By Al Benson Jr.
During the first week of July we celebrate July 4th, which has come to be called “Independence Day.” There was a time when that had meaning, but no more. Now it is a pathetic joke. Most Americans take a day off from work, light a few fireworks, roast a few hot dogs and boast about their :”freedom.” Another sick joke! We are “free” to do what the federal government tells us we must do and we are “free” to avoid those things they tell us we must not do and that is the sum total of the “freedom” we have left. The pathetic thing is that most people can not discern that fact.
The Supreme Court just handed down a ringing endorsement of Obamacare, which says, basically, that the federal government can compel you to buy health insurance whether you want it or not and then can tax you (penalize you) if you don’t buy it. Obama wanted this; Congress voted to give it to him so we “could find out what’s in the bill” and the Supreme Court upheld all this legal chicanery and we are still dumb enough to call ourselves free?
In April of 1776 American patriots stood at Lexington Green and Concord and faced British muskets to resist tyranny. Did they do what they did so we could end up being compelled to take part in Obamacare or so that the freedoms they fought for could be swallowed up by the Patriot Act? If they did, then the “history” we’ve been taught is a ludicrous joke. Of course much of the “history” we’ve been taught is a joke anyway.
The truth is that those men, for all their imperfections, had a vision for true liberty that we can’t even begin to conceive of. During our first War for Independence (the second war of independence was the War for Southern Independence) we had ministers in our churches that boldly proclaimed to their congregations what the issues were and what should be done. Thanks to 501 C3 that situation doesn’t even exist today. Many, if not most, of our church pastors have no real grasp of history and so they usually come down on the wrong side of most political issues. They are just not historically equipped to deal with them and so they don’t bother. They mouth something like “Romans 13 says to obey the higher authorities no matter what” and with that they move on to other issues and they hope you will to. If you persist in dealing the these issues you shortly get a reputation in your church and no one will talk with you seriously about anything except who might win the world series or whether it might rain day after tomorrow.
The sad state of affairs in most churches is that most preachers and most members of the congregations they serve don’t have a clue about what is happening in the country and how their liberties, God-given liberties, have been eroded—and they don’t want a clue. They don’t want to deal with any of these issues because having knowledge means increased responsibilities. I have a friend in Illinois who said, on several occasions “The last thing Christians want is responsibility. They will run from that like it was the plague.” Sadly, in many instances he is correct.
You might ask the question—is the United States a righteous nation anymore? The answer should be obvious. Another friend in West Virginia sent me another quote: “Does a righteous nation get a Barack Obama for a president?” Good question. The answer to that one should also be obvious. Does a righteous nation get a Bill Clinton, a Lyndon Johnson or a George Bush for president—each one getting a little worse than the one before him? And now the American electorate has placed a Marxist in the White House and the boot is starting to really pinch.
Will things turn around and get better if Obama goes and we get Romney, or as some already call him “Robamny?” I doubt it. Both of them belong to the same internationalist cabal, or their handlers do, so trading one for the other may postpone the inevitable for awhile, but not for that long.
Our churches need to recognize the national haze we are traveling in and humble themselves before the Lord and repent. We need to repent of lots of things and among those things is not being willing to learn the lessons our history has to teach us because we just don’t want to be bothered. So, along with our willing ignorance, we are lazy.
We have been taught that you never mix theology and politics, when actually politics is a by-product of theology. So if your political situation in this country is a mess, what does that say about the theology?
Christians have been taught to retreat from the ungodly culture around them rather than confronting and exposing its evil. It’s a lot easier just to “be nice” and not fight with anyone. Our pastor has correctly stated that “If you are loved by everyone and no one is mad at you, then you aren’t doing anything.” And that is where most of the Christian church is today. When it comes to freedom and liberty the church is just as ignorant as the rest of the world. Most of us were “educated” in public schools and have never taken the trouble to look beyond what those schools taught us. We just blindly accept their version of “history” because it is so much easier than doing all that digging to find out what really happened and how it affects your life today. Just ignore all that stuff and do a little evangelism and don’t worry about it.
Will this country go down the tubes? I think it will. It might not happen in the next five years but I think it will happen and part of the reason will be that Christians just didn’t want to make the effort to find out what really goes on and then to do something about it. It’s so much easier just to ignore it all, turn on the baseball game and vegetate. Not too many Bereans around in our day.
Would we be able to do what the folks in 1776 did to fight for their liberty? I doubt that. The moral fiber is gone in our day and it will take a long, long time to get it back.
So we will continue on in our spiritual malaise and celebrate July 4th under the illusion that we are “free” in the face of Obamacare and the Patriot Act, and heaven help anyone that dares to shatter our illusions!
revisedhistory 
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An outstanding essay Mr. Benson, and thank you for penning what many (I hope) already know is true.
Thanks to our mis-educations not enough of us know it’s true and that is a major part of our problem.
Well said and posted.
I agree with Fred and Brock. Nice piece.
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Outstanding essay Mr. Benson, and thank you for writing it. I sent it to my entire political list of 431 recipients. In my subject line I wrote “Happy 4th of July!”, so that my recipients would hopefully open the email and follow the link to here and read this essay. I only received one angry unsubscribe reply email.
Mr. Smith,
Thank you for forwarding this to your list. I expect that some folks are not going to like this article because it shatters the illusion of how they wish it really was but they need this illusion shattered so they will begin to wake up and realize how it really is and that it is part of their responsibility to do something about it. I think that’s the part that really bothers some of them–responsibility–they don’t want any.
Enjoyed the article Al. I agree with you that the church “leadership” has lost its way and is little more than a cheerleading arm of the Republican Party (what you called The Stupid Party). Of course, the expanding apostasy of the Christian Church in America has in many cases linked arms with the Democrat Party over a woman’s right to choose and the joys of gay and lesbian sex/marriage/families. It is actually rare to find a pastor that accepts the orthodox Christianity taught almost universally in the South 150 years ago. Most Mega Churches I know of are led by very well compensated pastors making upwards of 6 figures in salary and are eager to please the church “leaders” that sign their checks. As you say, they usually only understand history and politics as well as anyone else, and are just as susceptible to the establishments media and “educational” propaganda (Singing hosannas on Independence Day about America, the military, and our freedom). The supporters of the Lincolnian Revolution made sure that their power would not be threatened again by the same kind of preachers that instigated, and often led, the Revolution of 1776 and Secession Movement of 1861. There were to be no more Black Robed Regiments to contend with. Is this not the whole purpose of “the separation of church and State” with their 501 c3 laws? Here is some of the info I found online in a quick check:
“Political activity: Section 501(c)(3) organizations are subject to limits or absolute prohibitions on engaging in political activities and risk loss of status as tax exempt status if violated.[28]
Elections
Organizations described in section 501(c)(3) are prohibited from conducting political campaign activities to intervene in elections to public office.[29] The Internal Revenue Service website elaborates upon this prohibition as follows:
Under the Internal Revenue Code, all section 501(c)(3) organizations are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office. Contributions to political campaign funds or public statements of position (verbal or written) made on behalf of the organization in favor of or in opposition to any candidate for public office clearly violate the prohibition against political campaign activity. Violating this prohibition may result in denial or revocation of tax-exempt status and the imposition of certain excise taxes.
Certain activities or expenditures may not be prohibited depending on the facts and circumstances. For example, certain voter education activities (including presenting public forums and publishing voter education guides) conducted in a non-partisan manner do not constitute prohibited political campaign activity. In addition, other activities intended to encourage people to participate in the electoral process, such as voter registration and get-out-the-vote drives, would not be prohibited political campaign activity if conducted in a non-partisan manner.
On the other hand, voter education or registration activities with evidence of bias that (a) would favor one candidate over another; (b) oppose a candidate in some manner; or (c) have the effect of favoring a candidate or group of candidates, will constitute prohibited participation or intervention.
The Internal Revenue Service provides resources to exempt organizations and the public to help them understand the prohibition. As part of its examination program, the IRS also monitors whether organizations are complying with the prohibition.”
Thus you can see, Al, that the churches have been bought off and have chosen to serve Mammon, rather than God. What else, but destruction, are such churches good for?
Wayne,
Thanks for your insightful comments. Sounds like we are on the same page.