Proverbs 14.34
“Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.”
Here are some thoughts and observations as we celebrate American liberty and freedom on this Independence Day.
In 1818, John Adams wrote famously that America’s “real revolution” was the revolution before the Revolution: “The Revolution was effected before the War commenced. The revolution was in the hearts and minds of the people; a change in their religious sentiments of their duties and obligations. This radical change in the principles, opinions, sentiments and affections of the people, was the real American Revolution.”
The success of American independence began in the hearts and minds of the citizens. As John Adams observed, the people of America had a profound commitment to their “duties and obligations.” The American form of government — a wide range of liberties based on the rule of law within a constitutional republic — was deeply dependent on the virtue and personal responsibility of its citizens and its leaders. It was indeed government “of the people, by the people, and for the people.”
In dramatic contrast, the French (1789), Russian (1917), and Chinese (1949) revolutions were radical and destructive because they sought a distorted version of human perfectibility through the coercive power of the state. They rejected the rule of law and established an all-powerful government. They rejected the bible and took no interest in the Judeo-Christian worldview as a pattern for liberation, but instead took their cue from the philosophies of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Karl Marx, and Mao Zedong, respectively.
All three revolutions were fostered and led by a small group of authoritarian elites rather than emanating from the hearts and minds of responsible citizens. Despite the dramatic rhetoric and empty promises in the early stages, the people of all three nations quickly discovered the harsh and painful reality that the goal of those who led the revolution was not liberty for the many; the goal was power for a few.
The French, Russian, and Chinese revolutions attempted a transformation of human behavior and society by restricting liberty and applying the power of the state. All three failed completely. Worse, they each produced forms of government that were even more tyrannical than the régimes they replaced, and they committed horrific mass killings of their own citizens that is a dark and indelible stain on human history.
The American revolution of 1776 was very different. The leaders and the people understood that true liberty required respect for God, protection of personal liberty, the rule of law, virtuous and hard-working citizens, limited government, and the separation of powers. The founders understood the inherent danger of too much power residing in a large, federal government controlled by an entitled political class. The founders did everything they could to restrict the coercive power of government and protect personal liberty within the constraints of the rule of law.
It’s time for Americans to wake up and return to the central principles of our founding. Our nation is drifting further and further away from the spirit of 1776, and being guided more and more by the spirit of 1789 (the failed French revolution). The political class in America continues to enact ever increasing regulations and laws that undermine the liberties articulated in the Constitution.
It appears that the political and social left in our nation are the heirs of the French, Russian, and Chinese revolutions. Like those failed systems, the left today is driven by the misguided belief that it is both preferable and possible to control and transform society by applying the power of the state.
Americans along the entire political/social spectrum — from the left and to the right — are well-advised to heed the lessons of history lest our nation repeat its mistakes.
People today who advocate for socialism and increased government control often say “we would do it differently” than the failed totalitarian regimes of the past. That claim is either intentionally deceitful or woefully and dangerously naive. Once in power, the ruling elite in socialist systems always move toward tyranny. Always. Given the opportunity to fully implement their philosophy, the contemporary advocates of socialism would be no different. Their angry intolerance toward anyone who disagrees with them is a clear indicator of how they would behave if given power. When confronted by different ideas, the radical left today is displays a deep hatred that lies just beneath the surface of their manufactured veneer of benevolence.
The American revolution — the spirit of 1776 — honored God as the Author of nature and natural law, and it embraced the principle that change takes time, social transformation requires patience and must be incremental, the rule of law is essential, and liberty and justice will always fail if it does not take seriously the primacy of cultivating the human heart for virtue, work ethic, and personal responsibility.
There is a clear and certain danger in the approach taken by the other three revolutions and their heirs on the left today. They circumvent the rule of law and arrogate to themselves the authority to dictate the ideal society, and then use the power of government in an attempt to create that society. They use the democratic process to get elected, then use their elected office to expand the power of government. They confiscate money through taxes, and then use tax dollars to give entitlements to people and groups who vote for them.
Let’s be very clear. Politicians don’t give away money they have earned; they give away money they have taken from others. One doesn’t need a crystal ball to see where that strategy leads.
America needs a revolution in the hearts and minds of its citizens. We would do well to heed the words of John Adams and restore our spiritual sentiments and rediscover our duties and obligations.
“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” (Galatians 5:1)
