This week's letter is based on a portion from a book that I have used as a reference before called, “Assumption that Affect Our Lives.” This portion is called - Freedom Cannot Survive Without Moral Citizens.
America is a place where people of all religions and persuasions may freely believe what they so choose. Some people say we are a pluralistic society. If they mean that a single belief system such as a Bible-based system should not be the basis of our laws and civil government, than we are taking a totally opposite direction than our founding fathers did.
Some may think that morality can be brought back into our nation without bringing back a respect for the Bible and it's principles. John Adams said that our constitution is inadequate for the governing of any other than a moral and religious people. He said that because he knew that only those people would know how to govern themselves under God. People with self-government or self-control understand what is required of them to live at peace with others. The essence of real moral self-government (choosing to follow Biblical principles) is to be motivated by God's presence in you and knowledge of His Word. Our founding fathers thought that individuals who had Biblical self-government would be the ones to whom this new type of government overruled by God “by the people, for the people” would work.
Today we still have the form of a free nation, but we are quickly losing the character that is necessary to sustain it. Our civil freedoms (those that involve the government such as voting or freedom of religion) can only survive as long as the American people are able to govern themselves in a morally responsible way based on Biblical principles. While no freedom-granting government can keep people morally responsible, only morally responsible people can keep government freedom-granting. Interesting point, huh? The more Americans there are who do not practice moral self-government, the greater risk we all have of losing what freedoms we still enjoy. The choice is simple: Either the American people will regain their ability to morally govern themselves from the internal side of things or the strong arm of government will come in and control us from the external side of things. We must be controlled by either by the Word of God or the strong arm of man, either the Bible or the bayonet.
Early Americans understood what moral self-government under God was all about. They had sacrificed much in order to attain it. Of course, not all Americans were Christians by any means. So, also those who were Christians were not faultless either. Still, there is no substitute for God and a government based on His principles. Many people are uncomfortable with the term “Christian nation” and for good reason. The phrase itself is not exactly accurate in the sense that a country can never be fully “Christian.” Only individuals can be. The Court that said that did mean though that our laws and institutions “must necessarily be based upon and embody the teachings of The Redeemer of mankind,...and in this sense and to this extent our civilization and our institutions are emphatically Christian.”
How far we have drifted! Our revised laws nowadays are no longer based upon the teachings of Jesus as it was once said by the Supreme Court that they should be.
So, the point of all this is to bring a clearer picture to our minds of how we can pray for our country and it's leaders.
This week's letter is based on a portion from a book that I have used as a reference before called, “Assumption that Affect Our Lives.” This portion is called - Freedom Cannot Survive Without Moral Citizens.
America is a place where people of all religions and persuasions may freely believe what they so choose. Some people say we are a pluralistic society. If they mean that a single belief system such as a Bible-based system should not be the basis of our laws and civil government, than we are taking a totally opposite direction than our founding fathers did.
Some may think that morality can be brought back into our nation without bringing back a respect for the Bible and it's principles. John Adams said that our constitution is inadequate for the governing of any other than a moral and religious people. He said that because he knew that only those people would know how to govern themselves under God. People with self-government or self-control understand what is required of them to live at peace with others. The essence of real moral self-government (choosing to follow Biblical principles) is to be motivated by God's presence in you and knowledge of His Word. Our founding fathers thought that individuals who had Biblical self-government would be the ones to whom this new type of government overruled by God “by the people, for the people” would work.
Today we still have the form of a free nation, but we are quickly losing the character that is necessary to sustain it. Our civil freedoms (those that involve the government such as voting or freedom of religion) can only survive as long as the American people are able to govern themselves in a morally responsible way based on Biblical principles. While no freedom-granting government can keep people morally responsible, only morally responsible people can keep government freedom-granting. Interesting point, huh? The more Americans there are who do not practice moral self-government, the greater risk we all have of losing what freedoms we still enjoy. The choice is simple: Either the American people will regain their ability to morally govern themselves from the internal side of things or the strong arm of government will come in and control us from the external side of things. We must be controlled by either by the Word of God or the strong arm of man, either the Bible or the bayonet.
Early Americans understood what moral self-government under God was all about. They had sacrificed much in order to attain it. Of course, not all Americans were Christians by any means. So, also those who were Christians were not faultless either. Still, there is no substitute for God and a government based on His principles. Many people are uncomfortable with the term “Christian nation” and for good reason. The phrase itself is not exactly accurate in the sense that a country can never be fully “Christian.” Only individuals can be. The Court that said that did mean though that our laws and institutions “must necessarily be based upon and embody the teachings of The Redeemer of mankind,...and in this sense and to this extent our civilization and our institutions are emphatically Christian.”
How far we have drifted! Our revised laws nowadays are no longer based upon the teachings of Jesus as it was once said by the Supreme Court that they should be.
So, the point of all this is to bring a clearer picture to our minds of how we can pray for our country and it's leaders.