TWO AMERICAS
Pastor Eric J. Hanson.
July of 1999
Read Romans 1:18-32, especially 24-27.
The bad direction our country and our state has been headed in for over 35 years has been well documented and chronicled from this pulpit across the last twenty years. In the last year, there have been the two messages entitled Which Way Maine? & 35 Years on the Slippery Slope. Both of these are available through our church office for your enlightenment regarding the historical context of the way things currently are in our state and national government and culture.
The Original United States of America
There is no doubt that there have been two United States of Americas for the last twenty plus years. National moral leaders such as Beverly LaHaye, James Dobson, and Chuck Colson, and historians and teachers such as Peter Marshall Jr., David Manuel, and D. James Kennedy currently speak clearly for the original United States of America.
Bible believing churches adhere to this vision of America, and no wonder, since 52 of the 56 framers of the Constitution were active members of their churches. (It is good to note at this point that there were no modernistic churches in this land in the 1700s. Modernism as we now know it, invaded many of our American seminaries in the 1920s.)
In the original United States, man’s law must be rooted in and subject to God’s law. Submission to God’s word and standard is clearly stated in the founding documents of this nation. The constitution builds upon the bedrock that man is a created being, who has been endowed by his creator with certain inalienable rights. These rights are "inalienable" because they were given by God, not by puny men. Therefore, men cannot take these rights away.
Our Constitution stands on the Declaration of Independence, which clearly articulates that God, (not a king) is the Sovereign. Indeed, a just society must be built upon the rule of law and not of personalities. The Declaration of Independence, in turn, owes much to the Mayflower Compact, which itself could not have come to be without the great unshackling of people brought about by the Reformation of the Church.
Our documents of government also owe much to the Magna Carta, which put limits on the power of kings, and to the great writing Lex Rex which established the principle of law over the whims of individual rulers.
Historically in the United States, no one could hope to be appointed to a federal judgeship if they did not believe in the great principle known as "natural law". This important precept simply states; "God’s law stands above man’s law. All laws of man must be judged according to God’s immutable, just, and perfect word. Man has no right to establish any law contrary to that which God has already established."
This precept, enunciated by the great legal scholar and organizer Blackstone, was totally understood by the founders and the framers of this great nation. Why else would witnesses in court pledge "on the Bible” to tell the truth. Why else would the words "so help me God" be part of that same process.
In this era however, we have seen Clarence Thomas laughed at by certain senators simply because he believes in Natural Law. As part of His confirmation hearings, this question, "Do you believe in the principle of "Natural Law" was asked, as it has always been asked on such occasions. How things have changed in this land. In former generations, no prospective justice would have dared to not adhere to this bedrock legal principle. Now, it is hard to get confirmed as a justice if you do believe it!
In short, the original United States of America believes Proverbs 14:34 which states "Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people." and believes that we had better order our national life around this. This is a major reason churches are not taxed in this land. The founders well knew that the church used its money for things of greater importance than the funding of temporal government, namely the propagation of (1) the Gospel of Jesus Christ and (2) concepts of righteous living!
The Revisionist United States of America
The other United States of America started out to be embodied in the ethic of "Do your own thing Baby. Don’t let anybody tell you what is right or wrong for you. You decide." This vision of ethics and human behavior has become fully embraced over the last thirty years by the National Council of Churches which represents many denominations in our country who have rejected the bedrock authority of God’s book, the Bible. They have replaced that authority with "human reason", or "human emotion, or feelings".
In the seventies, the hippies and college radicals of the sixties began to enter governmental and educational life as low level elected officials, congressional staffers, actors, reporters and writers, and teachers in the school systems. Throughout the eighties they kept coming up through the ranks, some becoming governors, representatives, senators, school principals, etc. Then, in the nineties, many of them reached the top of their arenas as publishers, college professors, judges, television and movie producers, and even president of the United States.
During the Clinton years, there were more judges and justices appointed than in all 12 Bush and Reagan years. These men and women are not committed to "Natural Law" and do not revere the Constitution as something we are ruled by. These people exalt human reason and feelings, discount God’s word, and believe the constitution is "a fluid document", free to be reinterpreted according to the times, thus they claim that the Constitution says whatever they wish it to say.
Lately, this same generation, which started out saying, "Don’t let anyone tell you what is right or wrong." has changed its tune. Now that they are in power, they have redefined several words or phrases that have long been part of the language. They have done this to establish dominance in agenda setting and to control and limit true debate.
“Tolerance” is the front and center example of this. This word which once meant "allowance of coexistence of those with whom we disagree”, now has come to mean "Agree with and be supportive of our amoral agenda or shut your mouth!".
"Hate" is another good example of a word, which we all once knew. Hate used to mean, "to regard with extreme aversion/ to detest”. Today, hate has been redefined. If a person, church, or group now dares to speak out about sin, offering the hope of the Gospel and the healing power of repentance, this redemptive message is called "hate".
These re-definitions are typical of what past tyrants such as Fascists in Italy and Germany did in the 1930s, and the Communists did in the Soviet Union. Such twisting of language is also well illustrated in fiction about tyranny such as "1984" and "Animal Farm".
Jesus warned his followers saying: "You will be hated by all nations on account of my name". It is now becoming harder to be true to God’s word in this nation. There are indeed now, two United States of Americas, which are largely incompatible with each other.
What you can do to help restore our land.
1. Draw near to the Lord and be thoroughly instructed by His word. Be a supportive part of a church, which is anchored in and true to the Bible, God’s word.
2. Speak the truth in love to your neighbors and to your elected representatives. This is an obligation each of us have, in a nation which is shaped by ideas. Don’t be hateful, but don’t be intimidated by truth being mislabeled as hate either.
3. Educate yourself regarding true history, the shaping of Western culture and other related things. Read trustworthy books to this end, such as How Now Shall We Live (Chuck Colson), The Light and the Glory (Peter Marshall Jr. & David Manuel), & Understanding the Times (Dr David A. Noebel)
4. Pray for revival and for God’s mercy upon our land.
5. Join and support the work of the Christian Civic League of Maine and like-minded national organizations such as Focus On the Family.
