Shoulder To Shoulder #1315 -- 10-31-22 ---- "Ancient Paths -- The Pathway of Integrity and Moral Behavior" D -- In My Votes (part 23)
SHOULDER TO SHOULDER is a weekly letter of encouragement Bob has written since 1997, covering many topics selected to
motivate people to be strong students of the Word and courageous witnesses of Jesus Christ. It is a personal letter of
encouragement to you, written solely to help "lift up hands that hang down".
"The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything." -- Albert Einstein
“There is a common, worldly kind of Christianity in this day, which many have, and think they have -- a cheap Christianity which offends nobody,
and requires no sacrifice, which costs nothing, -- and is worth nothing.” – J. C. Ryle
Shoulder To Shoulder #
1315 -- 10-31-22Title: "Ancient Paths -- The Pathway of Integrity and Moral Behavior" D -- In My Votes(part 23)
My Dear Friend and Co-Laborer with Christ:
Today is a lovely sunny day in Yuma with the highs expected to reach the mid 80's ---- and, no, . . . perhaps I should, but I don't feel too sorry for those who are already feeling the frostbites of November days in the upper states, elevations, and beyond. After all, they have Fall colors to enjoy, and the smell of wood burning in fireplaces.
We are just seven days away from our first service at Chapel de Oro, and nine days away from one of the most critical elections in modern U.S. history. In both situations, they are days of great significance, seemingly motivated by the same thing -- the serious condition of our world and how we choose to face the future. There is much that weighs heavy on my heart. Perhaps you feel the same way. But, praise the Lord, that we have a hope that drives us onward, upward, and far beyond both days.
As the songwriter penned, . . . .
"My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
but wholly lean on Jesus' name.
Refrain:
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand:
all other ground is sinking sand;
all other ground is sinking sand.
When darkness veils His lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace;
in every high and stormy gale,
my anchor holds within the veil.
His oath, His covenant, His blood,
support me in the whelming flood;
when all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my hope and stay.
When He shall come with trumpet sound,
O may I then in Him be found:
dressed in His righteousness alone,
faultless to stand before the throne.
Personally, I am learning in new ways the difference between despondency and dependency . . . between discouragement and relinquishment, . . . between blah's and burdens. Despondency, discouragement, and the blah's leave you listless, without motivation, feelings of exhaustion and no drive to continue on. Dependence, relinquishment, and burdens, on the other hand, leave you with drive, hope, and the will to press on until you press through -- because you know the end of the story, and are convinced of its truth. And in those occasions, a song of trust and confidence seems to always rise to the surface and you find yourself singing (at least in your mind) songs like this one -- and you conclude that it's actually a good day to be alive.
PROTESTANT REFORMATION -- AMERICAN REVOLUTION:
While I have long known of the direct connection between the American Revolution and the First Great Awakening, I had not seriously considered any particular linkage between the Revolution and the Protestant Reformation -- that is until recently when I ran across the words of an inscription that appeared in the General Prologue of Wycliffe's 1384 translation of the Bible: ----
"The Bible is for the Government of the People, by the People, and for the People."
As my Mother would have said, "Well, my goodness! Who would have thunk it!" (Using the word intentionally, I might add.)
Today as I write, it is Monday, October 31st -- Reformation Day. The observance is usually overlooked in lieu of it also being "All Hallows Day", or "Halloween" as we call it. The contrast between the two days is stark -- Reformation Day honors the day in 1517 when a Catholic monk, Martin Luther, reportedly nailed 95 questions and issues he had with the Pope on the door of the parish church he pastored in Wittenburg, Germany. Jo Ann and I had the privilege, as perhaps you have, of visiting that church and a number of other places encompassed by Luther's amazing life.
As Luther contemplated his own condition as a sinful monk against God's justice as described in the Book of Romans, he concluded, . . .
"If you have a true faith that Christ is your Savior, then at once you have a gracious God, for faith leads you in and opens up God's heart and will, that you should see pure grace and over-flowing love.
"This it is to behold God in faith that you should look upon his fatherly, friendly heart, in which there is no anger nor ungraciousness. He who sees God as angry does not see him rightly but looks only on a curtain, as if a dark cloud had been drawn across his face."
The driving force in Luther's life was his realization that he could never engage in enough good works to make him qualified to stand before a just God and gain God's forgiveness and acceptance. He understood that he -- and all of us -- can come to God only one way . . . through repentance and faith in Christ's complete righteousness to cover our own wicked unrighteousness. While Wycliffe, Hus, and others blazed the trail, it was Luther (thanks to a large degree to Gutenberg's invention of the printing press) who spread the truth of the Gospel through his translation of the Book of Romans, making it available to the common man.
Little did anyone know how great an impact Luther's writings would make on society in general -- including the educational and political spheres of our world. Robert D. Woodberry of the National University of Singapore wrote a paper in 2012 titled "The Missionary Roots of Liberal Democracy" that appeared in the American Political Science Review, Vol. 106, No. 2. In it he talked about the role of Protestanism in the shaping of western democracies. He statistically showed that countries where Protestant "conversionary" missionaries went to in the 19th century then became more prosperous in the 20th century. He wrote, . . .
"The association between Protestant missions and democracy is consistent in different continents and subsamples, and it is robust to more than 50 controls and
to instrumental variable analyses."
Nearly six centuries earlier, Luther had espoused the same necessity of Christian faith being part of the political landscape, stating, . . .
"I am much afraid that schools will prove to be the great gates of hell unless they diligently labor in explaining the Holy Scriptures, engraving them in the hearts of youth. I advise no one to place his child where the scriptures do not reign paramount.
"Every institution in which men are not increasingly occupied with the Word of God must become corrupt."
So, as we observe Reformation Day today, we must remember -- and practice -- the biblical principles of life in anticipating the elections before us in just one week. With that in mind, I want to further address the necessity of morality and integrity being a primary criteria in our voting. Let's do that, right after you consider . . .
QUOTES FOR THE WEEK:
> "A general dissolution of principles and manners will more surely overthrow the liberties of America than the whole force of the common enemy. While the people are virtuous they cannot be subdued; but when once they lose their virtue then will be ready to surrender their liberties to the first external or internal invader." -- Samuel Adams (letter to James Warren, February 12, 1779)
> " Men are not made religious by performing certain actions which are externally good, but they must first have righteous principles, and then they will not fail to perform virtuous actions." -- Martin Luther
> “The bosses of the Democratic party and the bosses of the Republican party alike have a closer grip than ever before on the party machines in the States and in the Nation. This crooked control of both the old parties by the beneficiaries of political and business privilege renders it hopeless to expect any far-reaching and fundamental service from either.” -- Theodore Roosevelt (The Outlook, July 27, 1912)
> "If a political party does not have its foundation in the determination to advance a cause that is right and that is moral, then it is not a political party; it is merely a conspiracy to seize power." -- President Dwight D. Eisenhower (speech, March 6, 1956)
> "[N]either the wisest constitution nor the wisest laws will secure the liberty and happiness of a people whose manners are universally corrupt." -- Samuel Adams (essay in The Public Advertiser, Circa 1749)
> " But what is liberty without wisdom, and without virtue? It is the greatest of all possible evils; for it is folly, vice, and madness, without tuition or restraint." -- Edmund Burke
> "Under democracy one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule — and both commonly succeed, and are right." -- H. L. Mencken (attributed, Return of the Portable Curmudgeon)
> "Politics do not necessarily mean party politics, though in this country, at this moment, the one runs dangerously near to implying the other." -- Alfred Austin (The Bridling of Pegasus)
> "It is not by the consolidation or concentration of powers, but by their distribution that good government is effected.” -- Thomas Jefferson
> "When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan." -- Solomon (Prov 29:2)
"The Founders . . . believed that the political process was all about identifying the common good. It was not about competition and disagreement; politics was a process in which rational voters and officials calmly sorted out what best served the entire community. The end result was not one camp of winners and another of losers, but the entire electorate united behind a common vision." -- Shmoop
> "Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder." -- George Washington
> "If you plan to build a tall house of virtues, you must first lay deep foundations of humility." -- Augustine
INCUBATORS FOR CORRUPTION:
Please do not take this to be my personal bias for or against a particular political party, but rather a statement of preference from a recent Rasmussen Poll in which 62% of those polled preferred one specific political party to control at least one house of Congress, and a large percentage preferred they control both. You can see that report for yourself at https://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/biden_administration/prez_track_oct28.
Frankly, I regret that we even have such a thing as political parties. I still remember the numerous warnings even our founding fathers issued against partisan politics. For example, in his farewell address, founding President George Washington said, . . .
"The common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it.” -- George Washington
Actually, near the end of his second term Washington wrote a letter to "friends and fellow-citizens", published in newspapers around the infant nation. Called by many his farewell address, he spent almost one-third of his entire farewell address dealing with the dangers of what he called "factions". Among other things he stated, . . .
“[Political parties] serve to organize faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force; to put, in the place of the delegated will of the nation, the will of a party, often a small but artful and enterprising minority of the community; and, according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the public administration the mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous projects of faction, rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome plans digested by common counsels, and modified by mutual interests. . . .
"Let me now . . . warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party. . . . It serves always to distract the public councils and enfeebles the public administration. It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms; foments occasionally riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption . . . A fire not to quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into flame . . .”
Washington was not the lone voice in the matter. Even though he saw the benefits of political parties for the purpose of debate and consolidation of influence, even Thomas Jefferson felt there were grave dangers. In a letter to Francis Hopkinson in 1789, he wrote, . . .
“I never submitted the whole system of my opinions to the creed of any party of men whatever in religion, in philosophy, in politics, or in anything else where I was capable of thinking for myself. Such an addiction is the last degradation of a free and moral agent. If I could not go to heaven but with a political party, I would decline to go.”
Our second President of the U.S., John Adams, also shuddered at the thought of partisan division in politics. He, along with most founders, felt that open and honest debate on individual levels was far more productive because it tended to focus on issues and policy, rather than on personality, prejudice, and popularity. He abhorred the idea of choosing up sides to see who the winner could be. In a letter to Jonathan Jackson in 1780 he wrote, . . .
“ There is nothing which I dread so much as a division of the republic into two great parties, each arranged under its leader, and concerting measures in opposition to each other. This, in my humble apprehension, is to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our Constitution.”
Even the "renegade thinker", Thomas Paine warned of the danger of partisan politics. In his 1787 piece, The Opposers of the Bank, he stated, . . .
“Party knows no impulse but spirit, no prize but victory. It is blind to truth, and hardened against conviction. It seeks to justify error by perseverance, and denies to its own mind the operation of its own judgment. A man under the tyranny of party spirit is the greatest slave upon the earth, for none but himself can deprive him of the freedom of thought.”
Opposition to multiple political parties was so strong among the founders that James Madison wrote the entirety of "the Federalist Paper #10" on the topic, warning of the dangers. Nonetheless, he felt partisan politics was inevitable.
While there was a slight respite from the presence of parties for a brief period, the two party system was sadly reinstated by the time of Andrew Jackson in the 1830's and "engraved in stone" by the 1850's -- and we have suffered the consequences of divisiveness ever since. Houston, TX, attorney and businessman, Bill King, who has been involved in politics as a "moderate" for a number of years provided some astute insight in a 2018 blog in which he probably summarized what you and I have to endure today. He said, . . .
"We have allowed the two ruling parties to institutionalize themselves in our political and governing systems. They get preferential ballot access and legislative committee assignments and campaign finance laws are rigged in their favor . . . . just to name a few of the advantages they are afforded. Given this dominance, one might conclude that the two-party system arises from our constitutional roots. But in fact, the opposite is the case. Virtually every one of the Founding Fathers eschewed the idea of political parties and fretted over what might happen to the country if political parties were to come to dominate the country."
You can read a brief history of two-party development at https://www.history.com/news/founding-fathers-political-parties-opinion, among numerous other sites including https://billkingblog.com/what-our-founding-fathers-said-about-political-parties/.
KICKING VIRTUE OUT:
If you have followed my thinking in previous letters, you know that I adhere to the concept that the late Andrew Breitbart proposed decades ago that politics is always downstream from culture. You also probably remember my contention that culture is created by the values of the people, that values are derived from our sense of morality (virtue), and that morality is shaped by the part that religion plays in our lives. So, the end result is that if we want to change politics, we must change culture. Culture is changed when we change values, and values are changed as our sense of what is moral is changed.
As long as our morals place little or no value on life itself, our politics will remain corrupt. Recently I watched an interview of Jason Whitlock, an African American political and cultural observer. Whitlock is a highly popular radio and television personality who was a former columnist at The Kansas City Star. Now the host of the podcast, Fearless with Jason Whitlock, he played Division I college football at Ball State University, and went on to broadcast with AOL Sports, Foxsports.com, and ESPN. Today he focuses his efforts on political and societal issues.
In the interview, Whitlock asserted that the bottom line to all of politics is one's view of life. He asserts that any person who is comfortable with abortion cannot possibly have a conservative and originalist view of our Constitution because at the heart of the Constitution are the unalienable rights stated in the Declaration of Independence -- "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" -- and then protected in the First Amendment of the Constitution. He devoutly believes that the beginning of our political decay, though predicated on our removal of prayer and the Bible from the public classroom, was in 1973 when the SCOTUS erroneously opined on Roe vs. Wade.
Whether you agree with Whitlock or not, his rationale is reasonable because it strikes at the core issue of our culture, and therefore our politics of the day -- morality and integrity . . . virtue.
Dr. Eddie Hyatt is founder of "The 1726 Project" and author of a book by the same title. He asserts, as I do, that the year 1726 was a defining year for America, but few recognize it. In the book, he insists that 1776 would never have happened apart from 1726. The Great Awakening that began that year transformed Colonial American thinking and values and laid the spiritual, moral, and philosophical foundations for the beginning of a great new nation. It also unleashed the anti-slavery sentiments and moral outrage that eventually brought about slavery’s demise in America.
The late Harvard professor, Perry Miller, was correct in saying, . . .
“The Declaration of Independence of 1776 was a direct result of the preaching of the evangelists of the Great Awakening.”
The Great Awakening of which he wrote began in 1726 and is actually the story of how America got its start. If one is to be intellectually and historically honest, it will be virtually impossible to explain the founding of our nation apart from the radical and overwhelming influence of the Great Awakening. But, it's the story that has been essentially written out of modern textbooks. It is the story of the faith and spiritual vision of those who brought this nation into existence, particularly as they were personally impacted by the sweeping events of the Great Awakening.
You can hardly look at a single one of the more than 300 people recognized as the "founding fathers" without running into frequent references to the influence of the Bible and Judeo-Christian principles on their lives -- they way they lived, the way they talked, the way they thought, and the way they deliberated over matters of governance.
In his book, Gulag Archipelago, Aleksandar Solzhenitsyn wrote, . . .
"If I was asked today to formulate as concisely as possible the main cause of the ruinous Revolution that swallowed up some 60 million of our people, I could not put it more accurately than to report, 'Men have forgotten God; that is why all this has happened.'"
Alarmingly one of our main political parties took a major step toward that about which Solzhenitsyn warned, something very destructive -- and demonic, in my opinion. It happened in 2012 and I believe dramatically changed both of our political parties. At their respective national conventions, the Democratic and Republican parties adopted profoundly significant party platforms -- decrees, declarations, commitments, oaths, if you please -- that have subsequently determined their destinies for decades to come . . . UNLESS they reverse them. So far they have not done so.
During the 2012 Democratic convention, many delegates roundly booed Democratic National Convention chairman Antonio Villaraigosa after the words, "God-given" were inserted into the party platform and the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. While everyone expected the resolution to pass on two-thirds voice vote, instead Villaraigosa had to call for the vote two more times after the crowd ended up being so divided that it could not pass.
Finally, another party official told him to ignore the delegates and approve the resolution on the third voice vote. The resolution came after no reference to God was in the original party platform. The Party leadership gave no consideration to the strong opposition to its deletion. That action seems to have been the defining moment in the Democrat Party, and it is since then that secularism, far-left liberalism, and Socialism have taken firm root in the Party. Most people do not see any particular significance to removing reference to God from their platform ten years ago.
Soon after the Democratic Party Convention, the Republicans met and, in adopting their party's platform, went out of their way to reassert their pro-life position and the role of religion in American culture. I remember watching both convention proceedings and feeling the knots in my stomach over what I was hearing. It is my personal opinion that this was the major turning point in American politics where the moral position of each party was "cast in concrete".
"For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation." -- Heb 6:16
Since that time ten years ago, we have seen seismic shifts to the left and to the right by both parties. Look at the party positions of the two main parties today -- secularism and anti-God positions have increased in the Democrat Party, and conservative, pro-life, liberty positions have greatly strengthened in the Republican Party. Can we link those stronger-than-normal shifts to those 2012 platform positions? I think we can. You see, party platforms are official position papers akin to legal declarations or decrees as to a party's official beliefs and stance. They are the "oaths" taken for which they stand and by which they will act.
Decrees and oaths indeed have their consequences. A "law", a "decree" or an "oath" are, after all, official and formal declarations, are they not? In fact, since the 2012 platform adoption, the Democratic National Committee has gone even further, passing a resolution that essentially seems to have taken them "over the precipice" just seven years later.
Dr. Eddie Hyatt in his book, 1726: The Year That Defined America, asserts -- rightly so, I believe -- that had it not been for the First Great Awakening that began with Jonathan Edwards in 1726 and drew in George Whitefield into colonial life, the United States would not exist as we know it today. In the book, Hyatt recounts that in 2019 a further event took place, stating, . . .
"In 2019 the Democrat National Committee (DNC), the governing body of the Democrat Party, took a sharp turn down the very path of which Solzhenitsyn warned. They unanimously passed a resolution in which they affirmed atheism and declared that neither Christianity nor any religion is necessary for morality and patriotism.
Not a single Democrat leader . . . has protested this affirmation of atheism and rejection of Christian morality by their party. And just as happened in Russia, we see this same party putting itself in the place of God with attempts to control every area of our lives, including how we think.
"Atheism and Tyranny are Siamese Twins. Atheism and agnosticism inevitably lead to tyranny. Having rejected God and all transcendent moral constraints, political leaders become emboldened to act like God and impose their values and political vision on the populace without debate or hearing opposing views. 'We the people' becomes a forgotten relic of the past."
The Washington Examiner newspaper carried a front-page article on October 30, 2019, of the DNC's action, reporting, . . .
"The unanimously passed resolution also criticized 'religious views' and 'religious liberty' that threatened minority groups.
"'WHEREAS, those most loudly claiming that morals, values, and patriotism must be defined by their particular religious views have used those religious views, with misplaced claims of 'religious liberty,' to justify public policy that has threatened the civil rights and liberties of many Americans, including but not limited to the LGBT community, women, and ethnic and religious/nonreligious minorities'," the resolution stated.
"The Secular Coalition of America embraced the resolution as a statement affirming secular America."
The path taken by the Democrat Party is far removed from America's founding generation, which considered Christian faith and morality to be the key for social stability and prosperity.
Thus says the LORD, "Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths, Where the good way is, and walk in it; And you will find rest for your souls. But they said, 'We will not walk in it.' And I set watchmen over you, saying, 'Listen to the sound of the trumpet!' But they said, 'We will not listen.'" (Jer 6:16-17)
THE NECESSITY OF MORAL INTEGRITY:
I know this sounds like I am very anti-Democrat and pro-Republican, but that is neither my intent nor my heart. What I AM, though, is very pro-Morality and pro-Integrity. There has never been a greater need for our political system to be overwhelmed by moral, trustworthy, honest, men and women of the highest integrity in our three branches of government -- and in every level. If you examine American history, you will find that our government functioned best and with least upheaval during those times when virtue was the highest.
James Madison, America's fourth president and the chief architect of the U.S. Constitution, wrote:
"The belief in a God All Powerful, wise and good, is so essential to the moral order of the world and to the happiness of man, that arguments which enforce it cannot be drawn from too many sources nor adapted with too much solicitude to the different characters and capacities impressed with it."
George Washington, after taking the first presidential oath of office with his hand on a Bible, gave his first inaugural address in which he warned the new nation:
"The propitious smiles of heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the external rules of order and right, which heaven itself has ordained."
The well-known Catholic scholar, William Novak, was correct in saying:
"Far from having a hostility toward religion, the Founders counted on religion [Christianity] for the underlying philosophy of the republic, its supporting ethic and its reliable source of rejuvenation."
FINALLY:
Next Tuesday, November 8th, is another opportunity for us to promote integrity and moral behavior in our nation. While we cannot eradicate it, we can certainly advance it. In a world of flawed humanity, they will be some of our strongest weapons against corruption, decay, and the potential future collapse of our nation. The bold and courageous patriot, Patrick Henry, summed it up well in one of his famous speeches --
"Virtue, morality, and religion. This is the armor, my friend, and this alone that renders us invincible. These are the tactics we should study. If we lose these, we are conquered, fallen indeed, so long as our manners and principles remain sound, there is no danger."
Clearly morality and integrity -- your internal condition and your external reputation -- are those things in whom we most must seek in those for whom we will cast our votes. Again, we will never find the perfect candidate fulfilling such lofty standards. But, we can look for those who most exemplify them. Once we find them, then we can give serious consideration to their positions on specific issues -- the economy, government size, taxation, abortion, family values, our freedoms, etc.
The world will never admit to the basic truth that you cannot have morality without a morally perfect example; you can never have real integrity without a pure example of integrity -- someone who sees, speaks, and manifests truth, purity, compassion, and justice -- perfectly. So, while we may wish with all our hearts that the elections scheduled in less than two weeks will be characterized by nothing but pure morality and perfect integrity, we know we must be satisfied with less. Having said that, in every vote we cast we must do so for flawed persons who most closely exemplify the perfection found only in Christ.
In closing, we must continue searching for and demanding moral lives of integrity from those whom we elect. But, in doing so, we must never forget where such qualities come from, and we must never forget our personal responsibilities to live by those same standards. Our elected officials may not know the source, ---- but you and I do.
"I will tell you what to hate. Hate hypocrisy; hate cant; hate intolerance, oppression, injustice, Pharisaism; hate them as Christ hated them - with a deep, abiding, God-like hatred. . . . What the world calls virtue is a name and a dream without Christ. The foundation of all human excellence must be laid deep in the blood of the Redeemer's cross and in the power of his resurrection." -- Frederick W. Robertson (British Anglican Pastor and Theologian, 1816-1853)
In His Bond, By His Grace, and for His Kingdom,
Bob Tolliver -- Romans 1:11
"Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness,
examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so." -- Dr. Luke (Acts 17:11)
"A fire kept burning on the hearthstone of my heart, and I took up the burden of the day with fresh courage and hope." -- Charles F. McKoy
Life Unlimited Ministries
LUMglobal
lifeunlimited@pobox.com
Copyright October, 2022
"If Jesus had preached the same message that many ministers preach today, He would never have been crucified." -- Leonard Ravenhill
"The time will come when instead of shepherds feeding the sheep, the Church will have clowns entertaining the goats." -- Charles H. Spurgeon
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