If you deny the truth, or seek to live your life in ignorance of it, then the truth is of no use to you!

I find it interesting that people can watch films like the Matrix and not see the analogical similarity to their own lives. When Morpheus first frees Neo from the Matrix and takes him aboard the Nebuchadnezzar Neo has difficulty coming to terms with the reality he finds himself in; yet he eventually accepts it and joins Morpheus in fighting against those who had kept him enslaved for the majority of his life.

When Neo undergoes his agent training Morpheus tells him, “You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inert, so hopelessly dependent on the system that they will fight to protect it.” What Morpheus was saying is that a great many people are so unprepared for freedom that they will fight to protect the very thing that keeps them enslaved; and that is about the most accurate description of America today that I’ve ever encountered.

In the Book of John Jesus tells his followers, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” The funny thing about the truth is; first you have to embrace it, then you have to put to use what you’ve learned. It’s as Johann Wolfgang Van Goethe said, “Knowing is not enough we must apply.” If you know that fire burns, but don’t apply that knowledge and stick your hand into the flames, what good does that knowledge do you?

Yesterday I was reading through the comments on a post made to Facebook and someone asked a question I’ve been asked many times myself, “What can we do to fix what’s wrong in this country?” To tell you the truth, I don’t think we can fix what’s wrong with this country; at least not as long as this system of government continues to exist. The thing is, when you get right down to it, government is not the problem; people are.

Government is just a tool; if you put it into the hands of moral and virtuous people it will serve the secure justice and liberty for the governed, but if you put it into the hands of evil people it will become evil and corrupt. Former President James Garfield hinted at that when he said, “Now more than ever before, the people are responsible for the character of their Congress. If that body be ignorant, reckless and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness and corruption. If it be intelligent, brave and pure, it is because the people demand these high qualities to represent them in the national legislature…. If the next centennial does not find us a great nation … it will be because those who represent the enterprise, the culture, and the morality of the nation do not aid in controlling the political forces.”

Yet Garfield wasn’t the only person who suggested it was up to the people to control government, another individual who lived long before him made similar comments as well. Daniel Webster, who served as both a Congressman and as Secretary of State under William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, and Millard Fillmore, once wrote, “When you become entitled to exercise the right of voting for public officers, let it be impressed on your mind that God commands you to choose for rulers, ‘just men who will rule in the fear of God.’ The preservation of [our] government depends on the faithful discharge of this Duty; if the citizens neglect their Duty and place unprincipled men in office, the government will soon be corrupted; laws will be made, not for the public good so much as for selfish or local purposes; corrupt or incompetent men will be appointed to execute the Laws; the public revenues will be squandered on unworthy men; and the rights of the citizen will be violated or disregarded. If [our] government fails to secure public prosperity and happiness, it must be because the citizens neglect the Divine Commands, and elect bad men to make and administer the Laws.” (Source: History of the United States, 1832)

The moment it becomes acceptable for government to pillage and plunder the wealth and liberty of the governed, government will start down the pathway that inevitably leads to despotism; especially when its charter leaves no means for the people to punish those in power for their attacks upon their freedom; such as is the case with our current constitution. Our current constitution contains so many loopholes, (intentionally place into it, I believe), that a fleet of battle tanks could pass through them to invade our rights, our property, and our liberty. The only way we can secure those things is by voting for good and virtuous men, or as Webster wrote, men who will rule in the fear of God, and hope that once they get into power they will remain good and virtuous.

The constitution itself gives us no power to punish those we elect; and if you believe voting them out of office is punishment you don’t understand the meaning of the word PUNISH. You certainly can’t expect them to punish each other, can you? That’s akin to placing the criminal justice system into the hands of the Mafia; it is like letting the fox guard the henhouse. It is also something Patrick Henry tried to warn people about when he argued against adopting the system of government outlined by the constitution, “…in this, there is no real actual punishment for the grossest maladministration. They may go without punishment, though they commit the most outrageous violation on our immunities. That paper may tell me they will be punished. I ask, by what law? They must make the law — for there is no existing law to do it. What — will they make a law to punish themselves? This, Sir, is my great objection to the Constitution, that there is no true responsibility — and that the preservation of our liberty depends on the single chance of men being virtuous enough to make laws to punish themselves.” (Source: Speech to the Virginia Ratifying Assembly, June 7, 1788)

When you have a government such as ours, a government that has no restraints upon its power, and no means of punishing those in power if they should become oppressive, it falls upon the people to ignore the laws their government enacts which violate their rights and liberty, and plunders them of their property. For that to happen though the people must cherish, not only their own rights, liberty, and property, they must respect the rights, liberty, and property of others as well. In his Sermon on the Mount Christ taught us everything we need to know to ensure that would happen, “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.” That is known as the Golden Rule; Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.

Our country today is like a country in which two warring tribes, (Democrats and Republicans), vie for control of a system so that they can plunder the wealth, rights and liberty of those who inhabit the land; and the people are so indoctrinated that they think the only solution is to keep voting the ‘bad guys’ out, and replace them with ‘bad guys’ of their own. Carroll Quigley wrote about this phenomenon in his book Tragedy and Hope, “The argument that the two parties should represent opposed ideals and policies… is a foolish idea. Instead, the two parties should be almost identical, so that the American people can throw the rascals out at any election without leading to any profound or extensive shifts in policy. Then it should be possible to replace it, every four years if necessary, by the other party which will be none of these things but will still pursue, with new vigor, approximately the same basic policies.”

If you cannot see beyond the faults of your own political party; if you cannot see that government should not be a tool you can use to impose your will upon others; if you cannot see that our government remains fundamentally the same regardless of which party gains control of it, there will be no fixing what is wrong with this country. It’s that simple!

I know that there are many in this country today who do not like it when I bring faith into my discussions; yet without fault we are no better than a ship without a rudder; wandering aimlessly through life without any moral compass to guide us. I hear people say that our government was not created for those of the Christian faith; and you know something, they are right, it wasn’t. Now that may come as a shock to some of you, but hear me out.

Prior to the constitution being written and adopted the constitutions of almost every State had a religious test in them; meaning those holding office must swear an oath saying they believe in God and in Jesus Christ as their Savior; or something along those lines. For example, the constitution for the State of North Carolina stated, “That no person, who shall deny the being of God or the truth of the Protestant religion, or the divine authority either of the Old or New Testaments, or who shall hold religious principles incompatible with the freedom and safety of the State, shall be capable of holding any office or place of trust or profit in the civil department within this State.”

When the constitution was being written, those debating what it should say argued incessantly, sometimes to the point where the convention itself seemed doomed to failure. At one point Benjamin Franklin suggested that they hold daily prayers, seeking divine guidance in their efforts…his suggestion was never acted upon, and God’s help was not asked for throughout the proceedings.

Not only did they not ask for God’s help in drafting this document, they included wording within it that abolished the requirement of a religious test for those seeking political office. That wording is found in Article 5, Section 3, “The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.“ (My emphasis)

Finally, they included the following into their document, “This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land.” (Article 5, Clause 2-The Supremacy Clause)

So let me explain why I believe this is of such importance for you in terms you may understand. First, those who wrote the constitution did not ask for God’s help in wording it to serve in accordance to His will upon earth; they sought to create a government that would serve mans wants/needs – in particular, the wants and needs of the upper class merchants and bankers. Secondly, they did away with the requirement that only God-fearing men be allowed to hold office; opening the doorway for evil and designing men to seek office so that they can exercise control over the governed. Finally, they placed their document as the SUPREME law of the land; replacing God’s Law.

I find it somewhat ironic, and a bit hypocritical at the same time, how some accuse Communism of being evil because it stifles religion in countries where it exists; yet our system of government was designed to do the same thing from its very inception. Sure, there is the First Amendment that supposedly protects our freedom of religion, (and it hasn’t done that, has it), but this government does not require that those we elect be God-fearing, and it places the laws they enact over the laws God has laid out for us to guide us back to His presence. And yet we wonder why our country is in such sad shape!

The problem, at least as I see it, is that religion is a lot like politics; with competing parties, or sects, vying for control over the people. It is almost like competing brands of goods, such as toothpaste or breakfast cereal, seeking the biggest share of the marketplace. Yet I don’t believe that a true Christian, a follower of Christ’s doctrine, has to belong to any ‘organized’ sect; I think if they read, understand, and follow His teachings in the Bible they can be classified as ‘good’ Christians. Yet today, Christianity in general is under attack like never before; all the beliefs and values held by Christians are being replaced by the values of men; and men are inherently born in sin; it is only through God’s grace, the sacrifice of Christ upon the cross, and our acceptance of Him into our lives that we can be saved. And it is upon those same things that we must base our efforts if we wish to save our country; anything less than that is doomed to failure. It is why I laugh when I see those God Bless America stickers on people’s cars and trucks; why should He when we do not abide by His teachings?

Now I know that there are some, maybe many, who are saying that we cannot force people to believe in God; that it violates the First Amendment. You’re right; to say that we must force religion upon them would be to show that we do not understand the true meaning of liberty. Yet to deny that, in the very beginning, our country was populated by men of faith is to deny the truth.

Today, we as a people, fear the condemnation of others more than we fear the wrath of our God. People do not want to be the one that stands alone in a crowd of iniquity pointing that iniquity out to others; they want to go along to get along. That is why labels, slanders against others, work so well in keeping the people in line; people do not want attention drawn to them; they don’t want to stand out from the crowd as a dissident, a rabble rouser. Yet was it not Patrick Henry who said, “Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offense, I should consider myself as guilty of treason towards my country, and of an act of disloyalty toward the Majesty of Heaven, which I revere above all earthly kings.”

If you believe what the Declaration of Independence says, that all men are created equal, and gifted by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, then it is your DUTY to defend, not only your rights, but the rights and liberty of everyone else; and to stand in opposition to anyone, or any system, that seeks to deny those rights.

People want God to Bless this country, but they have forsaken him, and his teachings. The book of Hosea warns us of what happens when that occurs, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee.” And, as I said toward the beginning, the truth shall make you free; but if you deny the truth, or seek to live your life in ignorance of it, then the truth is of no use to you.

People today look to the very system that enslaves them for their freedom, and as long as that remains their only path, they will remain enslaved. Freedom does not come without a cost, and that cost is eternal vigilance by those who wish to enjoy it, and a willingness to risk their lives in its defense. Patrick Henry knew that; which is why he said, “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!” Those who shed their blood on the battlefields of the American Revolution knew it as well; otherwise they would have remained at home, comfortable and secure in their servitude to an earthly king.

The Bible tells us, “Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save.” (Psalms 146:3) If we wish to save this country, make it great again, restore liberty, then we must forsake our love and support of the very institution that denies us that liberty, and place our trust and faith to the Creator who gave us that liberty in the first place.

And that is why I see no hope for the future of this country. Too many people deny the existence of God, and among those who do, too many choose government to be their master; allowing it to trample upon their rights and liberty when they should be standing up in opposition to it; just as their ancestors did in 1776.

In the end, each of us as individuals will be asked to give an accounting for our lives, and individually we will be judged according to our actions during those lives. If we want freedom and liberty back, then each of us as individuals should do all that is within our power to preserve it, not only for ourselves, but for all others. For as Christ said to his disciples, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.” (John 13:34)

You would not plunder the wealth of those you love, and you would not deny those you love their freedom. So if we are to adhere to Christ’s admonition, be ‘good’ Christians, we must follow that rule, and live by the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.”

I know that I have probably lost a lot of readers with what I’ve said, but I do not really care; those whose minds are open to the truth will accept it; those whose minds aren’t will go on as they have been; living their lives trusting in themselves and placing their faith in a system that was erected to enslave them.

Just as there are those who claim to be patriots, yet know not what principles this country was founded upon, there are those who profess to be believers in Christ, yet do not know His teachings, nor live their lives in accordance to them. As he Himself said, “These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.”

The Bible provides us with the path back to liberty, if we would just read it and live by the teachings found within it. But the Bible is no longer taught in schools, and it was never in the thoughts of those who established this system of government for us. Yet even in its early years, this government did recognize that the Bible taught us what we needed to know to ensure that we would have a chance at preserving God’s gift of liberty for the governed. In 1844 the Supreme Court held, “”Why may not the Bible, and especially the New Testament, without note or comment, be read and taught as a divine revelation in [schools] – its general precepts expounded, its evidences explained and its glorious principles morality inculcated? … Where can the purest principles of morality be learned so clearly or so perfectly as from the New Testament?” (Source: Vidal v. Girard’s Educators)

So if you truly want an answer to the question of how can we fix this country, I would suggest you begin by getting out your Bible and begin reading it. Then, begin living your life according to its teachings; as that’s the only way I can see that we can repair the damage that has been done.

Now let the criticism begin in 3…2…1…

March 23, 2021

~ The Author ~
Neal Ross, Student of history, politics, patriot and staunch supporter of the 2nd Amendment. Send all comments to: bonsai@syix.com.

If you liked Neal’s latest column, maybe you’ll like his latest booklet: The Civil War: (The Truth You Have Not Been Told). Life continues to expand for this prolific writer and guardian of TRUE American history.