Liberty!

Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God?
Thomas Jefferson
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A friend sent me an e-copy of one issue of David Jeremiah's "Turning Point" (Nov 10, 11, 2007), in which he acknowledges the signing of the Mayflower Compact, the first time in recorded history that "a group of people freely of their own volition established a covenant to create a new civil government of their own". The start of true democracy, a government "of the people, by the people, and for the people" (as Lincoln would later put it).

But as Dr. Jeremiah notes, that Covenant was very explicit about God being the only true foundation of that democracy. This is extraordinarily important for us to notice today because God has been shoved to the side in our society, if we are to believe the media.

Do we need God? Hollywood, the mainstream news media, and many of our political leaders say emphatically no. Well, let's look at the facts:

Now that we have largely freed ourselves from the primitive superstitious beliefs about there being a God, crime and violence are up, big business is out of control and robbing us, industry is all but gone in our country (nearly everything we buy is made in China except cars, and we're not buying Detroit's cars) as we've become a "service economy" (but try and get decent service anywhere!), as people are having "more and enjoying it less". Addiction is up, drug use is epidemic (even Hollywood stars who are rabid anti-smoking do drugs), personal relationships are less satisfying and shorter-lasting. Personal property ownership is up, but never satisfying; even maxing out one's debt can't buy enough "toys" to make one happy.

The fact is that we need God. We can't have a democracy that continues to work unless we live a life of belief in God.

Democracy means what? The people are self-governing. But many of us today are not governed; our whole way of functioning is controlled by "Me First". Many people disregard laws and regulations, governed only by "Me First".

If you don't believe me, you haven't been in traffic lately, or you weren't looking. Did we need red light cameras back when we were primitive and superstitious? Were our roads filled with unlicensed, uninsured drivers then? Was driving 60 mph through a school zone epidemic then?

Back before we evolved towards not needing a God-myth, were our jails filled? (For that matter, were our jails places where criminals were treated like heros?) Back then, did gangs completely rule over whole areas of our cities. Back then, were people afraid to walk outside? Back then, did innocent people live behind bars, barricaded against crime?

While we were unevolved and ignorant, were our streets loaded with homeless people? Were our freeway off-ramps occupied by panhandlers?

Before we were wise enough to remove the 10 Commandments from our schools, did students massacre their fellows? Was teen drug abuse and suicide (there's only a slight difference between the two) epidemic? Were eating disorders common? (The argument you'll hear on that is that the problem was covered up back then, but then the propaganda of today is that things were always as they are now, just undercover.)

So apparently, we haven't evolved enough. Or maybe we've gone backwards. I assert that our democracy is doomed, that democracy can't function unless the people govern themselves, and that we're failing to do that, and that thus, we are headed to a "police state" as the only way to keep some sort of order.

Have a happy day!