Twice in the same week I was looking in the Book of Mormon
and came upon the same scripture.
Thursday evening while I had a few moments I randomly opened to the Book
of Alma, chapter 46 and began reading in verse 9 about a conflict which had
divided the people of the land.
“Yea, and we also see the great wickedness one very wicked
man can cause to take place among the children of men.
Yea, we see that Amalickiah,
because he was a man of cunning device and a man of many flattering words, that
he led away the hearts of many people to do wickedly; yea, and to seek to
destroy the church of God, and to destroy the foundation of liberty which God
had granted unto them, or which blessing God had sent upon the face of the land
for the righteous’ sake.”
An
interesting and troubling comparison came to mind; that I could substitute
Obama’s name for Amalickiah’s in the verse as if they were the same. I tried to dismiss the thought; the idea that
we had someone who intentionally would attack the predominant religion of the
people while at the same time doing his best to undermine individual liberties
would make such a person treasonous and worthy of our deepest scorn.
And
yet…isn’t Christianity under attack by the Obama administration at this very
moment; specifically the Catholic Church and freedom of religion as it applies
to each of us individually? An article by Jack Cafferty on CNN’s website brought
up the issue of Obamacare and the Catholic Church.
“The Catholic Church is suing President Obama for violating
the freedom of religion that is guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution.
In what’s being called the largest legal action of
its kind, 43 separate Catholic institutions filed lawsuits in a dozen different
federal courts this week.”
Then I thought about the racial tensions that have exploded in the past
couple of years, racial tensions which were healing in large part to our nation
working to make Martin Luther King’s “Dream Speech” come to fruition. Isn’t it amazing “the great wickedness one
very wicked man can cause to take place among the children of men”; a reference
to the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and the influence he had on Barrack
Obama over 20 years teaching Black Theology under the guise of preaching
Christianity.
“Around mid-March in 2008, some of Wright’s more
extreme statements began circulating in the news, including him referring to
the United States as the
“U.S. of K.K.K. A.” and arguing that the September 11 terrorist attacks stemmed
from America’s
corrupted foreign policy, the New York Times reported.”
Then there was Obama’s Harvard Law school mentor, Professor Derrick Bell to
consider. Bell was praised for,
“…pursuit of racial and social justice and his dogged critique of liberal
incrementalism in universities and elsewhere was like a persistent wind that
changed the landscape of law schools and influenced the larger academic world
as well,” wrote Harvard law professor Lani Guinier.
“Bell
was a founder of critical race theory, which examined the intersection of race,
power and law in a harsh portrayal of American society as one dominated by
class and racial conflict.”
Critical race theory isn’t any different then Black theology; it segregates
rather than integrates, divides and blames rather than heals our nation. Martin Luther King is rolling over in his
grave at the so called advances in race relations under the Obama
administration; but I’m getting off target a bit.
This morning I was thinking about Memorial Day and our reverence for those
who died in battle defending our liberties.
I had recently read a reference to the “Banner of Liberty” which Captain
Moroni made from a piece of clothing, a flag hoisted up for all to see as they
battled against evil as related in Alma 46, starting in verse 12:
“And it came to pass that he rent his coat; and he took a
piece thereof, and wrote upon it—In memory of our God, our religion, and
freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children—and he fastened it upon the
end of a pole.
And he fastened on his head-plate, and
his breastplate, and his shields, and girded on his armor about his loins; and
he took the pole, which had on the end thereof his rent coat, (and he called it
the title of liberty) and he bowed himself to the earth, and he prayed mightily
unto his God for the blessings of liberty to rest upon his brethren, so long as
there should a band of Christians remain to possess the land --”
Oh
to have a righteous leader in troubled times; hopefully, a prayer that resides
in our hearts. Memorial Day is upon us;
our honored dead have flowers placed at their grave markers across the country
and scattered cemeteries in distant lands.
It is a sacred day intended to rekindle our foundational priorities.
“Behold, whosoever will maintain this title upon the land,
let them come forth in the strength of the Lord, and enter into a covenant that
they will maintain their rights, and their religion, that the Lord God may
bless them.” Alma 46:20
This article has been cross posted to
The Moral Liberal, a publication whose banner reads, “Defending The
Judeo-Christian Ethic, Limited Government, & The American Constitution”.
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