A Land Called America by Wayne D Keeper

          "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." 2 Chron. 7:14.

Many generations will pass between the time I write this and the day you read it.  I have no way of knowing what your life will be like, where you may be living, or what conditions you may be living under.   I don’t know if you will be living in freedom, under tyranny, or somewhere in between.  I don’t know if the great American patriotic songs (two are included here) are a part of your life or a thing of the past.  I don’t know if you will be freely worshiping God or having to hide to do so.

I don’t know if this will find you living in the land of the free and the home of the brave, or under a system of one world government which has long since discarded the great documents of freedom penned by the founding fathers of America.  Will you even be aware that there were such things as the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution or the Emancipation Proclamation?   Will you be told of the sacrifices made by men and women to defend and preserve the life and liberty we today hold dear?  

The sands of history may have buried many of these things, but it is important that you know about them.   It is important that you know your true heritage.  Indeed, the history of my day may have been revised beyond recognition by the agents of change who are at work, even as I write this.  It has been said that those who fail to learn the lessons of history and benefit from the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat them.  I pray this finds you living in freedom in a land called America.  But if it doesn’t, I want you to know and understand what happened.  I want you to know and understand how evil can destroy a great nation, little by little, if good men remain silent.

When the final chapter is written in the history of mankind, it is my prayer that a book called the Bible will still be in your hands and you will have loved and lived the wisdom it contains.  A nation can be destroyed, lives can be forfeited, but as long as you have and hold to the eternal word of God you can never be defeated.  So draw near and listen, my children, while I tell you the story of a land called America.

A LAND CALLED AMERICA

Just over 400 years ago, on April 27, 1607, three small ships arrived off the coast of the “New World.” Captain Edward Wingfield selected a small island about 40 miles up a river as the most defensible location for the new colony.  The new colony was given the name of Jamestown.  The three ships which had crossed an ocean to bring these first settlers were named the Constant, the Discovery, and the Godspeed.  These ships not only brought settlers to the new world, they also brought the name of God.

Captain John Smith recorded that the first church services were held "under an awning (which was an old saile) fastened to three or four trees." Shortly thereafter the settlers built the first church. This church was the first permanent building erected on American soil.  Smith said it was "a homely thing like a barn set on crachetts, covered with rafts, sedge and earth." This church burned in January, 1608 and was replaced by a second church, similar to the first. An Indian princess named Pocahontas and a man named John Rolfe were married in the second church.

The Third Church was built between 1617 and 1619.  Governor Samuel Argall had the inhabitants of Jamestown build a new church “50 foot long and twenty foot broad." In 1619 the first representative assembly in America convened in this church “to establish one equal and unified government over all Virginia" which would provide “Just laws for the happy guiding and governing of the people there inhabiting." By colonial times that first governing body had become the Virginia House of Burgesses.

A year later, another ship arrived on the shores of America.  Originally bound for Virginia, it was blown off course by a storm and landed instead off Cape Cod.  It was named the Mayflower and carried 120 "pilgrims" to the New World. The ship arrived on November 21, 1620 but the passengers decided to remain on the ship through the winter.  On March 21, 1621 the first pilgrims stepped ashore at Plymouth Rock.

When the pilgrims arrived off the coast of Cape Cod, they quickly realized that they were about to set foot in a territory where the "king’s horsemen would not be available to restrain lawlessness," and no existing government "had the power to command them." How then would they be governed?   Who would insure law and order?   To address this problem they drew up the first governing document for the new colony.  It was The Mayflower Compact.

          "In the name of God, Amen. We whose names are under-written, the loyal subjects of our dread sovereign Lord, King James, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, etc., Having undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith, and honor of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God, and one of another, covenant and combine our selves together into a civil body politic, for our better ordering and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the Colony, unto which we promise all due submission and obedience. In witness whereof we have hereunder subscribed our names at Cape Cod, the eleventh of November, in the year of the reign of our sovereign lord, King James, of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth. Anno Dom. 1620."

For those colonist, not only did the government have its foundation in the consent of the governed, it also represented the Christian ideal.  Perry Miller, a 20th century historian wrote:

          "The Puritans maintained that government originated in the consent of the people because they did not believe that any society, civil or ecclesiastical, into which men did not enter of themselves was worthy of the name.  Consequently, the social theory of Puritanism, based upon the law of God was posited also upon the voluntary submission of the citizens."

Nine years later, in 1630, a group of four ships landed at Salem, Mass.  The Arbella arrived on the 12th of June, the Jewell on the 13th, the Ambrose on the 18th, and the Talbot on July 2nd.  These were part of a fleet of seventeen ships which crossed from Yarmouth, England to Salem, Mass.  In the years to follow thousands of pilgrims would land on the shores of America.

What brought those people here?   Why would they leave the security of England and the families they loved to sail 3,000 miles on small ships with nothing to eat for weeks except salt pork?   Many did not survive the voyage while others died soon after arriving. They arrived in a wilderness with little except a few tools and the clothes they were able to bring.

Some were very religious while others were reprobates.  Some came seeking riches while others came to escape from the authorities.  Some brought large sums of money while others signed on as indentured servants just to cover the cost of their passage.  So what was their reason?   Was it religion, potential wealth, a sense of adventure, or refuge from the authorities?   The answer is, all of the above.

Yet there was something else.  Something often described as, "better felt than spoken." It was a yearning that lives deep in the soul of every human; a burning desire that cannot be quenched.  All have felt it, many have proclaimed it, and some have fought and died for it. It began at the dawn of time and survives even as I type this letter.  It can be boiled down to a single word.   A word which can make the heart beat faster and bring a lump to the throat.  The word is FREEDOM!   They risk all to gain it, and one hundred and forty-six years later their descendents pledge their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to defend and preserve it.

It was the pursuit of a dream.  A dream of living free in a land of freedom.  This dream sustained them through the darkest days of the young nation and was the bond which held them together through many hardships. Their journey was more than a voyage across 3,000 miles of ocean. They viewed their efforts as more than a just new way of life for themselves. They saw it as a moral obligation to set before all mankind an example of how God would protect and exalt a nation built upon His principles.

One of their early leaders was a preacher named John Winthrop who would become the governor of Massachusetts.  While still on board the Arbella he delivered a sermon to the small group of passengers.  His sermon was taken in part from Matthew 5:14 which states,

          "You are the light of the world.  A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden." The part of his sermon which has endured for almost 400 years states: "For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill.  The eyes of all people are upon us.  So that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken we shall be made a story and a by-word throughout the world.  We shall open the mouths of enemies to speak evil of the ways of God. We shall shame the faces of many of God’s worthy servants, and cause their prayers to be turned into curses upon us till we be consumed out of the good land whether we are a-going."

Life in the new world was hard, but for the first 150 years they were able to enjoy their freedom with very little interference from England.  However, on October 25, 1760 George William Fredrick was anointed as King George III of England.  Under his reign a number of restrictions and taxes were imposed on the America colonist.  Their petitions for relief, sent to the King and Parliament fell on deaf ears.  The freedom they held so dear was slowly being taken away and there was no way they were going to remain silent.

In 1765 Sir William Blackstone, who taught law at Oxford University, published his won instant acclaim in England.  In the colonies they were not only a sensation, they became a weapon.  Throughout the colonies people began citing Blackstone as an authority on law, rights, and liberties.  In the ten years preceding the American Revolution more copies of Blackstone’s Commentaries were sold in the colonies than in England.  Blackstone, who believed the purpose of government was the protection of the people, wrote:

          "For the principal aim of society is to protect individuals in the enjoyment of those absolute rights, which were vested in them by the immutable laws of nature. Hence it follows, that the first and primary end of human law is to maintain and regulate these absolute rights of individuals. "Those rights, then, which God and nature have established, and are therefore called natural rights, such as are life and liberty, need not the aid of human laws to be more effectually invested in every man than they are; neither do they receive any additional strength when declared by the municipal laws to be inviolable.  On the contrary, no human legislature has power to abridge or to destroy them"

These words, finding fertile ground in the hearts and minds of the A Land Called America by Wayne D Keeper American colonist, became the bedrock of thought upon which a nation would be built. The seeds of the American Revolution were planted and watered by the attempts of King George III to take these rights away from the colonist.  What began as discontent on the part of individuals gradually grew into civil disobedience.  The more the flame of liberty was threatened the deeper became their determination to defend it.  King George dismissed these men and women taking a stand for liberty as insignificant rabble.  The colonist had a different name for them – Patriots.

Until this time the individual colonies, now numbering 13, had pretty much remained independent of one another. Each was governed by its own legislature.  However, when their liberties became threatened, they saw the need to unite and communicate with one another regarding what could and should be done. "Committees of Correspondence" were established in each colony to keep them advised as to what was going on in the other twelve.

Various steps were taken by the British crown to subjugate the colonists and stamp out the growing rebellion.  Ridged laws were passed and heavy taxes imposed.  In response, "No taxation without representation," became a rallying cry among the growing number of patriots.  The more the British authorities moved to quell the activities of the growing movement, the more resolute the colonist became. The flame of liberty would not be quenched.

One of the most famous acts of civil disobedience, known as the Boston Tea Party, was carried out on the night of December 16, 1773.  After officials in Boston refused to return three shiploads of taxed tea to Britain, a group of colonists, dressed as Indians, boarded the ships and destroyed the tea by throwing it into Boston Harbor.

The Tea Party was the culmination of a resistance movement throughout colonial America against the Tea Act, which Parliament had passed in 1773. Protesters had successfully prevented the unloading of taxed tea in three other colonies, but in Boston, the Royal Governor, refused to allow the tea to be returned to Britain. It never occurred to him that the protestors would choose to destroy the tea before conceding to the authority of a Parliament in which they had no representation.

The Boston Tea Party was a key event in the American Revolution.  Parliament responded in 1774 with the Coercive Acts, which, among other things, closed Boston’s harbor until the British East India Company had been repaid for the destroyed tea. Colonists responded to the Coercive Acts by convening the First Continental Congress.

The First Continental Congress was a convention of 56 delegates from twelve of the thirteen colonies that met on September 5, 1774, at Carpenters’ Hall in Philadelphia. It was called in response to the passage of the Coercive Acts (called The Intolerable Acts by colonial Americans). The Congress met briefly to consider their options, which included an economic boycott of British trade, publication of a list of rights and grievances, and a petition to King George for redress of those grievances.

They planned for another Continental Congress in the event their petition was unsuccessful in halting enforcement of the Intolerable Acts.   Their appeal to the Crown had no effect, so the Second Continental Congress was convened the following year to organize the defense of the colonies at the onset of the American Revolutionary War.

The crisis escalated and, with "The shot heard round the world," the Revolutionary War began at Concord, Massachusetts on April 19, 1775.  Just days before, on March 23, Patrick Henry had stood on the floor of the Virginia House of Burgesses and made a passionate speech which ended with the inspiring words:

          " Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace — but there is no peace. The war is actually begun!   The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms!   Our brethren are already in the field!   Why stand we here idle?   What is it that gentlemen wish?   What would they have?   Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?   Forbid it, Almighty God!   I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!  

          " On May 10, 1775 the Second Continental Congress convened in the Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia.  Today the building is known as Independence Hall because it was there that delegates from all thirteen colonies gave birth to a new nation.  We call these men our Founding Fathers and the nation they founded the United States of America.  They have been described as "enlightened geniuses touched by divine intervention." I cannot imagine a more succinct definition. I am convinced that only God could have brought together such men, at such a time, in such a place, and with such a purpose.  The purpose was God’s, and the men were His instruments for accomplishing it.

Among the founding fathers of America we find names such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock, James Madison, and John and Samuel Adams, among many others.  The youngest delegate was 26 years old.  The oldest, Benjamin Franklin, was 70.  The purpose of the meeting was not to declare independence but to unite the thirteen colonies in the fight against British Tyranny.

By the time the Second Continental Congress met, the American Revolutionary War had already begun with the Battles of Lexington and Concord. For the first few months the Patriots had carried on their struggle in an ad-hoc and uncoordinated manner.  They had seized arsenals, driven out royal officials, and besieged the British army in the city of Boston.  To achieve unity among those in the field Congress voted to create the Continental Army and appointed George Washington of Virginia as commanding general.

Beyond these initial areas of cooperation there was considerable difference of opinion regarding the future.  Would they remain loyal to the king or move for independence?   There were also differences in the perceived needs of the northern colonies and the southern colonies as well as between the larger colonies and the smaller ones.  These differences caused months to pass with little, if anything, being accomplished.  Then one morning, in a little known fact of history, Benjamin Franklin stood before the assembly and proposed that they might find more in common if they opened each of their sessions with a prayer.  When Franklin’s proposal was adopted, they began focusing on their common needs rather than their differences.

On June 7, 1776 Richard Henry Lee of Virginia introduced a resolution urging Congress to declare independence from Great Britain.  On June 11 a committee was appointed to draft a declaration of independence.  On June 28, a copy of the committee’s draft was read in Congress.  From July 1 thru 4 the assembly debated and revised the declaration.  On July 4, 1776 Congress adopted "The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America." Notice the eternal truths in this document set forth as justification for our national existence and the purpose of our government.

          "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."

With the adoption of this declaration John Winthrop’s vision of a "shining city set upon a hill" became a reality and The United America was born.  The final sentence of our founding document reads:

          "And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor."

Fifty-six men signed the document.  In the ensuing defense of their pledge, many gave their lives and most gave their fortunes, but not a single one relinquished his Sacred Honor.

While the delegates in Philadelphia were constructing a nation, the small rag tag army of patriots under the command of George Washington was engaged in a desperate struggle for survival in the face of overwhelming British forces. The most difficult time faced by Washington’s army was the winter of 1777- 78 which was spent at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.  Concerning those days the Marquis de Lafayette wrote: "The unfortunate soldiers were in want of everything; they had neither coats nor hats, nor shirts, nor shoes. Their feet and their legs froze until they were black, and it was often necessary to amputate them."

Early one morning in the depth of winter, George Washington mounted his horse and, leaving his staff behind, rode into a wooded area not far from the encampment.  Alone in the woods that cold December morning an event took place which only the general and his God would have known had not a local farmer named Isaac Potts happened upon the scene.  Years later he shared what he had seen with Reverend Nathaniel Snowden, who recorded it in his "Diary and Remembrances."

          "I was riding with Mr. Potts near to the Valley Forge where the army lay during the war of ye Revolution, when Mr. Potts said, Do you see that woods and that plain?   There laid the army of Washington.  It was a most distressing time of ye war, and all were for giving up the Ship but that great and good man.  In that woods (pointing to a close in view) I heard a plaintive sound as of a man at prayer.  I tied my horse to a sapling & went quietly into the woods.  To my astonishment I saw the great George Washington on his knees alone, with his sword on one side and his cocked hat on the other.  He was at prayer to the God of Armies, beseeching to interpose with his Divine aid, as it was ye crisis & the cause of the country, of humanity & of the world.

Such a prayer I never heard from the lips of man.  I left him alone praying.  I went home and told my wife.  We never thought a man could be a soldier & a Christian, but if there is one in the world, it is Washington.  We thought it was the cause of God & America could prevail."

Two months later on, Feb 6, 1778, France entered the war on the side of the new nation. This led to wonderful changes in the morale and fighting capabilities of the Continental Army. Valuable foreign volunteers and fresh replacements trickled into camp.  More important, it was at Valley Forge that the ragged amateur troops were turned into a confident 18th century military organization capable of beating the Red Coats in the open field of battle.  On October 19, 1781 General Cornwallis surrendered to General George Washington at Yorktown, Va.  Although the war would last another year, the British defeat at Yorktown, for all practical purposes, ended the American Revolutionary War.  On December 28, 1783, upon the occasion of resigning his commission as General of the Continental Army, Washington closed his remarks with the following comment.

          "I consider it an indispensable duty to close this last solemn act of my official life by commending the interest of our dearest country to the protection of the Almighty God and those who have the superintendence of them into His Holy keeping."

From 1781 until 1789 the thirteen colonies were governed by the "Articles of Confederation," which soon proved to be insufficient for governing the young nation.  As a result a constitutional convention was convened in 1787 at the same location where the Declaration of Independence had been signed 11 years earlier.  For four months, 55 delegates from the several states met to frame a Constitution for a federal republic that would last into "remote futurity".

On September 17, 1787 the Constitution for the United States of America was signed into law.  Its preamble made it one of the most unique documents ever drawn up for governing mankind.

          "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

As he walked from the hall that day, 81 year old Benjamin Franklin was approached by a lady who asked, "Sir, what form of government will we have?   " His answer was, "A Republic madam, if you are able to keep it."

During the debates on the adoption of the Constitution, its opponents repeatedly charged that the Constitution as drafted would open the way to tyranny by the central government. Fresh in their minds was the memory of the British violation of civil rights before and during the Revolution. They demanded a "bill of rights" that would spell out the immunities of individual citizens. Several state conventions in their formal ratification of the Constitution asked for such amendments; others ratified the Constitution with the understanding that the amendments would be added.

On September 25, 1789 ten amendments were added to the Constitution which are known as the Bill of Rights.  The first article in the Bill of Rights states:

          "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Two facts were behind this Amendment.  First, when the thirteen colonies threw off the yoke of the King of England they also threw off the yoke of the Church of England; the national church of the British Empire.  This "church" was even above the King, with the authority to order religious crusades, dismiss kings, and imprison anyone at its pleasure.  Those who ruled the church ruled the land.  This was never to be the case in America.  In America the individual, not the church, would determine his own faith and his manner of expressing it.  Secondly, and just as important, is the recognition of the importance of religion as the basis of our national morality, and its public expression as essential to our national existence.

We hear a lot these days about the "Constitutional wall of separation between church and state".  That statement is not found in the Constitution, and is totally foreign to the thinking of the founding fathers.   Our constitution does not put a wall between church and state, it places restrictions on government. It prohibits governmental authority over churches. The government is prohibited from either establishing a state church or restricting any of us from practicing our own religion, both in private and in public.

Thus it was, that the men we called our founding fathers came together at particular times, and in particular places to establish a nation which has changed the course of human history.  The nation they founded had never before been known on the earth or imagined in the minds of men.  It would be an experiment in government "of the people, by the people, and for the people," which would preserve and promote freedom and liberty through a system of equal justice under law by providing equal treatment to every person.   More important, it would place the ultimate power, not in the hands of government, but in the hands of "We the people".

In commenting on this document, John Adams stated, "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."

In 1789 the Electoral College elected George Washington to the presidency of the new republic, and again in 1792. Washington took the oath of office as the first President under the Constitution of the United States of America on April 30, 1789 at Federal Hall in New York City.   Upon finishing his second term he refused a third even though he was requested to stay in office.  On September 17, 1796 George Washing gave his farewell address to the nation.  It contained a warning for both the nation and all who would follow him into the presidency.

          "Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.  In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these finest props of the duties of men and citizens.  The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them.  A volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity.  Let it simply be asked: Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation deserts the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice?   And let us with caution indulge in the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion.  Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on the minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in the exclusion of religious principal."

In 1812 the British determined to retake America and the United States was forced into a second war with England.  On August 24, 1814 British forces fought their way into Washington, D.C. with the intent of totally destroying the new capital of the United States.  By evening the capital was swarming with redcoats. The main buildings of the U.S. government were in flames, set ablaze by British torches. The British then moved on to the President’s House.  The soldiers left the house in shambles. As the triumphant force departed, the elegant home was put to the torch. The next day, other buildings suffered the same fate. The British reveled in the degradation of the American capital.

Their glee was destined to be short lived, however, by the powerful hand of nature. By early afternoon, the sky above the devastated city darkened. Suddenly, the area was struck by a freakish hurricane.  Lightning flashed again and again through the black sky.  The fury of the wind and rain beat at the British soldiers forcing them to seek shelter.   A couple of hours later, the hurricane was followed by a tornado. The black funnel shrieked through Washington with deadly force. The howling wind flung debris everywhere. Cannons brought by the invading force were lifted off the ground while soldiers threw themselves face down in the mud to avoid being carried away. It was as if a stratospheric ocean had been ripped open, the skies poured water for over two hours. The downpour put out most of the fires set by the British, devastated their columns, and forced them to return to their ships, many of which were badly damaged by the storm. The actual occupation of Washington lasted only 26 hours.

Many claimed that God himself had put out those fires, crippled the British forces, and preserved the nation.

After burning Washington, D.C., the British set their sights on Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Md.  At 7 a.m. on the morning of September 13, the British bombardment began. The bombardment continued for 25 hours.  The British fired 1,500 bombshells that weighed as much as 220 pounds and carried lighted fuses that would supposedly cause it to explode when it reached its target.  But they weren’t very dependable and often blew up in mid air. From small boats the British fired rockets that traced wobbly arcs of red flame across the sky.  That evening the bombardment stopped, but at about 1:00 AM on the 14th the British fleet resumed their bombardment.

During the bombardment an amateur American poet named Francis Scott Key watched the battle from a British warship in Baltimore harbor where he had gone to negotiate the release of an American doctor who had been captured by the British.  At dawn on the 14th he saw the American flag still proudly flying over the fort and was inspired to jot down a short poem on the back of an envelope.  He entitled his poem, "Defense of Ft. McHenry." His brother-in-law had a few copies printed which were circulated around Baltimore.

On September 20, it was printed in the Baltimore Patriot newspaper, then quickly picked up by other newspapers from New Hampshire to Georgia.  The lyrics were set to music and in October, a Baltimore actor sang Key’s new song in a public performance, calling it "The Star-Spangled Banner." Americans are very familiar with the first verse of Key’s poem:

          O’say, can you see, by the dawn’s early light, What so proudly we hailed, at the twilight’s last gleaming?   Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight, O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming!   And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night, that our flag was still there; Oh, say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?  

However, few if any can recite the last verse which proclaims:

          Oh!   thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand, Between their loved homes, and the war’s desolation!   Blest with victory and peace, may the heaven-rescued land. Praise the Power that made, and preserved us a nation!   Then conquer we must, for our cause it is just, And this be our motto: — "In God is our trust!   " And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

          The war ended on January 8, 1815 with the British army being soundly defeated in the Battle of New Orleans by the army under General Andrew Jackson of Tennessee assisted by a pirate named Jean Lafitte.  One hundred and seventeen years later, on March 3, 1931 Key’s song was adopted as the national anthem of the United States of America.

The roots of Christianity were deeply imbedded in the soil of America.  Key’s words "In God is our trust," reduced to "In God we Trust," became our national motto, and is engraved on all of our currency.  America had stood the test and justified the faith of the pilgrims who listened to John Winthrop’s sermon in 1620.  America was indeed the "shining city set upon a hill".

In 1831, a young Frenchman by the name of Alexis Tocqueville and a friend toured the United States.  Later he is credited with writing these prophetic words concerning what he had learned in America.

          "I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers, and it was not there.  I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her fertile fields and boundless forest, and it was not there.  I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her rich mines and her vast world commerce, and it was not there.  I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her public school system and her institutions of learning, and it was not there. I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her democratic congress and her matchless constitution, and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great."

The War of 1812 faded into history, but there loomed on the horizon yet one last war to be fought on American soil.  It would be the gravest test of unity our nation would ever undergo.  It was the Civil War that erupted in 1861. Slavery, as an institution, had existed from the dawn of written history.  It was a given that the inhabitants of a conquered nation would become slaves of the victors.  Thus, it was only natural that slavery would be practiced in America just as it was practiced the world over.

However, slavery, as an institution, was opposed to everything America stood for. America could never fully become the "shining city on a hill" until "Land of the free" applied to every citizen, black and white.  Southern states considered slavery an economic necessity while the northern states saw it as an unspeakable evil.  It was impossible that these opinions would ever be reconciled short of civil war.  That war erupted on April 12, 1861 when a U.S. warship fired on Fort Sumter in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina.

620,000 Americans would die in battle over the next four years.  One of the bloodiest battles was fought at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania July 1 thru 3, 1863.  On November 18, 1863, Abraham Lincoln, one of our greatest presidents, visited the battlefield and gave one of the shortest speeches of any politician in history.  Yet, his words have echoed through the ages.

          "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure… we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government: of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

President Abraham Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, as the nation approached its third year of bloody civil war. The proclamation declared that "all persons held as slaves within the rebellious states are, and henceforward shall be, free." This presidential proclamation was later to include all slaves and was embedded in the Constitution as the thirteenth amendment.  What is extremely important is that it be understood and remembered, that America did not create the institution of slavery; America abolished it!  

Just eleven years after the end of the Civil War, America celebrated her first centennial.  France had intended to give a statue to America in recognition of the friendship between the two nations which had been established during the Revolutionary war.  For various reasons the statue was almost ten years late in being completed. The joint effort between the two nations was finally completed and dedicated on October 28, 1886.  Standing high, with torch in hand, the Statue of Liberty has welcomed immigrants to America’s shores from the four corners of the earth.  The final phrase in the inscription has invited the oppressed to the shores of America for well over 100 years.

          "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.  Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!   "

From its inception America has been a nation of immigrants.  From the first pilgrims to the current arrivals men, women and children have left their native lands to become a part of the American dream.  They left behind their families, their homes, their language, and their culture to become known simply as Americans.  America became known as the great melting pot.  As memories of the bitter war faded into the past, Americans once again set their minds to building the greatest nation in the history of the world.

At the end of the Civil war there were thirty-six states in the union.  By 1900 the number had increased to forty-five with a combined population of seventy-six million.  Schools not only taught English, history, and math, they taught character, morality, responsibility, and self discipline along with love of God, love of nation and love of family.  The school day would open with prayer and the pledge of allegiance.  The Bible was a part of every classroom.  Americans were an industrious, individualistic, and hard working breed.  At the same time, they believed themselves to be created beings and showed reverence to the creator in both their worship and their lives.

At 7:48AM on Sunday, December 6th 1941 the life of America was once again threatened. Flying from carriers, 353 Japanese aircraft launched a surprise attack on the U. S. Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.  The attack sank four U.S. battleships and damaged four more. The Japanese also sank or damaged three cruisers, three destroyers, and one mine-layer, destroyed 188 aircraft, and personnel losses of 2,402 killed and 1,282 wounded.

The greatest loss was the battleship Arizona.  It became the permanent resting place for 1,177 sailors and marines.  Today the battleship still sits exactly where it came to rest on December 7.   A memorial has been built over the ship from which oil can still be seen leaking.   Following the attack, Japanese Admiral Yamamoto, who planned and directed the attack, is reported to have commented, "We have awakened a sleeping giant and filled him with a terrible resolve."

On December 8, 1941, one day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt stood before Congress and declared that December 7, 1941 would be "a date which will live in infamy".  He ended his speech with the words, "With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbending determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph. So help us God."

Within an hour of the speech, Congress passed the formal declaration of war, which brought the U.S. into World War II. Roosevelt’s address is regarded as one of the most famous American political speeches of the 20th century.

On June 6, 1944, D-Day, allied forces launched the largest amphibious assault in human history.  By the end of the day 10,000 allied soldiers lay dead on the beaches of Normandy.  In a very short statement to the troops just prior to the battle General Dwight D. Eisenhower stated:

          "You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you.  The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you. I have full confidence in your courage and devotion to duty and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full Victory!   Good luck!   and let us beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking."

Years later I spoke with an older friend who had been in the first wave to land on Omaha Beach that day.  I asked why the men who were there never talked about it.  "There is nothing to talk about," he said.  "If you were there you already know, and if you weren’t, there is no possible way you could understand." Truly, freedom is not free.  The men and women who served, supported, and won WWII became known as the "Greatest Generation." America has not only stood for freedom, and fought for it, America has sent her sons and daughters around the world to fight for the freedom of others as well.  Whenever duty called, Americans answered the call.

The 1950’s were possibly the best times in the history of America.  Following the end of the Korean War in 1953, America was at peace, both within and without.  Husbands worked while mothers manned the home and raised the children.  Church on Sunday was a given for the vast majority of Americans.  Nothing could top being a teenager in the 1950’s.

Those of us retiring today are the sons and daughters of the "Greatest Generation".  They left us an unmatchable legacy of courage, honor, love of country, love of family, and love of God.  We know what they left for us, but the more important question now is "What legacy will we leave for our children and grandchildren."

It is difficult to assign a date or a single event as being the beginning of the decline of American values.  While some claim it can be traced back to New Deal socialist policies enacted as an unsuccessful means of fighting the Great Depression, others point to the 60’s and the vast changes which began taking place at that time.

There is no doubt, however, that in the 60’s America began losing it great moral compass.  The values upon which a great Christian nation had been built were eroded, little by little.  As a result the great protective hand of God, upon whose values the nation had been built, was slowly removed.  As Americans turned to secular rather that godly values a great change came over our land.  It did not all come at once; but little by little the moral fabric of our society was gradually eroded.

One of the first steps was the case of (Murray v. Curlett, 1963).  Madalyn Murray O’Hair, a militant left wing atheist with close ties to the American Communist Party, was targeting school prayer when she filed a lawsuit against the school board of Baltimore. The local court judge, dismissed the petition stating, "It is abundantly clear that petitioners’ real objective is to drive every concept of religion out of the public school system." The case went to the Maryland Court of Appeals, and the court ruled, "Neither the First nor the Fourteenth Amendment was intended to stifle all rapport between religion and government."

The case then made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court.  On June 17, 1963 the Supreme Court ruled 8 to 1 in favor of abolishing prayer and Bible reading in public schools.

A second event which had a great bearing on the morality of America was the U.S. involvement in the Vietnamese civil war which escalated in 1965.  58,159 U.S. soldiers died in the next eight years, before the no-win war was ended in 1973.  However, that number pales beside the countless millions whose lives have been destroyed as a result.  When the troops returned home, many of them brought with them an addiction to opium and marijuana.

Besides returning troops, the counter-culture of the 1960’s became strongly involved in the use of drugs.  The beginnings of the counter-culture were rooted in objection to the Vietnam War. Before long, illegal drugs had invaded every aspect of our society.  Billions of dollars have not stemmed the tide and today over two thirds of people in jails and prisons are there as a direct or indirect result of drug use.

Another event in the sixties which alienated one group of Americans from another was forced integration.  The segregation of American society between white and black was not only bad, it was opposed to everything America stood for.  However, the heavy-handed way in which the problem was addressed by the federal government, only served to further alienate the two components of our society.  There were extremists on both sides of the issue.  Most Americans didn’t object to the concept of an integrated society but there was strong objection to having it forced upon us by government mandate.  Leaders on both sides of the issue stirred up as much heated emotion as possible and as a result it divides our society in many ways, even today.

In the sixties civil unrest and violent protest became common place.  President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in November of 1963.  Civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated on April 4, 1968 and on June 5, 1968 Robert F. Kennedy, John Kennedy’s brother, was assassinated.  By the end of the decade, drugs, the counter-culture, and civil disobedience had become entrenched in America as a way of life.

Another divisive event took place on January 22, 1973, when the Supreme Court, in a 7 to 2 majority, ruled that a woman had the constitutional right to abort her unborn child.  In the next thirty-five years over fifty million babies were killed prior to being born.  This outraged the religious community and further divided the nation.

In addition, illegal aliens begin crossing our southern border by the millions.  No real effort was put into stopping this influx of people, not wanting to become a part of the "melting pot," but to retain their own customs and language.  This not only flooded the job market, it also put a huge burden on our schools as well as our social system.  America has always been a nation of immigrants, but heretofore the immigrants had come through legal channels with their only desire being to have access to the "American Dream." These new illegal arrivals had no intention of being assimilated into the American culture.  Currently a bill, making its way through Congress, will grant Amnesty to illegal aliens.  They will receive all of our benefits.

A final event taking place in the 60’s had the potential to not only damage, but even destroy America as we know it.  A philosophy of government, known as "socialism," found its way into the classrooms of our universities.  It began with some professors, who then began to influence large numbers of our students.  Adopted by the radical left, it also found acceptance among the liberal wing of the Democratic Party.  Socialism advocates governmental ownership and administration of the means of production as well as the allocation of resources.  Most socialists believe capitalism unfairly concentrates power and wealth among a small segment of society.  It further teaches that capitalism does not provide equal opportunities for everyone, and does not utilize technology and resources to their maximum potential for the public interest.  Socialism stands in direct opposition to the America model of independent self-reliance.  Under socialism, responsibility is shifted from the individual to the state, which in turn determines how the wealth is to be distributed among the citizens.  Socialism destroys initiative and freedom!  

This was the picture of America when Ronald Reagan became our 40th president on January 20, 1981.  Reagan was the last of the great American presidents.  Having campaigned on the theme, "Morning in America," Reagan was elected in a landside over incumbent Jimmy Carter, one of the worse presidents America has known.

Reagan’s acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention set the tone of his administration and of America for years to come.

          "The time is now, my fellow Americans, to recapture our destiny, to take it into our own hands.  But, to do this will take many of us, working together. I ask you tonight to volunteer your help in this cause so we can carry our message throughout the land.

I have thought of something that is not part of my speech and I’m worried over whether I should do it.

Can we doubt that only a Divine Providence placed this land, this island of freedom, here as a refuge for all those people in the world who yearn to breathe freely: Jews and Christians enduring persecution behind the Iron Curtain, the boat people of Southeast Asia, of Cuba and Haiti, the victims of drought and famine in Africa, the freedom fighters of Afghanistan and our own countrymen held in savage captivity.

I’ll confess that I’ve been a little afraid to suggest what I’m going to suggest — I’m more afraid not to — that we begin our crusade joined together in a moment of silent prayer. [Silence] God bless America."

For a brief period under the, leadership of Ronald Reagan, America rediscovered her roots.  The growth of big government was slowed, while the high taxes which had been imposed by previous administrations were reduced.  Patriotism again became popular.

Four years later Ronald Reagan was reelected in the largest electoral landslide since George Washington.  During the Reagan years our nation prospered and the torch of liberty burned brightly.  In the final lines of his farewell address to the nation Ronald Reagan summed up the results of "The Reagan Revolution."

          "And that’s about all I have to say tonight, except for one thing.  The past few days when I’ve been at that window upstairs, I’ve thought a bit of the ‘shining city upon a hill.’ The phrase comes from John Winthrop, who wrote it to describe the America he imagined. What he imagined was important because he was an early Pilgrim, an early freedom man. He journeyed here on what today we’d call a little wooden boat; and like the other Pilgrims, he was looking for a home that would be free. I’ve spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don’t know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, windswept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace; a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity. And if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That’s how I saw it, and see it still."And how stands the city on this winter night?   More prosperous, more secure, and happier than it was 8 years ago. But more than that: After 200 years, two centuries, she still stands strong and true on the granite ridge, and her glow has held steady no matter what storm. And she’s still a beacon, still a magnet for all who must have freedom, for all the pilgrims from all the lost places who are hurling through the darkness, toward home.

We’ve done our part.  And as I walk off into the city streets, a final word to the men and women of the Reagan Revolution, the men and women across America who for 8 years did the work that brought America back. My friends: We did it. We weren’t just marking time.  We made a difference.  We made the city stronger; we made the city freer; and we left her in good hands.  All in all, not bad — not bad at all.

And so, goodbye, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America."

In 1960 I was one of many proud sailors in the United States Navy.  In 1980 I was one of many proud soldiers in the Reagan Revolution.  I count it among my greatest blessings to have been born in the United States of America and to have lived during the best years of our nation’s history.  Even as I write these words a lump comes into my throat and at times I have to wipe the tears from my eyes.

As my generation prepares to pass the torch of liberty to the next we do so with great trepidation.  We have been privileged to be the sons and daughters of the Greatest Generation.  Their legacy can never be matched.  Yet, we have preserved the heritage they left and proudly carried the torch when it was passed to us.  We have known the sounds of battle, the joys of family, and the eternal blessings of a loving God.  We have stood on the shores of the mighty ocean which brought our ancestors to this land of freedom, and we have stood on the tall mountains and viewed the amber waves of grain.

We have walked the streets of our capital and viewed with pride the buildings and monuments to our nation’s history.  One cannot stand before the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials or the Washington Monument without deep feelings of pride and patriotism.  Nor is it possible to stand before the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery without tear filled eyes.  The inscription on the tomb tells it all.

From the day the first pilgrim set foot on these shores, America has been a nation protected and preserved by God.  That protection has been recognized and cherished by those whose lives have written the history of America. Every monument, every writing, every speech of our Founding fathers, echoes this nation’s reverence toward God.  Our reverence for God and our love of freedom cannot be separated.  It is impossible to view the history of America without acknowledging the providential care of God.  It is our foundation!  

But today we fear for the future of our nation and the future of our children and grandchildren.  For the first time since the signing of the Declaration of Independence our liberty is being threatened, not from foreign forces gathering on foreign soils, but from our own government.

In the twenty years since Ronald Reagan "walked off into the city streets" America had undergone a tremendous change, reaping the fruits of the seeds of destruction sown in the sixties.  The America of 1959 would not even recognize the America of 2009.  In those fifty years, our nation has been changed spiritually, socially, economically, and politically.  Since the 1960’s, by either law or judicial decision:

          • They have denied God the recognition offered and beseeched by our founders as the means by which this nation might achieve greatness.

          • They have reinterpreted our Constitution to conform to humanistic standards and declared there in a separation of church and state which our founders neither inserted nor ever intended.

          • They have, in the name of freedom of expression, allowed the desecration of our flag and other national emblems.

          • They have, in the name of equality, sanctioned homosexual activities and same sex marriage which He has declared to be an abomination.

          • They have sought to remove parental consent in matters directly affecting the parent/child relationship.

          • They have admittedly made being pro abortion a requirement for any person to be confirmed to a federal judicial position.

          • They have, in the midst of elections changed the laws in such a manner as to accommodate their own purposes.

          • They have denied right to life to over fifty million unborn babies by declaring that women have a constitutional right to slaughter their own unborn children.

          • They have prevented schools from exercising the moral leadership that reinforces family values by declaring, in the name of separation of church and state, those enduring religious values and standards of conduct beneficial to a free and moral society must be removed from the classroom.

          • They have prohibited prayer or any other recognition of a supreme being in the schools, and forbidden the use of any Christian oriented materials by the student, while allowing Islam, Buddhism and others.

          • They have demanded that this nation no longer look to God for protection and direction, but, to the United Nations, and become part of a new world order to which we must look for permission to defend ourselves as well as agreeing to accommodate their demands and numerous other requirements, many of which would be harmful to our national welfare.

          • They have, as powerful senators conspired to prevent good and honest men and women from being appointed to the courts of our land unless they first agree to uphold the beliefs of those senators.

          • They have, In the name of freedom of speech, authorized every form of pornography and vile and sordid images to be transmitted into our homes and into the public square with no regard for the children who may be affected or adults who may be offended by such material.

          • They have, in the name of science, determined to destroy one human life in the misguided hope of improving another.

          • They have, in the name of preservation, denied the use of our natural resources for the purpose God created them, instead demanding that, in order to receive our needed energy, we be at the mercy of foreign nations, many of which are dedicated to our destruction.

          • They have, in the name of world unity, advocated that America and American citizens be subjected to the decisions of a World Court which would have no regard for our Constitution, our laws, our moral standards, or our God; thereby surrendering our national sovereignty.

          • They have, in an effort to gain votes, sought to divide us, pitting one group against another; rich vs. poor, white vs. black, old vs. young.

          • They have, in the name of artistic expression, condoned and financed the most degrading and obscene art ever conceived and forced it to be given a place in our public museums.

The result of all this has been the destruction of the moral fabric upon which this great nation was built. During this entire time the good men and women of America have remained silent while little by little our freedoms, our principles, and our values have been gradually eroded, including our economic strength.

In the election of 2008 the seeds of socialism sown in the 60’s began producing fruit.   An unknown Senator from Illinois, the most liberal member of the he U.S. Senate, was elected president of the United States.   He was an extremely charismatic orator who ran on a platform of "Hope and Change."

Barak Obama is a product of the 60’s. Born to an American woman and a Kenyan father in 1961, he is a self-proclaimed socialist. His earliest schooling was in Muslim schools.  His father, like Karl Marx before him, believed and taught heavy taxation as a means of redistributing the wealth.  This is a principle his son has firmly embraced.

One of Obama’s mentors was Bill Ayers, the radical organizer of the Weather Underground, a domestic terror organization.  Concerning his time at Occidental College, Obama writes "I chose my friends carefully.  The more politically active black students. The foreign students. The Chicanos. The Marxist professors and structural feminists and punk-rock performance poets." (Dreams from my Father, p. 100) The White House, once the home of our greatest leaders, is now occupied by a man of Muslim descent, schooled in the philosophy of Karl Marx, and honed for twenty years by the radical ranting of a Black Liberation Theologian.

The majority of the electorate did not look behind his glib speech to see if there were any accomplishments to support his rhetoric.  In fact, there were none.  He had never governed a city, a county, or a state.  He had never run a business.  He had never served in the military nor done anything else that would have given him leadership training.

Just before the election he promised his supporters "five days from now we will fundamentally change America".  Not only that, but he also promised to "redistribute the wealth" created by the American system of capitalism.  As a candidate, Obama promised the most open and transparent administration in history, yet as President everything done has been done behind closed doors.  In spite of his promise to place every piece of legislation on the inter-net for five days prior to passage, congress is now voting on legislation before even taking the time to read it themselves.

His coat tails were long, sweeping into Congress men and women who would support his socialist agenda. What the average person did not realize was that the hope and change he preached was his hope to change America into a socialist nation.  Obama challenged organizers to help him change America. Buried inside a seemingly innocuous Obama speech is the ominous statement,

          "We cannot continue to rely only on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we’ve set.  We’ve got to have a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, and just as well-funded." (University of Colorado, July 2, 2008).

What would be the purpose of this force?   The noble sounding objectives given are the same as Hitler used to justify his brown shirts in the 1930’s.

Believing he had a mandate for change, Obama entered office with a messiah complex.  Having gained control of both houses of congress, he immediately began pushing his socialist agenda on the American people.  When he was elected America was facing an economic downturn. He and his congressional minions conspired to change the downturn into a crisis, then used the crisis they had created to justify enacting his socialist agenda.  Through a system of bail-outs, they gained control over the major financial institutions as well as much of the automotive industry.  Now they are talking about the need to control executive pay, not only in the companies bailed out, but in any company subject to government regulation.  This is not Americanism!  

The next thing in their sights was the major media which, with the exception of Fox news and talk radio, had been advocating the socialist agenda for years.  The three major broadcast networks immediately rolled over, as did a majority of the major print media.

Efforts are now underway to discredit Fox News, silence talk radio, and control the inter-net.  As in any dictatorial, socialist system, the voices of opposition must be silenced.  Wake up America!  

A bill now in congress will give the government control over our entire health-care system.  The true cost and details of this bill are being carefully concealed from the American people.  In line behind the health care bill are "Cap and Trade" and "Card Check." Cap and trade would give the government control over the entire energy system of the United States.  Card check is a gift to his union supporters which would eliminate the secret ballot in union elections.

Sweeping legislation is being proposed which will drive our national debt to a level which can only be described as obscene. In his first year Obama has created a deficit three times larger than any deficit in the past. As a result, the dollar is now falling in value against every other major currency.  Our children and grandchildren will spend their entire lives laboring under the largest national debt in history of the world, with no means of finding relief.

Obama has bypassed the Senatorial confirmation process to put in place a cadre of unelected, unqualified, radical, and immoral Czars, accountable only to himself, who have the authority to oversee and control every aspect of our society.  Never in our history has the government attempted a power grab of this magnitude. In short, the pieces are all being assembled which will give this government dictatorial power over every aspect of the lives of all Americans.

What is perhaps the most frightening result of Obama’s policies, is that his perceived weakness has embolden many of our enemies in their opposition toward us.  Russia forced him to halt the missile defense shield for Eastern Europe then responded by announcing a new multi-warhead missile.  Others, such as Iran, North Korea, Cuba, China and Venezuela have all thumbed their noses at him.  In addition, radical Muslims are continually plotting terrorist attacks against us.  Obama is placing every American in grave danger.

The Senate, the greatest deliberative body in the world, which once echoed the great voices of reason, has been reduced to a house of babble, where deals are cut in back rooms away from the view of the public they claim to represent.  These bills are then introduced by their minions as "representing the greater good." "We the People" are told we must accept their decisions or be fined or imprisoned for failure to do so.

Today we stand in the shoes of our founding fathers.  The winds blowing from Washington smell of evil, corruption, and tyranny.  We, like them, are faced with a government seeking to take away our cherished freedoms and God given rights.  We, like them, have no representation in the halls of government. The hallowed halls of congress, once walked by statesmen dedicated to serving the interest of the people, are now occupied by power hungry politicians who only hear the voices of the special interest who purchased them.  No longer listening to the will of the people, they walk in lockstep with congressional leaders to do the bidding of their great proponent of socialism.

Appeals to the courts of our land have fallen on the deaf ears of carefully selected judges who promised in their confirmation hearings to adhere, not to the Constitution, but to the will of the Senators who approved them.  They have taken their oath of office with one hand on the Bible while the other is behind their back with crossed fingers.

Our founders had three options; the soap box, the jury box, and the cartridge box.  They tried the first, were rejected by the second, and forced to resort to the third.  They have left for us a fourth option; the ballot box.  Our choice is clear.  Our duty is plain. Our course is obvious.  If our nation is to survive we must rid ourselves of all in Washington, both Republican and Democrat, who would destroy our constitution, and replace them with men and women who will protect and preserve it.  First with our voices, then with our votes.

Our fellow Americans are already in the field.  Millions of patriots are making their voices heard at tea parties and town halls across the nation.  More than a million of our neighbors and fellow citizens marched on Washington, D. C.  Thousands of letters and millions of e-mails have been sent to members of Congress.  The voices speaking out are not those of evil rabble or right-wing nuts, as some leaders have labeled us.  They are the voices of the sons and daughters of America.  Like Admiral Yamamoto, this government has awakened a sleeping giant and placed within him an awesome resolve.   The giant has a name.  It is "We the People." The giant has a purpose.  It is to restore that government "of the people, by the people, and for the people" to this land we love.

How many living today were foot soldiers in the Reagan revolution?   Do we still remember?   Do we still have the resolve?   Do we still have the strength?   Can we, and will we, once again stand together in defense of our blood-bought freedoms?   Or, have our fading health and sunset years diminished our love of freedom, and our willingness to stand and fight for it?   I pray not!   Will the forces of evil now in Washington condemn our nation to the dust bin of human history?   God forbid it!  

Many of us have grown old enjoying the blessings of this great nation. Yes, we walk a little slower these days and our hearing and eyesight are not what they once were.  The torch of liberty is passing from our generation to a younger one.  It is my prayer that this new generation will have the wisdom, and determination, to preserve the values the young men of this nation have fought and died for over the last two hundred and thirty-three years.

As I write this I remain convinced that the torch of liberty, lit by our founders and passed through the generations, still burns in the heart of every patriotic, God-fearing American.  I remain convinced that if enough of us stand up and speak out we can defeat the current madness in Washington, and pass our cherished freedom on to those generations following in our footsteps.

A United States Senator who opposed war once stood on the floor of the Senate and made the bold affirmation that "Freedom has never been obtained at the point of a bayonet." Another senator arose to ask the simple question, "Sir, how does the good Senator think we got ours?   " Americans have understood since our founding that there are some things worth fighting for and even dying for.  The preservation of our nation is one of those things.

At stake is nothing less than the future of our children and grandchildren.  When they look back on this generation what will they see?   What will they think?   What will they say?   Did we fail them?   In the hour of America’s greatest challenge did we rise up as patriots or remain silent as cowards?   Will they enjoy the freedom we enjoy, or will our inaction condemn them to life under a tyrannical, oppressive, and socialistic world government?  

These questions will be answered by other generations in other times.   My prayer is that Americans will refuse to submit to this onslaught of tyranny.  The time is now.  The future will not wait.  "We the People" must make our voices echo throughout the chambers of government, and place "fear of the ballot box" in the heart of every incumbent, Republican and Democrat, from State House to White House.  As Patrick Henry asked two hundred and thirty-four years ago,

          "Why stand we here idle?   What is it that gentlemen wish?   What would they have?   Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?   Forbid it, Almighty God!   I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!   "

I pray the God of our fathers will once again raise up dedicated men and women who, like Reagan, will lead this nation out of the abyss of darkness and back into the sunlight of freedom.  I am convinced they are out there. If they will but stand up "We the People" will stand with them, just as we did during the Reagan Revolution. For the sake of our children and grandchildren, the "shining city on a hill." must be preserved.  We must make the city stronger. We must make the city freer. And we must leave her in good hands.

I can think of no better way to end this letter than letting Ronald Reagan speak once again to this generation.

          " It’s time we asked ourselves if we still know the freedoms intended for us by the Founding Fathers. James Madison said, ‘We base all our experiments on the capacity of mankind for self government.’ This idea — that government was beholden to the people, that it had no other source of power — is still the newest, most unique idea in all the long history of man’s relation to man. This is the issue of this election: Whether we believe in our capacity for self-government or whether we abandon the American Revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite in a far-distant capital can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves."

          " You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness. If we fail, at least let our children and our children’s children say of us we justified our brief moment here. We did all that could be done."

          " May God bless our efforts and may God bless the United States of America."