Posted by
ValiantForTruth on Friday, April 18, 2008 2:40:39 PM
‘The rejection of the founder’s vision of a nation protected from factionalism’ is but a symptom of a larger problem. Madison’s thesis in Federalist #10 assumes a consensus among the people of the necessity of a limited federal government to secure their God given rights to life, liberty and property.
These are the men who chose their own pastors and soon claimed to choose their governors, and the self-ruled congregation became the self-governed municipality. The base of education and self-government spread until all men could be free. [Will Durant on the Reformation from his History of Civilization]
Most of the factions today share an ideology based on the autonomous wisdom of men which is opposed to constitutional government by the people. They have no concept of personal liberty under limited government because they have no basis for self-government. Their priority is not to secure the rights of life and liberty, but to establish equality by an intrusive and expanding state.
Some of the factions among the religious right would see a return to the wisdom of colonial America that lead to a rebellion against tyranny and the advance of liberty among nations. They believe that the Bible is the source of this wisdom and that Biblical Christianity is essential for men to learn to be self-governing and self-denying without coercion.
Liberty apart from Biblical Christianity is not sustainable as taught by the history of the French Revolution and the history in the making of the modern West. Imagine what men like Patrick Henry would say of their country today. What happened to our men? Where are the men who love liberty?