God’s Great Cry to Every Generation: TURN! Because Everybody Plays the Fool

By Tim Rowe

One of the most amazing messages in the entire Bible that is constantly coming from the heart of God is for both the believer and the unbeliever to TURN. God is always crying out to turn away from the world, turn away from idols, turn away from sin, turn away from self, turn away from any path that God has not ordained and set for your life and turn to Him. TURN! TURN BACK TO ME! I, GOD ALMIGHTY, AM WAITING WITH ARMS WIDE OPEN FOR YOU TO TURN AND RUN TO ME!

The truth of turning is the essence of the good news that Christianity proclaims as there is only One Way, One Truth, One Life and you must turn to it and turn away from the worthless religions, philosophies, and ideas of the world.

Acts 14:15 (NIV): Friends, why are you doing this? We too are only human, like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to TURN from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them.

The Apostle Paul preached for people to turn from their worthless idols to the living God. The truth of “turning” is an intricate part of the gospel as it is the beginning action necessary in believing the gospel and keeping the heart turned to God is necessary for the continual service of God in the gospel. We too should proclaim, “Friends why do you keep turning to everything but God. Isn’t it time you turn?”

Acts 25:13-18 (NIV); About noon, King Agrippa, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. 14 We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ 15 “Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’“ ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. 16 ‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. 17 I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them 18 to open their eyes and TURN THEM from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

This is the gospel that we have been commissioned by God and His Son Jesus Christ and sent into the world to proclaim and as we preach this Gospel and it is believed a great turning takes place. People’s eyes are opened and they turn from darkness to light. They turn from the power of Satan unto God. Before all turning, there is an opening of the eyes to see; the eyes are no longer blinded by the devil, the god of this world, but the power of the gospel opens people’s eyes and hearts to turn. What an awesome turning it is! When we turn to God, we are turning from darkness to light. When we turn to God we are turning from the power of Satan to God. Satan does not want you turn. His schemes are designed to get people to turn their back on God and keep turned toward his objects of delight. The Devil uses deception so you don’t think you have to turn.

Leonard Ravenhill in Why Revival Tarries: An unprecedented tidal wave of commandment-breaking, God defying, soul destroying iniquity sweeps the ocean of human affairs. Never before have men in the masses sold their souls to the devil as such bargain prices. “There is none…that stirreth up himself to take hold of Thee” (Isaiah 64:7). What hell-borned mesmerism hold them? How does the spell bind? Why don’t they wake and stir themselves.

They need to wake up and quit playing the fool and TURN.

Skip Moen in Spiritual Restoration: Ezekiel 33:11: “Say to them, ‘As I live!’ declares the Lord, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked TURN from his way and live. TURN BACK, TURN BACK from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?’” Ecclesiastes makes it very clear that there is no real hope in work, in progeny, in legacy or society. The Second Law of Thermodynamics applies: it all goes down hill. How can I have hope? I have reason to hope because GOD LIVES! He is not the God of the dead. He is the God of the living. When He comes to rescue He brings life with Him. Because He is alive, I can trust that He will make me alive. I don’t worship some past relic or ancient memory; I worship the here-and-now living God. God is right here and now alive…God voices our true condition-rotting away-and He proclaims our only solution, He lives! Do you realize because God lives everything else is possible? Do you not see that all that we are and all that we are meant to be is based on the living God? Put your hope there, and none else. Listen to Him, and nothing else… God wants restoration. God wants us to live! So God exhorts his sin-sick children to turn back. That is one of the most important themes in the whole Bible.

Romans set forth this desperate condition of men and women for a Savior which is rooted in the truth that they have turned away from God. In our generation, people are turning away from God at an alarming rate as society plunges into the darkness of godlessness and lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.

Romans 3:10-18 (NIV): 10 As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; 11 there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. 12 All have TURNED AWAY, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” 13 “Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.” “The poison of vipers is on their lips.”14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 ruin and misery mark their ways, 17 and the way of peace they do not know.”18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

When we turn away from God and do not seek Him are lives become worthless and full of ruin, misery, bitterness, cursing, poison, deceit and destruction. We must turn God with a heart full of wondrous awe, love, respect, devotion and admiration.

The essence of the gospel is this message of turning. Repentance is a turning of the mind and thoughts away from the world and our former condition to God. The Gospel cries out day and night for people to “TURN!”

Acts 3:19 (NIV): 19 Repent, then, and TURN TO GOD, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.

Times of refreshing in the beautiful healing presence of the Lord only come when we turn to God. God wipes out our sins because we have turned to God and the wonderful accomplishments of His Son who lived, died and was resurrected for us that we might be born again and live the life of our new creation.

One of the first words that began the ministry of Jesus Christ as he began to teach was the word “repent” which in its basic meaning means “to turn.”

Matthew 3:20 (God’s Word Translation): TURN to God and change the way you think and act, because the kingdom of heaven is near.

On the great day of Pentecost Peter’s message from the heart of God was to TURN.

Acts 2:37-40 (KJV): Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? 38Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 39For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the LORD our God shall call. 40And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.

To the universal cry of mankind “What shall we do?” God answers to TURN! Repent! Turn! Turn the entire thought, desires, purposes, dreams, and aspirations of your mind to God and confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead and you will absolutely be saved. Then as a born again believer continue to keep yourself turned to God and turned away from the wickedness of our generation.

God is always only a turn away.

Psalm 18:21 (NIV):

I have kept the ways of the Lord;
I have not done evil by TURNING from my God.

I Samuel 12:21-and do not turn aside to go after worthless (tohu) things which do not profit and do not deliver, for they are worthless (tohu).

Skip Moen in Spiritual Restoration: Tohu generally describes five related conditions. These are wasteland, desolation, lifelessness, futility and worthlessness. The common thread behind tohu seems to be a sphere that is alien to all life. It is ominous, chaotic, dark, destructive opposition to created order. Consequently it is filled with peril, menace and foreboding. It is the negation of God and His creation. If there ever was a word that described a place where life is sucked out of you, then tohu is the word…There is something about tohu that should send a shiver up your spine. In the Bible, tohu is contagious. Spend enough time around tohu and you will become infected…touch it often and you will feel its effect, sucking vitality out of you. Chase after its seductive ploys and you will find, perhaps too late, that you are among the walking dead. That’s Samuel’s point. Once you turn away from God, you turn away from life-no matter how attractive the prospects seem to be, the end is always tohu-waste, futility, desolation and death…The opposite of tohu is God, for God is order, fulfillment, satisfaction, well-being and life itself. So do a little tohu checkup. Are you turning aside to things that do not profit and do not deliver? Are your days directed at accumulating those things that have no future over the horizon of your life?…Tohu awaits all those who serve short-sighted ends. If your dreams and desires can be achieved this side of the grave, you might be infected already.

We become addicted to who or what we turn to in the course of life. Tohu awaits those who turn from God.

There is a crisis of turning in the spiritual leadership in the Body of Christ that is disturbing and alarming. The spiritual leaders of our churches are hemorrhaging profusely and falling away because they have allowed their hearts to be turned. According to John Maxwell, only one out of ten people entering the ministry will still be in at the age of 65. That’s a 90 percent dropout rate. Dr James Dobson estimates that there are 1500 ministers a month leaving the ministry. That is 18,000 a year. The rate of burnout and dropout is staggering. David Ravenhill in Surviving the Anointing says: “The Devil’s strategy is old and reliable. ‘Strike the shepherd and scatter the flock.”…God’s army of soldiers are “dying” at a faster rate than ever before.”

There is a devastating effect to the body of Christ and the witness of Christianity by these men and women of God falling by the wayside. Think about the children of Israel for a moment. When God called them to be a nation, he led over one million people out of Egypt and do you know how many made it to the Promised Land? Two!!! Just two men, Joshua and Caleb! The Israelites were surrounded by so many awesome wonders and supernatural works of God as the parting of the Red Sea, the pillar of fire and cloud to guide them night and day, the manna raining down from heaven and water flowing out of a rock. Yet only two people made it into the promise land. What was the problem? They turned. We need to take heed to this example as the hearts of Christian leaders have turned aside from God and turned unto idols. God is crying out, “Turn, Turn, Turn back to me and my loving arms.”

Even in Hosea God declares that the wretched condition of the spiritual man and the prophet among the children of God. Hosea 9:7: The prophet is a fool and the spiritual man is mad.” The spiritual leadership of Israel in the priests and prophets had turned away from God and were in desperate need to TURN back to Him.

The Bible is very clear on how quickly the heart can turn. It is full of examples of brilliant men and women and even angels with great callings and enormous potential for God that turned away from God in a short period of time and fell greatly into oblivion. Lucifer, Adam, Eve, Saul, Solomon, Judas, King Azariah and Demas are just to name a few.

Deuteronomy 9:11,12 (NIV): At the end of the forty days and forty nights, the LORD gave me the two stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant. 12 Then the LORD told me, “Go down from here at once, because your people whom you brought out of Egypt have become corrupt. They have TURNED AWAY QUICKLY from what I commanded them and have made an idol for themselves.”

The children of Israel in less than 40 days turned away from God to worshipping idols.

Jeremiah 5:20-25: (NLT): “Make this announcement to Israel, and say this to Judah:
21 Listen, you foolish and senseless people, with eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear. 22 Have you no respect for me? Why don’t you tremble in my presence? I, the LORD, define the ocean’s sandy shoreline as an everlasting boundary that the waters cannot cross. The waves may toss and roar, but they can never pass the boundaries I set.
23 But my people have stubborn and rebellious hearts. They have TURNED AWAY and abandoned me. 24 They do not say from the heart, ‘Let us live in awe of the LORD our God, for he gives us rain each spring and fall, assuring us of a harvest when the time is right.’25 Your wickedness has deprived you of these wonderful blessings. Your sin has robbed you of all these good things.

We rob ourselves of manifold blessings and enjoyment of life when we turn away and abandon God and fail to live in awe of Him. We must always have our spiritual radar on and be able to detect what direction we are turning.
We have all played the fool in life when it comes to God. To play the fool is to turn to anything, or anyone as first place in your life instead of God. The fool turns to anything but God. Saul came to this realization in his life too late and it cost him his kingdom and his life.

I Samuel 26:21-I have played the fool…I have erred exceedingly.

Saul played the fool and erred exceedingly with his life. Are we playing the fool with our life too? Look at the divine calling Saul had on his life as the first king of Israel and the wonderful potential he had if he would have stayed turned to God.

I Samuel 10:1,6,9-11,24 (NIV): Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because the LORD hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance? 6And the Spirit of the LORD will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man. 9And it was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart: and all those signs came to pass that day. 10And when they came thither to the hill, behold, a company of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them. 11And it came to pass, when all that knew him beforetime saw that, behold, he prophesied among the prophets, then the people said one to another, What is this that is come unto the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets? 24And Samuel said to all the people, See ye him whom the LORD hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people? And all the people shouted, and said, God save the king.

Chronicles records the end result of Saul playing the fool with his life:

II Chronicles 10:13 (NIV): So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the LORD, even against the word of the LORD, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to enquire of it;
Saul turned to the witch of Endor for guidance from a devil spirit and turned to himself and his strength and his wisdom and turned to everything else in his kingship but God and it opened him up for spiritual attack that eventually took him out and all the wonderful potential he had to be a godly king.

We cannot allow ourselves to play the fool by being deceived to turn to other gods. Idolatry is very deceptive. Most of us have idols and never know we are serving other gods. Are we playing the fool in life?

Deuteronomy 11:16 (NLT): “But be careful. Don’t let your heart be deceived so that you TURN away from the LORD and serve and worship other gods.

From my new book on the heart hopefully to be released next year: “Most of Israel’s problems in their history with idolatry and turning away from God stem from their original failure to force these ungodly nations out of the Promised Land with all their false gods. It is a battle to keep the heart in the promised land of God’s will and aligned with God’s heart. It is a battle to keep the heart from becoming conformed to the pattern of this world. It is a battle to keep the relentless enemies of fear, worry, anxiety, disobedience, bitterness, unforgiveness and hatred from possessing territory in our heart. The enemy is always near the borders of our heart, subtly trying to gain entrance so he can establish a stronghold in the heart and exercise his devilish control and influence. We must be the constant border patrol of our heart and watch all the boundaries of our life so the enemy does not become an illegal occupant of our heart. We cannot passively allow the enemy to hang out and set up his tent in any part of the territory of our heart, for he is a master at turning our heart away from God. In order to enter the Promised Land and keep its borders secure, we must guard our heart with all diligence, protecting it from the schemes, strategies and plans of Satan’s kingdom devoting it wholeheartedly and passionately to God and His Word. Under the direction and guidance of God Almighty, our heart can set boundaries that will reflect His love, His grace, His mercy, His compassion and His peace and in this land we will fulfill God’s calling for our lives. We will not be betrayed by the boundaries coming forth from our heart and the map of our life will reflect the grace and glory of God.”

We cannot allow our turn away from Him to anything else. We must always be turned to His face, gazing in His eyes, looking at His presence and might and glory.

II Kings 17:15-By turning the eye to vanity, death to the ways of God enters the heart.

If we are not careful where we are turning, death to the ways of God will enter our heart and destroy our relationship with God. The Devil steals, kills and destroys as set forth in John 10:10a and his main objective is to steal your time with God, kill your desire for God and destroy your relationship with God. He does this by getting us to turn.

But God is always whispering to our ears and hearts to turn and walk in His way.

Isaiah 30:18, 19, 21 (NIV): Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him! 19 People of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you. 21 Whether you TURN to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”

God is always speaking and in order for us to accomplish His purpose for our life in our generation, we must hear his voice and turn around to see like the Apostle John did on the island of Patmos.

Revelation 1:9-18 (NIV): I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, 11 which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.” 12 I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man,[d] dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. 15 His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. 17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

Moses also had his burning bush experience where God was speaking to Him and He had to turn and see.

Exodus 3:1-5 (ESV): 1Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. 3And Moses said, “I WILL TURN ASIDE TO SEE this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” 4When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

Moses had to turn aside to see to accomplish His calling as the man of God who would lead the children of Israel out of the land of bondage in Egypt.

Joshua also was instructed by God Himself how to fulfill his calling to lead the children of Israel into the promise land. An essential part of God’s instruction was not to turn away from Him and His Word.

Joshua 1:5-9 (NIV): No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. 6 Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them. 7 “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; DO NOT TURN from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Prophets that were speaking for God continued to herald forth the message to TURN!

Jeremiah 17:5-8 (NLT): 5 This is what the LORD says: “Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans, who rely on human strength and TURN THEIR HEARTS AWAY from the LORD. 6 They are like stunted shrubs in the desert, with no hope for the future. They will live in the barren wilderness, in an uninhabited salty land. 7 “But blessed are those who trust in the LORD and have made the LORD their hope and confidence. 8 They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit.

Hosea 12:6: (KJV): Therefore TURN thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgment and wait on thy God continually.

God has also set forth in His Word the remedy for our nation. It is not in the Republican, Democratic or Tea Party. It is not in a politician or a social or political philosophy. It is when God’s people humble themselves, pray, seek God’s face and TURN. Turning away from wicked things is an essential part of the formula for the healing of our land.

II Chronicles 7:14 (NIV): if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and TURN from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

We turn and run too much in our generation and in our churches.

David Ravenhill in Surviving the Anointing: Today we live in a society where the slightest little difficulty causes us to turn and run. We become so easily upset and discouraged, allowing self-pity to rob us of the opportunity of proving God in the situation. God is looking for men and women who believe His promises on overcoming the difficulties that face us. Jesus Christ had to overcome-overcome all the rejection, overcome all the pain, overcome all the sorrow, and sufferings along with the diabolical schemes of the devil himself. And yet nothing deterred him. He set his face like flint to go to Jerusalem and finish the course that God has set before Him. God is looking for overcomers that will follow the example of His Son.

Why would you ever want to turn to anything else but God? God needs us to stand in our calling as more than conquerors and keep
our faces turned like flint toward Him.

The fool thinks he is too wise to turn. The fool thinks he does not have to turn because he has everything. The arrogant fool is worshiped in our culture, but his ways end up in death and destruction.

Proverbs 26:12: Did you see a person who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

Skip Moen in Spiritual Restoration: There are plenty of people who think themselves wise. They believe they have life in their grasp. They are the “go for it guys.” Solomon tells quite sternly that these people have less hope of true relationships than the fool and the fool was pretty far gone. Because he knows the first step toward disaster is self reliance and self-sufficiency. If my dream is be my own man (or woman), if I resonate with Frank’s tune, “I did it my way,” then I as surely worse off than a fool…The man who thinks he is own god is doomed…Amazingly our culture idolizes the arrogant…We all want to be famous, free and fortunate. We love the tabloids, the celebrities and the rich and famous. Why? Because we put the self-made man upon the pedestal. We worship at the feet of those whom we believe grabbed life by the horns. Who is the bigger fool: the one who believes he controls his own destiny or the one who worships the arrogant man?

To turn we must deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow Him.

Then Yeshua said to His disciples, “If any one wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” Matthew 16:24

Deny – What does Yeshua’s statement mean to you? Do you think of denial in terms of turning away from pointless affluence, seductive pleasures or immoral behavior? Do you think that Yeshua intended us to refuse our own selfish desires in order to submit to God’s higher purposes? Perhaps we gain a deeper understanding of the nature of denial when we apply this instruction to the specific arena of money. Jacques Ellul helps us see this connection when he says, “When God attacks this power [money] that has us in its grip because it has aroused our love, when he tears away a treasure to which we have become attached, he is attacking us. God’s deliverance in not a stroke of a magic wand which leaves us intact, the way we were. It is a rescue of part of ourselves. Consequently we may have the impression , the feeling, of being amputated, diminished. God who is delivering us from the shackles of this power, is also destroying its roots which have taken hold of us.” In other words, the act of denial is an invitation to let God amputate. It isn’t simply refusing to do something we really want to do. It is asking God to cut it out of our hearts.The Greek verb aparneomai means “to renounce, to disown.” Yeshua reminds us that renouncing other lovers is a requirement of following Him. This is no different than the requirement of the first commandment. YHWH has exclusive right to the love of His children and He will tolerate no rival, even if that rival has roots deep within our own personalities.

Why do we sell our soul to another lover other than God? Why do we let God have rivals in our hearts? Why do we turn back to those things that we were delivered from? This only leads to us putting the chains on again and going back to slavery. There is no true satisfaction in anything but God. I Peter aptly describes it as a dog returning to his vomit.

Galatians 4:7-9 (NIV): 7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir. 8 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. 9 But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are TURNING BACK to those weak and miserable forces? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?

If we turn back to those weak and miserable things instead of God we will be enslaved all over again.

Let’s look again at Solomon and the magnificent purpose that God had ordained for his life. He had far more wisdom, earthly riches and wealth than we will probably ever have.

II Chronicles 1:11-12: And God said to Solomon, Because this was in thine heart, and thou hast not asked riches, wealth, or honour, nor the life of thine enemies, neither yet hast asked long life; but hast asked wisdom and knowledge for thyself, that thou mayest judge my people, over whom I have made thee king: 12Wisdom and knowledge is granted unto thee; and I will give thee riches, and wealth, and honour, such as none of the kings have had that have been before thee, neither shall there any after thee have the like.

Even with such wonderful wisdom and even after he had built the temple for God, God still had to give Solomon a warning not to turn.

II Chronicles 7:17-22 (NIV): And as for thee, if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded thee, and shalt observe my statutes and my judgments; 18Then will I stablish the throne of thy kingdom, according as I have covenanted with David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man to be ruler in Israel. 19But if ye TURN away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments, which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them;20Then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have sanctified for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and will make it to be a proverb and a byword among all nations.21And this house, which is high, shall be an astonishment to every one that passeth by it; so that he shall say, Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and unto this house? 22And it shall be answered, Because they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath he brought all this evil upon them.

Solomon did not heed the warning and turned.

I Kings 11:1-9 (NIV):
1But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites: 2Of the nations concerning which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will TURN away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love. 3And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives TURNED away his heart. 4For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives TURNED away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father. 5For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 6 And Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and went not fully after the LORD, as did David his father. 7 Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon. 8And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods. 9 And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was TURNED from the LORD God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice.

This is one of the most heart-rending sections of Scripture and its warning on the turning of the heart that screams out to every believer and child of God. Solomon’s heart was turned and bent away from God by these strange women and they got him to not only worship some of the most detestable gods of pagan culture, but he also built altars to them and sacrificed to them. Even the great Solomon in all his wisdom turned and how great was that turning. Do not think that we could not turn either. I Corinthians warns us that if we think we stand, we should take heed lest we fall. We must always be on watch that our hearts do not turn.

Skip Moen in Spiritual Restoration: Solomon also made a house for Pharaoh’s daughter whom he had taken. This verb take is used in the Bible to describe capturing, buying and acquiring, vengeance, and seizing an animal. It describes the heart be swept away…it is much more aggressive and hostile than we would like to see between a husband and wife…Solomon discovers that he cannot resist the temptation to have her. Perhaps his addiction to women is beginning to grow. Certainly he has forgotten God’s command for household purity. He takes her with all her foreign idolatry…in Ezekiel the word describes the flashing of lightening. Solomon is mesmerized. He must have her regardless of cost. In the midst of God’s bounty, he takes something for himself. It is a terrible mistake. Solomon never recovered from his addiction. It grew and grew until its insatiable lust destroyed him. But it started with taking something God did not give. It started by turning away from God and allowing his wives and women to turn his heart to other Gods.”

As wise as Solomon was, he never learned the lesson of turning. It is interesting the word “fool” is used 73 times in the Bible, but well over half (41) of these usages of “fool” are in the book of Proverbs and 12 of the usages are in Ecclesiastes that were both penned by Solomon. Solomon ended up playing the fool in his life like Saul did because he did not turn back to God. Solomon even declared in Ecclesiastes 2:15, “As it happened to the fool, so it happened to me.” He never learned the prime lesson of a fool. A fool turns to everything, but God.

II Timothy 4:3-7 (NIV): For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will TURN their ears away from the truth and TURN aside to myths. 5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. 6 For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

Will turn away (654) (apostrepho from apo = away from, a marker of dissociation, implying a rupture from a former association and indicates separation, departure, cessation, reversal + strepho = turn quite around, twist, reverse, turn oneself about) means literally to turn back or away.

Will turn aside (1624) (ektrepo from ek = out + trope = a turning) means literally to turn out (of the course) and so to turn aside (so as to avoid being involved). To turn away from, to swerve, to shun, to avoid meeting or associating with one. To turn a person off the road.

It can literally mean to twist out. In secular Greek medical literature described a dislocated joint, one that is sprained or wrenched! This meaning gives one a picture of the minds and hearts of those who reject God’s Truth as ending up spiritually “dislocated”, knocked out of joint, a far worse state than a physical dislocation!
When we turn away from God and His truth our lives become dislocated and out of joint.

Luke 9:62 (NIV): Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

If we want to serve God we can’t look back or turn to the things of this world or our former ways. If we do, we are not fit to serve God.

God is jealous God. He wants all of you.

Joel 2:12, 13 (NLT): That is why the LORD says, “TURN TO ME NOW, while there is time. Give me your hearts. Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning. 13 Don’t tear your clothing in your grief, but tear your hearts instead.” Return to the LORD your God,for he is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.He is eager to relent and not punish.

The time is urgent. Time is fleeting and passes by swiftly. God is crying out: “Turn to me now while there is time. Give me your hearts. Don’t let them be swept away. Return to the Lord your God.”

The great prayer of the prophet Elijah is my prayer for the church:

I Kings 18:36-37 (NASB): 36 At the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, today let it be known that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and I have done all these things at Your word. 37 Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that You, O LORD, are God, and that You have TURNED their heart back again.”

O Lord I pray that you turn the hearts of your saints, your church, your believers, your leaders back to you and away from all the deceitful lures of this world. I pray that our hearts turn and remain turned to you above all else. Let us not play the fool like Saul or Solomon by turning to idols and things that can never satisfy. I pray also for the world that you open their eyes that they may see the error of their ways and turn to you God, repent and receive and confess Jesus Christ as their Lord and deliverer. My we seek you with all our hearts and turn away from anything that interferes with our relation with you. May we turn in great anticipation to you with all our heart, with all our strength, with all our soul, with all our mind, with all our love and never forgetting the great truth of TURNING in the Bible. Let us never do evil by turning from our God.

God’s Personal Message to America

By Robert L. Cobb

Righteousness exalteth a
nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.
Proverbs 14:34

Introduction:

Most of us place a high value on “personal”
messages.  Form letters and mass mailings are the norm in our day, so it is very
refreshing to receive a “personal” note from a person or organization.  Some
have made a concerted effort to make their mailings seem to be “one-of-a-kind.”
Today it is difficult to tell what is personal correspondence and what is “mass
mailing.”  Sometimes it may seem the same with scripture.  While many preachers
apply passages written for Israel to America, our text IS to
America!  In fact, it is a blanket statement to ANY nation!  What
would God say to America, if He spoke audibly to us this Fourth of July
holiday?  I believe He would remind us of this verse. Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any
people.  These truths still hold true for any
nation today.  History is littered with the echoes of failed nations.  Nineveh,
the Egyptian Dynasty, Greece, the Roman Empire…. Today, the United States is a
proof text for this verse!  Let us see how this is so as we divide the thoughts
into four sections.

I.    The
Righteousness of a Nation
“Righteousness…”

The first word of our verse is “righteousness.”
It is a word seldom uttered outside of conservative churches today.  You don’t
hear our politicians speak about righteousness.  You don’t hear the news media
say anything about it.  There are at least three implications of the word,
righteousness.

1.   It Implies
Sovereignty. If there is such a
thing as righteousness, then Someone sovereign must determine what it is.
Humankind has a varied idea of righteousness.  We could never in a million years
agree on what is righteous and what is unrighteous.  God, however, is an
authority on righteousness.
Psalm 71:19 Thy righteousness also, O
God, is very high, who hast done great things: O God, who is like unto
thee!  Psalm 98:2  The LORD hath made known his salvation: his righteousness hath he
openly shewed in the sight of the heathen.

2.   It Implies a
Standard.   Society today does not want a
standard; they will not even acknowledge that one exists.  This is the main
reason that the Word of God has been attacked and ridiculed by unbelievers.
Psalm 119:40  Behold,
I have longed after thy precepts: quicken me in thy righteousness.
Psalm 119:142
Thy righteousness is an everlasting
righteousness, and thy law is the truth.  At the
funding of our nation, the Bible was held in high esteem.  There are both direct
and indirect quotations in the correspondence of the founding
fathers.

3.   It Implies a
Straightness.   It is one thing to admit that
there is a standard, it is quite another to make that standard your own.  The
word in our text intimates a personal righteousness, a personal morality.  The
Judeo-Christian ethic has guiding our nation from its founding up until the
generation in which we live.  Our forefathers chose the righteousness of the
Bible as it’s guiding light.  Notice the words of God to Israel after the
Exodus:

Deut. 4:5-9
5  Behold, I have taught
you statutes and judgments, even as the LORD my God commanded me, that ye should
do so in the land whither ye go to possess it.

6  Keep
therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the
sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this
great nation is a wise and understanding people.

7  For what
nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is
in all things that we call upon him for?
8  And what nation is
there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law,
which I set before you this day?
9  Only take heed to
thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine
eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life:
but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’
sons;

II.  The
Reward of a Nation  “…exalteth a
nation…”

Who can doubt that America has been exalted among
the nations?  Some Americans, like Nebuchadnezzer in the book of Daniel, take
the credit for such exaltation.  The mentality is that we somehow deserve the
greatness and power of our past.  That is a sad mistake to make.  America has
been exalted because of it’s citizens goodness and personal holiness!  America
has been exalted because of the churches that have carried out the great
commission both at home and abroad!  It is because of past obedience and
humility that we now enjoy a preeminent place on the world scene. Let us examine
the word “exalteth” a little more closely to determine just what God means in
this most glorious promise:  “Righteousness exalteth a nation…!”

1.   The Exalted Nation is
Set-Apart. One of the meanings of the word “exalt” is “to be lifted up, to be made high.”
(Wilson’s Word Studies, pg. 151)   The Bible teaches us that God Himself is
exalted, the scripture is exalted, and Israel is exalted above the nations.  But
in this verse we find a promise that the righteous nation also will be lifted up
and made high. Ps 46:10  Be
still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be
exalted in the earth.  Ps 37:34 Wait on the LORD, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to
inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.
Surely there is no nation in the history of the
world which has been lifted up and exalted more than America!  The United States
has dominated history throughout the 20th century.

2.   The Exalted Nation is
Safe.   Another sub-meaning of the word “exalt” is “to raise high as
an inaccessible fortress, out of the reach of danger.”  Psalm
32:7 Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt
preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of
deliverance.    Ps 119:114 Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word.
Many nations have been destroyed by their enemies
or by God Himself through natural disasters.  Plagues, pestilence, war, and
unbelief have destroyed many countries.  But America celebrates her 225th
birthday this July 4th.  What a testament to God’s protection and
preservation!

3.   The Exalted Nation is
Strong.  Another shade of meaning of the word “exalt” is “to triumph
over enemies.”  A mere glance at the history of America will
reveal the hand of God’s protection watching over us in war and in peace.  Think
of the odds of the colonies defeating the most powerful nation in the 18th
century world, the British Empire.  Yet, it happened.  We take for granted our
victory in the Revolutionary War.  We assume that our power then resembled our
power today.  Not true!  It was a miracle from God that America gained her
freedom from England.  Why did the Civil War not tear this nation apart?  Could
it have been the protection of God?  In World War II, America took on much of
the world essentially single handedly and assured freedom throughout the globe.
There was a time when our citizens proudly said, “America has never lost a
war!”  We must give God the glory for past victories for He has protected us.
Ps 144:1  Blessed be
the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to
fight:

III.   The
Revolt of a Nation    “…but sin…”

We now come to the depressing aspects of God’s
promise to “any nation.”  As surely as righteous- ness exalts a nation, sin
destroys it.  God says so in the very same verse!  Today, many people want a
“buffet-style” religion.  They want a God who is merciful, loving and kind.  The
God of Christianity fulfills that desire.  But the God of mercy and love is also
the God of judgment and damnation.  People turn away from such a God.  But here
is a problem.  This verse is a couplet, having two parts.  The parts are
opposite and contrasting.  But one cannot be accepted without the other.  They
stand together as a testimony of God’s unapproachable holiness.  The truth is
that God WILL judge sin!  He will not wink at it, forget it, or misplace His
records.  To understand this truth, let us examine the meaning of the word
“sin.”

1.   Sin is an
Undisciplined Aim.  To sin is “to miss the mark, as an archer misses
his target.” (Wilson’s Word Studies, pg. 395) Psalm
2:1  Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth;
for the faithful fail from among the children of men. Mankind is
bound to fail, seeing we are only flesh.  But our sinful nature is not an
excuse.  Missing God’s mark is the result of an undisciplined aim, a careless
shot at God’s perfection.  America does not demand greatness of itself anymore.
We do not honor what is good and right.  Contrariwise, we honor and reward the
evil and the froward.  Look at our culture.  The “bad guy” is now the norm;
the “good guy” is the potential hypocrite who bears watching.  A fitting
illustration can be found in the sporting world.  Former Atlanta Braves pitcher
John Rocker made international headlines when he spoke out against homosexuals
and other perverted lifestyles in a magazine.  He was assailed as intolerant and
a bigot.  His teammate, Chipper Jones, was engaged to be married, but
impregnated a Hooter’s waitress and reportedly tried to talk her into an
abortion.  She refused, had the baby, and Jones’ fiancé called off the
marriage.  Yet Chipper Jones was sought out by the media to comment on Rocker’s
verbal transgressions.  The “bad guy” has been turned into the “good guy.”  Such
is society’s undisciplined aim at righteousness!

2.   Sin is an Unwise
Assurance.  Another meaning of “sin” is “to stumble, to err from the
path.”  Again, it seems that we have a built in excuse.  Which of us has not
stumbled from the path through no fault of our own?  It is human nature to fail,
to stumble.  Our stumbling and erring from the path comes from a false
assurance, a careless attitude.  America has taken for granted the blessings of
God, assuming that He will continue to bless and protect us in spite of our
sin.    Psalm 59:12 For the
sin of their mouth and the words of their lips let them even be taken in their
pride:

3.   Sin is Ungrateful
Actions.   The final meaning of “sin”  is “an
outright transgression, rebellion.”
Daniel 9:11
Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy
law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse
is poured upon us…because we have sinned against him.  1John 3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is
the transgression of the law.

IV.   The
Reproach of a Nation   “…is a
reproach…”

The first mention of the word “reproach” in our
English Bible can be found in Genesis 30:23: “And she
conceived, and bare a son; and said, God hath taken away my reproach:”
Eve had borne a son whom she expected to be the
promised Messiah.  Her “reproach” was the curse that God placed on her because
of Adam’s sin.  Sin brings a reproach, whether it is in the life of the
individual or in the timeline of a nation.  Again we examine the different
meanings of our text.

1.   Disgraced.
One definition of reproach is “to be brought low, to
go from the heights to the depths.”
(Wilson’s Word Studies, pg. 350)  In
Nehemiah 1:3, Nehemiah reported,  “The remnant
that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and
reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are
burned with fire.”  Israel’s sin had caused them
to go into captivity and now their capital city stood in ruins.  The remnant was
brought low by their sin.  We too, have been brought from the heights to the
depths by the sins of our people.  God is bound to judge sin.  He will not turn
a blind eye to America’s folly.  As he judged Israel and the heathen nations, He
will also judge us.

2.
Dishonored. Another definition of “reproach” is
“to be ridiculed, to rail on, to revile.”  In 1 Samuel 17:26   young David
said, ”…What shall be done to the man that
killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is
this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living
God?   Israel was powerless in the face of
Goliath and the Philistines.  Certainly they were ridiculed and reviled by their
inability.  Goliath mocked the army of Israel and the whole nation.  America
knows something about such disgrace.  We are the richest and most developed
nation in the world, but we are reviled by much of the world.  The Muslim
nations and Communist China have little respect for our system of government or
our culture.  We were reviled and ridiculed by the former Soviet Union until God
brought them low.  Don’t think that the same thing cannot happen to
us.

3.   Defeated.
The final definition of “reproach” means “to pluck or strip away all that is
good.”  Our culture is in the process of doing just that.  Our defeat has not
come at the hands of a foreign invader.  It has come at our own hands.  The
“silent majority” that Richard Nixon spoke of years ago has been splintered into
competing special interests.  Politicians pit one group against another to keep
us divided.  Ai was a little speck on the map of the Israelite army.  After the
great victory at Jehrico, Ai would be a simple campaign, a “mopping up”
exercise.  But the sin of one man brought defeat.  I believe that the sin that
is defeating America is found in the church rather than the culture.  Yes, our
culture is rotten; our society is eaten up with evil.  But the Christian Achans
are hoarding up the world’s gold and garments and allowing the gospel witness to
fall silent.

Conclusion:
America has been great because of God.  If we
fall, it will be because of our failure to honor God as our Sovereign Authority
and Lord.  Must we watch our beloved land become mired in the slough of
compromise and fearfulness?  It is the Christian that must stand up for what is
right!  We must not fear the wrath of man or the condemnation of sinners.  They
hated Jesus, so if we are the light which exposes their evil, they will hate us
as well.  What would God’s personal message to America be if He spoke to us
audibly in this day?  I believe he would say, Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any
people.  Let us pray for our land and resolve to
do our best to make America great again.  If we achieve anything, it is God
which must accomplish it!

Are We as A Nation Forgetting About God?

A nation facing problems of biblical proportions appears to be looking less and less to religion for answers. According to a new NEWSWEEK Poll, the percentage of Americans who think faith will help answer all or most of the country’s current problems dipped to a historic low of 48 percent, down from 64 percent in 1994.

The poll also shows changing perceptions about the religious makeup of the United States and its politics. Since Barack Obama took office earlier this year, the number of people who consider the U.S. a Christian nation has fallen to 62 percent, down from higher numbers during the Bush administration (69 percent last year and 71 percent in 2005).

Last summer, when George W. Bush was still in office, one third of Americans thought that religion played too big a role in U.S. politics, compared to 25 percent who said it had too little influence. The numbers have switched in the new Obama era. Now, 26 percent think religion is too influential, compared to 31 percent who say faith doesn’t carry enough weight in the political system.

“It has to do with the context of the White House,” says Larry Hugick, chairman of Princeton Survey Research Associates, the firm that conducted the poll. “When you talk about religion in politics, it usually has to do with the role of evangelicals. Bush was an evangelical, but Obama isn’t, so people see the leadership of the country differently now.”

Sixty-eight percent said religion is losing influence on American life, up from 58 percent in 2000, 39 percent in 1984 and 32 percent in 1962. Previous periods where more than 60 percent thought religion was losing influence included 1994 and 1968.

When asked about their attitudes on social issues, survey respondents revealed a continued shift toward liberalism. One quarter of those surveyed say school boards should be able to fire homosexual teachers, down from 51 percent in a 1987 poll. Those who claim to have “old-fashioned values about family and marriage” has also decreased 13 points in that time, to a current 74 percent.

Still, Americans’ personal beliefs about religion haven’t changed much in the last 20 years. The number of Americans with faith in a spiritual being—nearly nine in 10—has not changed much over the past two decades, according to historical polling. Seventy-eight percent said prayer was an important part of daily life, an increase of 2 points since 1987. Eighty-five percent said religion is “very important” or “fairly important” in their own lives—a number that hasn’t changed much since 1992. Nearly half (48 percent) described themselves as both “religious and spiritual,” while another 30 percent said they were “spiritual but not religious.” Only 9 percent said they were neither religious nor spiritual.

An interesting measurement of the poll looked at the number of people who leave one faith for another. The percentage of Americans who identify as non-evangelical Protestant (25 percent) is 5 points lower than the number who said they were raised that way. While 22 percent of respondents said they were Roman Catholic, 26 percent said they were born into Catholic families. The faith groups with net gains in believers were evangelical Protestants (29 percent compared to 25 percent who were brought up in the faith) and people who are agnostic, atheist or report no religion (also called “seculars”), up 3 points to 11 percent.

The pursuit of both religious and secular voters in the 2008 presidential race required candidates to walk a middle line, as it appears voters are evenly split on whether faith dictates their politics. The new poll measured that 51 percent of those surveyed, the vast majority of them evangelical Protestants, said their religion can have an impact on their personal politics. A bit less, 46 percent, reported that their faith is much less likely to affect how they vote on a candidate or an issue.

Measuring party identification by religion is not predicted as intuitively, but the poll shows that the GOP has lost ground to Democrats among all measured faith groups. The number of religious respondents who identify with the Republican Party has fallen nearly 10 percent among non-evangelicals and Roman Catholics. Often viewed as a Republican stronghold, more evangelicals now identify as Democrats (35 percent) than Republicans (34 percent). And other religions contain bigger divides. Among Catholics, the spread was the biggest—50 percent Democrats to 17 percent Republicans. Seculars also include a higher percentage of Democrats than Republicans (35 percent to 13 percent), but the majority (44 percent) of seculars identify as independents.

The survey was conducted among 1,003 adults, age 18 and over, on April 1 and 2, 2009. The margin of sampling error is 3.5 percentage points for results based on total adults. In addition to common sampling error, the practical problems of conducting surveys can also introduce error or bias into polls.

// Find this article at http://www.newsweek.com/id/192915

Cultural Marxism in Education: The Gathering Revolt

 

For decades now, American schools corrupted by cultural Marxism have been eroding the moral fiber and judgment skills of schoolchildren. Unless sensible parents and teachers put a stop to the indoctrination, today’s free speech-crippling political correctness, tolerance of immorality, and lack of knowledge of our country’s birth will continue to grow until America is no more. To stop the indoctrination, parents and teachers must understand how cultural Marxism came to permeate school curricula.

        In the 1920s and 1930s Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci, who argued that traditional values must be obliterated in order to free “oppressed” social groups, called for eliminating social decorum and glorifying perverse behavior in order to destroy the Western middle class and collapse society from within. Translated into today’s terminology, the plan prescribed the commandeering of news and entertainment media, religious and financial institutions, organized labor, health care, and education.

       Gramsci’s cultural Marxism began to reach throughout society when Frankfurt University’s Institute for Marxism — renamed the Institute for Social Research and informally called the Frankfurt School — fled Nazi Germany, took up temporary residence at Columbia University in 1933, and then, during World War II, began using Gramsci-derived “critical theory” to “deconstruct” American society. German-born philosopher-writer Herbert Marcuse and other Marxists carried cultural Marxism beyond Columbia, and progressives adopted the disease as a weapon of “change” to be deployed within the education system.

         Education system, indeed. The Frankfurt School’s specialty was political correctness. The goal was to control social discourse on culture, politics, and economics and hush debate over middle-class moral decay. A critical tactic dictated by political correctness — demonizing people who question progressive wisdom — is illustrated by today’s Democrats and media calling tea-partiers racists and extremists for wanting to shrink government. The same kind of one-sided thought control renders schoolchildren captive to left-wing agendas.

        In the mid-1950s, Marcuse drove political correctness to new depths, proclaiming it unacceptable to criticize any manner of sexual behavior. Marcuse’s Eros and Civilization urged people to engage in “perversions” to soften the sting of capitalism’s alleged enslavement. The new and improved political correctness became a darling of progressive education schools, rounded out the arsenal aimed at mainstream America, and ushered in early-childhood sex education that facilitates premature and unhealthy sexual experimentation.

        Since the 1960s, Gramsci’s ghost has been creeping throughout education schools on the backs of the rabid academic herd. A list of ideological progeny reads like a “Who’s Who” of collectivist ideologues: Pentagon bomber William Ayers, anti-homework and anti-competition preacher Alfie Kohn, America-hater Noam Chomsky, communist Van Jones, and progressive Bible-thumper George Lakoff, to name a few. Education, social studies, and literature curricula burst with gibberish on social, environmental, and climate justice as well as multiculturalism, diversity, moral relativism, and moral equivalence — all derived in some way from cultural Marxism.

        Though cultural Marxism has gained momentum in education for forty years, the freedom-loving, self-reliant character of a reawakened America soul can stop the disease cold. So camouflaged has been the use of Gramsci’s brainchild that most education school indoctrinees — K-12 teachers — have never really weighed the consequences of conditioning students to reject a moral and prosperous America. While education is home to a disproportionate number of anti-capitalist and often anti-American progressives eager to “change the world,” the majority of teachers are traditionalists unconsciously following the herd. Loud and informed parents can sound the necessary wake-up call.

         Parents have long known that something was wrong but have accepted the deterioration of children’s morality and common sense for the sake of the “tolerance” that progressive educators demand. The self-censorship inherent in political correctness has silenced parents for fear of being branded “intolerant,” “mean,” “overly judgmental,” or, heaven forbid, “conservative.” Meanwhile, the accountability-killing approaches of John Dewey, Gramsci, Ayers, Kohn, and other leftist zealots have subverted school curricula and programmed collectivist robots to fill positions of influence in government, society, business, and education.

          But traditional teachers who understand the treachery in setting children adrift in failed utopian constructs are growing restless. One of my readers, a teacher, tells of a school principal seeking not “traditional teachers,” but “facilitators” that would “let the students decide what to learn, when to learn and how to learn.” Another teacher describes “in-service days” during which consultants preach the need to eliminate deadlines, “promote collectivism,” allow “cheating … [as] cooperative learning,” and use “progressive teaching methods.” According to the teacher, frustration over the incessant nonsense runs so high that “if there were no fear of retribution, many [teachers] would let [their outrage] fly!”

         But there is something else besides simple cognitive dissonance that moves progressive educators to promote cultural Marxism. What motivates someone to knowingly push collectivist approaches that cause guaranteed economic devastation and misery? In truth, the progressive psyche houses the unbridled arrogance required to believe that students indoctrinated by progressive teachers will be the first kids in the history of the world to march forth and tease beautiful miracles from ugly theory.

          In the final analysis, though progressive educators cling to cultural Marxism, Gramsci’s middle class-slayer, most teachers don’t believe that Western society is bad, America worse, and capitalism the worst. Dear teacher, please gather your wits. Please behold the professors who taught you to fill students with contempt for the Western middle class. The professors harbor contempt for you, the Western middle class teacher. Dear parents, please abandon silence and support teachers who want to abandon fear in order to join you in bringing a close to the darkest decades in the history of American education.

 

A physicist, former high-tech executive, and writer, Chuck Rogér invites you to visit his website, chuckroger.com. E-mail Chuck at swampcactus@chuckroger.com.

Courtesy of http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/04/cultural_marxism_in_education_1.html

Celebs to kids: America stinks!

By Drew Zahn
© 2010 WorldNetDaily

Actress Marisa Tomei

Hollywood celebrities and education gurus have teamed together to distribute to schools across the country a dramatic new curriculum that casts American history as an epic march of victims seeking to shrug off the shackles of the warmongering, racist, capitalist, imperialist United States.  

The History Channel’s airing of the “The People Speak”  marks the public coming-out party of a movement that has been in place since last year to teach America’s school children a “social justice” brand of history that rails against war, oppression, capitalism and popular patriotism.  

The television special featuring performances by Matt Damon, Benjamin Bratt, Marisa Tomei, Don Cheadle, Bruce Springsteen and others condemns the nation’s past of oppression by the wealthy, powerful and imperialist and instead trumpets the voices of America’s labor unions, minorities and protesters of various stripes.

 The accompanying curriculum guide for schools that show “The People Speak” in classrooms, for example, highlights an 1852 reading from abolitionist Frederick Douglass:

       What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer; a day that      reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciation of tyrants brass fronted impudence; your shout of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy – a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of the United States, at this very hour.

The program and discussion guide is the most ambitious resource among many offered to America’s schools by the Zinn Education Project, a collaboration of Rethinking Schools and Teaching for Change, as part of a push to encourage history instruction based on educator Howard Zinn’s 1980 tome exposing the abuses of America’s past, “A People’s History of the United States.”  

The project states its goal is to “introduce students to a more accurate, complex and engaging understanding of United States history than is found in traditional textbooks and curricula. … Zinn’s ‘A People’s History of the United States’ emphasizes the role of working people, women, people of color and organized social movements in shaping history. Students learn that history is made not by a few heroic individuals, but instead by people’s choices and actions, thereby also learning that their own choices and actions matter.”

 The History Channel, furthermore, touts “The People Speak” as a program that “gives voice to those who spoke up for social change throughout U.S. history, forging a nation from the bottom up with their insistence on equality and justice. … ‘The People Speak’ illustrates the relevance of these passionate historical moments to our society today and reminds us never to take liberty for granted.”

The celebrities featured in “The People Speak” claim the stories of bold protesters and oppressed minorities and workers are “inspiring,” while Zinn himself has stated that casting history as a people’s movement toward change offers hope.

Critics of the Zinn Project, however, warn that the curriculum is more about pushing Zinn’s admitted pacifist and socialist agenda on the next generation.

Michelle Malkin blasts “The People Speak” as an effort to promote “Marxist academic Howard Zinn’s capitalism-bashing, America-dissing, grievance-mongering history textbook, ‘A People’s History of the United States.’ … Zinn’s work is a self-proclaimed ‘biased account’ of American history that rails against white oppressors, the free market and the military.”

The first two pages of Zinn’s book demonstrate why Malkin and other critics might judge “A People’s History of the United States” as inherently socialist propaganda:

“These Arawaks of the Bahama Islands were much like the Indians on the mainland, who were remarkable … for their hospitality, their belief in sharing,” Zinn writes. “These traits did not stand out in the Europe of the Renaissance, dominated as it was by the religion of popes, the government of kings, the frenzy for money that marked Western civilization and its first messenger to the Americas, Christopher Columbus.”

“The information that Columbus wanted most was: Where is the gold?” Zinn writes, before pointing out of 1492 Spain, “Its population, mostly poor peasants, worked for the nobility, who were two percent of the population and owned 95 percent of the land.”

The curriculum accompanying Zinn’s book also contains questions and activities that recast American history in a victim vs. oppressor light:

“In one article included at the Zinn Education Project website, I describe how I introduce my classes to the problematic notion of Columbus’ ‘discovery of America,’” writes Bill Bigelow, curriculum editor of Rethinking Schools magazine and author of an article the project recommends reading to understand its goals, “A People’s History, A People’s Pedagogy.”

“I steal a student’s purse,” Bigelow continues. “I do everything I can to get students to agree with me that ‘Nomika’s’ purse is in fact my purse: I demonstrate that I control it; I take items out and claim them (Nomika has been alerted in advance, but other students don’t know that), and I insist that it is my purse.

“When I lose this argument with the class, I offer to ‘recast the act of purse acquisition,’ and tell students that I didn’t steal Nomika’s purse, I discovered it. Now it’s mine, right?” he explains.

He continues: “‘So,’ I ask them, ‘if I didn’t discover Nomika’s purse, then why do some people say that Columbus discovered America? What are some other terms that we could use to describe his actions?’ He stole America; he took it; he ripped it off; he invaded it.

“In a five- or ten-minute simulation,” Bigelow concludes, “students can begin to see what Howard Zinn argues throughout his work: that how we frame the past invariably takes sides. And when we use terms like ‘discovery’ – or even the seemingly more neutral ‘encounter’ – our language sides with the ones who came out on top.”

Zinn himself explains his approach, “I prefer to try to tell the story of the discovery of America from the viewpoint of the Arawaks, of the Constitution from the standpoint of the slaves, of Andrew Jackson as seen by the Cherokees, of the Civil War as seen by the New York Irish, of the Mexican War as seen by the deserting soldiers of Scott’s army, of the rise of industrialism as seen by the young women in the Lowell textile mills, of the Spanish-American war as seen by the Cubans, the conquest of the Philippines as seen by the black soldiers on Luzon, the Gilded Age as seen by southern farmers, the First World War as seen by socialists, the Second World War as seen by pacifists, the New Deal as seen by blacks in Harlem, the postwar American empire as seen by peons in Latin America.”

A new approach to patriotism

Howard Zinn

While critics have alleged Zinn’s education plan tears down America and its famous founders, a lesson plan titled “Unsung Heroes” begins with “an essay by Zinn defending his philosophy of education.

Zinn writes, “A high school student recently confronted me: ‘I read in your book “A People’s History of the United States” about the massacres of Indians, the long history of racism, the persistence of poverty in the richest country in the world, the senseless wars. How can I keep from being thoroughly alienated and depressed?’

“It’s a question I’ve heard many times before,” Zinn writes. “Another question often put to me by students is: ‘Don’t we need our national idols? You are taking down all our national heroes – the Founding Fathers, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, John F. Kennedy.’ Granted, it is good to have historical figures we can admire and emulate. But why hold up as models the 55 rich white men who drafted the Constitution as a way of establishing a government that would protect the interests of their class – slaveholders, merchants, bondholders, land speculators?”

Curriculum writer Bill Bigelow further explains of the popular perception of what it means to be patriotic, “There is a lot of ‘us,’ and ‘we,’ and ‘our,’ as if the texts are trying to dissolve race, class and gender realities into the melting pot of ‘the nation.’”

But Bigelow rejects the idea of identifying America as one, solid union.

“A people’s history and pedagogy ought to allow students to recognize that ‘we’ were not necessarily the ones stealing land, dropping bombs or breaking strikes,” he concludes. “‘We’ were ending slavery, fighting for women’s rights, organizing unions, marching against wars, and trying to create a society premised on the Golden Rule.”

His point is crystallized in a lesson plan he created for the Zinn project about the Pledge of Allegiance called “One Country! One Language! One Flag!”

The plan points out that the lesson’s title was actually a chant that followed the original Pledge – written in 1892 – as schoolchildren saluted with an extended arm, palm downward. The traditional gesture was replaced by a hand to the heart, the lesson points out, after Germany’s Nazis began using the same salute to shout “Heil Hitler!” in the 1930s.

“It seems to me that teachers ought to know something about the history of the Pledge before we ask our students to repeat it,” Bigelow writes. “How has it been used, and by whom? Why not lead kids in the original Pledge to the Flag, including the ‘One Language!’ chant and the Nazi-like salute, and then lead a discussion about the politics of the Pledge.”

The curriculum itself instructs students: “Read over the original words of the Pledge. In 1892, who did and did not have liberty and justice in the United States? (In the 1880s in the South, over 100 African Americans were lynched yearly; segregation was the norm and would soon be ratified by the U.S. Supreme Court in Plessy v. Ferguson. Women could not vote. In the previous 50 years, Mexicans had been stripped of land and property in what had been their country. Discrimination and violence against Chinese immigrants had grown increasingly severe. In the summer of 1892, 8,000 Pennsylvania National Guardsmen had helped Henry Clay Frick break the union at the Carnegie Steel Co. in Homestead, Pa.) How about in the 1920s, when the Pledge was introduced more widely into the schools?”

The spread of the Zinn Educational Project

According to a Zinn Educational Project report, in April 2008, with support from an anonymous donor, ZEP partnered with 32 organizations to offer 31,000 teachers and teacher educators free packets for instilling the “people’s history” in schools across the country. The ZEP reports it quickly received requests for its available 4,000 free packets, nearly half of which were sent to schools in California, New York and Illinois.

A graphic illustrating where ZEP sent the packets is below:

The ZEP website boasts many of the teachers have begun implementing the curriculum and has published the following testimonials:

“These resources are an asset,” reportedly responded Meaghan Martin, an elementary school teacher in Manassas, Va. “We are always looking for ways to offer students a critical perspective. The unsung heroes unit is outstanding! I have tailored it to meet the needs of my 2nd graders when we study American biographies.”

Lara Emerling, a middle school teacher in Baltimore, Md., reportedly replied, “Knowing that resources like the Zinn Education Project exist make me feel so hopeful about the network of people who are engaged in this kind of dialogue with their students. I am a young, white female living in Baltimore and teaching at an all black middle school. These resources are so valuable to me personally and to the relationships being built between the students and the faculty. Thank you to everyone involved in keeping this collaboration evolving!”

Zinn himself has testified of his hope that the project will continue to spread.

“We’re dreamers,” writes Zinn. “We want it all. We want a peaceful world. We want an egalitarian world. We don’t want war. We don’t want capitalism. We want a decent society.”

Courtesy of http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=119046

America’s all-out spiritual battle, part 1

By Marsha West

“Two boys were walking home from Sunday school after hearing a strong preaching on the devil.

One said to the other, ‘What do you think about all this Satan stuff?’

The other boy replied, ‘Well, you know how Santa Claus turned out. It’s probably just your Dad.’”

What do you think about all the Satan stuff? Do you believe Satan exists? If you do, where do you think he hangs out? He must be a regular globe trotter. Every minute of the day, in every part of the world, exorcisms are being performed on people who are supposedly possessed by the devil. If these exorcisms are indeed legitimate the implication is that Satan can be in a million places at once.

According to Scripture Satan, a fallen angel, is a personal being. Note that Jesus used the personal pronoun when referring to him: “He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it” (John 8:44).

Logically, Satan can only be in one place at a time. So I’ve been giving his whereabouts some serious thought. To me it makes sense that he would be headquartered on Capitol Hill. But I could be wrong. Perhaps he’s in Iran or Pakistan or for that matter, even Hollywood. Regardless of where the “liar” resides, you’ve got to admit that some pretty powerful demonic forces are working their wiles on a number of our elected officials. I mean, think about it. The Left’s diabolical agenda most certainly is influenced by liars.

All kidding aside, the Bible contains quite a few references to angels and demons. A Bible believing Christian knows that the spirits are very real — a clear and present danger.

Even after I accepted Christ I remained skeptical of Satan and his legions of demons for quite some time. As I worked my way through the Bible I came to believe that there are indeed “spiritual forces of evil.” You first meet Satan (the serpent) in Genesis 3:1. He shows up in the Garden of Eden intent on tricking Eve into disobeying God. (More on Eve and the snake later.) In the last book of the Bible, the Revelation of Jesus Christ, he finally gets his comeuppance. Without going into the gory details, let’s just say that Satan and his demons are sent spiraling into the abyss where they will cool (or warm) their heals for all eternity. God’s judgment is final, by the way. No spirit or human being sentenced to eternal punishment (Mat. 25:46) in the lake of burning sulfur (Rev. 20:10) gets out on good behavior — or for any reason!

But before Satan takes up permanent residence in the place prepared for him and his angles, and all those who reject the Son of God, he shall remain the “god of this world” (2Cor. 4:4). Answers.com explains Satan’s influence: “Satan is the major influence on the mind-set expressed by the ideals, opinions, goals, hopes and views of the majority of people. His areas of influence also encompass the world’s philosophies, education, and commerce. The thoughts, ideas, speculations and false religions of the world are under his control and have sprung from his lies and deceptions.”

Angels were created with a free will. When some of them exercised their free will and rebelled against God, He cast them out of heaven to earth. For thousands of years God has allowed these spirits to wreak havoc on this planet. And one has to admit they’re doing a pretty thorough job of it.

In Ephesians 6:12 Paul “outs” mankind’s true enemy:

“Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

The Bible calls the struggle “spiritual warfare.” Spiritual warfare has been ongoing since the Fall of Man. Although Satan has won a multitude of battles, in the end he will be the big loser.

A word of warning before I move on. Evil spirits have supernatural powers that man does not possess, never will possess, and should not endeavor to possess. Deceptive spirits have persuaded some people to think they are among the “enlightened ones” (EO). Allegedly EOs are a spiritually advanced order of philosophers and peacemakers. (Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey are said to be EOs. Joe Biden, not so much.) These folks believe they’re here to help usher in a new way of being on the planet. In other words, to help humans evolve to a higher plane of existence. Supposedly an EO possesses superior intellect, has been given extraordinary insights, and is magically empowered. Many EOs seek guidance from spirits.

In Scripture God makes it abundantly clear that spirits, including angels, are not to be evoked, called on, invited in or channeled. We should never try to connect with spirits and we certainly shouldn’t try to glean information from them. Jesus Himself often told the demons to keep quiet!

Christians who are in contact with so-called angels will read this article and get a little testy with me because they see nothing wrong in contacting angels — and they sure don’t want anyone raining on their parade! But here’s the thing. Getting a little wet sure beats getting struck by a lightening bolt from above.

The purpose of this article, in part, is to attempt to give sincere Christians a clear understanding of the Bible’s teaching on spiritual warfare and also to pass on some of the practices God strictly forbids.

One thing is clear. Contacting spirits or consulting mediums for any reason is forbidden. In other words, participating in the occult is taboo. (Deut. 18: 10-12) You ask, “Why does it matter to God?” As I pointed out, the spirits are malevolent. They are counterfeit…phony…fakes! (There are rumors that Adolph Hitler, who was an occultist, invoked the “Spirit of Anti-Christ” for guidance. Look where it got him!)

One final point. Many Christians have a misconception of “spiritual warfare.” Nowhere in Scripture does it say that believers are to go into enemy territory. God’s people, says Paul, are to be “strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.” As well, we are admonished by Peter to, “Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking some one to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith…”

Be strong in the Lord! Resist the devil! Put on the full armor of God! When God’s people stand firm in their faith the tempters make tracks. (To help give Christians an inside look at angels and demons fighting for control of the mind of a back-slidden Christian, I wrote an allegory on the armor of God. Read it here http://emailbrigade.com/322.html)

AN ALL OUT SPIRITUAL BATTLE

Most of the “experts” now agree that our beloved country is in dire straits. Some of them have gone so far as to say that our economy is teetering on the brink of collapse but that remains to be seen.

Thanks largely to the secularization of America, the culture is becoming darker, more corrupt and perverse as time goes on. Almost everyone I know has gone through — or is currently going through — trials and tribulations. It seems people all over the globe are getting pummeled by evil forces! I would go so far as to say that there is an all out spiritual battle going on for the hearts and minds of men!

What’s behind this? I’ll use Paul’s terminology: rulers, authorities, powers, spiritual forces of evil in the supernatural realm. In other words, Satan and the fallen angels.

Some of you reading this article probably think I’ve gone ’round the bend. But keep in mind that a large number of rational people who resist the idea of the devil believe in angles. Many people believe in ghosts to include those of the dearly departed. Still others believe the planet is being visited by extraterrestrials. I don’t have the space to cover all of what people believe in, so I’ll move on.

Scripture clearly teaches that there are forces of good and evil occupying the heavenly realm. Angels are good, demons are evil. The chief of fallen angels has many names including Satan, Beelzebub and Belial. He’s called the old serpent, our adversary, god of this world, prince of darkness, father of lies, great dragon…enemy…deceiver… murderer…let’s leave it at that. Fallen angels are not benevolent beings. They do not come to impart wisdom and give guidance. On the contrary. They’re lying spirits! (1 Kings 22:22, 23; 2 Chron. 18: 21, 22) Moreover, they have nothing but contempt for humans. They are hell bent on destroying God’s entire creation.

If you’re not a Christian and you’re still reading this, you’ll be rolling your eyes about now. Fear not! The best is yet to come. Stay with me and you will see what many orthodox (conservative) Christians believe about angels and demons and why we believe it. Additionally, you’ll learn the ways in which Jesus and His apostles dealt with the devil. There will also be some examples of Satan’s victories in both the Church and the culture.

THE FATHER OF LIES

In our postmodern culture many self-identifying Christians deny that Satan, or the devil, actually exists. As I said, these same people readily admit to a belief in ghosts, angels, fairies, and extraterrestrials yet they reject the notion that Satan is real. Some skeptics think of the devil as a sort of mythological character while others say he’s merely a symbol of evil. Then there are those who think of him as a caricature. Parents who view him that way often dress their children in devil costumes on Halloween. Most of the costumes are a combination of red and black, have a long tail with a spear on the end, bat-like ears and a three pronged pitchfork. Women’s devil costumes are usually sexy.

Christians who read and study Scripture know that Satan relishes being thought of as a silly, or sexy, caricature. Most people have no fear of a person who goes around in red tights, sporting a cape and carrying a phony pitchfork. These sorts of devils are not taken seriously. I mean, why would anyone fear something so….ridiculous?

What we must remember is that Satan doesn’t wear a costume. He comes as one of us.

THE DEVIL WITHOUT TIGHTS

According to a number of Bible scholars, Isaiah 14: 12-15 tells the story of Lucifer, an archangel, who fell from God’s grace and became the devil. God tossed Lucifer out of heaven because he conspired to make his throne higher than the clouds. In other words, he contrived to dethrone God.

Lucifer is Latin for “morning star” or “light-bearer.” (In 2 Peter 1:19 morning star has no relation to Satan.) The way Isaiah describes him is a far cry from the way in which he’s viewed by our culture:

“How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit.” (NIV for clarity)

Many people have heard the story of Adam and Eve, the first man and woman created by God. Adam and Eve were born with a free will. They did not have a sin nature. In the beginning there was no death. We learn from the book of Genesis that they made their home in the Garden of Eden. Then one day the wily serpent came to the garden with evil intent. He found Eve alone and, through lies and deceit, convinced her to disregard God’s command to Adam “…you must not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil for when you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Gen. 2:17) The serpent claimed that God had withheld knowledge that would make them like God and give them hidden wisdom. So Eve chose to disregard God’s warning and took a bite out of the fruit. The serpent was right as it relates to God withholding knowledge from them. However, the hidden knowledge turned out to be detrimental. The moment Eve ate of the fruit her eyes were opened…and sin came into the world. Eve handed the fruit to her husband and he also chose to disregard God’s command and ate the fruit. Adam and Eve went from God-centeredness to self-centeredness. When God confronted them with what they had done Adam blamed the whole thing on his wife! Adam and Eve’s sin (going against God) precipitated the Fall of Man. The consequence of sin is death. (2 Cor. 11:3) Because of the Fall, human beings are in bondage to sin and the kingdom of Satan.

© Marsha West

Courtesy of Renew America at http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/mwest/100406

 

The Founding Fathers and Slavery

By David Barton

Even though the issue of slavery is often raised as a discrediting charge against the Founding Fathers, the historical fact is that slavery was not the product of, nor was it an evil introduced by, the Founding Fathers; slavery had been introduced to America nearly two centuries before the Founders. As President of Congress Henry Laurens explained: I abhor slavery. I was born in a country where slavery had been established by British Kings and Parliaments as well as by the laws of the country ages before my existence. . . . In former days there was no combating the prejudices of men supported by interest; the day, I hope, is approaching when, from principles of gratitude as well as justice, every man will strive to be foremost in showing his readiness to comply with the Golden Rule ["do unto others as you would have them do unto you" Matthew 7:12]. 1 Prior to the time of the Founding Fathers, there had been few serious efforts to dismantle the institution of slavery. John Jay identified the point at which the change in attitude toward slavery began: Prior to the great Revolution, the great majority . . . of our people had been so long accustomed to the practice and convenience of having slaves that very few among them even doubted the propriety and rectitude of it. 2 The Revolution was the turning point in the national attitude–and it was the Founding Fathers who contributed greatly to that change. In fact, many of the Founders vigorously complained against the fact that Great Britain had forcefully imposed upon the Colonies the evil of slavery. For example, Thomas Jefferson heavily criticized that British policy: He [King George III] has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating and carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither. . . . Determined to keep open a market where men should be bought and sold, he has prostituted his negative for suppressing every legislative attempt to prohibit or to restrain this execrable commerce [that is, he has opposed efforts to prohibit the slave trade]. 3 Benjamin Franklin, in a 1773 letter to Dean Woodward, confirmed that whenever the Americans had attempted to end slavery, the British government had indeed thwarted those attempts. Franklin explained that . . . . . . a disposition to abolish slavery prevails in North America, that many of Pennsylvanians have set their slaves at liberty, and that even the Virginia Assembly have petitioned the King for permission to make a law for preventing the importation of more into that colony. This request, however, will probably not be granted as their former laws of that kind have always been repealed. 4 Further confirmation that even the Virginia Founders were not responsible for slavery, but actually tried to dismantle the institution, was provided by John Quincy Adams (known as the “hell-hound of abolition” for his extensive efforts against that evil). Adams explained: The inconsistency of the institution of domestic slavery with the principles of the Declaration of Independence was seen and lamented by all the southern patriots of the Revolution; by no one with deeper and more unalterable conviction than by the author of the Declaration himself [Jefferson]. No charge of insincerity or hypocrisy can be fairly laid to their charge. Never from their lips was heard one syllable of attempt to justify the institution of slavery. They universally considered it as a reproach fastened upon them by the unnatural step-mother country [Great Britain] and they saw that before the principles of the Declaration of Independence, slavery, in common with every other mode of oppression, was destined sooner or later to be banished from the earth. Such was the undoubting conviction of Jefferson to his dying day. In the Memoir of His Life, written at the age of seventy-seven, he gave to his countrymen the solemn and emphatic warning that the day was not distant when they must hear and adopt the general emancipation of their slaves. 5 While Jefferson himself had introduced a bill designed to end slavery, 6 not all of the southern Founders were opposed to slavery. According to the testimony of Virginians James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, and John Rutledge, it was the Founders from North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia who most strongly favored slavery. 7 Yet, despite the support for slavery in those States, the clear majority of the Founders opposed this evil. For instance, when some of the southern pro-slavery advocates invoked the Bible in support of slavery, Elias Boudinot, President of the Continental Congress, responded: [E]ven the sacred Scriptures had been quoted to justify this iniquitous traffic. It is true that the Egyptians held the Israelites in bondage for four hundred years, . . . but . . . gentlemen cannot forget the consequences that followed: they were delivered by a strong hand and stretched-out arm and it ought to be remembered that the Almighty Power that accomplished their deliverance is the same yesterday, today, and for ever. 8  Many of the Founding Fathers who had owned slaves as British citizens released them in the years following America’s separation from Great Britain (e.g., George Washington, John Dickinson, Caesar Rodney, William Livingston, George Wythe, John Randolph of Roanoke, and others). Furthermore, many of the Founders had never owned any slaves. For example, John Adams proclaimed, “[M]y opinion against it [slavery] has always been known . . . [N]ever in my life did I own a slave.” 9 Notice a few additional examples of the strong anti-slavery sentiments held by great numbers of the Founders: [W]hy keep alive the question of slavery? It is admitted by all to be a great evil. 10 CHARLES CARROLL, SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION As Congress is now to legislate for our extensive territory lately acquired, I pray to Heaven that they may build up the system of the government on the broad, strong, and sound principles of freedom. Curse not the inhabitants of those regions, and of the United States in general, with a permission to introduce bondage [slavery]. 11 JOHN DICKINSON, SIGNER OF THE CONSTITUTION; GOVERNOR OF PENNSYLVANIA That men should pray and fight for their own freedom and yet keep others in slavery is certainly acting a very inconsistent, as well as unjust and perhaps impious, part. 12 JOHN JAY, PRESIDENT OF CONTINENTAL CONGRESS, ORIGINAL CHIEF JUSTICE U. S. SUPREME COURT The whole commerce between master and slave is a perpetual exercise of the most boisterous passions, the most unremitting despotism on the one part, and degrading submissions on the other. . . . And with what execration [curse] should the statesman be loaded, who permitting one half the citizens thus to trample on the rights of the other. . . . And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot sleep forever. 13 THOMAS JEFFERSON Christianity, by introducing into Europe the truest principles of humanity, universal benevolence, and brotherly love, had happily abolished civil slavery. Let us who profess the same religion practice its precepts . . . by agreeing to this duty. 14 RICHARD HENRY LEE, PRESIDENT OF CONTINENTAL CONGRESS; SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION I hope we shall at last, and if it so please God I hope it may be during my life time, see this cursed thing [slavery] taken out. . . . For my part, whether in a public station or a private capacity, I shall always be prompt to contribute my assistance towards effecting so desirable an event. 15 WILLIAM LIVINGSTON, SIGNER OF THE CONSTITUTION; GOVERNOR OF NEW JERSEY [I]t ought to be considered that national crimes can only be and frequently are punished in this world by national punishments; and that the continuance of the slave-trade, and thus giving it a national sanction and encouragement, ought to be considered as justly exposing us to the displeasure and vengeance of Him who is equally Lord of all and who views with equal eye the poor African slave and his American master. 16 LUTHER MARTIN, DELEGATE AT CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION As much as I value a union of all the States, I would not admit the Southern States into the Union unless they agree to the discontinuance of this disgraceful trade [slavery]. 17 Honored will that State be in the annals of history which shall first abolish this violation of the rights of mankind. 18 JOSEPH REED, REVOLUTIONARY OFFICER; GOVERNOR OF PENNSYLVANIA Domestic slavery is repugnant to the principles of Christianity. . . . It is rebellion against the authority of a common Father. It is a practical denial of the extent and efficacy of the death of a common Savior. It is an usurpation of the prerogative of the great Sovereign of the universe who has solemnly claimed an exclusive property in the souls of men. 19 BENJAMIN RUSH, SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION Justice and humanity require it [the end of slavery]–Christianity commands it. Let every benevolent . . . pray for the glorious period when the last slave who fights for freedom shall be restored to the possession of that inestimable right. 20 NOAH WEBSTER, RESPONSIBLE FOR ARTICLE I, SECTION 8, 8 OF THE CONSTITUTION Slavery, or an absolute and unlimited power in the master over the life and fortune of the slave, is unauthorized by the common law. . . . The reasons which we sometimes see assigned for the origin and the continuance of slavery appear, when examined to the bottom, to be built upon a false foundation. In the enjoyment of their persons and of their property, the common law protects all. 21 JAMES WILSON, SIGNER OF THE CONSTITUTION; U. S. SUPREME COURT JUSTICE [I]t is certainly unlawful to make inroads upon others . . . and take away their liberty by no better means than superior power. 22 JOHN WITHERSPOON, SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION For many of the Founders, their feelings against slavery went beyond words. For example, in 1774, Benjamin Franklin and Benjamin Rush founded America’s first anti-slavery society; John Jay was president of a similar society in New York. In fact, when signer of the Constitution William Livingston heard of the New York society, he, as Governor of New Jersey, wrote them, offering: I would most ardently wish to become a member of it [the society in New York] and . . . I can safely promise them that neither my tongue, nor my pen, nor purse shall be wanting to promote the abolition of what to me appears so inconsistent with humanity and Christianity. . . . May the great and the equal Father of the human race, who has expressly declared His abhorrence of oppression, and that He is no respecter of persons, succeed a design so laudably calculated to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke. 23 Other prominent Founding Fathers who were members of societies for ending slavery included Richard Bassett, James Madison, James Monroe, Bushrod Washington, Charles Carroll, William Few, John Marshall, Richard Stockton, Zephaniah Swift, and many more. In fact, based in part on the efforts of these Founders, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts began abolishing slavery in 1780; 24 Connecticut and Rhode Island did so in 1784; 25 Vermont in 1786; 26 New Hampshire in 1792; 27 New York in 1799; 28 and New Jersey did so in 1804. 29Additionally, the reason that Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Iowa all prohibited slavery was a Congressional act, authored by Constitution signer Rufus King 30 and signed into law by President George Washington, 31 which prohibited slavery in those territories. 32 It is not surprising that Washington would sign such a law, for it was he who had declared: I can only say that there is not a man living who wishes more sincerely than I do to see a plan adopted for the abolition of it [slavery]. 33 The truth is that it was the Founding Fathers who were responsible for planting and nurturing the first seeds for the recognition of black equality and for the eventual end of slavery. This was a fact made clear by Richard Allen. Allen had been a slave in Pennsylvania but was freed after he converted his master to Christianity. Allen, a close friend of Benjamin Rush and several other Founding Fathers, went on to become the founder of the A.M.E. Church in America. In an early address “To the People of Color,” he explained: Many of the white people have been instruments in the hands of God for our good, even such as have held us in captivity, [and] are now pleading our cause with earnestness and zeal. 34 While much progress was made by the Founders to end the institution of slavery, unfortunately what they began was not fully achieved until generations later. Yet, despite the strenuous effort of many Founders to recognize in practice that “all men are created equal,” charges persist to the opposite. In fact, revisionists even claim that the Constitution demonstrates that the Founders considered one who was black to be only three-fifths of a person. This charge is yet another falsehood. The three-fifths clause was not a measurement of human worth; rather, it was an anti-slavery provision to limit the political power of slavery’s proponents. By including only three-fifths of the total number of slaves in the congressional calculations, Southern States were actually being denied additional pro-slavery representatives in Congress. Based on the clear records of the Constitutional Convention, two prominent professors explain the meaning of the three-fifths clause: [T]he Constitution allowed Southern States to count three-fifths of their slaves toward the population that would determine numbers of representatives in the federal legislature. This clause is often singled out today as a sign of black dehumanization: they are only three-fifths human. But the provision applied to slaves, not blacks. That meant that free blacks–and there were many, North as well as South–counted the same as whites. More important, the fact that slaves were counted at all was a concession to slave owners. Southerners would have been glad to count their slaves as whole persons. It was the Northerners who did not want them counted, for why should the South be rewarded with more representatives, the more slaves they held? 35 THOMAS WEST It was slavery’s opponents who succeeded in restricting the political power of the South by allowing them to count only three-fifths of their slave population in determining the number of congressional representatives. The three-fifths of a vote provision applied only to slaves, not to free blacks in either the North or South. 36 WALTER WILLIAMS Why do revisionists so often abuse and misportray the three-fifths clause? Professor Walter Williams (himself an African-American) suggested: Politicians, news media, college professors and leftists of other stripes are selling us lies and propaganda. To lay the groundwork for their increasingly successful attack on our Constitution, they must demean and criticize its authors. As Senator Joe Biden demonstrated during the Clarence Thomas hearings, the framers’ ideas about natural law must be trivialized or they must be seen as racists. 37 While this has been only a cursory examination of the Founders and slavery, it is nonetheless sufficient to demonstrate the absurdity of the insinuation that the Founders were a collective group of racists.   For more information on this issue see George Washington, Thomas Jefferson & Slavery in Virginia, The Bible, Slavery, and America’s Founders, Black History Issue 2003, Confronting Civil War Revisionism, and Setting the Record Straight (Book, DVD, or VHS). Endnotes1. Frank Moore, Materials for History Printed From Original Manuscripts, the Correspondence of Henry Laurens of South Carolina (New York: Zenger Club, 1861), p. 20, to John Laurens on August 14, 1776. 2. John Jay, The Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay, Henry P. Johnston, editor (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1891), Vol. III, p. 342, to the English Anti-Slavery Society in June 1788. 3. Thomas Jefferson, The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, Albert Ellery Bergh, editor (Washington, DC: Thomas Jefferson Memorial Assoc., 1903), Vol. I, p. 34. 4. Benjamin Franklin, The Works of Benjamin Franklin, Jared Sparks, editor (Boston: Tappan, Whittemore, and Mason, 1839), Vol. VIII, p. 42, to the Rev. Dean Woodward on April 10, 1773. 5. John Quincy Adams, An Oration Delivered Before the Inhabitants of the Town of Newburyport at Their Request on the Sixty-First Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1837 (Newburyport: Charles Whipple, 1837), p. 50. 6. Jefferson, Writings, Vol. I, p. 4. 7. Jefferson, Writings, Vol. I, p. 28, from his autobiography; see also James Madison, The Papers of James Madison (Washington: Langtree and O’Sullivan, 1840), Vol. III, p. 1395, August 22, 1787; see also James Madison, The Writings of James Madison, Gaillard Hunt, editor, (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1910), Vol. IX, p. 2, to Robert Walsh on November 27, 1819. 8. The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States (Washington, DC: Gales and Seaton, 1834), First Congress, Second Session, p. 1518, March 22, 1790; see also George Adams Boyd, Elias Boudinot, Patriot and Statesman (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1952), p. 182. 9. John Adams, The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States, Charles Francis Adams, editor (Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1854), Vol. IX, pp. 92-93, to George Churchman and Jacob Lindley on January 24, 1801. 10. Kate Mason Rowland, Life and Correspondence of Charles Carroll of Carrollton (New York & London: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1898), Vol. II, p. 321, to Robert Goodloe Harper, April 23, 1820. 11. Charles J. Stille, The Life and Times of John Dickinson (Philadelphia: J. P. Lippincott Company, 1891), p. 324, to George Logan on January 30, 1804. 12. John Jay, The Life and Times of John Jay, William Jay, editor (New York: J. & S. Harper, 1833), Vol. II, p. 174, to the Rev. Dr. Richard Price on September 27, 1785. 13. Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia (Philadelphia: Matthew Carey, 1794), Query XVIII, pp. 236-237. 14. Richard Henry Lee, Memoir of the Life of Richard Henry Lee, and His Correspondence With the Most Distinguished Men in America and Europe, Illustrative of Their Characters, and of the American Revolution, Richard Henry Lee, editor (Philadelphia: H. C. Carey and I. Lea, 1825), Vol. I, p. 19, the first speech of Richard Henry Lee in the House of Burgesses of Virginia. 15. William Livingston, The Papers of William Livingston, Carl E. Prince, editor (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1988), Vol. V, p. 358, to James Pemberton on October 20, 1788. 16. Luther Martin, The Genuine Information Delivered to the Legislature of the State of Maryland Relative to the Proceedings of the General Convention Lately Held at Philadelphia (Philadelphia: Eleazor Oswald, 1788), p. 57; see also Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution, Jonathan Elliot, editor (Washington: Printed for the Editor, 1836), Vol. I, p. 374. 17. Elliot’s Debates (Washington: Printed for the Editor, 1836), Vol. III, pp. 452-454, George Mason, June 15, 1788. 18. William Armor, Lives of the Governors of Pennsylvania (Norwich, CT: T. H. Davis & Co., 1874), p. 223. 19. Benjamin Rush, Minutes of the Proceedings of a Convention of Delegates from the Abolition Societies Established in Different Parts of the United States Assembled at Philadelphia (Philadelphia: Zachariah Poulson, 1794), p. 24. 20. Noah Webster, Effect of Slavery on Morals and Industry (Hartford: Hudson and Goodwin, 1793), p. 48. 21. James Wilson, The Works of the Honorable James Wilson, Bird Wilson, editor (Philadelphia: Lorenzo Press, 1804), Vol. II, p. 488, lecture on “The Natural Rights of Individuals.” 22. John Witherspoon, The Works of John Witherspoon (Edinburgh: J. Ogle, 1815), Vol. VII, p. 81, from “Lectures on Moral Philosophy,” Lecture X on Politics. 23. William Livingston, The Papers of William Livingston, Carl E. Prince, editor (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1988), Vol. V, p. 255, to the New York Manumission Society on June 26, 1786. 24. A Constitution or Frame of Government Agreed Upon by the Delegates of the People of the State of Massachusetts-Bay (Boston: Benjamin Edes and Sons, 1780), p. 7, Article I, “Declaration of Rights” and An Abridgement of the Laws of Pennsylvania, Collinson Read, editor, (Philadelphia: Printed for the Author, 1801), pp. 264-266, Act of March 1, 1780. 25. The Public Statue Laws of the State of Connecticut (Hartford: Hudson and Goodwin, 1808), Book I, pp. 623-625, Act passed in October 1777 and Rhode Island Session Laws (Providence: Wheeler, 1784), pp. 7-8, Act of February 27, 1784. 26. The Constitutions of the Sixteen States (Boston: Manning and Loring, 1797), p. 249, Vermont, 1786, Article I, “Declaration of Rights.” 27. Constitutions (1797), p. 50, New Hampshire, 1792, Article I, “Bill of Rights.” 28. Laws of the State of New York, Passed at the Twenty-Second Session, Second Meeting of the Legislature (Albany: Loring Andrew, 1798), pp. 721-723, Act passed on March 29, 1799. 29. Laws of the State of New Jersey, Compiled and Published Under the Authority of the Legislature, Joseph Bloomfield, editor (Trenton: James J. Wilson, 1811), pp. 103-105, Act passed February 15, 1804. 30. Rufus King, The Life and Correspondence of Rufus King, Charles King, editor (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1894), Vol. I, pp. 288-289. 31. Acts Passed at a Congress of the United States of America (Hartford: Hudson and Goodwin, 1791), p. 104, August 7, 1789. 32. The Constitutions of the United States (Trenton: Moore and Lake, 1813), p. 366, “An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States Northwest of the River Ohio,” Article VI. 33. George Washington, The Writings of George Washington, John C. Fitzpatrick, editor (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1932), Vol. XXVIII, pp. 407-408, to Robert Morris on April 12, 1786. 34. Richard Allen, The Life Experience and Gospel Labors of the Right Rev. Richard Allen (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1983), p. 73, from his “Address to the People of Color in the United States.” 35. Principles: A Quarterly Review for Teachers of History and Social Science (Claremont, CA: The Claremont Institute Spring/Summer, 1992), Thomas G. West, “Was the American Founding Unjust? The Case of Slavery,” p. 5. 36. Walter E. Williams, Creators Syndicate, Inc., May 26, 1993, “Some Fathers Fought Slavery.” 37. Williams, May 26, 1993, “Some Fathers Fought Slavery.”  Courtesy of wallbuilders at http://wallbuilders.com/LIBissuesArticles.asp?id=122