Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Guest post - The essential rules of liberty

In response to my post The Essential Rules of Liberty, Bruce Gordon (author of Self Evident Truth) wrote a rebuttal. Since it was too long to fit into the comments, I invited him to submit it as a guest post.

So without further ado...
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The essay written by Brandon Smith entitled The Essential Rules of Liberty was, in part, well written. I have to say, though, that as a whole his essay really bothered me. The essay bothered me because it was incomplete and a very large portion of it--the central premise of his argument, in fact--was factually incorrect. I'll explain.

Mr. Smith said:
“The desire for freedom is as inborn and natural as our own heartbeat, as our own breath. It is instinct. It cannot be erased from within, only oppressed from without. The tide has always been against tyranny, always, though we may find that hard to believe. If liberty was not ingrained into our very DNA, humanity would have succumbed to bondage and self destructed long ago.”

That just isn’t true. Ever since Adam and Eve committed the original sin and broke God’s perfect creation, men have always “succumbed to bondage and self destruction” as the path of least resistance. Read the Book of Exodus to see a very clear illustration of this indisputable fact. The Israelites were constantly carping at Moses about how this long march to freedom was just too hard and too dangerous. They continually cried about how they were much safer and more secure as slaves in Egypt. This pattern has continued over and over again throughout history. Men have always traded liberty for “security.”

The truth is that, until 1776, no nation in all of human history had ever been founded upon principles of true, God-given individual liberty. It’s also true that those Founding Fathers who fought so hard for liberty were actually in the minority. Most colonists would have been content to remain under the boot of the King! That sad fact makes the birth of America all the more remarkable.

But America was born as a free and independent nation, and the truth is that no nation in the history of the world has ever fought so hard for so long, or has ever sacrificed as much blood and treasure, for the advancement of liberty than has the United States of America. This has been necessary because the natural impulse of men is to trade true liberty for the false promise of “security” offered by tyrants.

So….what makes the United States different? Why did we become a “shining city on a hill” for the advancement of liberty? The answer to this question goes to the heart of what Mr. Smith left out of his essay. America was founded upon the Biblical principles of Christianity by men and women who were devout Christians. The Declaration of Independence stated very clearly that men and nations are subject to God’s Law, with God over men and men over government. The Declaration stated that liberty is a gift from God, not from government, and that God gives liberty to each of us, individually and equally. Government’s ONLY role is to preserve and protect our God-given individual liberty. The key to preserving liberty is found in God and in His saving grace through His Son Jesus Christ, but Mr. Smith never mentioned God in his article.

The Bible says:
“Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” (2 Corinthians 3:17; KJV).

The Bible also says:
“If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people; If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:13-14; KJV).

Having said all that, I would offer the following as a truer (and shorter) set of guidelines for restoring individual liberty in America:

1. Individually, if we haven’t already done so, we must accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior (Romans 10:5-13).

2. We must humble ourselves before God, repent of our sins (both individually and as a nation), pray for forgiveness, and seek to do God’s will.

3. We must pray continually and regularly study God’s Word so that He may guide and direct us as we seek to do His will, follow His commands, advance His Kingdom, and restore liberty in America.

4. We must study America’s founding charters—the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights—as well as the other writings of the Founders so as to become more educated about what it takes to limit government and preserve liberty.

5. We must spread our knowledge to our families and friends. We must follow Jesus’ command to be “the salt of the earth” and “the light of the world” (Matthew 5:13-16).

We must be the change we want to see here in America, but it will not happen without God.

7 comments:

  1. Great response ... if we ever forget the Christian heritage our country was founded upon ( modeled after the early Israelite journey ) then we begin the " slippery slide ". In fact, we have halfway began the slide, and some even think it is part of the amusement park mentality they have been fed for too long. " A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands... " and before you know it THEY have rewritten all our wonderful heritage that we should NOT be ashamed of.

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  2. Bruce Gordon, I've been a fan of yours since the first time I read one of your posts here on Patrice's blog. Your book is a valuable addition to my home "library", right beside Patrice's.

    Since I question everyone and everything these days, I have a question about your Guideline #2.
    You are not in any way suggesting "collective salvation," are you? I'm referring to: "repent of our sins (both individually and AS A NATION). [emphasis is mine] My own personal view is that if we repent as individuals, our nation will rise on the tide of our actions.

    I'm glad you wrote this post and continue to speak out for our GOD-given rights. People must understand the correlation between God and liberty, and that government doesn't give us anything without first taking something from us.

    Anonymous Patriot
    USA

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  3. Like everyone else, I often forget to include our Heavenly Father, His Son and His Holy Spirit in EVERYTHING I do. Mr. Gordon says the change we want to see here in America will not happen without God. And there lies the problem. Our liberal leaders are trying to run the country without God, and look at the mess we're in! The only time many Americans hear about God is by way of radical pastors who ask God to damn our nation, rather than ask Him to bless it. Bible prophecy is being fulfilled, folks. Now is the time to get back in fellowship with the Holy Spirit!

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  4. Thank you all for the very nice comments--I so appreciate them. To AP's point about individual salvation vs. collective salvation--I agree with you 100%. That whole "collective salvation" myth is a creation of the socialistic social justice crowd and it is a very dangerous concept.

    That's not what I meant when I said that we must repent of our sins, both individually and as a nation. Each of us commits sins every day in our own lives. As a nation, though, we have allowed such abominations as gay marriage, abortion, quickie divorce, and the family-destroying welfare state to become public policy. Some people aided the passage of policies such as these directly by supporting them while others aided these policies through their silence and indifference. I believe that each of us, individually, must seek God's forgiveness for whatever role we played. That's what I meant. Salvation can only be had individually.

    Again--thank you all for your kind words.

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  5. Patrice, Bruce makes a very good counter-point argument. When you sit back and think about, what he says has a basis in fact and history. How else do you explain the long time most of the civilized world was under the monarch system? But I think he might have missed a point. There have always been those few with a vision of how much better it could be under the rule of freedom and God. Sometimes the people were willing to follow. The Scots and William Wallace and our own founding Fathers as well as Moses are a great example of this quest for freedom.

    Sadly though, even with these great sacrifices, people do have a tendency to slip back under the thumb of oppression. The Scots were free for while, but only for a generation or two. The Israelites allowed the Romans to take them and when freedom presented itself 2000 years ago, they rejected it. And in our own country, we are also allowing government to dictate how we live our lives. We are becoming secular and Godless and are allowing an "elite" few to run our lives.

    I do pray that someday soon, someone will coming along who has a vision of freedom and that we will be willing to join them.

    v/r

    Rob

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  6. Bruce, thanks for the clarification. Didn't think you were a collectivist, but had to be sure because taking things for granted is part of the reason we're in this mess today.

    Rob, I had been waiting for somebody to come along, too. Then it dawned on me that this time there will be no distinct leader - it is up to each of us to lead. If each of us who loves freedom will lead one friend or family member or stranger to see the truth, if we plant the seeds, then the real change we want will take hold. I think it's already happening - through the Tea Party movement and through the Prepper/Survivalist groundswell and with the aid of bloggers like Patrice. People are learning that freedom is ours to keep, not government's to give. WE THE PEOPLE are the leaders. Now let's get to it!

    Anonymous Patriot
    USA

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  7. Pretty difficult to take your rebuttal serious when you begin counter with a fictional story like "Adam and Eve".

    And contrary to the popular Christian version of the birth of America, the large majority of the Founders, including Jefferson, were deist and based their ideals of libery on Cicero's works.

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