The American Soul
The American Soul
Preparing Your Heart for Christ's Return
What happens when we bury our talents instead of investing them? Are we like the wise virgins with oil in our lamps, or the foolish ones caught unprepared? This powerful episode examines Jesus's parables about readiness and stewardship that speak directly to our modern lives.
The Parable of the Ten Virgins serves as a wake-up call for believers who've grown comfortable in their faith. Jesus warns us that we don't know the day or hour of his return – are we living with that urgency? When Christ appears, will we be among those ready to meet him, or scrambling to prepare at the last minute? The stakes couldn't be higher, with eternal consequences hanging in the balance.
Similarly, the Parable of the Talents challenges us to honestly evaluate how we're using the gifts God has entrusted to us. Whether you've been given five talents or just one, the question remains: are you multiplying what you've been given for God's kingdom? Each of us will someday give account for how we've invested our abilities, resources, and opportunities. The faithful servants who doubled their master's investment heard "Well done," while the fearful servant who buried his talent faced judgment.
Beyond these spiritual reflections, we explore a fascinating historical connection through Fisher Ames, who helped write the First Amendment yet believed "the Bible should be the principal text of our schools." This stark contrast with today's educational approach raises important questions about our national foundations. We also examine how America's founders warned against "imperceptible taxes" that gradually enslave populations – a warning that resonates powerfully in today's complex tax environment.
Whether you're interested in spiritual growth, American history, or the connection between faith and freedom, this episode offers thought-provoking insights that will challenge and inspire you. Take a moment to consider: Are you ready for Christ's return, and how are you investing the talents he's given you?
The American Soul Podcast
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Hey folks, this is Jesse Cope, back with another episode of the American Soul Podcast. Hope y'all are doing well, wherever y'all are and whatever part of the day you're in. I'm here to appreciate y'all joining me and giving me a little bit of your time and a little piece of your day. I will try and use it wisely. I know y'all have other things that you could be doing and, as we talk about on the podcast so often, time is our most precious commodity. For those of y'all that continue to share the podcast and tell others about it, thank you for those of y'all who continue to pray for me and for the podcast, thank you, I'm very grateful for your prayers and I need them, father. Thank you for today. 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 our sins. Forgive us indeed, father, the ones we admit and the ones we don't. Help us to do your will, above all else, to love your Son Jesus Christ and therefore to follow his commands each day, to love you with our whole heart, mind, soul and strength, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. Be with those of us who are married, father, help us to follow your commands for marriage, to look back in Scripture and turn to you for instruction. Not the world, not what culture or society or influencers on TV or social media tell us is how we're supposed to act. Help us to trust you, father, for those of us that are going through heartache or change or tumultuous times. Be with those around the world who are suffering for the name of your son, jesus Christ. Comfort them, help us to offer them comfort, help us to care for them, to care for the widow and the orphan, the poor and the needy, and help us to fight against evil. Father, the poor and the needy. And help us to fight against evil, father, to hate evil in the manner in which you tell us to Be with our leaders. Help them to rule in fear of you. Be with those who are listening to the podcast, wherever they are, father, and be with their families. Surround us all with your angels. Protect us from evil of any kind. Calm our fears, our anxieties, our worries. Help us to trust in you and to look to you each day. And God, my words here. Father, please, in your son's name, we pray Amen. Have you made time for God today? Have you made time to read his word, to pray, to talk to him, and have you made time for your spouse, if you're married?
Speaker 1:The reason we talk about this each day, folks, is Reagan. As Reagan put it, the family is the cornerstone of the nation. Well, that's true, and within that, marriage is the cornerstone of the family and our. That marriage is the cornerstone of the family and our faith, regardless of whether you put your faith in God and Jesus Christ, whether you choose to acknowledge Jesus Christ as he is the son of God who died for your sins, which I highly recommend above all else, that you make that decision for your sins, which I highly recommend above all else, that you make that decision. But even if you don't, the only way any marriage anywhere in the world is successful is if it follows those principles of Christ. Now, the people may not know they're following them and you can rant and rave about that all you want, but the bottom line is, if a marriage is going to be great, it has to follow those principles as outlined in Ephesians 5, 1 Corinthians 7, 1 Peter 3, titus 2, hebrews 13, 4, proverbs 5, 19, song of Solomon right and a few other places. But you have to follow those principles and if you don't, your marriage cannot be great, will not be great. It doesn't matter whether you're Muslim or Buddhist or Hindu or atheist or anything else If you don't follow those principles of Christ much like you as an individual.
Speaker 1:If, if you take any person anywhere in the history of the world and they did something truly good, truly noble in that moment, they were following the principles of Christ. Whether they knew it or not, whether they would admit it or not, that's still true. And anytime that we do something any individual has ever done anything wrong they're going against those principles of Christ. That's always going to be true, every single time. There's no example that you can find where a person did something truly good and wasn't going along with the principles of Christ, or did something truly wrong, or maybe I should say it. Or went against the principles of Christ and wasn't doing something truly wrong, or maybe I should say it, or went against the principles of Christ and wasn't doing something truly wrong. Regardless of whether you choose, I mean that should give us a little bit of faith, that should strengthen our faith, right? But regardless of whether we choose to acknowledge it, it's still true and that's something that really drives a lot of people quite nuts. And that's something that really drives a lot of people quite nuts. But at any rate, there comes a point.
Speaker 1:There's something else, folks, that I was thinking of when I was getting ready for this podcast. I think I talked about it recently on a previous podcast but we confuse especially inside the church folks. We confuse eternal salvation with earthly or lack of earthly consequences. Right, if you commit adultery, like the woman that they brought before Jesus, there's forgiveness. But that eternal forgiveness doesn't negate the earthly consequences. You think that woman suddenly went home and everybody pretended that she hadn't done anything wrong. You think that there weren't consequences for her and society and culture and her own marriage, if she was married, or the marriage of the man that she was committing adultery with. You think there weren't problems there. There were. Does that mean that it's irrecoverable? No, even in this life.
Speaker 1:No, but that means you're going to have to deal with those consequences. You can kind of think about it like this there's a path that you can walk down and, as long as you're making the right decisions, you're going to walk down that path. But every poor decision you make is kind of like throwing a stumbling block in the middle of that path. It doesn't mean you can't get over it that block or those bunch of blocks or that hill of blocks. It doesn't mean you can't climb over it and get past it, but you're going to have to and it's going to take pain, it's going to take effort. There's probably going to be some slips and scrapes and cut knees and bruised hands, etc. And, depending on how many blocks you put in your path, there may be some really nasty falls. You might break a bone, dislocate a shoulder, right.
Speaker 1:But the eternal forgiveness that Jesus Christ offers doesn't negate the earthly consequences for our bad actions, and I think we really need to think about that just a little bit more and realize that maybe this is a better way to put it. If you know that you're doing something wrong, maybe even if you don't, the longer you do that, the harder you're making your recovery. And there may come a point that you make your recovery so hard that something breaks Right, that something breaks right. And so maybe the analogy for the broken arm or the broken leg if you stumble over these rocks, these blocks, is a broken marriage, a lost child, a broken relationship with parents or children. The sooner you get back on the path that God has for you and I'm talking to myself here, folks, I guarantee you this is true, I promise you 100%. This is true because I've lived it the sooner you get back on the path that God has for you, the better your life is going to be. Now I'm not talking about riches or money or fame or fortune. I'm not saying that everything's magically going to be fixed and you're going to have great health and all this money. Not at all. When I say the better off it's going to be for you, I'm talking more like the quote from, I think from Benjamin Franklin that was talking about a happy heart. Right is a continual feast, or maybe one of our founders said it along the lines of having a clean conscience is kind of like having a perpetual Christmas. Your life is going to be better in the sense that you're storing up for yourselves treasures in heaven and you're going to have a clear conscience before God, and that's going to be better than any amount of money or fame or fortune or anything else could possibly bring you All right. Matthew, chapter 25.
Speaker 1:Yeah, parable of the Ten Virgins. Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were prudent, for when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the prudent took oil and flasks along with their lamps. Now, while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep. But at midnight there was a shout behold, the bridegroom come out to meet him. Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said to the prudent Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out. But the prudent answered no, there will not be enough for us, and you two Go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves. And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast and shut the door. Or and the door was shut Later, the other virgins also came saying Lord, lord, open up for us.
Speaker 1:But he answered Truly. I say to you I do not know. You Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour. This is a pretty habitual warning in the New Testament that we don't know when Jesus Christ could come back. I mean literally. You could be sitting at your house right now, in your car, driving, taking a walk. He might come back at any moment. You have no idea.
Speaker 1:Do we live our life that way? Are we on the alert constantly and are we prepared? And are we like the virgins that brought the oil, that were prepared for their coming, the Lord's coming, or like those who thought they had all the time in the world to get ready and didn't prepare? What are you doing each day in your life to prepare for Jesus Christ's return? How are you using the talents that he gives you? What are you focused on Right? Are we focused on gaining money and wealth and fame and fortune? Are we focused on the things of the world or the things of God and Jesus Christ fortune? Are we focused on the things of the world or the things of God and Jesus Christ?
Speaker 1:Way too often I'm focused on the things of the world, parable of the talents, for it is just like a man about to go on a journey who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them. To one he gave five talents, to another two and to another one another one, each according to his own ability, and he went on his journey. Immediately, the one who had received the five talents went and traded with them and gained five more talents. In the same manner, the one who had received the two talents gained two more. But he who received the one talent went away and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money. Now, after a long time, the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. The one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have gained five more talents. As master said to him Well done, good and faithful slave, you were faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master.
Speaker 1:Also, the one who had received the two talents came up and said Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have gained two more talents. As master said to him Well done, good and faithful slave, you were faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master. And the one also who had received the one talent came up and said Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed. And I was afraid and I went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours. But his master answered and said to him you wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed. Then you ought to have put my money in the bank and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest. Therefore, take away the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents, for to everyone who has, more shall be given and he will have an abundance, but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Speaker 1:How are you using the talents that God gave you Beauty, speed, intelligence, money, strength, kindness, compassion, friendship, loyalty, leadership, patience, perseverance Whatever God's given you? How are you using those talents? Are you multiplying the kingdom of God with those talents? Are you using those talents? And it doesn't matter if your talents are as great as someone else's or not. That's one of the points of the parable is he gives according to ability, right, and he's not mad at the person that he gave two talents to. In this parable, the master, the God. He didn't get mad at the man because he didn't gain five talents like the one he had given five to. He was perfectly happy. And even the one that had one he said well, why didn't you just put it on at the bank? And I would have gotten a little bit of interest back.
Speaker 1:The point isn't how much we make when we use our talents, folks. The point is whether we use our talents. You might have somebody that has a ton of talents speed, strength, beauty, fame and they don't use it very well. They don't help grow God's kingdom. That's a waste of those talents. And then you might have somebody that doesn't have very many talents. Maybe they're not the brightest or maybe their talent is hard to see, for example, maybe whatever but that person pours all of their talents into expanding the kingdom of God. That's the wise servant, the wise slave. The wise servant, the wise slave. Do we also, as a side note, folks, do we act like a slave to God, slave to Jesus Christ? Do we act as if they're truly our master? Are we concerned with doing their will above all else, or, as I'm far too often guilty of, do we kind of look at them as an afterthought, Like we focus on what we want to do and then we try and force God's will to match up with what we want to do ourselves.
Speaker 1:The Judgment, then the righteous will answer him Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? And when did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and come to you? And the king will answer and say to them prepared for the devil and his angels, for I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink. I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, naked and you did not clothe me. Sick and in prison and you did not visit me. Then they themselves will also answer Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick or in prison and did not take care of you? Then he will answer to them truly, I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these. You did not do it to me. These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. Father, help us to be among the righteous. Help us to feed flow, visit the least of these, give them something to drink, invite them in, sit with them when they're sick and when they're in prison. Help us to do all these things, father, your son's family pray.
Speaker 1:A couple things here, folks. One, the stranger comment because illegal immigration today huge issue, mass migration, huge issue in Europe, the UK, united States. So here's the deal about that If you're inviting someone into someone else's house, that's not following the scripture. And so when you invite the illegals in or the mass migrants in, and you're not opening your house specifically to them no one else's, you're not offering anyone else's resources or anyone else's representation, just yours. When you offer them your vote, when you offer them your house, when you offer them your food and your water and your place to sleep and that of your wives and your children, then you can truly say that you're following Christ in that moment, just so long as inviting that person in doesn't violate some other commandment of God, for example, that you have a responsibility to care for the members of your household first and foremost, or that you have a responsibility to care for the widow and the orphan. So, if you invite this stranger in, are they hurting someone else? Are they taking a job away from somebody else that needs it? So you've got a lot of problems there to begin with, but there's no way that you can use this scripture to justify illegal immigration or mass migration, right?
Speaker 1:The other thing, when you're looking at this folks just in general, are we actually following this? Are we actually following this? Are we trying, striving to follow God and put ourselves with the sheep and not the goats, with the righteous and not the damned, headed toward eternal life and not eternal damnation? And maybe you. For example, there's a gentleman that I've come to know online that does some great work going to the prisons Once a week, goes into these really dark places and meets with these men, right, and I'm not there. He doesn't live next to me and I can't go into the prison with him, but I pray for him pretty consistently, right, and talk to him and try and encourage him. And maybe you can't go visit in the prison, but you can do one of the others you can go visit the sick. You can visit the widow whose husband just died or whose wife just died, right. And you can give clothes to those who don't have them in your local community, or food, give food to your food bank, right. So just, are we striving to fulfill these as much as we can. Giving food to the hungry, water to the thirsty, clothes to the naked, inviting the stranger in Maybe somebody just moved to your town and they don't know anybody and they come to church. Do you invite them in? Are you kind? Do you sit with them? Are you compassionate? Just some thoughts, folks. All right, metal Bonner, we will move on. Hey, and just one other thing here that I meant to mention earlier. This is the start of our fifth year, going into the fifth year of the podcast. So for those of y'all who have been here this whole time, thank you so much. I'm incredibly grateful for your support and encouragement and for y'all telling others about the podcast. All right, medal of Honor, let's see where we're getting today.
Speaker 1:John F A U E R, If I'm saying that, right. Ordinary seaman apprentice Conflict error Interim 1871 to 1899. Unit command USS Lancaster Military Service Branch, us Navy. Medal of Honor. Action Date November 20, 1883, Place, marseille, france, onboard the USS Lancaster, marseille, france, 20 November 1883, jumping overboard, our ruler rescued from drowning a French lad who had fallen into the sea from a stone pier astern of the ship. Accredited to New York, excuse me, not awarded posthumously. Excuse me, not awarded posthumously. Born 1866, new York, united States, died March 27th 1951, oak Hill Cemetery, k Act 139, nyack, new York, if I'm saying that right, united States. So he was born right after the end of the Civil War and lived through both World War I and II. John F O'Rourke, oscar P Austin. Oscar P Austin, oscar Palmer, austin Rank. Private First Class Vietnam War, echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division, reinforced Fleet Marine Force, us Marine Corps. Date February 23, 1969. Place West of Da Nang, republic of Vietnam. Citation as follows as follows For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life, above and beyond the call of duty, while serving as an assistant machine gunner with Echo Company in connection with operations against enemy forces, during the early morning hours, pfc Austin's observation post was subjected to a fierce ground attack by a large North Vietnamese Army force, supported by a heavy volume of hand grenades, satchel charges and small arms fire, observing that one of his wounded companions had fallen unconscious in a position dangerously exposed to hostile fire.
Speaker 1:Pfc Austin unhesitatingly left the relative security of his fighting hole and, with complete disregard for his safety, raced across the fire-swept terrain to assist the Marine to a covered location. As he neared the casualty, he observed an enemy grenade land nearby and, reacting instantly, leaped between the injured Marine and the lethal object, absorbing the effects of its detonation. Marine and lethal object absorbing the effects of its detonation. As he ignored his painful injuries and turned to examine the wounded man, he saw a North Vietnamese army soldier aiming a weapon at his unconscious companion. With full knowledge of the probable consequences and thinking only to protect the marine, pfc Austin resolutely threw himself between the casualty and the hostile soldier and in doing so was mortally wounded.
Speaker 1:Pfc's indomitable courage, inspiring initiative and selfless devotion to duty upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the US Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country. Accredited to Phoenix, maricopa County, arizona, awarded posthumously, presented April 20, 1970 at the White House. Presented by Vice President Spiro T Agnew to his family. Born January 15, 1948, nacogdoches County, texas, united States, died February 23, 1969, republic of Vietnam. Buried Greenwood Memorial Park. Mh44, tac 42, tac 2, tac 11, phoenix, arizona, united States, united States.
Speaker 1:That's a perfect Oscar Palmer Austin. That's a perfect example, folks, why, why are we not doing a better job across the country as parents and educators in general or maybe I should say that the other way around, as educators in general and parents particularly of making sure that our children know a name like Oscar Palmer Austin much better than they know Taylor Swift or Kobe Bryant? Someone who threw himself in front of a grenade and then again put himself in between the enemy and his fellow Marine, knowing he was going to get shot and killed? No-transcript of courage and sacrifice. One more William G Austin. William Grafton Austin.
Speaker 1:Sergeant Indian Campaigns. Echo Company, 7th US Cavalry, us Army. December 29, 1890,. Wounded Knee Creek, south Dakota, usa. While the Indians were concealed in a ravine, assisted men on the skirmish line, directing their fire, etc. And using every effort to dislodge the enemy. Accredited to New York, new York, not awarded.
Speaker 1:Posthumously Presented June 27, 1891. Born January 6, 1868, galveston, galveston County, texas, united States. Died July 15, 1929. Los Altos, california, united States. Buried July 15, 1929. Los Altos, california, united States. Buried Cypress Lawn Cemetery. Cremated at Colma, california, united States.
Speaker 1:William Grafton Austin. Just some names again, folks John F Arour, oscar P Austin. John F Arour, oscar P Austin, william G Boston. They come from all different places, folks. Also a good example of the fact that geography or ethnicity or race have absolutely no bearing on quality of character and merit.
Speaker 1:All right, just one little history blip for today and we're going to get into our martyr's book. It's a quote we read often here on the podcast and we need to because we're doing an atrocious job of it. So Fisher Ames was one of our founders, one of the men who helped formulate the Bill of Rights, and specifically he's responsible for the final wording of the Establishment Clause, which the left has used so well over the last hundred years to get the camel's nose under the tent as far as separation of God and state. And this is a quote of his Fisher Ames.
Speaker 1:We have a dangerous trend beginning to take place in our education. We're starting to put more and more textbooks into our schools. We've become accustomed of late of putting little books into the hands of children containing fables and moral lessons. We are spending less time in the classroom on the Bible, which should be the principal text of our schools. The Bible states these great moral lessons better than any other man-made book. The Bible, according to the man that wrote the very laws in our Constitution that the left has used to separate God from state, not separation of church and state. That's what was used in 1947. That's the phrase, but what they were really doing was separation of God and state. He said the Bible ought to be the primary text not just a text, but the primary text in our schools. You really want to know what our founders thought. There you go. An American public school.
Speaker 1:It's completely irresponsible not to have the Bible at the center of publicly funded, taxpayer funded education. It's counterproductive, because the only way that we maintain liberty in America is to maintain those principles. It's just like any business, any other organization. In order for that organization to keep going, you have to maintain the principles that founded that business or that organization. If you create a company or an organization who has the principle of feeding the poor, that has to remain the core of that organization or it'll cease to function properly. Or stealing from banks or opening department stores, it has to be feeding the poor, if that's the original principle, otherwise it doesn't do the job, and that's what's going on in America right now. We've ceased to be a Bible-centric society, and so we are ceasing and will cease completely producing liberty. Sorry, so sniffily this morning. I must have some allergies that have blown in from somewhere. All right, we're going to get back into our fox of the, our book of the martyrs. This is still the 10th persecution. A lot that happened there.
Speaker 1:Cyprian, known by the title of the magician to distinguish him from Cyprian bishop of Carthage, was a native of Antioch. Him from. Cyprian bishop of Carthage was a native of Antioch. He received a liberal education in his youth and particularly applied himself to astrology, after which he traveled for improvement through Greece, egypt, india, etc. In the course of time he became acquainted with Justina, a young lady of Antioch whose birth, beauty and accomplishments rendered her the admiration of all who knew her. A pagan gentleman applied to Cyprian to promote his suit with the beautiful Justina. This he undertook, but soon himself became converted, burnt his books of astrology and magic, received baptism and felt animated with a powerful spirit of grace. The conversion of Cyprian had a great effect on the pagan gentleman who paid his addresses to Justina and he in short time embraced Christianity. During the persecution of Diocletian, cyprian and Justina were seized upon as Christians. Cyprian and Justina were seized upon as Christians, when the former was torn with pincers and then I can't read this part in the book, folks and after suffering, other torments were beheaded.
Speaker 1:A little comment here there's a lady that I follow on X. Ostensibly her goal is training younger women and how to act according to Scripture, as godly women. According to scripture, as godly women and one of the things that she talks about frequently is Titus 2, and 1 Peter 3 would also fit and a woman's job to win over their husband with their gentle spirit, meekness, kindness, right. Meekness, kindness, right. And you hear this episode here. With this woman, justina, and she won over these men, and it wasn't by force but by actions. Example, just a thought that popped in my head while we were reading this. It wasn't because she was a great CEO or athlete or had all these degrees.
Speaker 1:Eulala, that's what I'm going to pronounce it a Spanish lady of a Christian family, was remarkable in her youth her sweetness of temper and solidity of understanding seldom found in the capriciousness of juvenile years. Being apprehended as a Christian, the magistrate attempted by the mildest means to bring her over to paganism, but she ridiculed the pagan deities with such asperity that the judge, incensed at her behavior, ordered her to be tortured. Her sides were accordingly torn by hooks and her breasts burnt in the most shocking manner till she expired by the violence of the flames, december AD 303. In the year 304, when the persecution reached Spain, dacian, the governor of Tarragona, ordered Valerius, the bishop, and Vincent, the deacon, to be seized loaded with irons and imprisoned the prisoners. Being firm in their resolution, valerius was banished and Vincent was racked and his limbs dislocated, his flesh torn with hooks and was laid on a gridiron which had not only a fire placed under it but spikes at the top which ran into his flesh. These torments neither destroying him nor changing his resolutions, he was remanded to prison and confined in a small, loathsome, dark dungeon strew with sharp flints and pieces of broken glass, where he died January 22nd 304. His body was thrown into the river.
Speaker 1:The persecution of Diocletian began particularly to rage in AD 304, when many Christians were put to cruel tortures and the most painful and ignominious deaths, the most imminent and particular of whom we shall enumerate. Enumerate Saturnius, a priest of Albertina, a town in Africa, after being tortured, was remanded to prison and there starved to death. His four children, after being variously tormented, shared the same fate with their father, dativius, a noble Roman. I can't help but mention here, folks, as cruel as this is. If you think that this is something that happened a long time ago that doesn't happen today, you need to remember some of the stories that came out of Israel just a couple years ago, some of the things that the Muslims did to the Jews as far as putting babies in an oven or raping women to the point of death raping women to the point of death.
Speaker 1:And then, as the adults that are listening to the podcast, folks, especially here in America, we need to ask ourselves if we're really willing to abandon our Christian heritage and condemn our children and grandchildren back to the same state. Because if you don't think that either the Muslims or Islam sorry or leftism that bucket of isms, leftism, socialism, communism, fascism, nazism would go back in a heartbeat or would go to in a heartbeat these kind of barbarities if they were given total power. You need to look at the 20th century alone total power. You need to look at the 20th century alone and ask yourself if you're really willing, particularly as men, if we're really willing to condemn our wives and our children and our grandchildren to that kind of fate by simply walking away from God and Jesus Christ and the founding principles of our nation. And I hate to say it, folks, more than you probably know, but you really need to ask yourself the same question about Catholicism because we're going to get to that in a little bit in this book and ask yourself what would happen if that particular denomination was given total power. Because, like the author of this book said at the beginning, if their argument is that the church has never made any mistakes, that particular denomination and that they're infallible, then all of those atrocities that they committed over the centuries can't be mistakes.
Speaker 1:Stakes DATIVUS, a noble Roman senator. Thalico, a pious Christian. Victoria, a young lady of considerable family and fortune, with some others of less consideration. All auditors of Saturnius were tortured in a similar manner and perished by the same means. Agrape, chania and Irene, three sisters, were seized upon at Thessalonica when Diocletian's persecution reached Greece. At Thessalonica, when Diocletian's persecution reached Greece, they were burnt and received the crown of martyrdom in the flames. March 25, ad 304. The governor, finding that he could make no impression on Irene, ordered her to be exposed naked in the streets. Which shameful order. Having been executed, she was burnt. April 1, a, ad 304, at the same place where her sisters suffered.
Speaker 1:These people are important to remember for the same reason that our Medal of Honor winners are important to remember, because they were willing to sacrifice so much of themselves, including their lives, to spread the gospel or to protect others, or both. What are we willing to do today? Are we willing to do anything? We're going to read a little bit out of Mercy Otis Warren History of the Rise, progress and Termination of the American Revolution.
Speaker 1:It has already been observed that the arbitrary disposition of George III, the absurd system of policy adopted in conformity to his principles and a parliamentary majority at the command of the Ministry, rendered it not difficult to enforce any measure that might tend to an accession of the powers of the crown. It was a just sentiment of an elegant writer that almost all the vices of royalty have been principally occasioned by a slavish adulation in the language of their subjects. And to the shame of the English, it must be said that none of the enslaved nations in the world have addressed the throne in a more fulsome and hyperbolical style. Mrs Macaulay's letter to Earl Stanhope. The dignity of the crown, the supremacy of Parliament and the disloyalty of the colonies were the theme of the court, the echo of its creatures and of the British nation in general. Nor was it thought good policy to let the high claims of government lie long in a dormant state. Accordingly, not many months after the repeal of the Stamp Act, the chamber of the Exchequer, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, charles Townshend Esquire, came forward and pawned his character on the success of a new attempt to tax the American colonies. Discretion, he had the talent of bringing together at once all that was necessary to establish, to illustrate and to decorate the side of the question he was on. A writer has more recently observed that Charles Townshend was a man of rising parliamentary reputation and brilliant talents, but capricious, insincere, intriguing and wholly destitute of discretion or solid solidity.
Speaker 1:Belsham, on the reign of George III, he introduced several bills in support of his sanguinary designs which, without much difficulty, obtained the sanction of Parliament and the Royal Assent. The purport of this new project for revenue was to levy certain duties on paper, glass, printers or painters' colors and several other articles usually imported into America. It was also directed that the duties on Indian teas, which had been a productive source of revenue in England, indian teas which had been a productive source of revenue in England should be taken off there and three pence per pound levied on all kinds that should in future be purchased in the colonies. The inconsiderable duty on teas finally became an object of high importance and altercation. It was not the sum but the principle that was contested.
Speaker 1:It manifestly appeared that this was only a financiering expedient to raise a revenue from the colonies by imperceptible taxes. The defenders of the privileges and the freedom of the colonies denied all parliamentary right to tax them in any way whatever. They asserted that if the collection of this duty was permitted it would establish a precedent and streak them. The claim Parliament had assumed to tax them at pleasure and streak them. The claim Parliament had assumed to tax them at pleasure, to do it by the secret modes of imposts and excises would ruin their trade, corrupt the morals of the people and was more abhorrent in their eyes than a direct demand.
Speaker 1:The most judicious and intelligent Americans at this time considered all imperceptible taxes fraught with evils that tended to enslave any country plunged in the boundless chaos of fiscal demands that this practice introduces. You have to see us in that paragraph, folks. Imperceptible taxes. How many taxes do we pay today? Do we even have a clue. The vast majority, overwhelming majority of Americans Gas tax, sales tax, property tax, income tax, estate tax, death tax Do we have any slew? All the different taxes, these imperceptible taxes that don't even look that great at face value, what they are, much less where the money's going. Right now, with musk and the department of government efficiency, how angry so many politicians and lobbyists are at them. Even beginning to show where some of this money is going and the waste and abuse. Again, folks, if somebody's talking to you about taxes and they aren't automatically starting off with either a fair tax or a flat tax as the only acceptable taxes at either the federal or the state level, they aren't really serious about tax reform. And they certainly are not serious when they start spewing garbage about equality and everybody's fair share, because our system is so grossly unfair relative to either one of those two systems the fair tax or the flat tax that anybody that really wanted the playing field to be level and everybody to pay in would immediately get on board with one of those two taxes. And what does Ms Warren say here? The most judicious and intelligent Americans at this time considered all imperceptible taxes fraught with evils that tended to enslave any country plunged in the boundless chaos of fiscal demands that this practice introduces. Are we not today? Are we not enslaved to the government? How long do we have to work most days just to get to the point where we've paid our taxes? What is the tax date now for the average Americans? I don't even know anymore folks, but I know it's a good chunk of the year that we have to work just to pay the taxes that we owe to some level of government property, state, county, federal, whatever it is, city. They can't survive. Folks, particularly especially, most importantly, because we have so many people that don't pay in and still get to vote equally with those who do pay in.
Speaker 1:In consequence of the new system, a board of customs was instituted and commissioners appointed to set in Boston to collect the duties which were, besides other purposes, to supply a fund for the payment of the large salaries annexed to their office. Court and such other officers as had heretofore depended on the free grants of the representative body were to be paid out of the revenue chest, thus rendered wholly independent of the General Assembly. There was no check left on the wanton exercise of power in the Crown officers, however disposed they might be to abuse their trust. The distance from the throne, it was said, must delay, if not wholly prevent, all relief. Under any oppressions the people might suffer from the servants of government. And to crown the long list of grievances specified by the patriots of the day, the extension of the courts of vice-adiralty was none of the least. They were vested with certain powers that dispensed with the mode of trial by jury, annihilated the privileges of Englishmen and placed the liberty of every man in the hand of a petty officer of the customers. By warrant of a writ of assistance from the governor or lieutenant governor, any officer of the revenue was authorized to enter the dwelling of the most respectable inhabitant on the smallest suspicion of a concealment of contraband goods, and to insult, search or seize with impunity.
Speaker 1:How much of our life right now is controlled by the revenue math? What happens if you don't pay your taxes? You don't own anything anymore. They'll come and take everything if you don't pay your taxes. And yet so many Americans seem, and illegals seem, to be able to garner representation. Right, because even the illegals that don't vote and there are many that do, but even the ones that don't explicitly vote their body count goes toward representative government, toward the House of Representatives. So on the one hand you have those of us that pay taxes. If we don't pay taxes, they're going to start to come and take things from us cars, houses, land and then on the other hand you have this group of people that somehow doesn't pay federal income tax, net right, they net take more out. About 40% of the population last time I checked takes more out of the federal treasury than they put in, if they put any in treasury than they put in if they put any in. And then the illegals again, which don't pay taxes, at least not income tax, and they're not citizens, which it doesn't really matter. Some of them probably end up paying taxes somehow, and yet they get a vote on how things are done. They get power. I can't last folks. Representation without taxation is just as bad as taxation without representation. And again the point is the control of the revenue.
Speaker 1:Man of alathias, massachusetts, massachusettsness, etc. Etc. Of some professional abilities and ingenuity but without either property or principle, was, by the instigation of Mr Bernard, appointed sole judge of admiralty in Massachusetts. The dangerous aspect of this court, particularly when aided by writs of assistance, was opposed with peculiar energy and strength of argument by James Otis Esquire of Boston who, by the exertion of his talents and sacrifice of interest, may justly claim the honor of laying the foundation of a revolution which has been productive of the happiest effects to the civil and political interests of mankind. And we'll pick up with Otis the next time. God bless y'all. God bless your families. God bless y'all. God bless your families. God bless your marriages. God bless your nation, wherever you are around the world. Listen, god bless America. We'll talk to y'all again real soon. Folks looking forward to it.