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July 4th Message - Jul 03, 2009
TrustTruth Note: From time to time we feature timely messages from writers reflecting Godly values and those of our Founding Fathers. Today we offer this message from Jonathan Falwell of Liberty University.
This week, as I have been reflecting on the ongoing attacks on our personal freedoms, my mind drifted back to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787, where some of the great minds of human history gathered to formulate the United States of America.
Following many passionate pleas and plans were offered, a series of compromises were reached and on August 6, the Convention recognized the initial draft of the Constitution. A few weeks later, members gathered for the final time in order to formally sign the great document
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On the day the Convention closed, September 18, a woman named Mrs. Powel had been restlessly waiting to learn of the proceedings. As the wise Benjamin Franklin came outside, she asked, “Well Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?”
And his reply troubles me today. He said, “A republic, if you can keep it.”
Those are pointed words: If you can keep it.
Today, many modern lawmakers, described as “Statists” by author Mark Levin, have little interest in the values of our founding. Mr. Levin, in his “Liberty and Tyranny,” writes, “The Statist is not interested in what the Framers said or intended. He is interested only in what he says and he intends.” It is little wonder that we are witnessing our republic slipping away.
With Mr. Franklin’s warning in mind, I am pleased to report on the gathering of one of the largest faith-based coalitions in the nation which gathered last week in Washington, D.C., to strategize and work together on common interests within the Judeo-Christian tradition. The purpose, according to Mathew Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel and dean of the Liberty University School of Law, was to begin a mobilization effort among grassroots constituencies and to formulate ways to enhance the spiritual, moral, cultural, and economic condition of our nation.
Known as the Freedom Federation, this federation of individual, national, multi-ethnic and transgenerational organizations and leaders, is not really a separate organization, but a collection of organizations with large and unique constituencies that share common core values.
A partial listing of some of the organizations includes, but is not limited to: the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference; America’s largest Hispanic Christian organization; Teen Mania; American Association of Christian Counselors; Liberty University; Catholic Online; American Family Association; Family Research Council; Liberty Counsel; Liberty Alliance Action; Vision America; Morning Star Ministries; The Call to Action; Concerned Women for America; High Impact Leadership Coalition; Campaign for Working Families; Conservative Action Project; Traditional Values Coalition; Faith and Action; Renewing American Leadership; National Clergy Council; Eagle Forum; Americans for Prosperity; Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny (BOND); Life Education and Resource Network (LEARN); and Strang Communications.
Mr. Staver says these organizations represent some of America’s largest constituents of youth, Hispanics, African-Americans, women, clergy and churches and notes that the common shared interests of the organizations and their members include faith, moral values and freedom.
I am pleased to see these organizations working together for the common good. Hopefully this formation is just the beginning of a revolution in our nation.
I don’t use that phrase lightly. We seriously need people who will take a stand for their freedoms. I think we need to embody the spirit of Pace High School graduating seniors in Santa Rosa County, Fla., who last week stood up in protest against the ACLU to recite the Lord’s Prayer during their graduation ceremony. The spirit of our Forefathers lives on in these young people.
It’s time for this type of action nationally if we do indeed want to keep our Republic. It is time that conservative people of faith jointly commit to praying for our nation (daily, fervently!) and also rise up hand in hand in an effort to raise up a new generation of Franklins and Washingtons and Lincolns and Reagans. Our Republic—we must keep it.
I wish all my readers a wonderful Independence Day celebration. Please take time to pray for and thank God for our nation and to communicate with your children/grandchildren the importance of America and our freedoms.
Written by Johathan Falwell
Liberty University
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