Let Freedom Ring!

I am big on signs and symbols in the physical world expressing spiritual, psychological, and political realities. "A House Divided Cannot Stand" type of thing. Thus, it is interesting that the Liberty Bell has a crack in it that renders it inoperable as a ringing bell. There is a Scripture verse inscribed on the Liberty Bell from Leviticus proclaiming freedom in the land. This should inform us that unless liberty is based on the Lord, it is fragile.  

I have been reading Gary Wills "Head and Heart" Book about what he terms "American Christianities." Essentially, a historical review of the faith and its proponents and adversaries in our history. Despite what most Christians think, the Founding Fathers are as a rule were not orthodox Christians. They were Deists but not of the distant watchmaker type They believed God was moral being and not just a mechanic. However, most of them privately scoffed at the notion of Jesus being God.

These men knew better than to attack Christianity overtly and many of the principles they expressed in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution absolved to take government out of the religious sphere. And, that Non-Establishment was and is a good separation. Yet, the problem with that arrangement over time is that now government exerts almost total sovereignty over our lives thus serious hampering Free Exercise. When the government has its hands in everything, not just as an agent of authority to punish evil, but as a provider of benevolences, then watch out. There will be very little land left for Free Exercise to operate. Its monopoly, like Leviathan,  eats everything else then eventually it will die too.

Both Corporations and the Federal Government exhibit the same lack of accountability and checks and balances that keep institutions and individuals honest. People in authority hold near total power but then are legally untouchable. Obama with his deep belief in the efficacy of government to be all things to all people and Wall Street recklessly gambling money away and then being remunerated by the Federal Reserve while pocketing massive amount of assets is another. Obama and Mitt are products of these ideologies par excellence.    


The Roman Empire, the archetype for the American Republic, ran its course and so shall without repentance and restoration.  Our Redeemer lives and it is a good thing for our country needs to be redeemed.