Providence and National Sins

by Susan Snelling

George Mason was a Statesman and Delegate from Virginia to the Constitutional Convention. He is called the “Father of the Bill of Rights.” He was also someone who understood something about Divine Providence.  He wrote: Every master of slaves is born a petty tyrant. They bring the judgement of heaven upon a country. As nations cannot be rewarded or punished in the next world, they must be in this. By an inevitable chain of causes and effects, Providence punishes national sins, by national calamities.

George Mason believed that national sins, such as slavery, bring judgment by Divine Providence. He understood a biblical principle that individuals are judged in the afterlife but nations, which cannot be judged at that time, are judged in the here and now. He equated national calamities with national sins. The First Amendment to the Constitution says that we are created equal and each person is endowed by the Creator with the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. To deny anyone that right as occurred with slavery, Mason recognized would bring judgment on America. Slavery is not the only national sin for which a nation is judged. The same can be said for abortion where pre-born children are robbed of their constitutionally protected inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Other national sins bring judgment as well. History tells us what happens to nations that violate the God-given rights of individuals, that ignore Divine Providence as a nation. Those who embrace behaviors contrary to the Judeo-Christian beliefs that America was founded on, invite the judgment of God. Those who remain silent while millions of babies are slaughtered in the womb and other national sins are committed become complicit. They invite the very things they despise. Economic collapse, bad leadership, unrest in the streets, and national and geographic calamities cannot be chalked up to happenstance.  National sins that are un-repented for can be found simmering beneath the surface. To repent means to turn around and stop doing it. It is not lip service but action. It is sorry in both word and deed.

John Adams wrote: …we have no government armed with power 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. When citizens do not connect the dots between those national sins and the difficulties they see going on in America, they repeat the same error. Those who cry out that a calamity is the judgment of God, find they are often mocked, and their warnings are dismissed as nonsense. Yet, the Founding Fathers understood how the Supreme Judge works and designed the Constitution in a way that would support the continued blessings of America.

Politicians and others after a rousing speech sign-off with “God bless America” and one of our national songs goes by the same. God bless America. If Americans want the blessings of God, if they want Divine Providence to shine on them, then a turnaround from national sins is in order. Otherwise, America will languish as one of the sad stories in history books. It will be that of a great nation that once was; a nation that was once the shining city on a hill and a beacon of hope and freedom for all, even those who stir in the womb, waiting for their chance to live the American dream.

Gun Control Is Not The Answer

by Rich Farm

“For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness.  All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.”  ~ Mt 7:21-23

“To conquer a nation, first disarm its citizens.” ~ Adolph Hitler

Why is it that the first thought of any politician to counter a horrific mass shooting is gun control?  Do you really think taking away certain types of guns or the amount of ammo you can carry in a single clip or magazine is a logical answer?  As if these disturbed heinous people who pull off these acts of mass violence are going to follow any laws you put into effect, they already can’t follow the laws that currently exist, and that will never change.  Criminals will always find a way to break the law to get what they want.  All gun control does is effectively remove the ability and right to protect our lives and the lives of our family members.  Someone can just as easily commit acts of violence with a knife, a car, a bat, or just about anything you can think of to turn into a weapon.  We look back in history and Cain killed his brother with a rock.  It is never the weapon used that is the problem it is the heart of the person handling the weapon that can be used for good or evil.

I believe we see the motive of the gun control movement in the quote above by Adolf Hitler.  We have a body of leaders that have a thirst for power and control, and they will capitalize on a tragedy to push forward their will and agenda.  We have to look at the landscape of our nation, where we came from, and where we are at today in order to truly understand the problem we are dealing with.  Historically we are a Christian nation.  We were founded on biblical principles from the Holy Bible to form the type of government that we possess.  I believe it was James Madison who said though that our constitutional form of government only works for a moral people.  That being said the majority of our founders believed it was foundational to educate using the Holy Scriptures.

Noah Webster who was considered the Father of American education and also the author of the Webster Dictionary 1828 defined education as, “n. The bringing up, as of a child; instruction; formation of manners. Education comprehends all that series of instruction and discipline which is intended to enlighten the understanding, correct the temper, and form the manners and habits of youth, and fit them for usefulness in their future stations. To give children a good education in manners, arts and science, is important; to give them a religious education is indispensable; and an immense responsibility rest on parents and guardians who neglect these duties.”

Benjamin Rush a signer of the Declaration of Independence said, “If we were to remove the Bible from public schools, we would be wasting so much time punishing crimes and taking so little pains to prevent them.”  We could camp here for a while just quoting founder after founder and their view of how important the Bible was for training in morality and civility.  The fundamental basis of scripture is to point to the fact that we are a fallen creation with a free will to choose right and wrong.  The Bible gives us guidelines and the ability to do what is right but it is up to us to choose.

In order to be able to self-govern, we need to have a moral foundation.  There has to be something that is the basis for determining right from wrong. The Bible provides that foundation.  Let’s fast forward a bit.  In 1962 prayer was removed from the public schools and shortly after the Bible was as well.  By removing the very thing our founders felt was essential to a moral and virtuous upbringing, we as a nation opened ourselves up to deception to run rampant; enter the sexual revolution and feminist movements.

This obviously didn’t happen overnight in 1962; seeds had to have been sown throughout history, and slowly it was just accepted a little at a time.  The Church was also deceived into thinking that we have no place in the public square.  So, by effectively silencing the Church, evil was able to gain ground.  We have slowly eroded our foundation as a nation and wonder why we have so many issues with unjust judges to corrupt politicians who want total control, to mass shootings.  We have sacrificed truth and righteousness and true security for a sense of false security through those who think they know best for us, and the ability to do what we want with no convictions.

Our moral foundation is based on absolutes of right and wrong, good and evil.  So, is it any surprise that when we remove that foundation that we believe in the lie of relativism?  Relativism is the belief that truth can change based on our culture or class status or feelings.  This is just not logically possible to live out.  Why? It is because if everyone’s truth for them is right then at some point it will conflict with another person’s truth and per the law of noncontradiction two opposing truths cannot be true at the same time.

We teach evolution in schools that make the claim that we are to continue to progress in knowledge and wisdom but at the same time declares survival of the fittest.  This means that a particular class or race can evolve to a point beyond another class or race and therefore can see others as inferior or subhuman.  Look at what Hitler did with the Jews, he dehumanized them to convince the German people that they were doing what was right for their nation.  We are doing the same with the unborn.  We call them a fetus to convince our conscience that they are not completely human which is a lie.

The Bible on the other hand teaches that all life is valuable.  We have been made in the image of God and all have been created with a purpose and have intrinsic value.  When we don’t have this moral foundation in our society to keep our sinful desires in check, we leave ourselves open to our own passions and desires which are corrupt at the core.  Jesus said himself, “out of the heart proceeds evil…”  If we want to curb murder and mass shootings it’s time to stop having a discussion about gun control and start having a discussion about heart control.  Ultimately nobody wants to discuss this because we have a built-in sense of self-autonomy, however, Jesus himself points to a better way of sacrifice for the betterment of others.  If we will place our desires and passions on the altar of the Most High and allow Him to transform us, then I guarantee you that we will see a betterment to our society.