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Is
the sun setting on the Republic?
At the conclusion of the
Constitutional
Convention, Benjamin Franklin commenting on the painting of the sun on
the back
of Washington’s chair said, “I have often in the
course of the session ...
looked at that sun behind the President without being able to tell
whether it
was rising or setting. But now at length I have the happiness to know
it is a
rising and not a setting sun.” The sun was indeed rising on
the new Republic; because,
She had God’s blessing and assistance behind her.
When work at the convention had
come to a complete standstill, Franklin
(one of the least religious) stood requesting the addition of daily
prayer. He said,
“All of us who were engaged in the struggle [Revolutionary
War] must have
observed frequent instances of a superintending providence [God] in our
favor. ….And
have we now forgotten that powerful friend? Or do we imagine that we no
longer
need His assistance? …without His concurring aid we shall
succeed in this
political building no better than the builders of Babel.”
As Franklin
emerged from Independence Hall the
final day of the convention, he was asked by a woman, “Mr.
Franklin what have
you given us?” He responded, “A Republic, Madam, if
you can keep it.” But have
we kept it?
What
would Benjamin Franklin say today, if he could sit in Congress? Rather
than
statesman driven by
moral Biblical principles, he
would see many politicians
driven by power and greed. He would see many with a sworn oath to God,
to “support
and defend the Constitution” with disdain for both God and
Constitution. Worse,
he would witness politicians working to undermine the very document
fellow
Founders spent weeks laboring on that hot Philadelphia
summer. The document John Adams said was “the greatest single
effort of
national deliberation that the world has ever seen.” He would
be grieved to
know it is now unread by most Americans. Franklin
would be dismayed to see a society largely lacking in manners, piety
and
virtue. He could only conclude the sun was now setting on the Republic.
Washington said that “It is the
duty of all Nations to
acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be
grateful
for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and
favor.” The Founding
Fathers understood that divine blessings and protection could not be
expected for
a nation that does not acknowledge God,
His laws and providence. While God and His laws still
remain in hearts and minds of some Americans, too many have substituted
atheistic humanism as their truth
and foundation of
government. Our political buildings today have become towers of Babel.
As Franklin
voiced at the
convention, it is “In
the sacred writings that, except
the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it.”
If we hope to survive as a
Republic, we must elect men and women to office who fear God and
understand
the biblical basis of law and government.” We need to educate
our young and adults on
their God given rights, so they know when they are violated by
conniving
politicians and government. Public education “is favorable to
Liberty,”said
Benjamin Rush “Freedom can
exist only in the society of knowledge. Without learning, men are
incapable of
knowing their rights, and to where learning is confined to a few
people,
liberty can be neither equal our universal.” “The
only foundation for a useful
education in a republic is to be laid in religion. Without this there
can be no
virtue, and without virtue there can be no liberty.”
Samuel Adams warned that “The
liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil Constitution, are
worth
defending at all hazards; and it is our duty to defend them against all
attacks. We have received them as a fair inheritance from our worthy
ancestors:
they purchased them for us with toil and danger and expense of treasure
and
blood, and transmitted them to us with care and diligence. It will
bring an
everlasting mark of infamy on the present generation, enlightened as it
is, if
we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a
struggle or
to be cheated out of them by the artifices of false and designing
men.”
We must return back to
founding principles and put God in His proper role over our nation,
“One Nation
Under God.” If we do not, then the light will continue to dim
as sun sets on
the republic. - Download
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When a people lose their
history, they lose a part of
who they are.
Reclaim your heritage, pass this
on to a friend or
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www.GodTheOriginalIntent.com
Copyright © 2009
Michael
A. Shea - All Rights Reserved
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