- our founding fathers invented our America to be completely different from any other nation in the history of the world;
- but before this American "engine'" could run, the "inventors" had to determine what components and ingredients would make this engine, our American democracy, work right; AND
- they had to put safeguards and rules (an owner's manual) into place that must be followed in detail to make this new invention work right. In other words, our America was made to run on gasoline, not ethanol.
So, if our founding fathers came to our America today and looked around, what do you think they would say? They would say,
1. "Why are you trying to run and operate our invention (this American democracy) without using the specified fuel (that is, the value system, the ideals that it was built upon) ;
2. Why are you trying to change the blueprint of this invention (our America); AND MOST IMPORTANTLY
3. Why are you working so hard to modify, to change this invention (our America) when it has already been proven to work so well?"
1. Protect life - in America, all life is precious. It is to be protected at all costs - whether born or unborn.
2. Provide liberty - that is, make the American citizens free, with a free will to pursue their own destiny with a freedom of self determination. In other words, our founding fathers believed in a limited government doing only what is absolutely necessary to help keep the American train on the right track - but not to be the train's conductor.
3. Keep America safe with law and order - as our citizens pursue their own destiny, each pursuit has to be done in a legal and respectful manner, following general rules of decency. And if the law and order are to be kept, there must be a penal system in place that is harsh enough to stop those trying to break these rules. If the punishment is not harsh enough, the system will fail. By the way, our founding fathers believed in capital punishment when the crime called for it.
4. Set Standards -when our founding fathers set our rules and guidelines for our common decency, where did these rules and guidelines come from? THE BIBLE. So many Americans today, when they hear someone say that our founding fathers built our nation to follow the Judaeo-Christian teachings of the Bible they are not familiar with the terminology. It simply means this: to follow the teachings of the Bible as laid out in the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. Now, does that mean that you have to be a Christian to live in America? Of course not - our founding fathers gave us a protection in the Constitution that allows for freedom of religion to all. BUT the rules of conduct and common decency found in the Bible are to be our guide for the moral conduct of our nation. So, let me make this simple - to live in America, you don't have to follow the Christian God, but you do have to follow His rules of decency, of law, and of order. Anything less and the America "invention" will fail.
5. All Americans are to work hard, there are no free rides - except for those who truly cannot take care of themselves, all Americans are to be self supporting, working hard, seeking their own "American Dream". We are not to just sit by and have happiness given to us by our government; we are to be given a safe and free nation which allows us to each "pursue" our own happiness.
6. Protect ourselves - although we are to have a strong organized military, strong enough to protect our nation, our people, our freedom, each citizen is to be prepared to protect themselves from those attempting to do them harm. In other words, we are to bear arms and be ready to use them. For our founding fathers, it was not an option - it was a requirement. In fact, in 1619, the colony of Virginia had a statute that required all citizens to own a gun and to know how to use it.
7. Provide an education for all which is God-centered - what most do not know is that in our early public schools, the Bible was one of the main foundational text books - that is a historical fact. That way, the children could not only learn how to read and write; they could also learn the foundational laws of decency for our America as laid out in the teachings of the Bible.
8. Love and respect our America - of course, we are to understand that there are other people, other nations in the world that we should try and reach out to, but our founding fathers believed that our first responsibility as citizens is to love our America first and foremost, to be proud of who we are, and to work hard to make us a better nation.
9. Recognize and Respect God for His Great Part in Making this America - our founding fathers knew what God had done to help them win our new freedom, and they knew it was His Wisdom that helped create this nation. They knew that without God, there would be no United States. AND FINALLY
10. Our Leaders should be our greatest examples to follow - our founding fathers believed that a good and moral America starts with good and moral leaders. AND to give special favor to one of our leaders that would not have also been given to any other citizen is wrong - oh so wrong.