![Ep. 19 Special Christmas Edition: Merry Christmas, America! Don’t Be Silenced By The Speech Police [audio and text]](https://www.feet2thefire.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/480px-Flickr_-_USCapitol_-_Capitol_Christmas_Tree_2010-480x377.jpg)
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Merry Christmas from Feet To The Fire! Gather ’round for a cozy fireside chat as we read of the blessed Christian roots of our civilization. And stop letting liberals keep Christmas greetings out of our stores and schools! Rejoice, a Savior has been born. 🙂
Full Transcript of Audio…
In the name of God, Amen. We, whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread Sovereigne Lord, King James, by the grace of God, of Great Britaine, France and Ireland king, defender of the faith, etc. having undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith, and honour of our king and country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the Northerne parts of Virginia, doe by these presents solemnly and mutually in the presence of God and one of another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civill body politick, for our better ordering and preservation, and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enacte, constitute, and frame such just and equall laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meete and convenient for the generall good of the Colonie unto which we promise all due submission and obedience. In witness whereof we have hereunder subscribed our names at Cape-Codd the 11. of November, in the year of the raigne of our sovereigne lord, King James, of England, France and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fiftie-fourth. Anno Dom. 1620.
That, ladies and gentlemen, is the Mayflower Compact, written and signed by the Pilgrims before they disembarked from their boat the Mayflower after landing at Plymouth Rock so many centuries ago. The first expression of self-government in the New World, one of the primary and most significant expressions of self-government in all of history. And, worthy of noting, it was decidedly Christian. And you actually may have never heard that version because you can’t really print that in public school textbooks anymore, right?
Welcome to Feet To The Fire, the new voice of Conservative Dissent! And a hearty Merry Christmas to all from FTTF this wonderful Christmas season.
And we’re going to be taking a break from the laborious monotony of liberal attacks in current events, a break from discussing Obama and his lunatic policy that is unmaking America. We’re gonna take a break in honor of the Christmas season. Although we duly note Obama’s recent unraveling of decades of strict foreign policy against Communist Cuba in order to embrace a brutal regime in that country. And we also take a moment to mourn over the loss of two NYPD this past weekend due to racial strife and the culture of hatred that Obama and the liberals are continuing to cultivate in this country. Those guys were brutally murdered over the weekend in a violent racist outburst. And the liberals have done nothing to put out that fire. But that’s liberals, keep throwing gasoline on the fire. Oh so, the temptation is there to keep pounding the table about Obama and the liberals and their horrible policy, but sometimes you just gotta give it a rest.
And so, in the spirit of the season, we are celebrating Christmas, the time when we remember the First Advent of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And with the coming of Christmas every year, we always have to listen once again year after year to the absurd debate on whether or not we can wish one another a Merry Christmas. Or if we have to silence ourselves and listen to the culture police, the politically correct liberal elites who demand a Christian free zone in the name of “the separation of church and state.” Which, by the way, that’s a completely false and manipulative phrase of legal jargon. It’s not a legitimate legal principle. And that’s another topic for another episode. But they use that idea to excuse the prohibition and restriction of religious speech anywhere and everywhere they can. Pretty soon they’ll be telling us that the dirt on which we build our churches is public land, and so we have to tear them down or stop preaching because we are violating their sacred rule.
But you know what they are? They’re good seasonal grinches and scrooges. “No celebrating in public because people aren’t Christian! America isn’t Christian and that is not separating church and state! You might offend someone!”
And so we hear, again year after year, how:
-at public schools it’s a Winter Concert, no sacred music allowed
-it’s Winter Break, not Christmas break, when kids get off from school
-corporate America decides to use mild, wishy-washy phrases like Happy Holidays or Season’s Greetings
-and by the way, no nativities in public settings!
Which brings up our topic today: Is America a Christian nation? And we are going to hold corporate America’s and the private sector’s feet to the fire for bowing down to the liberal Establishment’s culture of intimidation and for consenting to abandon the simple holiday greeting of Merry Christmas! This is so childish, isn’t it? That’s the LEFT, all these whiny culture rules so that we don’t offend. But the deeper agenda is clear, to attack and eradicate from our culture any remnant of Christian faith and practice. We are holding the private sector’s feet to the fire for embracing this non-Christmas pseudo-seasonal winter charade; this slushy, mealy-mouthed, moderated version of holiday celebration that looks more like the brown mushy junk jammed under your rear tires after driving through a snow storm than it does a real snow-covered Winter Wonderland.
And with that, let’s take a quick trip down memory lane with story time from Feet To The Fire! Cuddle up under a blanket next to a warm fire for story time this Christmas. I’m gonna be reading a lot to you today, but we want to see, should we be wishing a Merry Christmas at all? Is Christianity embedded into our culture and the fabric of our civil society? Is it in our history as a people or not? Indeed, as we’ll see, America in her framework and freedom is a Christian nation, through and through. She is the fruit of a biblical worldview. Religious freedom and religious tolerance to all, indeed! That is a tenant of American liberty. But the law of the land, the ethics and mores of our culture have always been and must remain Christian. In order to function as a society, any society has to organize itself around a set of principles. And the question is: what set of principles? In America, ours are clearly Christian, Biblically-based.
19th Century historian Benjamin F. Morris wrote this work: The Christian Life And Character Of The Civil Institutions Of The United States. And in responding to the Mayflower Compact that we just read, Morris quoted another 19th century historian George Bancroft who said the following:
“ ‘This [the Mayflower Compact],’ says Bancroft, ‘was the birth of constitutional liberty. In the cabin of the Mayflower humanity recovered its rights, and instituted governments on the basis of equal rights, for the general good. As the Pilgrims landed, their institutions were already perfected. Democratic liberty and independent Christian worship at once existed in America.’ ”
So let’s take a look at some more of the legal record from the very beginning of colonial America. In 1647, we’ve got the Massachusetts General School Law. You ever wonder where public school came from? Let’s look at one of the oldest laws establishing public school. Now this is old English, so you gotta follow it:
“It being one chief project of that old deluder, Satan, to keep men from the knowledge of the Scriptures, as in former times by keeping them in an unknown tongue, so in these latter times by persuading from the use of tongues, that so that at least the true sense and meaning of the original might be clouded and corrupted with love and false glosses of saint-seeming deceivers; and to the end that learning may not be buried in the grave of our forefathers, in church and commonwealth, the Lord assisting our endeavors. It is therefore ordered that every township in this jurisdiction…”
And then it goes on to explain how to establish schools in each jurisdiction. And basically the translation of that was, the Massachusetts local government was saying, since Satan always denigrates society into darkness by keeping people from knowing the Scriptures we ‘re going to establish public school in order to teach the children and the next generation and the whole society the principles of the Bible.
And you know the first textbook that was used for generations in American public schools was the New England Primer: the first printed textbook in the colonies, for use in grammar school. Check this out. Uh, let’s look at soke of the details of the New England Primer. They would teach letters of the alphabet by little poems like:
A – In Adams fall, we sinned all.
B – Heaven to find, the Bible mind.
C – Christ crucified, for sinners died.
D – The Deluge drowned the earth around.
That’s a reference to Noah’s flood. And so it goes and on like this teaching the students English grammar an the alphabet. And here’s some questions at the end of the book. Remember, this is elementary school, grammar school, teaching students doctrine and reading and writing skills. Here are some questions at the end of the New England Primer.
| How are we made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ? A. We are made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ by the effectual application |
of it to us by his holy Spirit.
|
How doth the Spirit of grace apply Christ & his promise grace unto you and keep you in him ?
A. By begetting in me faith to receive him, prayer to call upon him, repentance to mourn after him, and new obedience to serve him.
|
This is what they taught students in American public schools for generations in this country, since the colonial era, for hundreds of years.
Let’s look at the Connect Code of 1650. The Code of 1650 in Connecticut established education for children to gain literacy so that they could read the Bible. And here’s what it established: 50 families had to cooperatively pay for a town teacher and 100 had to provide for a grammar school. As early as 1650, they were implementing taxation for the general good of the community to provide schooling.
Dr. Benjamin Rush, signer of the Declaration of Independence, here’s a quote from him in his work Of the Mode of Education Proper in a Republic. Dr. Rush says this:
“and here I beg leave to remark, that 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, and liberty is the object and life of all republican governments…. But the religion I mean to recommend in this place is that of the New Testament. It is foreign to my purpose to hint at the arguments which establish the truth of the Christian revelation. My only business is to declare, that all its doctrines and precepts are calculated to promote the happiness of society, and the safety and well-being of civil government. A Christian cannot fail of being a republican.” And that’s small “r” republican, but big “R” Republican is good, too.
Now let’s look at the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. This was passed by the 2nd Continental Congress and was the law that governed how we would expand into the western territory and bring new geographic areas into statehood. Article 3, the governing law for new territory in the American West:
Art. 3. Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged. [So since religion is necessary, we are going to promote education in the western territories. And then it goes on to say this…] The utmost good faith shall always be observed towards the Indians; their lands and property shall never be taken from them without their consent; and, in their property, rights, and liberty, they shall never be invaded or disturbed, unless in just and lawful wars authorized by Congress; but laws founded in justice and humanity, shall from time to time be made for preventing wrongs being done to them, and for preserving peace and friendship with them.
Wow! Northewst Ordiance! So it wasn’t our job to go brutalize all the Indians. But as a matter of fact , it was codified in our law that we should pay them for their land and provide in a humanitarian way for their justice and well-being. Not the version of history you get in school.
And when time came to establish a formal government, the Founders looked to what text? What literature did they glean most of their ideas from? Guess what? The Bible! The Bible was by far the most cited reference in political writings during the time of our Founding. Out of 15,000 writings studied from the Founding Era with 3,154 direct quotes in those writings, 34% of the direct quotes were from guess where… The Bible. And that’s almost 4 times higher than second most-quoted source during that time period! Noah Webster in 1832, History of the United States, said this, and I’ve read this before:
“The religion which has introduced civil liberty is the religion of Christ and His apostles, which enjoins humility, piety, and benevolence; which acknowledges in every person a brother, or a sister, and a citizen with equal rights [there it is!]. This is genuine Christianity, and to this we owe our free Constitutions of Government.”
Let’s listen to some of the quotes from the Founding Fathers, who we always hear they weren’t Christian. If anything they were Deist, but they definitely weren’t Christian. Listen to this:
“Principally, and first of all, I recommend my soul to that Almighty Being Who gave it, and my body I commit to the dust, relying upon the merits of Jesus Christ for a pardon of all my sins.” Guess who that was? –Samuel Adams, last will and testament “relying upon the merits of Jesus Christ for a pardon of all my sins.”
Here’s Dr. Benjamin Rush again, signer of the Declaration:
“My only hope of salvation is in the infinite, transcendent love of God manifested to the world by the death of His Son upon the cross. Nothing but His blood will wash away my sins. I rely exclusively upon it. Come, Lord Jesus! Come quickly!” -Dr. Benjamin Rush
He was one of our greatest statesman during the Founding Era, a leader in education and an outspoken Christian. Here’s another one, Patrick Henry, “Give me liberty or give me death!” right? He actually answered the accusation that the Founders were Deists right then during his lifetime. He says this:
“Amongst other strange things said of me, I hear it is said by the deists that I am one of the number; and indeed, that some good people think I am no Christian. This thought gives me much more pain than the appellation of Tory [a Tory was a Loyalist to Great Britain]; because I think religion of infinitely higher importance than politics [This is a Founding Father saying this!]; and I find much cause to reproach myself that I have lived so long, and have given no decided and public proofs of my being a Christian. But, indeed, my dear child, this is a character which I prize far above all this world has, or can boast.” -Patrick Henry
And there’s tons of other writings and quotes like this from the Founding Fathers that show that these guys were Christians or else very favorable towards Christianity, even the least religious among them. And time does not permit me to read all this material. But just a couple more for you to hear. Gunning Bedford, signer of the Constitution, said this,
“Now to the triune God, The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, be ascribed all honor and dominion, forevermore—Amen.” -Gunning Bedford
Charles Carroll, signer of the Declaration, said this,
“On the mercy of my Redeemer I rely for salvation and on His merits, not on the works I have done in obedience to His precepts.” -Charles Carroll How’s that for good Reformed Protestant theology?
How about this from Francis Scott Key who we all know wrote the words to the Star-Spangled Banner. He was also a lawyer.
“[M]ay I always hear that you are following the guidance of that blessed Spirit that will lead you into all truth, leaning on that Almighty arm that has been extended to deliver you, trusting only in the only Savior, and going on in your way to Him rejoicing.” -Francis Scott Key
Roger Sherman, signer of the Declaration and signer of the Constitution, wrote this:
“I believe that there is one only living and true God, existing in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, the same in substance, equal in power and glory. That the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are a revelation from God, and a complete rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy Him. . . . That He made man at first perfectly holy; that the first man sinned, and as he was the public head of his posterity, they all became sinners in consequence of his first transgression, are wholly indisposed to that which is good and inclined to evil, and on account of sin are liable to all the miseries of this life, to death, and to the pains of hell forever. I believe that God . . . did send His own Son to become man, die in the room and stead of sinners, and thus to lay a foundation for the offer of pardon and salvation to all mankind, so as all may be saved who are willing to accept the Gospel offer. . . . I believe a visible church to be a congregation of those who make a credible profession of their faith in Christ, and obedience to Him, joined by the bond of the covenant. . . . I believe that the sacraments of the New Testament are baptism and the Lord’s Supper. . . . I believe that the souls of believers are at their death made perfectly holy, and immediately taken to glory: that at the end of this world there will be a resurrection of the dead, and a final judgment of all mankind, when the righteous shall be publicly acquitted by Christ the Judge and admitted to everlasting life and glory, and the wicked be sentenced to everlasting punishment.” -Roger Sherman
Deists, huh? Doesn’t sound like. And then obviously, our own Declaration of Independence invokes God as the source f our equal rights and liberty:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
And, by the way, Obama likes to leave that part of the Creator out. Back in 2010 in a speech when he quoted this portion of the Preamble to the Declaration, he left out “by their Creator.” How convenient. And in the end of the Declaration of Independence… well, how disgusting actually… the end of the Declaration of Independence says this:
“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.”
How about the 1st Amendment?
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech,”
Liberals seem to forget that part of the Amendment on free religion, that you can’t prohibit the free exercise. Christianity also laid the foundation for the abolition movement that ended slavery.
Listen to Lincoln’s 2nd Inaugural Address in the middle of the Civil War when he was elected to a 2nd term. This is really powerful, and this is actually inscribed in the Lincoln Memorial.
“If we shall suppose that American Slavery is one of those offences which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South, this terrible war, as the woe due to those by whom the offence came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a Living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope — fervently do we pray — that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bond-man’s two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said [four] three thousand years ago, so still it must be said “the judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether.” With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in;”
And we aren’t a Christian nation? And we have to surrender our Christian heritage and identity to the whims of a powerful few elite who say we ought no longer wish one another a Merry Christmas because it violates the principle of religious pluralism? Make no mistake, while religious tolerance is a virtue of the Christian faith and a fruit of Christian liberty and is very much alive in this country and always has been, it exists only within the framework of the particular moral order that Christianity provides. People can worship freely here like nowhere else in the world because we are a free Christian nation. Christianity is the source of our liberty and the source of our American identity. Just ask the persecuted Russians under the Soviet Union and the Chinese in Communist China about religious tolerance in atheist Communism. There is no religious tolerance under Communism. Or look how religious tolerance is working out in the middle east right now under Islamic despotism. It’s disgusting and horrifying, and these kinds of tyrannical brutality have been avoided in this country because Christianity has been our anthem.
Biblical Christianity has always been the source for all or our diverse principles of liberty and the source of the American character: equality; private property rights; our work ethic/self-reliance/rugged individualism, that we’re not gonna depend on other people and be lazy but we’re gonna work to build our own homes and families; charity; civil freedoms like the right to speech, assembly, and freedom of the press; women’s equality; the sanctity of life; sanctity of marriage and family; justice under the law to all; standing up to evil in the world like the Nazi’s.
All these civil virtues come from the Bible!
And America from the very beginning was an experiment is religious liberty: persecuted Christians fled here so they could worship freely and publicly. That’s why the Pilgrims came. And we are abandoning that principle in favor of religious censorship, and we’re starting to tolerate everything else except Christianity.
Let me give you a final example of Christianity in our legal history. This is from David Barton’s Original Intent: The Courts, Constitution and Religion, a highly recommended text and resource if you’ve never read it or don’t have it. And David Barton notes this: in an 1834 legal guide for Tennessee judges, now we’re talking mid-19th Century, here’s what the legal guide for Tennessee judges’ declared:
“Judges, justices of the peace, and all other persons who are or shall be empowered to administer oaths shall . . . require the party [whoever is taking the oath] to be sworn to lay his hand upon the Holy Evangelists of Almighty God in token of his engagement to speak the truth as he hopes to be saved in the way and method of salvation pointed out in that blessed volume; and in further token that if he should swerve from the truth, he may be justly deprived of all the blessings of the Gospels and be made liable to that vengeance which he has imprecated on his own head; and after repeating the words, “So help me God,” shall kiss the holy Gospels as a seal of confirmation to said engagement.”
Separation of church and state? You gotta be kidding me! Delaware Constitution required this:
” Every person who shall be chosen a member of either house, or appointed to any office or place of trust… shall… make and subscribe the following declaration, to wit: [so, if you’re gonna become an elected official, you have to take this oath] ‘I, ____, do profess faith in God the Father, and in Jesus Christ His Holy Son, and the Holy Ghost, one God, blessed forevermore; and I do acknowledge the holy scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be given by divine inspiration.”
Seems to me like Christianity religion, church, played a crucial, primary, a central role in government in our society! And so because it is our duty as Christians to boldly and without shame worship the God of the Scriptures, namely Jesus Christ, and because it is our longstanding privilege and civil liberty as Americans to worship freely, and because it is our obligation as Christians and Americans to preserve freedom for our neighbors and generations to come… keep wishing a Merry Christmas!! Loudly and clearly every day of the season every year to everyone you see. Do it in every store and to every clerk and cashier you come to! Do it in school and do it at work! Do it because your American and free, and do it because you are not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to all those who believe (Romans 1:16)! Amen!
Well, we hope you enjoyed this special Christmas Edition of Feet To The Fire, and if we had more time, I’d love to burst out into some Christmas carol singing, but we’ll save that for another time. We’re gonna be taking a break now for the holidays, Christmas and New Year, a little bit of a vacation for a few weeks, and then we will pick up again in January. So we hope to see you then, stay tuned! But until then…
Let justice roll down like waters, America! And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream! Don’t believe the hype out there. America was birthed out of the doctrines of Christianity, the practice of right Christian principles and biblical virtue in government and society. It is our heritage and our history and our identity! And we will not so quickly abandon those pillars of the Christian faith that have preserved liberty in the land for centuries because the wussy liberals complain about it. As it says, nobly inscribed on the Liberty Bell and drawn from the book of Leviticus, Chapter 25, verse 10: “Proclaim liberty throughout the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.” We have in America, and we will continue to do so, and we will also proclaim Merry Christmas throughout the land! Because it is our responsibility and prerogative to do it, with good cheer and charity to all. Don’t be intimidated into silence! Christmas is a national holiday! Sing the carols and send Christmas wishes to your neighbor. It’s the American way. And if some ignorant corporate executive objects or some whiny school board member protests, well, wish it to them again, and then, I don’t know, go get them a present or something. Tell them to loosen up and stop being such a scrooge! Start singing Hark the Herald Angels Sing loudly and robustly in their presence. And hold their feet to the fire…
{increase volume, sweet bluegrass music with backbeat that is perfectly fitting for a country version of Joy to the World. Check out David Crowder* Band’s arrangement of Silent Night. Mercy Me has a great one, too, excellent for the holidays with a southern flare… 🙂 …}
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![Ep. 06 Elections: Why Democrats Need to Lose [audio and text]](https://www.feet2thefire.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Early_voting_at_Bauer_Drive_Community_Recreation_Center-168x148.jpg)
https://www.feet2thefire.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/FTTFFull6.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSSSo the 2014 Midterm Elections are today. And who do […]
