SECOND EDITION -- A good friend of mine taught at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky and every year he considered his purpose in life was to “point out the obvious” to those young minds who came to college and sat in his classes. This philosophy of pedagogy was a practice in the three decades of his teaching career. This is the same predicament I find myself in regard to the self-deluding intelligentsia who would have us believe there is no evidence in our history that the Founding Fathers were influenced by the Bible or their beliefs in God and therefore no such contents are to be considered a part in theory or practice of government. I cannot help but consider this extremely biased propaganda anything less than an attempt to destroy any Judeo-Christian influence and even further erode morality into a mere situational ethics concept.

This second essay is a continuation to ferret out yet more quotes to establish the Founding Fathers were of the opinion that God was an essential part in the founding and governing of our nation.

Consider:

"[H]onesty will be found on every experiment, to be the best and
only true policy; let us then as a Nation be just."
-- George Washington (Circular letter to the States, 14 June 1783)

"It is too probable that no plan we propose will be adopted.
Perhaps another dreadful conflict is to be sustained. If, to
please the people, we offer what we ourselves disprove, how can we
afterwards defend our work? Let us raise a standard to which the
wise and the honest can repair. The event is in the hand of God. "
-- George Washington (as quoted by Gouverneur Morris in Farrand's
Records of the Federal Convention of 1787, 25 March 1787)

"I consider the government of the U.S. as interdicted by the
Constitution from intermeddling with religious institutions,
their doctrines, discipline, or exercises."
-- Thomas Jefferson (letter to Samuel Miller, 23 January 1809)
Reference: Jefferson Writings, Peterson, ed., 1186.

"The great object of my fear is the federal judiciary. That body,
like gravity, ever acting, with noiseless foot, and unalarming
advance, gaining ground step by step, and holding what it gains,
is ingulfing insidiously the special governments into the jaws
of that which feeds them." ---Thomas Jefferson

There is probably no quote mined but that another quote will either refute the first quote or no less than desensitize it to a degree that would appear similar in substance to wet wood when dried wood is needed. Whatever worth can be found in the above quote by Jefferson in regard to his fear of the federal judiciary, there is still the uncertainty of confidence, trust and integrity of any group of humans. One cannot help but wonder if the reservations or concern about the lack of trust in others in any way reveals the very weakness of the individual who is doing the questioning.

In my seminary days this very thesis came to light in a homiletic class. The “young preacher boy” (as we all were) had prepared his sermon in a “hell-fire and brimstone” style condemning all kinds of sin, enforcing his points with occasional pulpit pounding. When he was finished no one had any doubt that “to sin” was to separate us from God and put oneself in a position of needing forgiveness for any transgression. As Satan has his way with believers who are unaware of his devices, several months later this same fellow who warned, condemned and laid low anyone who succumbed to temptations of the flesh was put in a position where he could do nothing except drop out of school (his fiancé had somehow became pregnant). Most I knew had nothing but pity for the young man but I cannot help but think the biggest job of forgiveness was within his own mind. One has to be extremely careful what words of condemnation come from our mouths; the words of Genesis should be a constant alert: “sin is crouching at your door”. (Genesis 4:7)

If Jefferson was fearful of such, we can only hope he was as concerned about his own “lawyering” ways. Was he always the voice of integrity? Whatever the answer, the truth of what he says remains, even if he might have flaws himself, and the word “if” can be withdrawn from this phrase because we are all made of clay: “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)

Truth must be recognized regardless of its origin. Truth can be found in both sides of an argument but the utter disregard of truth is something that needs repaired in our lives and integrity must prevail even if it means we may lose an argument.

My self assigned task of uncovering decades of dust to “point out the obvious” to the God-less partisan tribe who insists on assuming that Christians, and Jews alike, are stupid illiterates who they think can be fooled or wowed by titles or by much talking. In 1987 Charles Colson dared Americans to face the reality of facts supporting the principle that state and the church can and should co-exist. Will Durant’s quote was part of the fuel Colson used: “The greatest question of our time is not communism versus individualism, not Europe versus America, not even the East versus the West; it is whether men can live without God.”

Apparently, even though almost two decades have passed since Will Durant wrote those words, the problem has never really been solved or the facts in question reconciled. Out nation has been sold a bill of goods that morals are not important. Many college professors in the very schools that were originally preacher-training schools have taught situational ethics. Why should we be surprised that decades later prayer was taken out of our schools? The very presence of the Ten Commandments has been denied all because of a God-less partisan philosophy is being espoused by the American Civil Liberties Union.

Some of the intelligentsia is still hard at the job of un-writing history and inserting their own versions of our Founding Fathers. I cannot ignore that even the very interesting cable network program, The History Channel, has joined hands with such partisan gibberish by toying with the kind of copy you see in the National Enquirer. I remember one such ad which was full of innuendo about three Founding Fathers. They attempted to minimize the integrity of men such as Benjamin Franklin, rehashing his moral flaws while unashamedly publishing partial bits of gossipy text copy. As mentioned in the Edition One of this series, no one has ever tried to claim the Founding Fathers were angels and I dare add: Neither do we find either aisle of our nation’s capital occupied with people wearing halos!.

As Thomas Jefferson feared the federal judiciary and what they might do, it bothers this writer terribly when I hear either party boldly craving to be “the party in control”! Control? Are not our nation’s leaders capable of doing good without having to be at the wheel and not trusting their “Distinguished Senators or Congressmen (men and women)” – or are they being two-faced liars when they stand in their expensive suits addressing each other with untarnished titles as though hand-appointed by God..

The whole business of government and God is an endless (well, in this world it appears endless) mystery as to why or how man even exists. I have written in more than one place, “All of our problems are theological problems.” Whether we believe in God doesn’t matter. Facts are facts and disputations, arguments; theories are all a part of humanity. As the preacher of our fellowship of believers said recently, “It’s all about God, isn’t it?” He was saying the same thing I mentioned a sentence or two back. Man has had trouble recognizing orders, places of authority since the very beginning. But if there are those “out there” who cannot accept the existence of God, so be it; but I find it rather difficult to imagine or conceive of “something” being in existence without the need of a Creator. Cars, dishwashers, televisions, computers and 147,893 other “things” have all come to us because or as a result of being designed, invented, manufactured or processed by “someone”. Just where or how that “someone” or “some thing” came to be seems a rather simple evidence to decipher whether a creator was needed. Man creates ideas, theories, plans – and cars, dishwashers, televisions, computers (and the list goes on) but some people just cannot conceive of anyone (even God) being cleverer that they are.

As a Christian, I believe that God created all that is here (and out there in space). I may have chosen the simple way out, belief, but that faith has enabled me to sort out life and its problems a bit more thoroughly and in this series of government essays it is just one more step to accept what the Bible says, that government was even one more creation of God, take a look at Romans 13:1-5. As believers, our task is really quite uninvolved and thus simple: “What does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy and walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8) No long list of details, just live a life of integrity, treating others as we would like to be treated and thus demonstrate lives different from the mold of the world.

THE WORDWRIGHT

Posted by Bill Venrick at 10:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Edition One --- A Foreword

One of the interesting books in my personal library is “America’s God and Country” which is an Encyclopedia Of Quotations, compiled by William J. Federer. I cannot speak for Mr. Federer but it would almost seem providential that such a compilation has been prepared because there is a group of our society that is seeking to rewrite history so it would appear that God, religion or the Bible has had no contribution whatsoever to our Nation. The mystery of this is how could anyone hold such an opinion when so many evidences are within footsteps of each other in our Nation’s capitol. Another such phenomenon is the effort of some to strike out the Holocaust as having ever occurred.

Even if all the survivors of the Holocaust were to die, and of course they will, and that personal tattoo on their forearms (an identification of their imprisonment) disappear from our view, the thousands of books, essays and articles chronicled in scrapbooks throughout the nations will not let the record of Holocaust vanish! Yet some still try to ignore the Holocaust into some limbo world. September 11, 2001 is yet another day of infamy that already some claim never happened. They say that no airplanes flew into those twin towers of the World Trade Center; they claim it was explosions, not terrorist guided airplanes. Once again, the thousands of VCR records, newsreels, newspaper photographs are the visible record that our Nation was indeed terrorized, not twice, but in four instances on that 11th day of September in 2001.

“As the Declaration of Independence was being signed by the members of the Continental Congress, August 2, 1776, Samuel Adams declared:

‘We have this day restored the Sovereign to Whom all men ought to be obedient. He reigns in heaven and from the rising to the setting of the sun, let His kingdom come.’

“On October 4, 1790, Samuel Adams wrote to his cousin John Adams, who was then the Vice-President of the United States:

‘Let divines and philosophers, statesmen and patriots, unite their endeavors to renovate the age, by impressing the minds of men with the importance of educating their little boys and girls, of inculcating in the minds of youth the fear and love of the Deity and universal philanthropy, and, in subordination to these great principles, the love of their country; of instructing them in the art of self-government without which they never can act a wise part in the government of societies, great or small; in short, of leading them in the study and practice of the exalted virtues of the Christian system.’ (Pages 23, 24 of America’s God and Country Encyclopedia of Quotations.)

Thus those printed words of our Founders are hereby extended yet further as evidences that religion and belief in God was a vital part of their way of life. Their personal character flaws are recorded as well, as William J. Bennett’s book, “Our Sacred Honor”, states, “The Founders certainly were no angels—often they did not live by their own advice. They themselves acknowledged that if men were angels there would be no need for government.” Do not let history be re-written to fit partisan philosophies or agendas of a God-less segment of this society.

THE WORDWRIGHT

Posted by Bill Venrick at 8:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Since I have been “on the internet” it never ceases to amaze me how much information is available. If you want to find out how much cholesterol is in a goose egg – just journey with GOOGLE for a few literal seconds and you will shortly find out you better forget enjoying a scrambled goose egg. If you want to find out how other wood craftsmen make a marble roll toy – you can have all the ideas you can use for the next five years (or more maybe) in a matter of 30 minutes of your time.

I have heard the phrase, which is typically mouthed by young people who struggle to find their niche in life, “I want to find myself.” The internet proved handy again as I read my subscription from Patriot Post, there it was, one of our own presidents gave some advice around the time of World War I. Here’s a portion of the text from a speech in which former President Woodrow Wilson uttered those same plaintive words about “finding ourselves”:

"We live in an age disturbed, confused, bewildered, afraid of its own forces, in search not merely of its road but even of its direction. There are many voices of counsel, but few voices of vision; there is much excitement and feverish activity, but little concert of thoughtful purpose. We are distressed by our own ungoverned, undirected energies and do many things, but nothing long. It is our duty to find ourselves." ---Woodrow Wilson

If President Wilson felt the need to “find ourselves” over eighty years ago we should not feel embarrassed or even dismayed that problems still plague us. Our problems are not new – they are as old as the hills. Of course the buzzword for problems now is “issues”. Somehow “issues” doesn’t get the juices running for me and this seven-decade mind considers such a ploy with words. Even after looking on the internet's dictionaries, “issue” lists five levels of definitions before it comes close to the meaning “problem” conjures up in my mind.

"More than two hundred years ago, James Madison wrote...that 'the duty which we owe to our Creator and the manner of discharging it can be directed only by reason and conviction and not by force or violence.' In this statement, Madison acknowledged our duty to our God. In our day, some have sought to alienate what Madison thought was unalienable. The attempt to drive religious free speech---and those who would speak it---from the public square must be resisted. We owe it to the martyrs of twenty centuries. We owe it to our fellow Americans. And we owe it to God Himself. Let us honor Him." ---Tony Perkins

Thanks, Tony Perkins, for giving me an opportunity to say “Amen” to a thought about some spiritual values. Here is the problem! Call it religion if you want, or call it “church” – but whatever you call it, what we have lost in our search to find ourselves is quite obvious; we have tried to replace the good sense many of our forefathers had within themselves (morally). We have allowed ourselves to be brainwashed into thinking church and state are not possible to co-exist. That is essentially the same as denying the possibility of man and wife to become one. Our parents, grandparents, and yea, great grandparents were of the opinion when a couple got married they become as one. Today, it is me and mine – not ours! "My place in line." "My turn." Even the United States Army has fallen prey to such when they call it an “Army of one.” Really? What about those men who rush to the front to scout out, risk their lives and those men back of the lines trying to keep resources coming. Somehow “one” all of a sudden became plural!

The body and spirit are mysteriously united when we allow ourselves to see spiritual values. It is important to “tell the truth”. It is important “to care for others”. It is important “to think of others”. Such values are not automatic with mere human nature.

Further it is almost as illogical to think that two hands with ten different digits could be trained to cuddle a newborn baby, type a missive such as you are reading, drive a car, use a power circular saw or hundreds of other tasks people perform every hour of the day. Who says the church and state cannot work together? The only thing the Constitution says is the government is not to dictate what “church” or religion we are to practice! That is further than a country mile from what the legislators are trying to prove today. Separate ourselves from the moral logic of the Ten Commandments? Hogwash!! No wonder we have reams of pink slips of Congress “admitting” they have “borrowed” funds from the Social Security with little or no intention of honoring those pink slips – you see, once we get rid of a standard of honor, ethics and integrity it is only a few steps until we are told we don’t need anything like religion or church – and now all we have to do is convince everyone else of this! (The following poem was written Darrell Scott, the father of Rachel Scott, a victim of the Columbine High School shootings in Littleton, Colorado.)

Your laws ignore our deepest needs,
Your words are empty air.
You've stripped away our heritage,
You've outlawed simple prayer.
Now gunshots fill our classrooms,
And precious children die.
You seek for answers everywhere,
And ask the question "Why?"
You regulate restrictive laws,
through legislative creed.
And yet you fail to understand,
That God is what we need!

Church and state must co-exist. Body and soul somehow have co-existed and we must not let humanism deceive us into thinking church and state have to be separate. Rebecca Hagelin brings us back to reality when she wrote:

"Before we point the finger at Hollywood, the government, or the business community for what is happening to America's youth, we must look at ourselves. I've worked on family public policy issues for 20 years, and I know the solutions to these problems do not rest in Washington, DC. Most of the solutions can be found in active, loving parenting. It doesn't take an act of Congress to take back your home... [A] 13-year-old boy [doesn't] have 60 bucks to buy a video game unless his daddy gave it to him. Eleven-year-old girls can't drive themselves to the mall, nor do they have the cash to buy trashy clothes that make them look like street walkers. And who pays for the cable television, orders the Internet connection and buys CDs for Christmas presents? Well-meaning moms and dads who are too busy or too absorbed with their own lives to see that their kids need them to push back against the toxic culture, not invite and pay for it to invade their homes. Many parents are more concerned about being their children's friend than they are about parenting. But kids don't need more drifting friends; they need their moms and dads. Our children are Feeling around for boundaries, for a firm foundation on which they can build their lives, for love and nurture." ---Rebecca Hagelin

Problems are not unsolvable. Let’s be honest and face reality. Some kind of standards must be set and used. Religion was not absent from the minds of our forefathers and we ought not think we are exempt from the need of such spiritual values.

THE WORDWRIGHT

Posted by Bill Venrick at 7:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)