progressives, the idea that God gave individuals rights keeps them from moving forward toward their idea of Utopia, a place where the State provides everything equally to those in need. If they could just get past that sticking point they could do anything they wanted because then government in all its glory would determine what’s best, not the individual. These folks would have us believe that the America we live in has “living documents”, just pieces of paper which, while good at one time, mean little today. They deny God as the head of our government at every turn; is it any wonder that they scoff at individual rights?
In their desire to “change” America, the implication that change is always for the better; aren’t we throwing the baby out with the bathwater when the template used to get us this far is now valued so little? We were never promised Utopia here in America, only the promise of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. Our Constitution and Bill of Rights were put in place to protect individual’s God given rights from government, not to enable the monster our huge federal government has become. To achieve lofty individual goals requires going beyond merely wishing; it requires individual effort and self constraints which fall within the boundaries set up in the commandments the Lord has given to all men.
The leaders of my Church have instructed us to be optimistic in spite of dark clouds which seem to be all around us; to live up to the standards we know to be true. The war in heaven mentioned by John the Revelator, the one in which Satan was cast out of Heaven; that war is still being decided. We have the choice, as part of the agency given to us by our Father in Heaven, to live up to His expectations and be obedient to the commandments or follow the adversary; either way we choose.
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