What lies at the heart of this country we call the United States of America? While we refer to the “land of the free” the truth is that we were founded on a notion of liberty, not freedom. Understanding the difference is important at a time when those who value freedom over liberty promote a society where we are free to do whatever feels good and seems right. This idea lies at the heart of the mantra about “tolerance”.
But liberty, as it was conceived by those who framed our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution, refers specifically to liberty of the soul – a liberty that derives exclusively from God. That is, no man nor government of men owns another man's soul nor may impose on his conscience in his relationship with God, nor may impede his voice in the expression of his personal beliefs.
Thomas Jefferson was bold to declare: "God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are a gift of God?"
Jefferson stressed that government cannot regulate what we think or believe: "Almighty God hath created the mind free. All attempts to influence it by temporal punishments or burdens […] are a departure from the plan of the Holy Author of our religion."
These words are carved in stone on the walls of the Jefferson Memorial in the heart of Washington, D.C. Tragically few read them today and fewer still take time to consider the weight of their meaning and the stark implications of their too-easy dismissal. One wonders how long it will be before they are sandblasted into oblivion because they so clearly represent an exclusive and narrow point of view. The Christian God was the only deity with which Jefferson and the other Founders were readily familiar, and their thoughts and writings are traceable to the words and precepts contained exclusively in the Christian Bible.
Modern “progressives”, by contrast, promote a godless value system of singular, personal standards and beliefs and indiscriminate deference towards every other standard and every other belief of eight billion fellow humans on planet earth, all in the name of freedom (and “tolerance”). Taken to its logical conclusion this is not the viewpoint of sensible human beings but the infantile musings of would-be nihilists, the end whereof is anarchy, not freedom. It is a bitter paradox that the tolerance feeding such anarchy requires strict regulation of thought and speech to maintain its destructive force.
Such dangerous contradictions are inevitable when we cast ourselves adrift from the God of our Founding Fathers and His absolute moral standards. Ultimate political authority then devolves to the leader with the loudest megaphone, a charming stage presence, a clever turn of phrase, no moral compass, and lots of other people’s money. There is no creature more threatening than this to our future as a nation.