Oh, that my head were waters, And my eyes a fountain of tears, That I might weep day and night For the slain of the daughter of my people! Jeremiah 9:1
For the hurt of the daughter of my people I am hurt. I am mourning; Astonishment has taken hold of me. Jeremiah 8:21

Human slavery was by no means abolished in 1863. Nor did it cease in civilized nations, including the United States of America, nearly 150 years ago. It continues to this day, unabated, even within the borders of this American nation.

The trade is not limited to men, women, and children with dark skin, for purposes of forced labor. Modern slavery has taken a more ghastly, dispicable, and nefarious face: the majority of those who are slaves are women and children, who are forced into lives of prostitution. The statistics are horrific:

* A child is trafficked every 30 seconds. – UNICEF
* The average age of entry into commercial sex slavery in the United States is 13 years old. – United States Department of Justice
* Human Trafficking occurs in 161 out of 192 countries. – The United Nations
* Pornography is a 96 billion dollar per year industry. – The Internet Filter Review
* Up to 96% of women in prostitution want to escape but feel they can’t. – United Labor Organization
* Human Trafficking is a 32 billion dollar per year industry. – The United Nations
* In some countries it is estimated that 70% of men purchase sex. – Victor Malarek; The Johns
* Over 27 million people are enslaved around the world. This is more than double the number of Africans enslaved during the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. – Kevin Bales; Free the Slaves

(Source: “The Cold Facts of Modern Slavery” http://nefariousdocumentary.com/learn-more/)

This slave industry is global, but most of the victims are brought here — that’s right, to the United States of America — to be exploited. Exploited by whom? According to statistics, more than 80% of the buyers of slaves for purposes of prostitution are American businessmen. Europe is also a major destination for victims of human trafficking. That is unspeakably disgusting.

Although forced labor is a part of global human trafficking, the greater majority is that of forced prostitution. How sick! We gasp at how 200 years ago, Africans were sold and bought, and treated most degrading manner, to be subjected to forced labor all their lives. We wonder at how our ancestors, not even a full 2 centuries ago, could be so brutal to another human being.

But now, there are even more slaves today than there ever were in history at any one time. It is not the need for labor and hired hands that is fueling this multi-million dollar industry. The majority of slaves are being obtained and sold, not for the purpose of picking cotton or harvesting sugar cane, but for the purpose of gratifying the carnivorous appetite of a man who feels like being a pervert that day.

This problem is in no way far removed from even middle-class citizens. We are continually bombarded with immoral propaganda, on purpose. Even the shopping isles and grocery store tabloids shamelessly display the very things which fuel human trafficking. Sexual gluttony is not just inappropriate; it is costing millions of women and children, almost none of whom chose this kind of life, their lives and souls. And every single person who patronizes the businesses that promote this kind of behavior — either through viewing porn, clicking in internet adds, subscribing to slimy magazines, or anything else — bears the burden of responsibility for these people.

And the LORD said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know.” Genesis 18:20-21

God hears the cry of those who are oppressed, and He executes righteousness and justice on their behalf (Psalm 103:6). God does not take that cry lightly, and neither should we. When He comes to visit, He should find out that the hands of His people are clean of this great iniquity, and are standing on the side of justice, ready to move at His word.

Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, That it cannot save;  Nor His ear heavy,  That it cannot hear.
But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you,
So that He will not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood, And your fingers with iniquity; Your lips have spoken lies, Your tongue has muttered perversity. No one calls for justice, Nor does any plead for truth. Isaiah 59:1-4

Why does not God move? Why does God not powerfully intervene in this situation, and turn this whole wicked industry to dust? Because no one calls for justice. We don’t care, and our hands are just as defiled with sin as our neighbor’s. If there was zero perversion in “Christian” circles in this country, I am confident that a lot of wicked causes and businesses and industry would go bankrupt. After all, don’t professing, church-going Christians make up the majority of people in this country?

There are some very, practical steps that we can take to squash this squalid traffic in this country, and hopefully, worldwide. There are a number of excellent Christian organizations that you can partner with, and help the cause of liberty, but the two groups I would like to highlight are Pearl Alliance, led by John and Lisa Bevere of Messenger International Ministries, and Exodus Cry, a ministry led by the International House of Prayer, based in Kansas City. Both organizations raise awareness about the truth of human trafficking, and they work to rescue those caught in it. What is great about the Exodus Cry ministry, is that they understand the indispensable importance of prayer in this fight against slavery; hence they do not only appeal to men, but to God, and angels and demons move in the spiritual realm, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).

Below are two video clips by these anti-human trafficking ministries. If you possibly can, share these videos with others, and get the word out about this cause.

Exodus Cry: The Mission Briefing

Exodus Cry: The Mission Briefing from Exodus Cry on Vimeo

The A21 Campaign: Maria’s Story

After an absence from this blog, and from my own meme “Founding Father’s Quote Friday,” I now resume my pen typewriter. I also apologize (do I do that more than I blog, I wonder?) to my readers and to FFQF participants. My absence was the result of necessity.

Today, we pose the question “Does one size fit all?” Meaning, “Is one form of government appropriate to all kinds of peoples, nations, societies, cultures, and so forth?” It seems ridiculous at first to think so, because all people are different; but it seems that it is viewed as unpatriotic these days to say that the United States Constitution, or ‘democracy,’ is not going to work for all people.

Let’s see what Founder Alexander Hamilton had to say about this:

… I hold, with Montesquieu, that a government must be fitted to a nation as much as a coat to and individual; and consequently, what may be good at Philadelphia [the unofficial United States capitol at the time], may be bad at Paris, and ridiculous at Petersburg [then capitol of Russia].
To Marquis de Lafayette, January 6th, 1801

We are told that all people have an inner desire for freedom (which is true), and that therefore all people should experience political freedom no matter what their beliefs, culture, or moral standards.

While this is a nice sentiment, and one would naturally hope that this could be realized, it is a sad impossibility. Only those who are capable of governing themselves in such a way that is consistent with the order, peace, and protection of society, can sustain any form of popular government.

I will no doubt be accused of bigotry by saying this, but it is truth nonetheless. Only the moral standards of God, who created man, are fit to govern man sufficiently and properly. God has made it clear that His word has been revealed to us in the form of the Holy Scriptures. If you have any doubts about this, I would suggest that you research the facts, internal and external. Some of the greatest internal evidences that have convinced me personally of the Scriptures’ superhuman origin are the scientific and medical facts which were hidden within the passages of the Bible, some of which have been discovered only during this past century. Ray Comfort has listed these facts in his book Scientific Facts in the Bible, available at Amazon.com. Another evidence is the Bible codes. Good reads on this subject include Dr. Chuck Missler’s The Cosmic Codes, and W. E. Filmer’s book God Counts. There are many other evidences of the Bible’s accuracy and supernatural origin, but these two categories of evidence are totally mind-blowing.

Free government has worked in America as long as America has respected and observed those standards. When she departed, she departed from her origins of civic freedom as well. Now, we need politicians to look out for us, and protect us from ourselves. Such is the price a nation pays for deserting its own good by deserting God’s law.

Today, John Adams will answer that question for us. His answer comes from a letter written to an early American historian by the name of Hezekiah Niles, dated February 13, 1818. Several of Niles’ invaluable texts on American history are available for reading and searching here.

But what do we mean by the American Revolution? Do we mean the American war? The Revolution was effected before the war commenced. The Revolution was in the hearts and minds of the people; a change in their religious sentiments of their duties and obligations. …

There might be, and there were others who thought less about religion and conscience, but had certain habitual sentiments of allegiance and loyalty derived from their education. …

This radical change in the principles, opinions, sentiments, and affections of the people was the real American Revolution.

By what means this great and important alteration in the religious, moral, political, and social character of the people of thirteen colonies, all distinct, unconnected, and independence of each other, was begun, pursued, and accomplished, it is surely interesting to humanity to investigate, and perpetuate to posterity.

To this end, it is greatly to be desired, that young men of letters in all the States, especially in the thirteen original States, would undertake the laborious, but certainly interesting and amusing task, of searching and collecting all the records, pamphlets, newspapers, and even handbills, which in any way contributed to change the temper and views of the people, and compose them into an independent nation. (italics are Adams’ original underlining)

SOURCE: The Works of John Adams, volume 10, pp. 282-283

I think that a study of the First Great Awakening, particularly the influence of men like George Whitefield, would very much satisfy the ends of the search which Adams proposed. Indeed, my (hopefully) upcoming book on Alexander Hamilton will deal with this subject, specifically as relates to the shaping of Hamilton’s beliefs and destiny.

How is the Great Awakening responsible in a large degree for the Revolution? Books from the 19th century to the present have been written on the subject; but if I may sum it up simply: The teachings of men like Whitefield convinced men that 1) all men are radically depraved, and 2) they are dependent upon God, and not man-made institutions like the Church of England, for the security of their souls.

The first principle is apparently present in the thinking of our Founding Fathers, the men who framed our founding documents, as they grappled with framing a government with as much balance as possible to counter the constant flow of selfish ambition in all the parties involved in the structure of civil government. And of course, when the second principle was applied, self-government was made possible.

Remember: our First Revolution did not start with just a Tea Party; it started with a return of professing Christians to the Bedrock of the foundation of the Church — the Gospel of Christ. Unless this happens on an individual level, our nation can never be pleasing to God, nor can the body of professing American Christians be acceptable to God, and definitely, nor can our nation return to its founding principles of freedom.

I would encourage readers to refer to my very first Founding Fathers’ Quote Friday post.

I am very thrilled to announce that we have another new participant in FFQF: The Young American! See last week’s FFQF post here.

Ben Franklin died this day, on April 17, 1790. So today we will cite a great quote from him:

Sell not virtue to purchase wealth, nor liberty to purchase power. From Poor Richard’s Almanac (1734)

Loss of liberty was no accident in our country. Nor was it the fault of corrupt politicians alone. We sold our virtue for luxury, and our politicians, who are not inherently worse than us, purchased power at the price of liberty. The reason why our national condition is never improved, even as election after election goes by, is because our nation lacks virtue. George Washington once wisely observed, “Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder.” And right now, the wealthy elite who pull the strings in our country, and in other countries, are making extraordinary bids. And if you don’t cooperate, they’ll certainly find something in your past to fill the newspapers with, and knock you out of the ring of power. And the cycle is repeated with almost every new-comer in office.

It’s encouraging to know that people are being mobilized and activated around the country to protest the blatant injustice of the bullies in power — it’s high “tea time”! But it’s going to take a lot more than protest to win our liberties back.

I hope to continue posting my series called “The Law of Liberty.” I’ve only posted my first installment, and that was some time ago. But, I promise to continue it, and also to continue my exciting series of posts unfolding the relationship between the Founding Fathers, and the Illuminati.

Today’s quote somewhat reflects the theme that I will be touching on in my upcoming installments of “The Law of Liberty.” It’s short, sweet, and simple truth, presenting by the admirable John Adams:

Strait [sic] is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to liberty, and few nations, if any, have found it.

To Richard Rush, Quincy, 14 May, 1821

Liberty — civil liberty — is not a thing easily achieved, or maintained. The essential ingredient that liberty requires is totally missing from human nature. Liberty requires virtue and accountability to be maintained. It requires purity, stability, and a selfless steadfastness. It requires the ability not to be bought or sold, or lulled or hushed.

Liberty is a rare thing in the world because (warning: politically incorrect statement ahead) liberty and human nature are incompatible. Human nature, left to itself in its fallen state, cannot achieve, much less maintain, lasting liberty. Human nature must experience a change before true and lasting liberty is possible.

Keep in mind that Adams made the above statement 5 years previous to his death. He was 86 years old. He had spent his life in making America independent and free. For him to make such a statement toward the end of his life reveals how sobering reality must have been.

It is not as simple as riot and anarchy to bring about, or to restore liberty. As I’ve said before, liberty is NOT maintained (as Jefferson made the mistake of asserting in his famous “tree of liberty” quote) by continually struggling with authority. History has shown that anarchy is substituted for liberty in those cases, and it’s high time that humanity learned the hard lesson that order NEVER comes out of chaos. Liberty is achieved when virtue (i. e., God’s standards) are maintained. Usually, this has only been practiced on a small scale among small groups.

Such were the Separatist Pilgrims who came to this country. They were our original Founders. Because of their godly dedication, our nation was the first republic in history to realize civil liberty on a national scale.

For the past several weeks, I and those participating in this month’s Founding Fathers’ Quote Friday meme, have been dealing with the subject of the (late great) Bill of Rights. We have been approaching that subject from the angle that the reason for its demise has simply been the ignorance and complacency of the people. My friend Jean has just posted about the importance for people to know their rights, and not to be intimidated by the government. My friend Cato has also posed the suggestion that in stead of the Pledge of Allegiance schoolchildren and public officials ought to recite the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights at the beginning of each workday. Also, my friend Jon-Paul who joined our meme some time back, pointed out that many people think they have certain rights guaranteed by the law (such as the right not to be offended, the right to “express themselves”, etc.), but are ignorant of our real rights.

Because the people are ignorant (government-controlled schools are not going to impress upon its students the value of their rights, the protection that the laws of the land give them from their government, and their solemn and sacred duty to defend their laws and their rights), many of those who have assumed government office on the local, state, and federal level are also shamefully ignorant. Polls again and again show (I suppose I don’t need to mention the status-quo policies of the government for decades, do I?) how ignorant and/or indifferent our public officials are of our laws, of their limits, and their duties.

But how many people know? And in comparison to that amount, how many people care? Our culture is a pleasure-seeking one, by and large. And each passing generation seems to be more and more entertainment-oriented. Of course, much of our entertainment is mindless drivel, or downright filthy. I’m appalled at some of the things our culture seems to tolerate as “funny” or “entertaining.”

Should we be surprised that in a culture filled with frivolity and impurity that our national IQ goes down considerably? That the conscience of our culture has been seared? That we are habitually complacent about the things that matter? We are dumbed and numbed, and we have willingly accepted this condition of slavery that has been gradually tightening its grip on our lives, for temporal pleasure.

Here is what Founding Father Alexander Hamilton had to say about that.

Mental debasement is the greatest misfortune that can befall a people. The most pernicious of conquests which a state can experience is a conquest over that elevated sense of its own rights, which inspires a due sensibility to insult and injury, over that virtuous pride of character which prefers any peril or sacrifice to a final submission to oppression, and which regards national ignominy as the greatest of national calamities. The nation, which can prefer disgrace to danger is prepared for a Master and deserves one.

“The Warning No. III” New York, February 21, 1797 (emphasis original)

Ouch. I guess our infatuation with celebrities and sports and entertainment hasn’t been so worth it after all.

It seems that our theme for this week has sounded a bit more like an elegy to the Bill of Rights, which, for all practical purposes, are dead. What now? Well, let us look and see where we have fallen. We will start by looking at the First Amendment:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or of the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Thanks to radical revisionism and misinterpretation of this amendment, the version which is now observed and practiced reads as follows:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of any religion except that of humanism, nor prohibiting the free expression thereof, no matter how unreasonable, injurious, or obscene. Neither the Congress, nor the President, nor the courts, nor the states, nor the people, may in any way sanction or express the Christian religion exclusively — this would contradict the aforesaid establishment of the state-sanctioned religious establishment of humanism.
The people may speak and picket and petition, but the government has the right to ignore and silence them from time to time as it shall deem proper.

Sounds nasty, doesn’t it? I regret to say that this is largely our fault. One the one hand, you had ordinary citizens believing with the courts and the historical revisionists that the First Amendment was basically meant to guarantee individual freedom of expression, and to protect licentious individuals from even having to think about Christianity, lest they get offended. We allowed ourselves to be brainwashed by the government’s courts, government-owned major media outlets, and government-owned schools that Christians were just bigoted control-freaks who wanted to force their absurd beliefs on everybody else.

Oh, but we enjoyed our “freedom” from God for a while, didn’t we? While our kids were shooting each other and committing violent and obscene crimes, while families and marriages fell to pieces, while corruption within our government quadrupled, while every generation was sent to fight and die overseas in the politicians’ wars, and while thousands of unborn children, unwanted infants, and unwanted elderly people were put to death each day in our own land. What paradise! What a nation to be proud of! Wasn’t it worth it??? JUST SO LONG AS WE HAD THE RIGHT NOT TO THINK ABOUT GOD!! What? Bailout??? EVIL GOVERNMENT!! Don’t you dare touch my wallet!

Here is the price we’ve paid. Two hundred years have gone by, and yet another nation has refused to learn the lesson from history: that the nation that willfully forgets God, will eat the fruit of its own folly and destruction.

At least we had an honorable bunch of fellows who were willing to learn that lesson, and pass the warning to their descendants:

There is not a single instance in history in which civil liberty was lost and religious liberty preserved entire.Reverend John Witherspoon, signer of the Declaration of Independence

Would you put your religion in the power of any set of men living? Remember civil and religious liberty always go together: if the foundation of one be sapped, the other will fall of course.

Alexander Hamilton

Be careful with your wording. Religion and morality are two very different things.

We don’t need a supernatural being to make us be good citizens and make moral choices. You must take responsibility and choose to be a moral person – it is much more genuine than someone making those sort of life decisions just to appease a higher being. I often wonder if religious people would still be “good” if they were to find out that there really isn’t a god (or gods, etc.)

As far as religion goes – keep your religion (by all means – it’s your freedom to enjoy), but also keep your religion out of my laws (it’s my country too). Laws are meant to govern a population so as not to oppress those and allow us all to live without fear of discrimination, unwarranted cruelty and/or threat to our lives and health. Religious-based laws often end up doing the opposite (don’t even get me started on this one).

So, in summary – freedom, love and equality for all (not just straight, Christian men and the women that agree with them). It’s that easy – if your religion doesn’t agree with that you must ask yourself where has your religion gone wrong?

I wrote back a rather lengthy response, in order to do this discussion a fair amount of justice (though I could have gone on longer). I do wish people would leave some kind of a name, so I could be more polite and have something more formal to address them with, rather than just “Anonymous.” I decided that it would be better if I made my response a post, rather than such a long comment. Here is that response:

Hello Anonymous. Welcome to my blog, and thanks for reading and leaving your comment.

I agree with you that religion and morality are two distinct things, but I also believe, along with John Adams and George Washington, that morality, on a nation-wide scale, depends upon the influence of religion (since they were speaking in an 18th-century American context, they would have been referring to Christianity in general — no other religion was accepted as valid in America at that time).

Since you seem to disagree with this premise, let me lay before you the following facts:

(1) Man is not inherently good. Oh yes, he has a conscience, and I agree with you that even those who are not religious can make moral choices on their own. The Bible itself tells us this in Romans 2:14-15. However, George Washington boldly declared in his Farewell Address: “And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.” In other words, while we may acknowledge that certain individuals may enlighten their minds, and act reasonably, rationally, and morally, societies and nations have not done this often enough or consistently enough throughout history, or even today, for us to trust that man, without accountability to a Higher Power, will do, or even know, what is right on his own.

(2) Please note that you are not just arguing with me on this subject. You are arguing with George Washington (quoted above), John Adams (quoted in the above post), Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and even Benjamin Franklin (read his scalding letter to Thomas Paine here). I’m not saying that these men were infallible; however, they did possess a lot of wisdom and virtuous character (recall that Washington has been called “the eighth wonder of the world” for his virtue) — enough to found the greatest and freest republic the world has ever known. So, you’d think that their words, not spoken off a whim, but rather, in solemn declarations to the public, would have some considerable weight.

To answer your statement: “You must take responsibility and choose to be a moral person – it is much more genuine than someone making those sort of life decisions just to appease a higher being. I often wonder if religious people would still be “good” if they were to find out that there really isn’t a god (or gods, etc.)”

I think you have a misunderstanding of how religion, or, I should say Christianity, works. Most world religions operate through fear or brainwashing to get people to be good and moral. Christianity, as the Bible defines it, is the work of God in a willing and repentant heart. By renouncing sin, turning from it, and to Jesus Christ and His righteousness, God gives us a new heart. Our appetite is no longer for sin or for the passing pleasures of immorality; God gives us a hunger for Him, and changes us. We act out of willing and grateful obedience for His forgiveness — out of love. Any goodness that Christians may perform is genuine because it is voluntary.

Think about this also: people may want to do right. They may go through all the hoops and hurdles, but there still is a problem. How do you know that everything you do is moral? Who decides what is and is not moral? Now, we may not dispute over things like murder, but how about covetousness? How about adultery? How about little lies? Some people may think those things are not very bad, while others are convinced they are. The truth is, that, they ultimately harm others and harm society. In a free society especially, such things have much bigger consequences.

Consider this also: why does morality matter? I mean, if there is no God, why bother? “Immoral actions hurt other people; that’s why it matters.” True, but how can you possibly tell what will hurt other people? And haven’t you noticed the strange tendency people have to justify the “small” wrong things they do saying “No one will know” or “it won’t hurt anybody”?

Once again, certain individuals may act upon these considerations, but this is not common, since humans are inherently selfish and short-sighted. Therefore, to entrust morals on a nation-wide scale to simple discretion is very dangerous, as Washington was quoted above as arguing.

You say to keep my religion out of your laws. Please define. It’s one thing to force others to convert to my religion, or profess certain creeds from my religion, by using the force of civil law. I am not attempting to do that, and I am not aware of any Christians who are.

But if it is moral laws that we are urging, based on our religious convictions, sorry — our Founders did that before we did. They outlawed sodomy, polygamy, forbade gambling, etc etc out of their own Christian principles. So what Christians want to say, pass laws banning abortion? First of all, it’s not a religious law. It’s a moral law (i. e., killing innocent life is morally wrong), and our belief that abortion is wrong (just like we believe murder, theft, etc is wrong) is based in our Christian beliefs. Maybe you don’t agree with Christianity, but if you have any real sense of morals, why would you object to such legislation? And how does that “religion-based” law hurt people? Maybe you should turn off the major news networks and do some studying.

You say that “laws are meant to govern a population so as not to oppress those and allow us all to live without fear of discrimination …”

It’s a bit hard for me to tell exactly what you are saying here, because I am assuming there is a part after “oppress those” which is missing. So my question is “‘those’ who?”

But let me say this: laws are indeed meant to discriminate. They are meant to discriminate criminals from the innocent, to lay down the difference between what is right and what is wrong in society.

The obvious question then is, “What is the ultimate standard between right and wrong?” If the rulers are left to themselves to decide, they very likely will make those decisions arbitrarily.

Having learned this lesson from history, our Founders set out to establish “a government by law, and not a government of men,” to use John Adams’ wording. But let me ask you this: without God, all law and all authority must ultimately trace to man. And therefore, all morality, all standards of right and wrong, would be the arbitrary dictates of man — usually the man/men with the most power.

Can you please tell me how you can get a government of law without God? I have asked this question to other atheists, and they have been unable to answer. Maybe you can help me, if you have any answer to this.

Today we will hear from an address which President John Adams gave to the officers of the First Brigade of the Third Division of the Massachusetts Militia, on October 11, 1798:

While our country remains untainted with the principles and manners which are now producing desolation in so many parts of the world; while she continues sincere, and incapable of insidious and impious policy, we shall have the strongest reason to rejoice in the local destination assigned us by Providence.

But should the people of America once become capable of that deep simulation towards one another, and towards foreign nations, which assumes the language of justice and moderation while it is practising [sic] iniquity and extravagance, and displays in the most captivating manner the charming pictures of candor, frankness, and sincerity, while it is rioting in rapine and insolence, this country will be the most miserable habitation in the world; because we have no government capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net.

Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. … Oaths in this country are as yet universally considered as sacred obligations. That which you have taken and so solemnly repeated on that venerable spot, is an ample pledge of your sincerity and devotion to your country and its government. Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States (edited by Charles Francis Adams), volume 10, pages 227-228.

He does not come out and say it, but their need be no doubt that he is making the point that our Constitution cannot successfully govern us without religion and morality in the people, both in those who administer the government (since they are bound by their sacred oaths of office), and by the populace (since the amount of civil government needed to govern society will rely wholly upon their moral principles and habits, or lack thereof).

I think we too easily forget this truth — even we who are informed on these matters. Tyranny is a horrible thing, but it is the price that a nation pays for its own depravity. Our Constitution no longer binds us, or governs us, because, as Alexander Hamilton warned, we have become “old and corrupt,” and are no longer “young and virtuous.” (1)

I regret to say that all our attempts to reinstate the Constitution through legal and other means, even if successful, would be in vain. Why is this? To echo Adams: “Our Constitution is WHOLLY INADEQUATE to govern a people that is not religious and moral.” We are not, as a people, religious and virtuous. Even the Christian Church of this country is not, as a majority, religious and virtuous — at least, not in the true and biblical sense. Whether we realize it or not, we have taken on a very, very deceptive form of humanism, and by being like the culture, have become like the rotten meat, and not the salt and the light.

Do I suggest that we take our country back by force of arms? No. It is much too late for that.

Beyond the fact that our forms of resistance, humanly speaking, are far too inferior for us to stand the slightest chance, it would only aggravate the evil passions which dominate our nation now. I think Hamilton put it best: “[T]he passions of revolution are apt to hurry even good men into excesses.” (2)

I think we tend to take terms like “war” and “revolution” a bit to lightly; after seeing the approaching horrors of tyranny, we are quick to revert to the Jeffersonian saying that

“God forbid we should ever be 20 years without such a rebellion. … what country can preserve it’s liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon & pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is it’s natural manure.” (3)

We easily ignore or forget, as Jefferson apparently did, the dearer cost than lives that war, particularly revolt, demands: innocence. Liberty is not preserved by the people struggling continually with their government; liberty is preserved by the people struggling to maintain virtue. War, and especially revolution, does anything but encourage virtue. On the contrary, it brings out the very worst in human nature. And when a nation revolts, it casts off the established authority, however excessive its power may have been, that once kept the people in check. At the same time, those who are most revolutionary (i. e., those who would cast off all control and all restraint) usually dominate revolutions and revolts. The outcome of such revolutions? Anarchy, and then another (usually more oppressive) form of despotism. Remember the French Revolution.

Every other revolution and revolt has had this fate — except the American Revolution. And the reason for our victory was not due to luck, or to our superior principles. I don’t even think that we could rightly say that American virtue insured its success. Rather, it was the hand and blessing of God. But as Washington said, “The propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which Heaven itself has ordained.” (4)

What then, is to be done? A Great Awakening is needed to shake the Christian Church away from the things of this world that have deceived her, and bring her back to Christ. But such an awakening will have to be brought on by more than just supernatural manifestations — it seems that the Church has idolized the spiritual in place of the Spirit, and has sought for the manifestations of God’s power, and not sought the powerful God. When we realize that even the gifts of God will profit us nothing apart from God, then we shall begin the road toward true revival.

To wake the American church out of her Laodicean apathy, however, there may have to come times of severe tribulation. Perhaps only then will she realize that she is poor, blind, and naked, and only then will she run to Christ, and receive from Him heavenly riches, eye salve, and unblemished garments (Revelation 3:14-22).

After the call to revival has gone forth, and those who have ears to hear have heard and obeyed, and those who have hard hearts will fall away, the great possibility is that then Christ will receive His Church. Maranatha!

Again today, we examine our theme of “moral authority.” Our goal, once again, is to solicit the Founding Fathers on the question of “What is the foundation for morality?”

Today, we will hear from George Washington. He is definitely a fitting person to hear on this subject, as he has been called “the Eighth Wonder of the World” for his sterling virtue. Surely he can at least give us a few pointers as to the authority for moral standards. Here are his words, taken from his First Inaugural Address, of advice to the new American nation:

By the article establishing the Executive Department, it is made the duty of the President “to recommend to your consideration, such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.” The circumstances under which I now meet you, will acquit me from entering into that subject, farther than to refer to the Great Constitutional Charter under which you are assembled; and which, in defining your powers, designates the objects to which your attention is to be given.

… [T]here is no truth more thoroughly established, than that there exists in the economy and course of nature, an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness, between duty and advantage, between the genuine maxims of an honest and magnanimous policy, and the solid rewards of public prosperity and felicity: Since we ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven, can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which Heaven itself has ordained: And since the preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the Republican model of Government, are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally staked, on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.

First Inaugural Address, April 30, 1789

I need not add anything; Washington said it all.