Loren Lippincott
No other nation in recorded history has had a single form of government as long as ours.
Since our Constitution went into effect in 1789, France has seen 15 constitutions come and go. Meanwhile China has had four forms of government since 1954; Russia, four since 1918; Brazil, seven since 1822; Poland, seven since 1919; South Korea, six since 1948; the Philippines, seven since 1899 and power has turned over 20 times in Ecuador since 1830.
Part of the success of America is owing to its creativity, ingenuity and enterprise. Though having only 4 percent of the world’s population, we produce more inventions and patents than the rest of the world combined. We have earned more than half the Nobel Prizes ever awarded for physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, peace and economic sciences. Our country also produces over 25 percent of the world’s gross domestic product.
That is astounding!
America is exceptional because we were founded upon and implemented certain principles and truths. America is unparalleled in its freedom, stability and prosperity as a result of institutions and policies produced by a philosophy grounded in eternal truths. English writer G.K. Chesterton wrote “America is the only nation in the world that is founded on a creed.” Thus, understanding that creed is vitally important to our continued success and even our survival as a free nation.
The opening 126 words of the Declaration of Independence state the five principles of our government which were then guaranteed in our Constitution.
Four of those principles are God-centered! Sadly those who attack our country (mostly from within) want to enjoy its blessings, while denying and denigrating the very values and beliefs that birthed those blessings.
Our forefathers recognized the following essential truths: 1) There is a divine Creator to Whom each of us must answer; 2) unalienable rights such as life, liberty, private property, the right to worship freely and equal justice under the law, come from God and not from government; 3) transcendent moral laws govern mankind (These were referred to by our founders as “the laws of nature and nature’s God” and are based on the Law of Moses); 4) government exists to protect those God-given rights and 5) Any power the government has, exists for and should be wielded only with the consent of the people.
At the time of our nation’s birth, no such government like this had ever existed on earth.
Our founders, many of whose ancestors had come to America to escape religious persecution in Europe, did not want to see that reproduced here. They were aware of the importance of personal piety for the new nation’s health and prosperity.
After all, of the 56 signers of the Declaration, 29 had seminary degrees. When 33-year-old Thomas Jefferson penned the Declaration of Independence, John Locke’s 400 page book “Treatise on Government” was his primary influence. In that book, Locke invoked the words of Scripture over 1,500 times, amounting to nearly four references per page.
In research for his 1987 book, “The Origins of American Constitutionalism,” Donald Lutz examined 15,000 writings from the founding era and found 3,154 quotes in those writings.
Of those quotes, 34 percent were from the Christian Bible.
Biblical references outnumbered the second most quoted source, Charles Montesquieu, by nearly four to one. Meanwhile, William Blackstone quotes came in at 7.9 percent and John Locke at 2.9 percent. Furthermore, those three mostly quoted Scripture as their authoritative source.
Good laws are important but they do not produce peace. It is only the Prince of Peace actively residing within a country’s citizenry that produces true peace.
I fear that apart from a true spiritual revival and awakening in the land, the likes of which we have not seen in many years, the hatred, vitriol and violence we see in so many sectors of our society will only increase, ultimately leading to rule by force.
For as Robert Charles Winthrop, Speaker of the U.S.
House of Representatives (18471849) said, “Men, in a word, must necessarily be controlled, either by a power within them… or by the strong arm of man; either by the Bible, or by the bayonet.”
Loren Lippincott represents Legislative District 34 in the Nebraska State Senate. Read his column in the Nance County Journal.