In 1949 a futuristic
nation was described that would limit the freedom of everyone. The story is about a man named Winston Smith a
low-ranking member of the ruling Party who is beginning to feel the ultimate loss
of freedom. Everywhere he goes, even in
his own house he is being watched, everywhere he looks he sees the face of the
ruling Party’s influence. The Party
controls everything. History has been
rewritten; a new language is implemented to prevent political rebellion. The very thoughts of the citizens can become
illegal. This was written by George
Orwell and was titled 1984. Today we are seeing this fictional nation become a reality in America.
In America we have been
living the life of Winston Smith since the end of World War II. Our freedoms have slowly been taken from
us. Since 9-11 our freedoms have been
taken at such a rapid rate that most people are unaware they are now living in
the fictional nation of Oceania describe by Orwell.
The direction America is
going today--- we can no longer claim to be a Free America. We have lost our rights over or children, our
property and we have neighbor spying on each other. Under the false “War on Terror” the
government can arrest a U.S. citizen without cause, prevent us from traveling,
listen to our phone conversations, and often have access to or bank records
without a court orders. The false “War
on Drugs” allows the government to seize our assets without a trial.
The question is not
whether Americans have lost all their liberties, but whether we as average
Americans are becoming less free with each passing session of Congress or with
each new President who feels he has the right to make Americans dependent upon
the government. In 1768 a pamphleteer
wrote, “As the total subjection of a
people arises generally from gradual encroachments, it will be our
indispensable duty manfully to oppose every invasion of our rights in the
beginning.” Although it is too late
to start from “the beginning” American can still be rescued from the continued
encroachment of the government. The
first step is to recognize that we have lost our freedom and how we lost it,
and how will we continue to lose more freedom unless a fundamental political change
occurs.
The decline of our
freedom is the results not only from specific acts of government but from the
impact of hundreds of thousands of government decrees, hundreds of taxes, and
an army of government officials with discretionary power over the lives of
other Americans. We have allowed the
government to improve the quality of life by vastly increasing the amount of
coercion, by increase the police powers, by giving one group of people the
power to command others as to how they must live. The power that accumulates in a centralized
government is up for display daily in America.
The larger government becomes, the more coercive it will be regardless
of the promises made by those who may seem to have good intentions.
The protection of our
freedom is an individual responsibility not the responsibility of the
government. Many Americans cannot
comprehend this simple fact of life.
They often claim, “This is my life.
I have the right to live my life the way I want to live it. No one can dictate my life. Leave me alone. Let me live my life.” This may sound well and good but the problem
with this statement is our individual view of freedom removes us from any
relationships with other people.
To better understand
freedom we must extend freedom to everyone.
Recently a video was made making fun of a religious character that ended
in demonstrations and terrorist acts against the American Embassy in Libya
resulting in the death of Americans. The
perpetrators of these murders demand that everyone respect their right to free
speech and religion but deny these two freedoms to others.
This attitude of doing
whatever pleases them, has taken a toll on our society by destroying the senses
of decency and respect for other’s opinions and feelings. Those who are after enjoying individual
freedom often forget that they cannot have their freedom when they have no
respect for other’s opinions and feelings.
Living in a free society means we must have respect for one another and
coming to a compromise in the event our ideas and ideologies clash.
As Americans we have surrendered our freedom to the government. We have asked them to take care of us. Americans have allowed individual political leaders to frighten us into giving up our freedoms. We have allowed our political leaders to determine what is good and what is bad. The end result is that we have a society that has lost its moral direction. This is not the America of the early days of our nation.
As Americans we no longer understand the threats to our freedom. The colonists in Massachusetts rebelled when British agents were allowed to search their property. Today in America we passively submit to government searches of our baggage, our bodies, all modes of transportation, and even our homes all without consent. When King George placed a two-pence tax on tea in Virginia the citizens revolted; Americans today have allowed Congress to impose taxes on our property, our income, our investments, our food, our clothing, and our inheritance. Connecticut rebelled when the British were undermining the independence of judges; today federal agencies act as judge, jury, and prosecutor in suits against private citizens. Maine revolted because the British Parliament issued an order to confiscate every white pine in the colony; today the EPA can impose restriction on individual’s right to use their own property and the government elected to serve the people will enforce these restriction with legal action against the property owner who will find no support from his fellow Americans. When the British troops tried to seize the colonist’s private weapons battles broke out; today Chicago, Washington D.C. and other cities have imposed prohibitions on handgun ownership from the very government that is unable to protect its citizens from violence.
This election is a crucial turning point for America. Let me first add, the American Christian has suffered from wicked indifference. We are more interested in sports and entertainment than the loss of our freedoms. Many American Christians have no idea how serious the condition is that exist in our country today. The attitude is “I’m only one person. I can’t do anything,” and we have allowed Satan to take us down the road of ruin and destruction every year. If we as Christians do not rise up together and do something to preserve our freedom this nation will be lost to the enemy.
I would ask you not to vote the Party but vote the Bible. Regardless of how we look at the foundation of our country the principles of the Bible played a major role in the freedoms on which this country was established. If we are to regain the freedoms lost we must return to the foundational principles upon which are freedom is based—God’s Word.
As Americans we have surrendered our freedom to the government. We have asked them to take care of us. Americans have allowed individual political leaders to frighten us into giving up our freedoms. We have allowed our political leaders to determine what is good and what is bad. The end result is that we have a society that has lost its moral direction. This is not the America of the early days of our nation.
As Americans we no longer understand the threats to our freedom. The colonists in Massachusetts rebelled when British agents were allowed to search their property. Today in America we passively submit to government searches of our baggage, our bodies, all modes of transportation, and even our homes all without consent. When King George placed a two-pence tax on tea in Virginia the citizens revolted; Americans today have allowed Congress to impose taxes on our property, our income, our investments, our food, our clothing, and our inheritance. Connecticut rebelled when the British were undermining the independence of judges; today federal agencies act as judge, jury, and prosecutor in suits against private citizens. Maine revolted because the British Parliament issued an order to confiscate every white pine in the colony; today the EPA can impose restriction on individual’s right to use their own property and the government elected to serve the people will enforce these restriction with legal action against the property owner who will find no support from his fellow Americans. When the British troops tried to seize the colonist’s private weapons battles broke out; today Chicago, Washington D.C. and other cities have imposed prohibitions on handgun ownership from the very government that is unable to protect its citizens from violence.
This election is a crucial turning point for America. Let me first add, the American Christian has suffered from wicked indifference. We are more interested in sports and entertainment than the loss of our freedoms. Many American Christians have no idea how serious the condition is that exist in our country today. The attitude is “I’m only one person. I can’t do anything,” and we have allowed Satan to take us down the road of ruin and destruction every year. If we as Christians do not rise up together and do something to preserve our freedom this nation will be lost to the enemy.
I would ask you not to vote the Party but vote the Bible. Regardless of how we look at the foundation of our country the principles of the Bible played a major role in the freedoms on which this country was established. If we are to regain the freedoms lost we must return to the foundational principles upon which are freedom is based—God’s Word.
Ask yourself the question
what the Word of God has to say about:
Human Life
Care of the Elderly
Care of Widows and Children
Marriage
Personal Responsibility
Government Responsibility
Justice
Care for the Poor
Serving God
Making War
Crime and Punishment
If you have no idea what
the Bible says about these few issues I have listed how can you make a decision
to support a candidate that is against what the Word of God states? How can we continue to call ourselves
followers of Jesus Christ when we are supporting the very enemies who are out
to destroy His message? If
you are a Christian, you have a responsibility to support the principles of the
Word of God. Jesus said, “ He that is not with
me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.”
Matt 12:30
Christians who have
sit idly by as our religious freedoms are removed will one day realize that you
can no longer worship in your church or even in your home. If you do not care about the freedom of others, it may be too late when
you finally realize that your own freedom has been limited. If freedom matters and it does, it is worth
defending the freedom of everyone.
It seems that in the past few elections both political parties make the statement that “this is the most important election in the history of our country.” However, I do feel it is a very important election and its impact will be felt for the next 20-30 years. If the present president is elected the loss of freedoms in America will continue to be lost. Regardless of all the political promises made by both candidates whoever is the winner will be the one to appoint the next 2 or 3 of the Supreme Court Justices. As we have seen over the past fifty years the Court has played a major role in the loss of personal freedoms. Today we all know that virtually everything we might want to do now need permission, or is outlawed. So what do we as American Christian need to do?
It seems that in the past few elections both political parties make the statement that “this is the most important election in the history of our country.” However, I do feel it is a very important election and its impact will be felt for the next 20-30 years. If the present president is elected the loss of freedoms in America will continue to be lost. Regardless of all the political promises made by both candidates whoever is the winner will be the one to appoint the next 2 or 3 of the Supreme Court Justices. As we have seen over the past fifty years the Court has played a major role in the loss of personal freedoms. Today we all know that virtually everything we might want to do now need permission, or is outlawed. So what do we as American Christian need to do?
There
is a need for a new paradigm.
What is that new
paradigm? It is a spiritual path to
freedom. We can learn from the prophet Isaiah.
Isaiah lived in a time of
political turmoil. During Isaiah’s
ministry the kingdom of Judah went from political prosperity during the reign
of Uzziah to the threat of complete annihilation at the hands of the Assyrians
during the reign of Hezekiah. If there
were those who thought that the LORD would preserve their political kingdom
that was indifferent to God needed to understand the destruction of the kingdom
of Israel by Assyria was going to take place by the permission of the LORD. The only hope for Israel was to return to the
LORD.
In America today we have entertainers who can mock those who are Christian without so much as a protest against their hate and bigotry. The only reason the news media, actors, comedians, liberal politicians and even the President of the United State can make derogatory remarks about Christians is we as Christian have failed to live the life we profess.
Getting back to our spiritual foundation is our only hope for America. We have the promise of God’s Word, "For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." 2 Corinthians 3:17 (NLT) If we think that we can continue down the path the last four year have giving us then we are as blind as the people of Israel under Hezekiah.
It was over 200 years ago that the founding fathers declared that: When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
Our present president is the first president to fail to have a National Day of Prayer in the White House. Sen. John Cornyn stated, “prayer has enriched American public life and inspired us to become a more perfect union and has blessed every day of business in the United States Senate. This year the National Day of Prayer faces a new challenge in the courts,” he said in a written statement. “The case reminds us that our First Amendment freedoms will not survive if we fail to defend them.”
The president of the College of New Jersey, the Reverend John Witherspoon (Presbyterian) was the only clergyman to sign the Declaration of Independence. John Witherspoon had a far-reaching influence on democracy. He had personally taught several of the signers of the document, and nine of them were graduates of the little college over which he presided at Princeton. He understood the cost of standing for Truth and Righteousness and upholding the principles of God’s Word to guarantee the freedom that all men desired.
When he took up his pen to put his name to the document, Witherspoon declared: "There is a tide in the affairs of men, a spark. We perceive it now before us. To hesitate is to consent to our own slavery. That noble instrument upon the table, that insures immortality to its author, should be subscribed this very morning by every pen in this house. He that will not respond to its accents, and strain every nerve to carry into effect its provisions, is unworthy of the name of free man. For my own part, of property I have some; of reputation, more. That reputation is staked, that property is pledged on the issue of this contest; and although these gray hairs must soon descent into the sepulcher, I would infinitely rather they descent thither by the hand of the executioner than desert at this crisis the sacred cause of my country."
How can we turn this nation back to God? Can it even be done? Yes! We can make a difference!
"If my people which are called by my name will humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land." II Chron. 7:14
In America today we have entertainers who can mock those who are Christian without so much as a protest against their hate and bigotry. The only reason the news media, actors, comedians, liberal politicians and even the President of the United State can make derogatory remarks about Christians is we as Christian have failed to live the life we profess.
Getting back to our spiritual foundation is our only hope for America. We have the promise of God’s Word, "For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." 2 Corinthians 3:17 (NLT) If we think that we can continue down the path the last four year have giving us then we are as blind as the people of Israel under Hezekiah.
It was over 200 years ago that the founding fathers declared that: When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
Our present president is the first president to fail to have a National Day of Prayer in the White House. Sen. John Cornyn stated, “prayer has enriched American public life and inspired us to become a more perfect union and has blessed every day of business in the United States Senate. This year the National Day of Prayer faces a new challenge in the courts,” he said in a written statement. “The case reminds us that our First Amendment freedoms will not survive if we fail to defend them.”
The president of the College of New Jersey, the Reverend John Witherspoon (Presbyterian) was the only clergyman to sign the Declaration of Independence. John Witherspoon had a far-reaching influence on democracy. He had personally taught several of the signers of the document, and nine of them were graduates of the little college over which he presided at Princeton. He understood the cost of standing for Truth and Righteousness and upholding the principles of God’s Word to guarantee the freedom that all men desired.
When he took up his pen to put his name to the document, Witherspoon declared: "There is a tide in the affairs of men, a spark. We perceive it now before us. To hesitate is to consent to our own slavery. That noble instrument upon the table, that insures immortality to its author, should be subscribed this very morning by every pen in this house. He that will not respond to its accents, and strain every nerve to carry into effect its provisions, is unworthy of the name of free man. For my own part, of property I have some; of reputation, more. That reputation is staked, that property is pledged on the issue of this contest; and although these gray hairs must soon descent into the sepulcher, I would infinitely rather they descent thither by the hand of the executioner than desert at this crisis the sacred cause of my country."
How can we turn this nation back to God? Can it even be done? Yes! We can make a difference!
"If my people which are called by my name will humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land." II Chron. 7:14
As you vote this November,
vote the principles of the Bible and not the Party. Help turn America around.