| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"St. Jack NopetheDopeofapes" |
| Date: |
24 Jun 2007 09:00:30 AM |
| Object: |
Watershed Moment |
Watershed Moment
A New Declaration of Dependence
Indeed, God has blessed America. This nation, dedicated to the proposition
that all men are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights,
has endured 228 years. America is the oldest constitutional republic on
earth.
But all is not well in our land. When Thomas Jefferson penned the immortal
words of the Declaration of Independence, he deliberately appealed to the
Creator. He acknowledged an overriding obligation to "Nature and Nature's
God." And he understood that ordered liberty is not just a subjective
preference, but a divinely ordained condition for which human beings are
designed.
But over the last few decades, legions of skeptics have mounted a massive
assault on these "self-evident truths." In prestigious law schools, in the
halls of government, and especially in the Supreme Court, God is often
banished from public conversation. If a public school teacher introduces
Jefferson's ideas and language into the classroom today, she would likely
be called on the carpet -- and possibly disciplined.
This assault on God in public culture severely damages our republic. If
God is thrown out of our history, we lose our basis for believing that
individuals have rights and dignity. In an empty universe, we have no
meaning, no value. Without God there are no unalienable rights, and no
certain proof that liberty is better than tyranny or that life better than
death. Everything is a matter of opinion and power.
The references to God in the Declaration of Independence provide a
foundation for a moral argument within civil society. And moral truths
pervade our founding documents from beginning to end. Without God as the
source of all those moral principles, the public square would quickly
revert to the law of the jungle. Brutish power would prevail. The weak,
the unborn, the elderly, and the gravely ill could be quietly terminated.
As much as I enjoy the anthems and the fireworks, more than that is called
for on this July Fourth. We need to confess our moral failures and our
national sins. Repent of the lies that have justified killing innocent
babies and the elderly. Renewal begins on our knees. It's there that we
hear soul-searching questions from God Himself, asking: "How long will you
defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked? . . . Rescue the weak
and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked."
Our nation's founding document declared independence from Britain, but,
with equal fervor, declared dependence upon God. Expressing "firm reliance
on the Protection of divine Providence," the signers committed the
American experiment to their Maker. The Spirit of 1776 was reverence and
trust.
So as we mark this solemn occasion, let us seek a rebirth of true liberty,
which is possible only when governed by divine law. For, without God, we
can never have "liberty and justice for all."
By Chuck Colson
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
For further reading and information:
BreakPoint Commentary No. 030710, "Wall of Separation: Text and Context."
BreakPoint Commentary No. 031024, "Ordered Liberty: Remembering Russell
Kirk."
BreakPoint Commentary No. 030704, "Onward Christian Soldiers: Are We
Liberators or Oppressors?"
Read and learn more about the Declaration of Independence.
Dr. Daniel L. Driesbach, "A Godless Constitution?" BreakPoint Online,
April 2000.
See the "Worldview for Parents" page, "The First Liberty."
Marvin Olasky, "Building the Independence Day coalition," Townhall.com, 1
July 2004.
"One Nation under What?" -- a Capitol Hill lecture delivered by Dr.
Phillip E. Johnson.
The "BreakPoint Role of Government Packet" includes the booklets: "The
Causes of Virtue"; "The Social Necessity of a Moral Consensus"; "God and
Caesar: Does Religion Belong in Public Life?"; and "Creating the Good
Society."
James Bradley, Flags of Our Fathers: Heroes of Iwo Jima (Bantam, 2000).
.
|
|
| User: "GreyHairedFart throwaway1833.hotmail.com" |
|
| Title: Re: Watershed Moment |
24 Jun 2007 05:57:55 PM |
|
|
"St. Jack NopetheDopeofapes" <stjnd_021@NOTSOhotmail.com> wrote in
news:m6GdndOHtZi45OPbnZ2dnUVZ_oGlnZ2d@giganews.com:
Indeed, God has blessed America. This nation, dedicated to the
proposition that all men are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable rights, has endured 228 years. America is the oldest
constitutional republic on earth.
After Bush is done with us, which of these "unalienable rights" will
remain? Which ones will God tell Bush to keep?
--
The modern theist:
If it's good; God caused it
If it's bad; Man caused it.
The modern environmentalist:
If it's good; Mother Nature caused it
If it's bad; Man caused it.
Draw your own conclusions
.
|
|
|
|
| User: "Enkidu" |
|
| Title: Re: Watershed Moment |
24 Jun 2007 09:16:00 AM |
|
|
"St. Jack NopetheDopeofapes" <stjnd_021@NOTSOhotmail.com> wrote in
news:m6GdndOHtZi45OPbnZ2dnUVZ_oGlnZ2d@giganews.com:
Indeed, God has blessed America.
Fred Phelps, a model Christian preacher, disagrees with you.
--
Enkidu AA#2165
EAC Chaplain and ordained minister,
ULC, Modesto, CA
So far as I can remember, there is not one word in the Gospels in praise
of intelligence.
-Bertrand Russell
.
|
|
|
|
|
Related Articles |
|
|
