In 1852,
Robert Winthrop, the 22nd Speaker of the United States House of Representatives,
declared: "Men, in a word, must necessarily be controlled either
by a power within them, or by a power without them; either by the Word of God,
or by the strong arm of man, either by the Bible, or by the bayonet."
Can you
imagine a Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, of any party, making such a
statement today? Imagine indeed!
In our earlier years, "self-government under God” defined what liberty really meant for many U.S. leaders like Winthrop. Today, most Americans see liberty as
“self-government,” period. The “under God” part is under the bus.
Ironically,
as the United States moves further away from true Higher Law,
the less true liberty we have. That’s because the more U.S. citizens who lack
internal self-control under God, the more need there is
for external controls under man. And this is not a pleasant thought.
No amount
of counter-legislation will save us. That's because genuine liberty, whether
it’s liberty in marketplace, in the halls of power, or in the home, can only be
voluntarily carried into these places by individuals who are “controlled by a
power within them,” as Winthrop put it.
When that’s gone, liberty is
gone.
Robert
Winthrop was a descendant of the Puritan leader John Winthrop. Presidents
Kennedy and Reagan both invoked the elder Winthrop when they quoted from one of
his sermons: "...we shall be as a city upon a hill−the eyes of all people
are upon us."
Neither Kennedy nor Reagan, however, included what Winthrop
said next:
“So that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work
we have undertaken, and so cause Him to withdraw His present help from us, we
shall be made a story and a by-word through the world. We shall open the mouths
of enemies to speak evil of the ways of God, and all professors for God's
sake."
It pains
me to write this, but John Winthrop’s prophesy has come to pass. More and more
Americans are now openly calling evil good, and good evil. And those who hold to a
biblical view of morality are the enemy.
Our nation is overdue for a return to the definition of liberty we once held:
self-government under God.
In the meantime, “under God” are the two most critical words missing from American discourse today.
In the meantime, “under God” are the two most critical words missing from American discourse today.
A friend sent me this remarkable clip of Governor Matt Bevin, of Kentucky, explaining why school shootings are occurring today, but did not happen 50 years ago. This clip is worth viewing twice. It ties in well with today's post. If it does not play, click https://youtu.be/F6XTVuUP0Ho
Posted by Dr. Christian Overman