RNC Convention: Speaking Truth to Power

If I am ever blessed enough to speak truth to power in a venue such as the RNC Convention I would say something like this.

Approximately four-hundred years ago, or forefathers, English Separatists, shoved off from the shores of England, shrugging off tyranny and seeking religious freedom.

You see, the Monarchy dictated what could be taught in the churches. There was no religious freedom. There was only one federally recognized religion.

Those courageous rebels of faith first landed in Denmark- they found the Dutch tolerant of their faith, but they were also far too tolerant of other faiths including those the pious Separatists saw as “unholy.”

They headed West, eventually finding what we now call the United States of America.

Overcoming famine, pestilence and war our Pilgrim founders carved out a Godly existence, tolerant of all faiths not considered “unholy” in the eyes of learned Biblical scholars and indeed in the eyes of God.

In 1607 at Jamestown they proclaimed their purpose:

First to preach and baptize into Christian religion and by the
propagation the Gospel, to recover out of the arms of the devil a number
of poor and miserable souls wrapped up unto death in almost invincible
ignorance; to endeavor the fulfilling and accomplishments of the number
of the elect which shall be gathered from out of all corners of the
earth; and add to our myte the treasury of heaven.

On November 11^th 1620 they entered into the following contract with Almighty God, Jehovah, Yahweh, Elohim.

The Mayflower Compact says:

In the name of God, Amen. We, whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, defender of the Faith, etc.

Having undertaken, for the Glory of God, and advancements of the Christian faith and honor of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the Northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents, solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God, and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic; for our better ordering, and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions, and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the colony; unto which we promise all due submission and obedience. [Emphasis mine]
In witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names at Cape Cod the 11th of November, in the year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord King James, of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth, 1620.

This document, although often overlooked, is our nations original founding document. It predates The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution and The Bills of Rights by more than one hundred and fifty years. It provides the United States of America with the distinction of being one of only two countries in the history of the world whose very existence in based upon a promise of obedience made to God – Israel being the other.

This contract has not been renegotiated.

The other founding documents were forged by men who understood the hearts of the Pilgrims, they were well studied and emulated among our original brave patriots who were to one day take up arms, bleed and die to defend the new nation that had been planted by the Separatists. How could they not take up a righteous fight knowing that a promise had been made to the Creator of the universe to perpetuate the spreading of the Gospel of Jesus Christ- fulfilling our great commission as spoken of in the book of Matthew?

When preachers like Peter Muhlenburg cast off their priestly robes, mid-sermon, declaring that there was a time for war and a time for peace and donning the uniforms of the Continental Army, they did so with full knowledge that God Almighty was with them as they marched forth.

Yes, a man’s faith mattered in those days.

The theological fitness of elected officials was tested, it was debated, it was cultivated among those who sought to be servant leaders within their communities. If you were devoid of piety that was commonly believed by an educated populace to be genuine, you were ostracized- a laughing stock, fit to be the local grocer, perhaps, but not the Mayor, not a Judge and certainly not a Senator or Congressman.

One of the most pious and widely admired of our founders was John Adams, on October 11^th 1798 he said:

…because we have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.

The Constitution can’t force godless citizens to adhere to it. Godless citizens must constrain themselves to adhere to the Constitution.

The reason America works, or has worked for so long, is our obedience to morality as defined by Christianity and the Bible, not moral relativism and tyranny under the guise of law and order. Moral relativism and omni- religious unity is what our founders were trying to escape.

The question then remains- how do we right the American ship that is listing to the point of capsizing?

How do we return to our Godly heritage?

Is it by pretending that we didn’t make a covenant with God?

Is it by redefining that promise?

Is it by pretending that whatever brand of Christianity we have chosen to tailor for ourselves is the same brand that was so vociferously debated, publicly, by our Founders?

Since the Constitution cannot make the citizenry conform, no President, sworn to uphold that Constitution, can force a rebellious people back into its confines. Trickle-down righteousness doesn’t work and legislated morality is tyranny.

In the Muslim Faith’s Sharia law that tyranny is manifest. Our theologically versed founders knew that.

The hearts of Americans must change or the chains of tyrants will bind us.

Our hearts must be broken before Jesus Christ, personally, and our ballots must be cast for those who seek to please God, not man.

We still elect our officials, remember?

From the school board to the President of the United States – those who have the rule over us are those whom we have chosen.

Righteousness, as a nation, rises from the people to the Oval office.

When the Pilgrims ventured across the frothy sea, seeking a better life of religious freedom for themselves and for us, they knew that a man cannot break covenant with God and prosper.

Who among us, upon quiet introspection, can say that we have not broken that covenant?

Who can say, with one-hundred percent certainty, that God is pleased with us?

Who among us will stand and fight for Him who bled and died for us, who will humble themselves before Him and begin the sincere vetting and selection of leaders who have done the same?

As scripture says in Isaiah 6:8:

…I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.

If you are one who disagrees with our Founders covenant promise – if you are unwilling to dwell peacefully in a land where the Judaeo-Christian God Jehovah is revered above all others- if you are unwilling to adhere to our rules of law- Please feel free to traverse the raging sea: persevere through famine , disease and war and carve out your own existence on a foreign shore. This land, from sea to shining sea, belongs to the servants of Almighty God.