The Radical Document

Every Monday night www.ChristianFinancialConcepts.com presents “The Financial Education Series.” As the name implies, these free Webinars are typically about such subjects as safe investing strategies, living a debt-free lifestyle, using gold to preserve wealth and how to teach your children about money. But last Monday we discussed the most radical document in the history of the world.

Craig Seibert, publisher of www.USCivicsTraining.org often offers our viewers a change of pace in the form of teachings about US history. This is not your typical boring history lecture – far from it. Craig makes history come alive by showing us how it relates to our lives today.

Last week, in preparation for Independence Day celebrations, Craig taught information that 90% of Americans today are unaware of – but which almost all citizens in 1776 understood very well. A video link to this one hour class, “God’s Intervention in the American Revolution,” can be found at the end of this article. We have also included a link to a 10 minute video he taught, “Understanding the Declaration of Independence,” which serves as a great introduction to the class.

Craig challenged all our viewers to read the Declaration of Independence aloud during their 4th of July celebrations. What a great idea! Most of us read the Christmas Story from the Bible on Christmas Day. In the midst of the fireworks, hot dogs and games, why not take a few minutes to read the entire Declaration aloud to commemorate the real reason for the holiday? It only takes a few minutes, and everyone will appreciate it. Make it even more fun by printing it out in several sections, and having different adults or older children read each section. (A LINK to the text of the Declaration is below.)

Why do I call the Declaration a “Radical Document”? Partly because it radically changed the history of the world. It was the genesis of the United States of America, the most exceptional nation in modern times. No nation has ever been as generous, as influential or as great a force for good as the USA.

But the document itself was radical in its concept. All the people who wrote and signed it, all the people whose lives it would impact, and indeed almost all of the people of the entire world, had been brought up to believe that they were second-class. The kings and the royalty of the world were better than they.

And then 56 men signed a document that declared with clarion voice that “All men are created equal!” And they went on to say that God had bestowed upon all men “certain unalienable Rights”! There’s a radical concept. The monarch did not give men their Rights. The government, of whatever form, could not bestow Rights. Only God, our Creator, can give us our rights. And therefore, no man can take our Rights away from us.

Our president does not believe that ours is an exceptional nation. But this one fact sets us apart, even if the innumerable acts of charity and leadership did not. This is the only nation on the planet which acknowledges that our Rights come from God. In every other nation governments, kings or dictators give the people whatever rights they may choose, and the government can take them away just as easily.

The Signers, the first of our Founding Fathers, were respectful but firm. They acknowledged that it was right and proper to inform the government which had ruled over them of their reasons for making the momentous decision of dissolving the bands that held them together. They listed those reasons eloquently.

But make no mistake. Behind the polite and formal words was a harsh fact. Each and every Signer knew that the King of England, George III, would consider the Declaration an act of treason punishable by death. And they knew that their families would suffer, as well.

But yet they signed. Why? Because they loved freedom more than life.

Our Founding Fathers and thousands of citizens sacrificed much, many giving their lives, so that we could enjoy the freedom they so cherished. Do we cherish our freedom today, or do we take it for granted? More important, what are we doing to make certain that our freedoms are not taken away.

A few days ago my family and I were at a gathering where we met the new head of the Romney campaign here in Palm Beach County. During our conversation we found that she was of Cuban descent. My wife mentioned that she was born in Havana and told a little of her family’s struggle to flee from Castro’s Communist oppression. A gentleman who was part of the conversation remarked that it was ironic that Ana had come to America to be free from Communism, and that today we are a nation on the verge of Socialism.

When I was a teenager I sang a song that said, “Freedom isn’t free. You gotta pay a price, you gotta sacrifice, for your liberty.”

What will you do for freedom this week? I hope you will take Craig’s advice and read the Declaration at your Independence Day celebration. This is an opportunity to teach your children about freedom and the price of liberty. Believe me, in most parts of the country they are not learning this in their public schools.

But you can also work for freedom by making sure that Obama is not reelected. You may have voted for someone else in the long Republican primary process. And you may not believe that we chose the “ideal candidate.” (Have we ever had one?) But the fact is that Mitt Romney has been chosen to carry the banner of freedom. And Obama is not just a Democrat – he is a Socialist.

Our freedoms, both as individuals and as states, are being eroded every day by a man who believes that the Federal Government should have all power and should dictate every aspect of our lives. That is not freedom.

Every freedom loving patriot in this nation should do everything they can to ensure that Obama does not serve another term. If you think his first term was bad, just wait until you see “Obama, the Sequel.”

Yes, he increased the National Debt by 50%. Yes, he created thousands of new Federal regulations that have hurt American commerce and cost many their jobs. Yes, the US gained the status of having the highest corporate tax rate in the world under his watch, and millions of jobs have gone overseas where tax rates are more reasonable. But you ain’t seen nothing yet.

Presidents do in their second term what they really wanted to do in their first term. But they know that if they did those things they would never be reelected. If we are stupid enough to give Obama a second chance to ruin the nation, here’s what you are likely to see:

1) Greatly increased taxes.
2) The complete takeover of all health care by the government.
3) Gun ownership by citizens outlawed.
4) A takeover of IRA and 401K retirement accounts to fund Social Security.
5) A second Gold confiscation by Executive Order, modeled after the one in 1933.
6) The reduction or abolition of State’s Rights.
7) Erosion of personal and religious freedom the likes of which we have never seen.

What can you do? Go down to your local Romney for President office and volunteer. Talk to friends and family. Attend rallies. Write letters. Make phone calls. Above all, don’t believe some of the over-confident conservatives who think that because of all the harm Obama has done, this election will be a slam dunk. It won’t.

This election is going to be hard fought. Every act of volunteerism, every convincing conversation, and particularly every vote is going to count. Regardless of what the polls say, I believe we will be staying up until well past midnight on Election Day to find out who the next President of the United States will be.

In the 2008 election we proved that we were not racists. In November we need to prove that we are not idiots.

INTERNET LINKS:

10 Minute Video – “Understanding the Declaration of Independence”
http://freedomslighthouse.net/2010/07/04/understanding-the-declaration-of-independence-video/

One Hour Recorded Webinar - God's Intervention in the American Revolution
https://www.box.com/shared/static/5a84b955acace56ab211.wmv

Printable Text – The Declaration of Independence
http://www.ourdocuments.gov/print_friendly.php?flash=true&page=transcript&doc=2&title=Transcript+of+Declaration+of+Independence+(1776)