The American Soul
The American Soul
The Price of Following Christ Has Always Been Steep
The price of true faith has always been steep. In this riveting exploration of Christian martyrdom, Jesse Cope takes listeners on a journey through the brutal deaths suffered by Christ's apostles—from Philip's scourging and crucifixion to James being stoned at 94 years old, and Mark being literally torn to pieces by an angry mob. These accounts aren't merely historical footnotes but powerful evidence for Christianity's truth. After all, why would these men willingly endure such horrific deaths for something they knew to be a lie?
The episode opens with a challenging question that cuts to the heart of our priorities: "Have you made time for God today?" As Jesse observes, "Busy people make time for what matters to them because it matters to them." This simple yet profound insight forces us to examine what our schedules reveal about our true values. Through an examination of Matthew 12, we explore Jesus's revolutionary teaching that doing good always supersedes rigid rule-following—a message that remains as countercultural today as it was two thousand years ago.
The connection between faith and liberty forms the backbone of this episode. Through readings from Mercy Otis Warren's history of the American Revolution and quotes from prominent scientists and journalists, Jesse builds a compelling case that America's founding principles are inseparably linked to Christian values. The nation's current struggles, he suggests, stem directly from our drift away from these foundations. "If a nation doesn't have people that follow the principles of Christ," Jesse observes, "she will fail." This observation isn't merely religious sentiment but a clear-eyed assessment of history and human nature—one that challenges listeners to consider their role in America's spiritual renewal.
Whether you're a history buff, a person of faith, or simply someone searching for meaning in an increasingly chaotic world, this episode offers rich insights into how the sacrifices of the past illuminate our present challenges. Subscribe now to join a growing community of listeners committed to rediscovering America's soul.
The American Soul Podcast
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Hey folks, it's Jesse Cope, back with another episode of the American Soul Podcast. Hope y'all are doing well, wherever y'all are, whatever part of the day you're in. Sort of appreciate y'all joining me, giving me a little bit of your time, a little piece of your day. I will try and use it wisely. Hopefully it will give us all some extra tools for our toolbox and hopefully it will help draw us all a little bit closer to God and Jesus Christ, both as individuals and as a nation. For those of y'all who continue to support the podcast, to share it with others, spread the word. Thank you for those of y'all who continue to pray for me in the podcast, to share it with others, spread the word. Thank you for those of y'all who continue to pray for me in the podcast. Thank you those of y'all who have been around for a while, listen to the podcast. I'm glad you're still here. And for those of y'all who are new to the podcast, hope you enjoy it. Hope you get something out of it. Hope you come back, father. Thank you for today out of it. Hope you come back, father. Thank you for today. Thank you for the rain and the sunshine. Thank you for you, father, and your Son Jesus Christ and your Holy Spirit. Thank you for your love and your mercy, your grace and your forgiveness of sins Through the merit of your Son Jesus Christ, father, not through any merit of our own. Thank you for your word, for your Bible, your scripture, father. Help us to read it more diligently, to study it, to treasure it. Help us to share it with those around the world. Help us to follow the commands of your son, jesus Christ, to love you with our whole heart, mind, soul and strength, to love our neighbors as ourselves. Help us to help our nation turn back to you, father and your Son Jesus Christ, whether it's here in America or nations around the world where people are listening. Father, help us to be a light to those around us and to turn our nations into lights shining for you, shining so that those who are in the darkness can see a path to you, father and your Son Jesus Christ. God, our tongues, our thoughts, our words, actions. Help us to speak only the truth. Help us to speak in the truth. Help us to speak in the way that you want us to Be with our military, our law enforcement, our firefighters. Keep them safe. Bring them home safe to their families. Be with our pastors and our priests across the nation. Be with their wives and their children. Keep them safe, lord. Give them wisdom and courage. Help them to speak boldly for you and your son. Be with all those who are listening around the world, wherever they are. Be with their families, father. Comfort them, ease any anxiety, fears, pain that they're having. Thank you for that and please guide my words here, father. In your son's name, we pray Amen.
Speaker 1:Have you made time for God today? Have you made time to read his word? Have you made time to pray? Have you made time to pray? If you're married, have you made time for your spouse? Do they know that you're married? Do you act like it? Do you act like they are your second priority, behind everyone and everything, or in front of I'm sorry everyone and everything, behind only God and Jesus Christ?
Speaker 1:I saw a post Let me see if I can find it real quick On X from a couple that I that does marriage counseling or organization. I'm not really sure if it's a couple or not. Right now I was getting two different posts confused. But it says busy people make time for what matters to them because it matters to them, right, busy people make time for what matters to them because it matters to them. Because it matters to them, we can talk all we want about how busy we are and how we don't have the time or energy, but all we're really saying at the end of the day is that what we make time and energy for is important to us and what we don't make time and energy for is not. That's the bottom line, folks. All right, matthew, chapter 12. Let's see if I can find it. Ah, yes, there we are.
Speaker 1:Sabbath questions. At that time, jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath and his disciples became hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat. But when the Pharisees saw this, they said to him Look, your disciples do what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath. But he said to them have you not read what David did when he became hungry, he and his companions, how he entered the house of God and they ate the consecrated bread, which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those with him, but for the priests alone. Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath, the priests in the temple break the Sabbath and are innocent? But I say to you that something greater than the temple is here. But if you had known what this means I desire compassion and not a sacrifice you would not have condemned the innocent Lord of the Sabbath, for the Son of man is Lord of the Sabbath.
Speaker 1:Departing from there, he went into their synagogue and a man was there whose hand was withered, and they questioned Jesus asking Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath? So that they might accuse him? And he said to them what man is there among you who has a sheep? And if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable, then, is a man than a sheep? So then, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath. Then he said to the man Stretch out your hand. He stretched it out and it was restored to normal, like the other. But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him as to how they might destroy him. But Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. Many followed him and he healed them all and warned them not to tell who he was.
Speaker 1:This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah, the prophet Behold my servant, whom I have chosen, my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my spirit upon him and he shall proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not quarrel nor cry out, nor will anyone hear his voice in the street. A battered reed he will not break off and a smoldering wick he will not put out until he leads justice to victory. And in his name the Gentiles will hope. The Pharisees rebuked. Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus and he healed him, so that the mute man spoke and saw.
Speaker 1:All the crowds were amazed and were saying this man cannot be the son of David, can he? But when the Pharisees heard this, they said this man casts out demons only by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons. And knowing their thoughts, jesus said to them Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste and any city or house divided against itself will not stand. If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then, will his kingdom stand? If I, my Beelzebul, cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? For this reason, they will be your judges. But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can anyone enter the strong man's house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his house. The unpardonable sin he who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters. Therefore I say to you any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.
Speaker 1:Words reveal character. Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers. How can you, being evil, speak what is good, for the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good, and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil. But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment, for by your words you will be justified and by your words you will be condemned.
Speaker 1:The desire for signs, then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him Teacher, we want to see a sign from you. But he answered and said to them An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign, and yet no sign will be given to it, but the sign of Jonah the prophet. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a sea monster, so will the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah. And behold, something greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the south will rise up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. And behold, something greater than Solomon is here.
Speaker 1:Now. When the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says I will return to my house, from which I came. And when it comes it finds it unoccupied, swept and put in order. Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there, and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation. Changed relationships. You, with this evil generation, changed relationships While he was still speaking to the crowds.
Speaker 1:Behold, his mother and brothers were standing outside seeking to speak to him. Someone said to him behold, your mother and your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak to you. But Jesus answered the one who was telling him and said who is my mother and who are my brothers, and, stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said behold my mother and my brothers, for whoever does the will of my father, who is in heaven, he is my brother and sister and mother. I can't help but hammer this last little section real quickly, folks, if you see people, a denomination, and there's a couple out there that try and tell you that Mary, the mother of Jesus, is somehow worthy to be venerated near or on par with Jesus Christ, this is just one little section to come read at. There's no way, if that was true, that this exchange would have occurred in this manner. It seems almost impossible to believe that, not to mention the fact that you won't see anywhere in Scripture where Scripture tells you to venerate Mary above all other human beings, almost at the same level of Jesus Christ. You won't even get close to that.
Speaker 1:Verse 41 and 42, talking about the Queen of the South and the men of nineveh rising up and condemning that current generation folks. This smacks to me of america today. We've been given so much in america and and we've we've just squandered it so worthlessly. There have been so many before us that have come and suffered and risked so much to give us what we have today and we have just wasted it. It's like parents leaving this inheritance to their children and the children just throwing it away. It's hard not to think that there are going to be previous generations of Americans who are going to rise up in judgment and condemn us for how we have acted over the last century probably, but certainly the last 20-plus years, in rejecting God, throwing away all that they sacrificed for, in rejecting God, throwing away all that they sacrificed for, certainly since, certainly after World War II Verse 36,.
Speaker 1:But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it on the day of judgment, for by your words you will be justified and by your words you will be condemned. That ought to terrify us, us folks, at least a little bit. The same way, the unpardonable sin. Father, please prevent us from ever blaspheming, particularly though, against you, father, your spirit, your son too, for that matter, father. But every word we speak, folks, every careless word I've said a lot of careless things in my life, and again, what does it boil down to? It boils down to my only hope is Jesus Christ. I have no other hope, and he can pay for it all, he can take care of it all. I don't know what that given accounting is going to look like, but I know, at the end of the day, the blood of Jesus Christ is going to wash all of my sins away in that moment. He paid for them, he, he paid for them, he's already paid for them. He's my only hope, the only thing I can cling to. Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and any city or house divided against itself will not stand.
Speaker 1:We could sit and talk about this for a long time, folks. This chapter it's a long chapter, but that last one to me smacks both of America and of our marriages in America and really inside the church as a whole across the world. You know, calvin Coolidge, I believe, made that comment, talking about if those principles of Christ weren't pretty much universal in our country, we would fall apart. Abraham Lincoln talked about the fact that the only way we could fall as a nation was from the inside, being divided. And that's where we're at right now. Yet again, folks, the only way we're going to fall as a nation is because of this division inside about whether to follow those principles of Christ or to reject them. And in your own marriage that's what causes that division rejecting your spouse, fighting against your roles and responsibilities. Right Again, we talk about it every once in a while on the podcast.
Speaker 1:Do one of those marriage podcasts First Corinthians 7, ephesians 5, titus 2, 1 Peter 3, proverbs 5, 19,. Song of Solomon, I know Hebrews 13, 4, all of those folks. Those are our roles and responsibilities as a husband and wife. If we don't follow those, we end up fighting against each other inside our own house and it makes us dysfunctional at best, if it doesn't break the marriage and the family completely. Same thing as a nation those principles of Christ, that's what makes us strong, that's what makes us great.
Speaker 1:And if we don't have those principles at the core pretty much universally across the nation, which we don't today. It's going to cause a fight, or the side that follows Christ is going to just have to decide. Well then, suddenly we don't care anymore and be willing to go into slavery. I mean, those are your choices, all right. So we're going to get back into Fox's Book of the Martyrs, or a history of the life, sufferings and Triumphant Deaths of the Primitive Protestant Martyrs. This is again from a version printed in 1881. Philadelphia E Claxton Company, 930 Market Street. I wonder if you can still find that there and what it is now. And we're going to pick up where we left off.
Speaker 1:This is out of chapter one, the history of Christian martyrs to the first general persecution under Nero, and we are at what they're labeling as three here. Philip was born at Bethsaida in Galilee and was the first called by the name of disciple. He labored diligently in Upper Asia and suffered martyrdom at Helopolis in Phrygia. He was scourged, thrown into prison and afterwards crucified around AD 54. 4. Matthew, whose occupation was that of a toll-getter, was born at Nazareth. He wrote his gospel in Hebrew, which was afterwards translated into Greek by James the Less. The scene of his labors was Parthia and Ethiopia, in which latter country he suffered martyrdom, being slain with a halberd in the city of Nadaba, ad 60. James the Less is supposed by some to have been the brother of our Lord by a former wife of Joseph. This is very doubtful and accords too much with the Catholic superstition that Mary never had any other children except our Savior. He was elected to the oversight of the churches of Jerusalem and was the author of the epistle ascribed to James in the sacred canon. At the age of 94, he was beat and stoned by the Jews and finally had his brains dashed out with a Fuller's club at the age of 94.
Speaker 1:Folks, that's one thing to let sink in there. Evil doesn't respect gender or age. Hence why we have such a problem with abortion in america today and really western civilization. But a pick on america the most. This is the american soul podcast. We murder. We have murdered 63, 5 million plus of our own citizens who were babies. Right, I mean, that's just evil. Folks, that's just all there is to it, defenseless, and we rip them apart, suck their brains out, leave them to die in trash cans.
Speaker 1:The other thing here is is Mary folks, the Bible? It's pretty clear that James is the brother of our Lord, it doesn't say anything about by a previous wife of Joseph Seems really really odd that scripture wouldn't make some comment about Joseph having a first wife. Especially when you look at the Old Testament and see how many times it talked about the different wives of the patriarchs, you think that that would be if they really wanted. If God really wanted to make clear that Mary never had any other children except our Savior seems like he would have made very clear in his word that that was the case, which is why it's so important to read scripture, folks, so that you know when somebody comes up and says hey, mary was a perpetual virgin, so you never had any other children. No, james, right here, brother of our Lord, and there were others right, we just read your mother and your brothers are here to see you, oral. And Jesus, of course, responded with who are my mother and my brothers and my sisters? Those who do my will, who follow my commands, follow the commands of God.
Speaker 1:Six Matthias, of whom less is known than most of the other disciples, was elected to fill the vacant place of Judas. He was stoned at Jerusalem and then beheaded. I'd like to meet him. I mean, I'd like to meet all of these guys. I'm excited to one day Don't know a lot about Matthew, but you're going to get to You're going to get to spend day. Don't know a lot about Matthias, but you're going to get to You're going to get to spend eternity. That's pretty neat. I'm reminded of a comment, I believe, by John Adams talking about a view of heaven to him. That would be wonderful to sit around the table with his wife, abigail, and his friends people like Thomas Jefferson and others and his friends, people like Thomas Jefferson and others and just getting to sit and enjoy their company. And, of course, jesus Christ, the Lord for eternity. That's pretty cool.
Speaker 1:Seven Andrew was the brother of Peter. He preached the gospel to many Asiatic nations, but on his arrival at Edessa he was taken and crucified on a cross, the two ends of which were fixed transversely in the ground. Hence the derivation of the term St Andrew's Cross 8. St Mark was born of Jewish parents, of the tribe of Levi. He is supposed to have been converted to Christianity by Peter, whom he served as an I'm going to murder that word, sorry folks and under whose inspection he wrote his gospel in the Greek language. Mark was dragged to pieces by the people of Alexandria at the great solemnity of Serapis, their idol, ending his life under their merciless hands dragged to pieces. I have to wonder if that's something like being dragged to death behind a vehicle or a horse. 9. Peter was born at Bethsaida in Galilee. He was, by occupation, a fisherman. Christ gave him a name which, in Surat implies a rock, syret implies a rock.
Speaker 1:Peter is supposed to have suffered martyrdom at Rome during the reign of the emperor Nero, being crucified with his head downward at his own request. It is, however, very uncertain whether Peter ever visited Rome at all, the evidence rather favoring the supposition that he ended his days in some other country. Then Paul, the great apostle of the Gentiles, was a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin, a native of Tarsus in Cilicia of Tarsus in Cilicia, and, before his conversion, was called Saul. After suffering various persecutions at Jerusalem, iconum, lystra, philippi and Thessalonica, he was carried prisoner to Rome, where he continued for two years and was then released. He afterwards visited the churches of Greece and Rome and preached the gospel in Spain and France, but returning to Rome, he was apprehended by order of Nero and beheaded. Nero doesn't seem like a very nice guy, does he?
Speaker 1:11. Jude, the brother of James, was commonly called Thaddeus. He was crucified at Edessa, ad 72. 12. Bartholomew preached in several countries and, having translated the Gospel of Matthew into the language of India, he propagated it in that country. He was at length cruelly beaten and then crucified by the impatient idolaters. Wonder what impatient they? Beating him wasn't enough, they had to go ahead and crucify him. 13, thomas, called Didymus, preached the gospel in Parthia in India where, exciting the rage of the pagan priests, he was martyred by being thrust through with a spear. 14. Luke, the evangelist, was the author of the gospel which goes under his name. He traveled with Paul through various countries and is supposed to have been hanged on an olive tree by the idolatrous priests of Greece. 15. Simon, surnamed Zelotis, preached the gospel in Mauritania, africa and even in Britain, which later country. He was crucified around AD 74.
Speaker 1:I think it's fascinating folks to see how far these people got, how quickly Spain, france, britain, india. I think also, besides the terrifying prospect that you've got to assume that we may be called upon to do that again today, is that these people were willing, these men were willing to suffer. Why? I hear this often, but I don't think we think about it enough. Why would they be willing to suffer these kind of things If they were trying to make it up, if they knew it wasn't true? And they just wanted to create a fable, a fairy tale crew and they just wanted to create a fable, a fairy tale why would they be willing to suffer in these cruel, cruel manners deaths? They obviously weren't getting much out of it. I mean, it's not like they were becoming rock stars, folks. You know it's one thing to suffer physically to become a NFL player, nba player, or to suffer, you know, sleepless nights, et cetera, et cetera, and fatigue and pain, to become a famous actor or actress or singer, where you have this fame and fortune as the reward. But these guys, they didn't become rich, they died as poor as they were, if not poor, and it was cruel. Why would they be willing to suffer through that if they didn't wholeheartedly believe what they were saying and therefore what they had seen? If that helps a little bit, folks, your faith, your belief, hope, hope. All right, we'll stop there on that one for today and we will move on to our Medal of Honor For today. Let's see what we got.
Speaker 1:Edwin Alexander Anderson, mexican Campaign, veracruz, us Navy. Captain, highest rank was Admiral Second Regiment of Blue Jackets that was the command US Navy April 22, 1914. Action Place Veracruz, mexico. Citation as follows Mexico. Citation as follows for extraordinary heroism in battle, engagement of Veracruz 22 April 1914, in command of the 2nd Seaman Regiment. Marching his regiment across the open space in front of the Naval Academy and other buildings, captain Anderson unexpectedly met a heavy fire from riflemen, machine guns and one-pounders which caused part of his command to break and fall back, many casualties occurring amongst them. At the time, his indifference to the heavy fire to which he himself was exposed at the head of the regiment showed him to be fearless and courageous in battle.
Speaker 1:Accredited to Wilmington, new Hanover County, north Carolina. Not awarded posthumously. Born July 16, 1860, Wilmington, new Hanover County, north Carolina. Died September 23, 1933, washington DC. Arlington National Cemetery 2, c. Arlington National Cemetery 2, pack 3798, arlington, virginia, united States. Location of the Medal North Carolina Museum of History, Raleigh, north Carolina.
Speaker 1:I don't know why, folks, but I just got a huge feeling reading this particular Medal of Honor. I was thinking about this gentleman earning this Medal of Honor prior to World War, just a few short years before we entered World War I, and then living through the 20s and into the 30s the beginning of the Depression, and into the 30s the beginning of the Depression going into World War II, seeing how dark the world was looking and having been born at the very beginning of the Civil War. Right, folks, you know, we read this book of martyrs and we talk about these men that were crucified for Christ and you have to see the sacrifice of these men and women over the history of our nation in America, who have been willing to sacrifice for America to preserve liberty, because that liberty is so intrinsically tied to the Spirit of God, to the Holy Spirit. Folks, I don't know how you're going to be called on in your life. I don't even know how I'm going to be called on in my life to suffer for Christ to do his will. I have no idea, I can't tell you that, but I can tell you, as a pastor that I loved dearly years ago used to say if you're not suffering in your life for following Christ, somehow I question if you're really following Christ. Well, maybe you're not right now, but maybe it's going to come. But this pressure, folks, whatever it was when I'm reading through this, is if we really want to preserve liberty, to serve Christ.
Speaker 1:Folks, our generation, the call may be for us to be willing to suffer to preserve America, not out of greed, out of the desire for more land or more cars, or more money or bigger houses, but the desire to preserve that shining city upon a hill, that beacon, to spread light to the rest of the world, to bring lost souls to Jesus Christ. I can't emphasize this enough, folks, if God gives us more time, it almost, almost assuredly has to be giving us more time as a nation, as America, to save more souls, to spread that light. I cannot remember the gentleman's name, you know what. We'll try and come back to that. But folks just realize that that may indeed be our calling, for our generation it's to preserve liberty. That may be the suffering that's required of men and women, men to be courageous.
Speaker 1:You know it talks about that last line there in this Medal of Honor citation for Edwin Alexander Anderson. His indifference to the heavy fire to which he himself was exposed at the head of his regiment showed him to be fearless and courageous in battle. Think of Stonewall Jackson's comment that, if you know, all people realized that God knew the exact time and manner of their death and that he was going to be there with them, through it all the way to the end, to bring them home to him. He said all men would be equally brave. I need to remember that more often. You need to remember that more often. God knows exactly how we're going to die, where, when, and he's going to be there with us. Have to cling to that truth, folks. He's going to get us through whatever he calls us to do to bring him home to him and for our generation, folks, it may well be that the call is to preserve America, to be willing to risk our lives and pain and suffering and, as a woman, as a wife, as a mother, to risk your husband, your father, your son, your brother. Just some thoughts, folks, as I was reading that We'll move on.
Speaker 1:So a couple quotes for history today. The first one is by James Dwight Dana. He's a geologist, mineralogist, zoologist, was president of the Geologic Society of America as well as American Association for the Advance of Science. That grand old book of God still stands. And this old earth the more its leaves are turned over and pondered, the more it will sustain and illustrate the sacred word. I was looking to see if I could find some more quotes between the American Patriots Bible or the Founders Bible or America's God and Country Encyclopedia. Quotes by Dana, who was also, by the way, he was editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Science and authored System of Mineralogy and Manual of Geology. He was a Yale professor who succeeded Professor Silliman, who succeeded Professor Silliman. But what I did find when I stumbled across that was since it's the name right next to it a quote by Charles Anderson Dana, who was the editor-in-chief of the New York Sun and was assistant secretary of War during the Civil War.
Speaker 1:I believe in Christianity, that it is the religion taught to men by God himself in person on earth. I also believe the Bible to be a divine revelation. Christianity is not comparable with any other religion. It is the religion which came from God's own lips and therefore the only true religion. The incarnation is a fact and Christianity is based on revealed truth.
Speaker 1:There are some books that are absolutely indispensable to the kind of education that we are contemplating and to the profession that we are now considering, and of all these, the most indispensable, the most useful, the one whose knowledge is most effective, is the Bible. There is no book from which more valuable lessons can be learned. I am considering it now as a manual of utility or professional preparation. There is no book from which more valuable lessons can be learned. I am considering it now as a manual of utility or professional preparation and professional use for a journalist. There is no book whose style is more suggestive and more instructive, from which you learn more directly that sublime simplicity which never exaggerates, which recounts the greatest event with solemnity, of course, but without sentimentality or affection, none which you open with such confidence and lay down with such reverence. There is no book like the Bible. When you get into a controversy and want exactly the right answer, when you are looking for an expression, what is there that closes a dispute like a verse from the Bible? What is it that sets up the right principle for you, which pleads for a policy, for a cause, so much as the right passage of the Holy Scripture?
Speaker 1:We could use some professors, scientists and journalists like the two, mr Danes, I think, a lot of times both of those professions the field of science and the field of journalism. Today, we have allowed the left to convince society at large that you have to be an atheist or really, honestly, it doesn't really matter what you are, just so long as you aren't a Christian in order to be successful, and that was not even remotely the case for the majority of the history of our nation, and it shouldn't be today. It's impossible to search after the truth, which both of those professions theoretically, that's, the ultimate goal for both science and journalism is to find the truth. And we wonder today why we have so many scientists and journalists who are willing to ignore the truth. You wonder why there's so much false news out there. You wonder why we struggle with such simple concepts as what makes a boy a boy and a girl a girl. And I know a lot of people are going to roll their eyes at this. I guarantee it. But, folks, when we reject Jesus Christ, we reject the truth. You're not just rejecting Christ and then you still get to go along and have the same level of discernment, the same ability to sort fact from fiction. It doesn't work.
Speaker 1:We've talked about this on the podcast before. It's been a while. But if you took two people that were exactly the same in every other facet, exactly the same, if you could make a true clone and the only difference was that one was a Christian and one wasn't, every single time the Christian version of that clone, of those two clones is going to be, the better. They're going to be a better citizen, a better individual, a better man, a better woman, a better husband, a better wife, a better man, a better woman, a better husband, a better wife, a better father, a better mother. They're going to be better at their profession. Whatever that is, every single facet between those two clones the one that follows Christ is going to be better than the other. Every single time, without fail. It's never going to fail. The other, every single time, without fail, it's never going to fail, it's always going to be. The one that follows Christ is always going to be the better of the two clones. So we're going to get back into now History of the rise, progress and termination of the American Revolution. Mercy Otis Warren. We'll pick up where we left off. In the story of the sufferings of these enthusiasts.
Speaker 1:There has never been a just discrimination between the sectaries denominated Quakers, who first visited the New England settlements, and the associates of the celebrated Penn who, having received a patent from the Crown of England, fixed his residence on the borders of the Delaware. He there reared, with astonishing rapidity, a flourishing, industrious colony on the most benevolent principles the equality of their condition. The mildness of their deportment and the simplicity of their manners encouraged the immigration of husbandmen, artisans and manufacturers from all parts of Europe. Thus was this colony soon raised to distinguished eminence, though under a proprietary government. Mr Penn published a system of government on which it has been observed that the introductory piece is perhaps the most extraordinary compound that was ever published, of enthusiasm, sound policy and good sense. The author tells us it was adapted to the great end of all government, that is, to support power in reference with the people and to secure the people from the abuse of power.
Speaker 1:But the sectaries that infested the more eastern territory were generally loose, idle and refractory, aiming to introduce confusion and licentiousness rather than the establishment of any regular society. Confusion and licentiousness rather than the establishment of any regular society. Excluded from Boston and banished from the Massachusetts, they repaired to a neighboring colony, less tenacious in religious opinion, by which the growth of Rhode Island and Providence plantations was greatly facilitated. The spirit of intolerance in the early stages of the settlements was not confined to the New England Puritans, as they have in derision been styled In Virginia, maryland and some other colonies, where the votaries of the Church of England were the stronger party, the dissenters of every description were persecuted with little less rigor than had been experienced by the Quakers from the Presbyterians of the Massachusetts. An act passed in the Assembly of Virginia in the early days of her legislation, making it penal for any master of a vessel to bring a Quaker into the province. The inhabitants were inhibited from entertaining any person of that denomination. They were imprisoned, banished and treated with every mark of severity, short of death. History of Virginia.
Speaker 1:It is natural to suppose a society of men who had suffered so much from a spirit of religious bigotry would have stretched a lenient hand towards any who might differ from themselves, either in mode or opinion with regard to the worship of the deity, but from a strange propensity in human nature to reduce everything within the vortex of their own ideas. The same intolerant and persecuting spirit from which they had so recently fled discovered itself in those bold adventurers who had braved the dangers of the ocean and planted themselves in a wilderness for the enjoyment of civil and religious liberty. In the cool moments of reflection, both humanity and philosophy revolt at the diabolical disposition that has prevailed in almost every country to persecute such as, either from education or principle, from caprice or custom, refuse to subscribe to the religious creed of those who, by various and ventious circumstances, have acquired a degree of superiority or power. It is rational to believe that the benevolent author of nature designed universal happiness as the basis of his works. Nor is it unphilosophical to suppose the difference in human sentiment and the variety of opinions among mankind may conduce to this end. They may be permitted in order to improve the faculty of thinking, to draw out the powers of the mind, to exercise the principles of candor, to learn us to wait, in a becoming manner, the full disclosure of the system of divine government. Thus, probably, the variety and the formation of the human soul may appear to be such as to have rendered it impossible for mankind to think exactly in the same channel. The contemplative and liberal-minded man must therefore blush for the weakness of his own species when he sees any of them endeavoring to circumscribe the limits of virtue and happiness within his own contracted sphere, too often darkened by superstition and bigotry. One thing here, folks to learn us to wait in a becoming manner. To wait in a becoming manner. I think too often I don't recognize God doing that in my own life, teaching me to wait in a becoming manner, with patience and perseverance right, the modern improvements in society and also sorry again, we've talked about this so often over the years on the podcast. We're almost to the end of the fourth year, for those of y'all who have been here, by the way, end of this month.
Speaker 1:Our founders understood two things that both had to be true. One, you couldn't force somebody to a particular faith or away from faith or away from faith. And two, if the American Republic didn't have people that followed the principles of Christ, it would fail. You can't force people, folks to have faith in the only true God. It's like you can't force people away from faith Not really. It's like you can't force people away from faith, not really. At the same time, if America doesn't have a people that follow the principles of Christ, she will fail. She is. That's why we're failing today.
Speaker 1:The modern improvements in society and the cultivation of region, which has spread its benign influence over both the European and the American world, have nearly eradicated this persecuting spirit, and we look back in both countries mortified and ashamed of the ill, the ill liberality of our ancestors. Yet such is the elasticity of the human mind that when it has been long bent beyond a certain line of propriety, it frequently flies off to the opposite extreme. Thus there may be danger that, in the enthusiasm for toleration, indifference to all religion take place. Since these annals were written, this observation has been fully verified in the impious sentiments and conduct of several members of the National Convention of France who, after the dissolution of monarchy and the abolition of the privileged orders, were equally zealous for the destruction of the altars of God and the annihilation of all religion. Perhaps few will deny that religion, viewed merely in a political light, is after all the best cement of society, the great barrier of just government and the only certain restraint of the passions of just government and the only certain restraint of the passions, those dangerous inlets to licentiousness and anarchy.
Speaker 1:It has been observed by an ingenious writer that there are proselytes from atheism but none from superstition. Would it not be more just to reverse the observation? The narrowness of superstition frequently wears off by an intercourse with the world and the subjects become useful members of society. But the hardiness of atheism sets at defiance both human and divine laws, until the man is lost to himself and to the world. A cursory survey of the religious state of America in the early stages of colonization requires no apology. It is necessary to observe.
Speaker 1:The animosities which arose among themselves on external forms of worship and different modes of thinking were most unfortunate circumstances for the infant settlements, more especially while kept in continual alarm by the natives of the vast, uncultivated wilds, who soon grew jealous of their new inmates. It is true that Massasoit, the principal chief of the north, had received the strangers with the same mildness and hospitality that marked the conduct of Montezuma at the south on the arrival of the Spaniards in his territories. Perhaps the different demeanor of their sons, philip and Guadamosan, was not the result of more hostile, of heroic dispositions than their fathers possessed, of heroic dispositions than their fathers possessed. It more probably arose from an apprehension of the invasion of their rights, after time had given them a more perfect knowledge of the temper of their guests.
Speaker 1:When you throw out God, it's interesting. You know we're reading the book of the martyrs and we're going to get to their commentary on France when you throw out God, you end up with a real problem. You see this sentence from Mrs Warren. Thus there may be danger that, in the enthusiasm for toleration, indifference to all religion takes place, and it reminds me of one of the Supreme Court justices' comments there's nowhere in our Constitution that requires us to treat all religions indifferently or equally, and it's a mistake to do so, folks.
Speaker 1:And again, if Islam or atheism, right via socialism, communism, leftism, nazism, fascism or Catholicism, if any of those systems could have created America and liberty, especially Catholicism and Islam, they would have. They had centuries in the rest of the world of pretty much absolute power in some cases, and yet they didn't create a country where liberty was chief, a country where liberty was chief, because that liberty has to be tied to the Holy Spirit, to the Spirit of God, the Father of Jesus Christ. And the same thing in the 20th century. You look at those communist, socialist, fascist, nazi, leftist regimes. They had total power and yet none of them created the difference, right? I guess one of the main differences is that basket. Well, I guess I was going to say all of those socialism, leftism, communism, etc. They didn't claim to want to be creating liberty, but they did claim they would make this utopian society, at least in the case of communism and socialism.
Speaker 1:At any rate, god bless y'all, god bless your families, god bless your marriages, if you're married. God bless America, god bless your nation. Wherever you are around the world listening, we'll talk to y'all again real soon. Folks Looking forward to it.