We Hold These Truths

We Hold These Truths

“Through the blessing of the upright a city is exalted, but by the mouth of the wicked it is destroyed.” (Proverbs 11:11)

One of the exceptional facts of the American founding is that ours is a country based on a series of truths. We refer to them as self-evident, without the need for proof or explanation. This is fantastically distinct from the founding of any other country on the planet. It was not a negotiated re-drawn entity as a fruit of war, and it was not the lingering effect of the territorial reach of some monarch’s power. It is a self-conscious collection of free men and women dedicated to a common and universal worldview. That man, of a right, ought to be free, and moreover that this right is bestowed upon us, not by a government, but by God. And what God has given, no man may take away. The irony of our present moment is obvious. America is now populated with a mendacious sort that denies the existence of truth itself and filled with pockets that deem the very notion of a “self-evident” truth noxious and teeming with some nebulous form of bigotry. But that’s the marvelous thing about truths. They exist without our acquiescence. They do not require our consent and can flourish even amidst our most stringent denials. And the truths at the heart of America persist still.

Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. These are the unalienable rights listed, amongst others unmentioned, in the Declaration of Independence. And while it is not a legally binding document in the United States today, it would be the height of dishonesty to dismiss its importance as a founding creed that reverberates through history even up to today. This statement of beliefs anchors our country to a position of humility and gratitude. (At least in theory, humility and gratitude are not the first two traits that come to mind when observing present-day America.) And it is from this premise our revolution was fought and our government was structured. But our forebears understood something that I believe has been forgotten through time. That the freedom they so desperately sought and treasured required responsibility to keep.

"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." - John Adams

Freedom and responsibility are intrinsically linked. The more you have of one, the more you gain of the other. Likewise, the more you lose of one, the more you are deprived of the other. For too long, we have been eager to shift off our responsibilities and, in turn, ebb away our own freedoms. Options become limited, barriers are raised, and obstacles arise. For instance, there is a concerted effort to shield society away from distasteful or malicious types of speech, whether it be word or deed, written or spoken, disinformed, inciting, or crudely belligerent. Because so many have abused the freedom of speech with outright lies, filth, and bigotry, a movement has arisen to curtail this right. The impact and outcomes of such a movement are impossible to predict in particular but run toward a certain historical trend that should not be surprising. To illustrate, the ones leading the charge of censorship will also be the ones to decide what is offensive. This had a real-world consequence in the state of Colorado recently. The Federal Supreme Court had to step in for the second time in five years to stop the state of Colorado from penalizing Christian business owners based on a disagreement about discrimination. Both instances involved very similar facts. Christian artisans, a baker, and a website designer refused service to a gay couple’s wedding. Both viewed it as a violation of their faith to encourage or take part in what they believed was sinful behavior. The fascinating facet, in regard to our discussion, is the capricious nature of the law in this matter. In 2018 a baker was penalized by the state for disagreeing with something that only 3 years earlier was outlawed throughout most of the country. This is merely a recent example. Prohibition stands as likely the most dramatic example of this phenomenon. A substance was outlawed and then reallowed by Constitutional Amendment because people could not behave responsibly, so freedoms were curtailed in an attempt to fix the problem. This begat more malfeasance, and the country was forced to undo its Herculean effort with yet another Constitutional amendment. Forever standing in our history as proof that the attempt to legislate away bad behavior is doomed from the outset. Moral or religious awakening cannot be forced at the ballot box.

The farther away we wander from the morality, the precepts, and the authority of the Word of God, the more we must rely on the wispy will of We the People. And people are houses built on sand. The Founders understood that for our new nation to survive, we must be a people free, but also that we must ascribe to a cause higher than ourselves. But this is a knife’s edge of a proposition. Too much to either side and fail. The higher calling in that day was service to a king and, therefore, country. Subservience to a man or woman given “divine” right by acclimation, acceptance, and apathy is not a government system designed to maximize human potential through free movement and upward mobility. And the other side of the knife is closer to lawless libertinism. No moral core leads to fraying at the edges, which I believe we see more of today. Rejection of truth also leads to instability and, paradoxically enough, oppression, as the “haves” feel free to stomp over the “have-nots” with careless disregard. If nothing is true, then everything is permitted.

What is so enduringly inspirational about the American founding is the sheer amount of faith placed, not only in God but in the common decency of the American people. But they did not walk into the situation blindly. James Madison, the Father of the Constitution, summed it up beautifully in Federalist 51, “If men were angels no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.” Since government is necessary, how can it be achieved to safeguard individual rights and minimize the risk of government overreach? And here we are, in 2023, still attempting to answer the same question. We know the risk of lawlessness; many urban centers in this country have scaled back law enforcement so that it is nearly non-existent, and crime has run rampant as a result. We also know the dangers of too much government interference. Where government is absolute, it prohibits worship of anything else. From Daniel’s prayer to the Soviet Union to today’s repressive Communism in China. Totalitarians are just that, desirous of total control disallowing any other authority or power. God’s authority and power are absolute, and no law fashioned by man can change that.

We can circle back by recognizing that politics is downstream of culture. And you cannot impact culture without changing people. Mason brought us back on track in our discussion, but I imagine he’ll be alright if we quote George Washington here in a similar fashion, “While we are zealously performing the duties of good citizens and soldiers, we certainly ought not to be inattentive to the higher duties of religion. To the distinguished character of Patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of Christian.” These two aspects are not mutually exclusive. But one certainly takes precedence. And it was this character, that of Christian, that led the adventurous pilgrim to embark on the voyage that began this grand American experiment. John Winthrop recalled to the first group of Massachusetts Bay colonists Matthew 5:14, “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hid.” That phrase, city on a hill, has been used by numerous American luminaries to describe the exceptional nature of our founding and our continued distinction. We inherit that tradition. As Americans, it is our duty to keep that beacon of freedom alight. It helps to see the present in light of the past, to draw from the experience of all of those standing where we do now. The question of where we go next was asked by the pilgrim, the patriot, and the pioneer. We ask it now ourselves, what legacy shall we leave behind us?

The closing words of the Declaration are not as often said, “And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.” (Emphasis mine, capitalization theirs.) Do we have such a firm reliance on Divine Providence? We absolutely should. No other nation recognizes God as the progenitor of its rights. “In God we trust” is still our national motto. Do we live up to it? In America, we are free to answer that question individually, and that has the potential ripple effect to change the world. You see, there is this self-evident truth. “Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain through the law of Moses.” (Acts 13:38-39) Christians were set free long before Americans were. We know a more complete meaning of the word. What to do with such a blessing as freedom? Live in such a way that honors its Author and Provider. Prayerfully seek guidance from the One who can light the pathway. And share the marvelous wonder that is redemption. We’ll end at the beginning. In a letter, George Washington shares his view of God’s miraculous work, “The Hand of providence has been so conspicuous in all this, that he must be worse than an infidel that lacks faith, and more than wicked, that has not gratitude enough to acknowledge his obligations.”

Jordan Williamson