Many times, people will speak with confidence about what they believe to be “Foundational” principles of our nation. They will often say those principles are the modern (false) idea of “Separation of Church and State”, or that our founders were Deists, or Atheists, and the separation from things of God was the “secret sauce” that has brought about the greatness of America. I could not disagree more!
We’ve been lied to
To be fair, it is not really the fault of these people for believing these things. They have heard so many lies about our nation for so long, from so many sources they trust, so they don’t see how these ideas could not be correct. In fact, if you press them, many of these people will not even know which founding document supposedly contains these ideas. Some of the more “informed” of these deceived people will tell you these ideas are contained in the First Amendment to the Constitution, where “Separation of Church and State” allegedly resides. As a result, these folks will say it is wrong to reference the Scripture, or talk of God or His Word in public office. We will look at the First Amendment in far more detail later, but for now bear with me a little as we consider some very briefly summarized background information.
The Background
Let’s think about this… Our forefathers declared independence from Great Britain in 1776. We started our national existence as a collection of free and independent states, and then ratified the Articles of Confederation in 1781. The central government under this document was too weak to be effective so the issue was readdressed with the creation of the current Constitution of the United States, which was completed in 1787, and ratified and took effect in 1789. Later, the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution, collectively known as the “Bill of Rights” was ratified in 1791. That means the First Amendment to the Constitution was ratified in 1791 – over 15 years and 2 Constitutions after the founding of our nation! If we assume for a second that there was a “foundational” idea of Separation from things of God, and that idea is contained in the First Amendment (both faulty assumptions, but we’ll go with it for now to make our point), then that means that it took over 15 years to get this supposedly “foundational” idea into our national documents!
If there was an idea that could rightly be called “foundational” to the American form of government, would it not be found extremely early in our founding? In fact, would it not be found in the very document where our reasons for founding the nation in the first place are listed? That document is the Declaration of Independence. We do not have to speculate as to the reasons our founders sought to establish a new nation. Nor do we have to wonder at what ideas they thought would be “foundational” to our new country. They are conveniently recorded for us in the Declaration of Independence – the first document Congress ever produced as our own nation. Let’s turn to the Declaration for a look at what could rightly be called the foundation of our country.
“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.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed”
Second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence, 1776
4 Key foundational principles
This is the foundational principle of our nation, and it gives us several VERY IMPORTANT facets to consider! We could talk for a long time about all the great stuff found in the Declaration, but let’s just point out a few things from this short, quoted passage.
- There is a Creator – so in the foundation of our country, nobody was saying we evolved by random chance over millions of years. There is a God and He created us. It is very clear.
- Our Creator endowed us with rights. Note these rights are given by God – Not granted by government. Our nation was formed on the principle that each of us have rights given to us by God Himself.
- The purpose of government is to “Secure” rights already given to us by God. Government does not grant us rights. The purpose of government is to ensure that our God-given rights are protected.
- The just power of government is derived from the consent of the governed.
How this plays out
So what does all this look like? Let’s consider an example. God says, “Thou shalt not kill” in the 10 Commandments. What this means is that God has given to each of us a right to live! So, I should not presume to have any right to take life from another person because God has given that person the right to live and prohibited anyone from taking it. Therefore, “We the People” consent to having laws against murder. Those laws align with God’s law which guarantees life to each of us. So, if I commit murder and take someone’s life, I have broken the law and infringed upon the right to life that was given to that person by God Himself. It should be no surprise to me then, that I should expect punishment for my crime.
We can consider a similar example with the right to property. God said in the 10 Commandments, “Thou shalt not steal”. This means you have a God-given right to private property, because God forbids anyone from taking what is rightfully yours. Therefore, “We the People” consent to having laws against theft. Those laws align with God’s law which guarantees to each of us our right to own private property. We could keep going through the 10 Commandments and see other rights given by God and protected in His laws. This idea is the foundation of law in our country which is why you also tend to see monuments of the 10 Commandments in historic, legal buildings. This is the way our nation was designed to work – from the very beginning of our nation.
God, not the government, gives us rights
So, “We the People” established government not to give us rights – but to Secure rights already given to us by God, and found clearly presented in His Word. Now the government has become the tool to attack the liberty of the free people who created it and whose consent gives power to that government… Seem out of whack? At Patriot’s Hope, we want to look back at our founding documents and get the truth of our form of government. It is not correct to say that being a secular society, separated from things of God is the foundation of our form of government. Our nation’s foundation was built upon God and His Word, and on the amazing truth that He – not government – gave us rights, and that the people established government in order to secure those rights.
Wow! Jason you are really an insightful person and know how to open eyes. Your writing style is superb. I knew have always understood what the do not kill anyone means. I hadn’t looked at it as God’s giving us the right to life. Great example and I am so going to use it. I also had a thought about what also does or could shall not kill mean. Kill someone’s dreams? Kill their self esteem? Kill their joy and happiness? Steal??? Sure has my mind reeling. Let me know if I have gone to far.
Thank you for your comment! To address your question, I believe the “kill” listed in the 10 Commandments to mean something very close to “Thou shalt not murder”. So, I believe it means to wrongfully take human life. Thank you for your kind words and thank you so much for your comment!
This is a wonderful document and I love how you tied it to the Declaration of Independence. It is so evident that our founding fathers had the help of God in setting up this wonderful Republic and I know He is now counting on us to make sure that we protect it. A lot of our representatives have forgotten that they are our employees and it is up to us to start holding them accountable or replace them. Term limits are so badly needed so that they have to return home and live under the laws they create.
I think it is time for a major housecleaning.
Amen! Let’s hold them all accountable to the oath they swore to support the Constitution! But, yes, I agree, too, we are overdue for a spring cleaning! Thank you for your comment!
Very well worded. It speaks volumes. However, for those that are blind and deaf we have much prayer to continue without ceasing. All that you wrote must be put back in education. They cannot remember what they do not know. You noted they only know the lies, how true. However, their ignorance laves them void from understanding the divine providence of the founding documents. I wonder when one states “ I am American” they realize they need to “Look up” to understand the their statement of identity came from Our Creator. I continue in my prayers. Thank you for this. Good words for thought.
Yes, thank you for your comment. Yes, these principles have gotten so buried, but I am thankful to be on the team trying to dig them out and share them with as many Americans as we can reach! Thank you for being part of that, and for your kind words which are so encouraging. Thank you!
Many of our Founding Fathers, like George Washington, spoke of Morality and Religion as being necessary to a civil society. If each one walked in step morally and within our religious ideologies, people would be in a better position to live peaceably, civilly and wisely. We would also determine these traits in those selected to represent us. We would also be able to identify error and misdeeds and properly redress them.
It is truly unfortunate that our institutions of learning have failed us over the decades in presenting, accurately, our values, history, and origin. Many have been taught anti-American precepts or misinterpreted facts. We allowed God to be removed from the public school and forums, because of the lack of truthful knowledge.
Churches, too, have failed us in not standing in the way of bad decisions like no prayer or mention of God or Jesus in the public schools. Many have more recently bought into the social justice atmosphere, allowing un-Biblical precepts to become the sermon topics or church behavior. It has forgotten the axiom, “Love the sinner, hate the sin.” Churches have been supporting the sinner and turning a blind eye to the sin. Churches need to amp up. Think about it. How long in a week is a child in school? Now compare that to how long a child is in church, with Sunday School, children’s church or service attendance.
We all must step up.
From my understanding, I think your first paragraph describes the early years of our country pretty well. I wish we could get back to that! I agree churches have largely failed us, and many continue to do so. However, I believe our education system has not failed – I believe they have intentionally led us down a wrong path and have stolen so many of our children over to their wicked and unAmerican agenda. We have to take it back – we have to take it all back! The good news is that all of our officials at all levels are sworn to support the Constitution. So when Americans learn that and hold them accountable – that is half the battle. Thank you for your comment!
So true, thank you for putting these thought into words and sharing!
The enemy’s foothold in building the general deception of why our government exists, for what purpose, and how it is to behave as defined by our founding fathers and ensconced in the founding documents is stronger than ever.
May the Lord God move on his people to be revived in Him and our understanding of the rights and freedoms only He can establish! Then we will be ready to pass it on to others as we share the love of Christ and see His kingdom hear on earth grow.
Amen sir! People are certainly deceived. We have to learn these truths and get busy reminding Americans of them, and then holding our officials accountable to sticking to the Constitution they swore to support when they took office. Yes, may we wake up, and may we wake up our neighbors. May we point ourselves and others back to God that this nation would turn from our wicked ways and turn in repentance to God. Thank you for your comment!
This was a great blog. And I really think that most of those now in office seemed to have forgotten this. And I also think that it is time to remind them of just what their role in government is. Because they seemed to have forgotten that they are in office because We the People have given them permission to do WHAT WE THE PEOPLE WANT THEM TO DO FOR US. AND NOT WHAT THEIR PARTY WANTS DONE FOR THE PARTY. I also think that it is time for WE THE PEOPLE to remind them that THEY WORK FOR US AND NOT TTHE PARTY. And one way to do it is to vote them out of office when they don’t do what WE THE PEOPLE WANT. And that is where elections come into play. It is a way for us to elect people that will do what we want them to do and again not what the party wants done.
Yes, sir, I agree! We say all the time, these things are not red or blue… the Constitution and foundational truths of our nation are the definition of our government and do not belong to any party. Our form of government is not supposed to be on the ballot in any election – all of the officials at every level are sworn to support and defend the Constitution of the United States! So many things these days are controversial between parties, but so many times, it seems neither party is on the side of the Constitution – which is where “We the People” gave our consent to specific government powers. Thank you for your comment!
Wow! I never thought about our rights as already God given! It’s crazy to see how many of our rights have been taken away and that we actually allowed it to happen! Also, how many “rights” people switch around to make it “okay”, by deceiving so many people. Thank you for the eye-opening information!
Thank you for your comment! Yes, since our rights come from God, that helps to define what they are, and what they are not. God does not give rights to things He hates, or that violate His word. Yes, I agree, so many are deceived in today’s world, and now believe government, or maybe a majority vote, or maybe public opinion, or something else defines what rights we have. That is not an American principle… the Declaration of Independence is very clear that our rights come from God, and government is instituted to secure those rights. Thank you!
When you said, “We the People established government not to give us rights – but to Secure rights already given to us by God, and found clearly presented in His Word.” I thought this was very important and people should memorize this, because if people know this than our government might be better.
Yes Maam, thank you! I agree this is a foundational principle of critical importance! We have to remember where our rights come from – if they are from God, (which it clearly says they are) then we know our rights have to be consistent with the definition of right and wrong from His word. If people are making up rights to things that directly conflict with God’s word, our true source of rights, then I think we can ask them where they got those “rights”. If they didn’t come from God, then they are not legitimate rights, and are not to be secured by the government we instituted – according to the Declaration of Independence, which is the “Unanimous Declaration” of all the states… Thank you again for your comment!
Jason, this is an excellent video about how to affect change.
Enjoy and consider adding it to your site.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZIBfKVmEH4
Yes sir! I watched the video and recommend others click and watch it as well! What a difference it would make if all those in our society who have sworn to support and defend the Constitution of the United States actually picked up a copy, read it, and then did their best to live up to the oath they have taken. Thank you for your comments!
Jack McLamb was a former Cop out of Arizona. After his career ended in 1986, he would do some speaking events about his career as a cop & would speak about how he finally got questioned about if he knew the rights of the people.
When he gets called out on not knowing the rights of the people, his entire career changed into standing up for people’s rights. When he started doing this, over the years, he became the most fired cop in the state of Arizona for doing the right thing. He was constantly targeted by top brass who tried to get him fired on multiple occasions. He passion for constitutional rights is something every Cop should see, no matter how old the video is.
Just wonder how Cops would act if they actually knew our rights, defended the rights of the people & actually honored their oaths to the constitution.
Full Original Video:
• Sheriff Jack McLamb, Bakersfield, Cal…
Yes sir – Indeed, what a difference that would make! I think we are making some headway and Americans are starting to wake up and realize we need these things in our nation again. Thank you again!