Thursday, March 01, 2012

Current Wisdom from an Old Source


As I was thinking about all of America's problems, especially our President's current assault on religious liberty and freedom of conscience, as thought about this year quote from one of America's greatest patriots--Abigail Adams.

[A] true patriot must be a religious man. I have been led to think from a late defection, that he who neglects his duty to his Maker may well be expected to be deficient and insincere in his duty towards the public. Even suppose him to possess a large share of what is called honor and public spirit, yet do not these men, by their bad example, by a loose, immoral conduct, corrupt the minds of youth and vitiate the morals of the age, and thus injure the public more than they can compensate by intrepidity, generosity, and honor? Let revenge or ambition, pride, lust, or profit, tempt these men to a base and vile action, you may as well hope to bind up a hungry tiger with a cobweb, as to hold such debauched patriots in the visionary chains of decency, or to charm them with the intellectual beauty of truth and reason.

Christians make the best citizens. 1) They rightly understand the battles we fight are ultimately spiritual, not material; and 2) they, and they only, can bring God's blessings to their country. Since our only standing before God is in Christ, non-Christian citizens have no claim on "the blessings of Providence."