
The American Soul
The American Soul
God remains our only hope in an increasingly divided America
What happens when we take our religious freedom for granted? In this deeply reflective episode, we explore the privilege of worshipping Christ without fear in America – a luxury Christians in Nigeria, Syria, Iran, North Korea, and China don't share. This freedom wasn't free; it was purchased with the blood and sacrifice of countless Americans throughout history.
The conversation takes an introspective turn as we examine our modern priorities. While many of us can recite every lyric from our favorite artists or statistics about sports teams, few can name a single Medal of Honor recipient or articulate the sacrifices made to secure our freedoms. Through powerful stories of Medal of Honor recipients like John Lewis Barkley, who single-handedly stopped two enemy counterattacks in World War I, and John Andrew Barnes III, who sacrificed his life by throwing himself on a grenade in Vietnam to save his wounded comrades, we're confronted with the question: What do we truly value as Americans?
Historical segments from Fox's Book of Martyrs reveal disturbing accounts of persecution carried out in the name of religion, including horrific torture methods used during the Inquisition. These serve as sobering reminders of what happens when religious authority becomes corrupted by power. Meanwhile, Mercy Otis Warren's account of the Boston Tea Party illustrates how principled resistance to tyranny shaped our nation's founding.
As we face today's cultural division, the message becomes clear: America's only hope lies in returning to God, acknowledging our sins individually and nationally, and embracing the redemptive power of Christ. Without this spiritual foundation, no political solution can address the fundamental issues plaguing our society. Our experiment in liberty began with acknowledgment of divine Providence – its continuation depends on rediscovering this essential truth.
Subscribe now to join our growing community of listeners passionate about preserving America's spiritual heritage and applying timeless principles to today's challenges.
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, whatever part of the day you're in. Sure do appreciate you joining me. I know y'all have other things, you know, vying for your attention, and so I'm very grateful that you spend some of it here with me. So thank you For those of y'all that continue to pray for the podcast and for me. Thank you very much. I need it and I absolutely want it. So thank you, and for those of y'all who continue to share the podcast with others and tell others about it.
Speaker 1:Thank you, 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. Thank you for all the many blessings you bestow upon us. Thank you that we can worship your Son, jesus Christ, without fear of torture, imprisonment, death, at least here in America, at least for now, father, and help us to comfort those in other places around the world as much as we can, and to help them as much as we can where that's not true Nigeria, syria, iran, north Korea, china so many places, father. Please help us to always be humbly grateful for being born in America, where we have that privilege to read your word, where we have that privilege to worship your son, jesus Christ, and nobody is going to come knocking on our door pointing a gun at us because we worship you and your son, jesus Christ, and that we have the ability to do that in whatever way fits with our conscience, based on scripture. Father, thank you so much for that that we don't have to worry about a particular denomination coming and imprisoning us and torturing us because we don't follow their doctrine the way that they demand. Forgive us when we take that for granted, father. Forgive us when we are not. Supremely grateful for that and for those who have gone before us, and help us to be willing to make the same sacrifices that those before us were, father, not out of greed or lust or gain, desire for fame or fortune, father, but so that we can spread liberty by spreading your Holy Spirit, the ability for people to be filled with that, to come to you and your Son, Jesus Christ, that we can care for the widow and the orphan, the poor and the needy. Help us to be willing to make that trade.
Speaker 1:Father, please be with our pastors and our priests and their families. Please comfort them, give them wisdom, give them conviction and courage and perseverance, and help us to support them. Father and God, my words here in your son's name. We ask and pray and please, father, please be with those listening to the podcast today, wherever they are, across the nation, here in America, around the world. Be with them, be with their families, fill their houses with your peace and your comfort, draw them close to you, father, strengthen the marriages of those who are married, guide those who have children in raising them to know you and your son, jesus Christ. In his name, we ask and pray.
Speaker 1:So I thought of a couple things while we were praying just then, and I've forgotten one of them, because my brain is like a two-year-old that you've given a bag of pixie sticks to and it's bouncing all over the place. But one of them that I do remember is I talked about praying for priests and pastors. If you get a chance, I won't ask you to keep this up, but I might say a quick prayer for my pastor. He had some surgery and it's not exactly comfortable, and so I would appreciate that if you would just say a quick prayer for him and his wife, who's having to play nursemaid, but she does a very, very good job. We're very grateful to have them both. You know I don't mention this often enough, but those of y'all that have been around the podcast for a while you know it because I've mentioned it before.
Speaker 1:When people ask me about my time in the Marine Corps, I always say, yeah, my wife and I, we were stationed here wherever. And they say, oh, y'all were both in the Marine Corps. No, we weren't technically both in the Marine Corps. She wasn't a member, she wasn't a Marine Corps, she wasn't a member, she wasn't a Marine. But she was every much, just as much affected by the decisions of the Marine Corps as I was, in a lot of different ways and we could sit down and talk about that sometime a little more in depth.
Speaker 1:But you know the wives of pastors and priests. They're in it just as much as their husbands and they have the same maybe it's a different kind of attacks but the same pressures put on them. And so when you get a chance, just make sure every once in a while that you thank both your pastor and his wife, especially if you have a good one In both cases, especially if you have a good one, tell them thank you, tell them how much you appreciate them and make sure you pray for them. I cannot, for the life of me, remember what my other thought was when we were sitting there praying, so I'll let God worry about that. Maybe that means I'm not supposed to mention it.
Speaker 1:Have you made time for God today? Have you made time to read his word? Have you made time to pray, to listen to him? Right, I talk about. That's one of my failings I don't stop and listen often enough to God. And you can do that a number of places, folks. You can go for a walk. You can sit on the porch in a rocking chair. You can sit quietly in a room, go for a run driving up and down the road Maybe your job requires you to travel, you know, and you're in that car. We don't have to turn the radio on. We don't have to turn the TV on, we don't have to look at our phone constantly. We can just sit there.
Speaker 1:I think a lot of us, as adults that have kids, you know, we look at our kids. We say you need to learn how to be bored, because kids really do. They don't know how to be bored today because they can turn something on constantly. Maybe we need to learn how to be bored again ourselves as adults. Maybe we need to learn how to be bored again ourselves as adults and by bored I simply mean giving our brains a chance to kind of rest and regroup and think about some things. Maybe just everyone wants to just sit there and think about just random stuff. Folks. Just give your brain a chance to kind of go down the paths it wants to stuff. Folks. Just give your brain a chance to kind of go down the path it wants to, and hopefully part of that is sitting there and purposefully trying to listen to God.
Speaker 1:If you are married, does your spouse know it? Are they your top priority each day? Are you and look, here's something, and maybe I don't talk about this angle, this particular facet of it, enough, but if your spouse is really your priority, folks, then your top priority each day is fulfilling your roles and responsibilities as given you by God as a husband or wife. You know Christ tells us if we really love him, we follow his commandments. That's really how you ought to look at your spouse. If you're really loving your spouse, if they're really your priority, then your goal each day when you get up ought to be serve God first right and then follow your responsibilities throughout the day, whatever those are, and all you have to do is look at scripture folks out the day, whatever those are, and all you have to do is look at Scripture folks. I know there's some people because I get some really you know pretty colorful comments on X often from my own commentary there. But here's the bottom line Read Scripture.
Speaker 1:If you don't think my what I'm telling you makes sense or is legitimate, then go read Scripture and see. And even if you do, even if you think what I'm saying is spot on, go read scripture and make sure so that when somebody else comes to you you can back it up with that. Ephesians 5, 1 Corinthians 7, titus 2, 1 Peter 3, hebrews 13, 4, proverbs 5, 19,. Song of Solomon right For marriage. There's some great places to start. Always go back, folks.
Speaker 1:What does the Bible say? When somebody comes at you with something and you don't have to do it right, then you know you don't have to be combative, you don't have to be argumentative, you don't even have to say anything to the person. You can just hear them and then go check it out yourself and be like OK, let's see what the Bible actually says about this. Go check it out yourself and be like, okay, let's see what the Bible actually says about this. We don't do that enough In Western civilization in general and in America in particular. What does the Bible say? What does God say? And you sure better do that when somebody starts talking to you about denominational doctrine, when the church says, well, this is what we have to do, okay, let's go check out scripture and see if the church is actually lined up with scripture. Revelation what, not 14. We did that yesterday or the day before, whenever.
Speaker 1:15, a scene of heaven. Then I saw another sign in heaven great and marvelous seven angels who had seven plagues, which are the last, because in them the wrath of God is finished, and I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire and those who had been victorious over the beast, in his image and the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, holding harps of God, and they sang the song of Moses, the bondservant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying Great and marvelous are your works, o Lord, god the Almighty, righteous and true are your ways, king of the nations, who will not fear, o Lord, and glorify your name, for you alone are holy For all the nations, will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed. After these things, I looked and the temple of the tabernacle of testimony in heaven was opened and the seven angels who had the seven plagues came out in the temple, clothed in linen, clean and bright, and girded around their chests with golden sashes. Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever, and the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power. And no one was able to enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.
Speaker 1:Verse 3. Sing a song of Moses, the bondservant of God, and the song of the Lamb, for whatever reason, folks and I'm not a great singer, so don't think this isn't hypocritical Nobody really wants to listen to me. I promise it doesn't really matter, though I think too often we get caught up in our own pride and insecurities and ego and we don't want to do something unless we're really good at it, unless it's going to cause people to take notice of us, right? Does that make sense? It's going to cause people to take notice of us, right? Does that make sense? We don't want to try something unless we're already really good at it, or we have an idea that we're going to be good at it. Or if we know we're not good at it, you know, then we, then we definitely don't want to do it.
Speaker 1:I'm not saying you have to, you know, sing at the top of your lungs when you're at church, but I think we do.
Speaker 1:You see, song incorporated so much in Scripture. I think there's a reason for that. Maybe there's a bunch of reasons for it. But if you get a chance, sing, even if it's kind of in a quiet voice at church, and just realize I need to realize this. I don't realize this too often, folks, I forget this. I don't like to think about it. I'm really singing for God. I'm really singing for God. I think there's a lot of times throughout history where people sang during their work, their day, even in battle, men would sing. I just I think that we forget that. You don't have to have a great voice, folks. You don't have to be on American Idol or whatever else. X Factor, I don't even know what it is anymore. The voice Just sing. Tell God. Thank you. All right, I wanted to clean up something.
Speaker 1:I thought about this after we had already moved on from the previous podcast, this biography, where we read that little excerpt out of Alone by William Manchester talking about Churchill. One of the things that it kind of passed by and the author seemed to kind of approve of and I think we do this a lot in hindsight is FDR was interviewed right by Phelps Adams of the New York Sun and he asked can we stay out of it Talking about, can we stay out of this conflict, this World War II, over in Europe and Roosevelt? He didn't think so privately, but the answer he gave is I not only sincerely hope so, but I believe we can and every effort will be made by this administration to do so. And the author, manchester, here says hey, this was duplicitous, but the president couldn't say what he really thought because he wasn't going to be able to be a great wartime leader unless he won the third term the following year and if he was blunt now he would lose. Then Okay, a couple things.
Speaker 1:One, there's never a good idea. There's never a justification really for lying. I suppose if you were in a situation where if you had to tell a lie, it was going to save the life of a person in that moment, sure, I'm kind of getting into skating on thin ice right here. Let me back up and try this again. So often we try and justify lies. We try and find a good reason after the fact, like we've already told the lie, and then, after the fact, then we try and go back and we try and control the've already told the lie. And then, after the fact, then we try and go back and we try and control the narrative so that the lie ends up trying to make us look good somehow. And obviously this author is not FDR, so it's not like FDR is doing this. But how often do we circumvent God's will? Which would have been better because we think we know better? Which would have been better because we think we know better? We've talked on the podcast a number of times.
Speaker 1:Our founders didn't resolve the issue of slavery, and so many historians will tell you. Well, they couldn't because the South would have left the Union. There was no way that they could get the Southern colonies to agree to go along with the Union if they demanded that slavery be gotten rid of, and that sounds like a great reason, but what if it wasn't? What if that would have been the very best thing? What if the South didn't join the union and and we won the war on our own as Northern colonies anyway, and then the South faltered and had to come join the Union on the terms of the North and slavery was outlawed and we avoided a civil war and all the racial tension and catastrophe that has stuck with our nation for the last 250 years, or or some other. What if some other path was taken? You know, what if the whole thing fell apart and we ended up staying part of the British Empire? But it completely changed the way that King and Parliament functioned and it made not only Britain better but the entire world better. We have no idea. The point is, as John Quincy Adams said duty is ours, results are God's. We have a responsibility.
Speaker 1:What if FDR would have come out here staunchly against Hitler and the Nazis and staunchly for American intervention? Maybe that would have checked Hitler. Maybe Hitler would have looked up all of a sudden and been like, hmm, man, this is a bad idea, because there's multiple times where Britain and France had that opportunity and didn't do it. And documents after the war showed that Germany was on such shaky footing that if Britain and France would have just stood up to Hitler, his own generals would have revolted against him because their position was so weak, so untenable, like just time after time after time. What if this was one of the opportunities where FDR could have said, yeah, absolutely, if Hitler, we're going to get involved. In fact, we're going to get involved tomorrow? Again, I ask the question, folks, how many times have we circumvented God's will and made the situation infinitely worse by telling even just a little white lie than if we would have told the truth? Y'all can take that and run with it. I thought of that in particular in reference to Israel and President Trump and what's going on with him today too. But something to think about. All right, medal of Honors, let's see.
Speaker 1:I think we left off with Colby Barker. Nathaniel C Barker, us Civil War Sergeant. Us Civil War, echo Company, 11th New Hampshire Infantry, us Army. 12 May 1864, spotsylvania, virginia, usa. Six color bearers of the regiment having been killed, he voluntarily took both flags of the regiment and carried them through the remainder of the battle. Accredited to Manchester-Hillsborough County, new Hampshire not awarded. Posthumously presented September 23, 1897 at the Massachusetts Association of New Hampshire Vets, 27 Pemberton Square, boston, massachusetts. Born September 28, 1836, fairmont, grafton County, new Hampshire, united States. Died March 7, 1904, somerville, massachusetts, united States. Buried Last Rest Cemetery MH17 Tech B Merrimark, new Hampshire, united States. I like that Last Rest Cemetery. Nathaniel C Barker, john L Barkley, john Lewis Barkley, private First Class World War I Kilo Company, 4th Infantry, 3rd Division, us Army.
Speaker 1:October 7, 1918, near Canal France, pfc Barclay, who was stationed in an observation post half a kilometer from the German line, on his own initiative repaired a captured enemy machine gun and mounted it in a disabled French tank near his post. Shortly afterward, when the enemy launched a counterattack against our forces, pfc Barclay got into the tank, waited under the hostile barrage until the enemy line was abreast of him and then opened fire, completely breaking up the counterattack and killing and wounding a large number of the enemy. Five minutes later, an enemy 77 millimeter gun opened fire on the tank point blank. One shell struck the drive wheel of the tank, but this soldier nevertheless remained in the tank and, after the barrage ceased, broke up a second enemy counterattack, thereby enabling our forces to gain and hold Hill 25.
Speaker 1:Accredited to Blairstown, henry County, missouri, not awarded posthumously. Born 28 August 1895, blairstown, henry County, missouri, united States. Died April 14, 1966, shawnee Mission, kansas, us. Buried Forest Hill Cemetery PM 50-132, kansas City, missouri, united States. Location of metal National World War I Museum at the Liberty Memorial, kansas City, missouri.
Speaker 1:You ought to see the picture of this guy or the painting it looks like. Actually, we used to talk in the military some of y'all that have experience with the military and know about it, you'll understand this All the ribbons and stuff that we would wear, they would call them fruit salad. There are all these different colors, right, different colors of the ribbons. This guy has a heck of a fruit salad on his chest and maybe it's just the way the painting or the picture is, but he looks like one of those movie characters where it's the royalty that just has all those medals all over Crazy. There was something else here. Oh, died. You know he lived through world war one, the Depression, world War II and into the 60s. Died in the 1960s. That man saw a lot. John Lewis Barclay let's see. Oh, yeah, we got time.
Speaker 1:John A Barnes III. John Andrew Barnes III. Private First Class Vietnam War. Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry, 173rd Airborne Brigade, us Army, 12 November 1967.
Speaker 1:Dac II, republic of Vietnam, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action, at the risk of his life. Above and beyond the call of duty, pfc Barnes distinguished himself by exceptional heroism while engaged in combat against hostile forces. Pfc Barnes was serving as a grenadier when his unit was attacked by a North Vietnamese force estimated to be a battalion. Upon seeing the crew of a machine gun team kill, pfc Barnes, without hesitation, dashed through the bullet-swept area, manned the machine gun and killed nine enemy soldiers as they assaulted his position. While pausing just long enough to retrieve more ammunition, pfc Barnes observed an enemy grenade thrown into the midst of some severely wounded personnel close to his position. Realizing that the grenade could further injure or kill the majority of the wounded personnel, he sacrificed his life by throwing himself directly onto the hand grenade as it exploded. Through his indomitable courage, complete disregard for his own safety and profound concern for his fellow soldiers, he averted a probable loss of life and injury to the wounded members of his unit. Bfc Marne's extraordinary heroism and intrepidity, at the cost of his life, above and beyond the call of duty, are in the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit and the US Army.
Speaker 1:Boston, suffolk County, massachusetts. Awarded posthumously, presented November 4, 1969, at the White House by Vice President Spiro T Agnew to his family. Born April 16, 1945, boston, suffolk County, massachusetts, united States. Died November 12, 1967, republic of Vietnam. Buried Brookdale Cemetery 3, veterans Hill, 0063, victor, dedham, massachusetts, united States. John Andrew Barnes III.
Speaker 1:You know, when we go through these Medal of Honor recipients, folks, when we go through Fox's Book of the Martyrs, when we read through Mercy Otis Warren's history of the American Revolution, I hope that all of these things are developing in each of us, myself included, a sense of how much we owe to those who have come before us. And we really ought to look at reading the Bible that way too, folks, obviously first and foremost at how much we owe Jesus Christ, but the disciples and those members of the early church that sacrificed so much right. And then you look at the history of our nation here in America and wherever your nation is around the world, folks, you have these same kind of men and women. Maybe there's a lot of them, maybe there's not many of them, but we can look back and see these men and women that have given so much to sacrifice to sustain true liberty. It's hard for me to frame this in a positive way. Constructive criticism, right, but goodness gracious, folks in America we have failed so horribly. We're so willing to sit around and talk about the latest pitcher in baseball, or the best quarterback, or running back in the NFL or in NCAA, or the greatest WNBA, latest and greatest WNBA star, nba star, the Olympics you know we'll watch the Olympics for hours on end, for two weeks straight. Or we know every lyric, every word of the songs of our favorite country singer, pop star, rapper or whatever else, and a lot of times the lyrics aren't that good to begin with. We give so much of our time and attention to these people who often tear our nation down, often tear our nation down, disregard or disrespect the sacrifice of so many who have come before us. And I know that there's probably quite a few of y'all kind of rolling your eyes going okay, cope, we get it. We understand You're beating a dead horse, but it's not folks. I say it all the time because it's not.
Speaker 1:I was talking to my wife the other day and I was talking about priorities or something and I could see that she was kind of like okay, I got it, I know, but we don't act like it, we're not acting like it. We haven't been acting like it. It ought to bother us immensely, folks, and it's condemning, and it's pathetic and it's just so many words that it doesn't bother us more, that we can stop with a neighbor on the side of the road and have a 10 or 15 minute conversation about last week's football game or baseball or that latest episode of our favorite sitcom. But we don't even know the names of these people to talk about. I've never even heard of some of these, most of almost all of these, medal of Honor recipients. Anyway, I don't know folks. All right, we'll move on. We're going to get back into Fox's Book of the Martyrs and we're going to get we were talking about this episode between LaGalle and France and the Inisitors out about how much evil these men were really doing.
Speaker 1:It became more clear at least, and part of it was that they had kept this harem. And this is one of the stories this young lady she said she was glad of my humble submission and ran to acquaint Don Francisco with it. In a few minutes she returned with joy in her countenance, telling me his Lordship would honor me with his company to supper. And now give me leave, madam, said she, to call you mistress, for I am to wait upon you. I have been in a holy office fourteen years and know all the customs perfectly well. But as silence is imposed upon me under pain of death, I can only answer such questions as immediately relate to your own person. But I would advise you never to oppose the Holy Father's will or, if you see any young ladies about, never ask them any questions. You may divert yourself sometimes among them, but must never tell them anything. Three days hence you will dine with them and at all times you may have music and other recreations. Music and other recreations, and fine. You will be so happy that you will not wish to go abroad in time, and when your time is expired, the Holy Fathers will send you out of this country and marry you to some nobleman.
Speaker 1:After saying these words, she left me overwhelmed with astonishment and scarce knowing what to think. As soon as I recovered myself, I began to look about and finding a closet. I opened it and perceived that it was filled with books. They were chiefly upon historical and profane subjects, but not any on religious matter. I chose out a book of history, and so passed the interval with some degree of satisfaction till dinner time. The dinner was served up with the greatest elegance and consisted of all that could gratify the most luxurious appetite. When dinner was over, mary left me and told me, if I wanted anything, that I might ring a bell, which she pointed out to me.
Speaker 1:I read a book to amuse myself during the afternoon, and at seven in the evening, don Francisco came to visit me in his nightgown and cap, not with the gravity of an inquisitor but the gaiety of a gallant. He saluted me with great respect and told me that he came to see me in order to show the great respect he had for my family and to inform me that it was my lovers who had procured my confinement, having accused me in matters of religion, and that the informations were taken and the sentence pronounced against me to be burnt in a dry pan with a gradual fire, but that he, out of pity and love to my family, had stopped the execution of it. These words were like daggers to my heart. I dropped at his feet and said Ah, ah, my lord, have you stopped the execution forever? He replied that belongs to yourself only, and abruptly wished me good-night me. What could make me cry so bitterly? To which I answered oh, mary, what is the meaning of the dry pan and the gradual fire? For I am to die by them, madam, said she. Never fear, you shall see ere long, the dry pan and gradual fire. But they are made for those who oppose the holy father's will. But they are made for those who oppose the Holy Father's will, not for you who are so good as to obey it. But pray, says she was Don Francisco, very obliging. I don't know, said I, for he frightened me out of my wits by his discourse. He saluted me with civility but left me abruptly. Well, said Mary, you do not yet know his temper. He is extremely obliging to them that are kind to him, but if they are disobedient, he is unmerciful as Nero. So for your own sake, take care to oblige him in all respects. And now, dear madam pray, go to supper and be easy. I went to supper, indeed, and afterward to bed, but I could neither eat nor sleep, for the thoughts of the dry pan and gradual fire deprived me of appetite and banished drowsiness.
Speaker 1:Early the next morning, mary said that, as nobody was stirring, if I would promise her secrecy, she would show me the dry pan and gradual fire. So, taking me downstairs, she brought me to a dry pan and gradual fire. So, taking me downstairs, she brought me to a large room with a thick iron door which she opened. Within, it was an oven, with fire in it at the time and a large brass upon it with a cover of the same and a lock on it. In the next room there was a grind wheel covered on both sides with thick boards, opening a little window in the center. Mary desired me to look in with a candle. There I saw all the circumference of the wheel set with sharp ragers which made me shudder. She then took me to a pit which was full of venomous animals. On my expressing great horror at the sight, she said Now, my good mistress, I'll tell you the use of these things.
Speaker 1:The dry pan is for her and those who oppose the Father's will and pleasure. They are put alive into the pan being first stripped naked and the cover being locked down. The executioner begins to put a small flame, small fire, into the oven and by degrees he augments it till the body is reduced to ashes. The wheel is designed for those who speak against the Pope or the Holy Fathers of the Inquisition, for they are put into the machine through the little wheel which is locked after them, and then the wheel is turned swiftly till they are cut to pieces. The pit is for those who condemn the images and refuse to give proper respect to ecclesiastical persons, for they are thrown into the pit and so become the food of poisonous animals. Folks, goodness, there is no possible way that you can follow Christ and justify any of those things. Absolutely no possible way, absolutely no possible way. There's no possible way you can follow Christ and justify putting someone, locking them in an oven and heating it up until they're burnt to death, or putting a person in some kind of wheel contraption and turning it until they're cut to pieces because they don't honor the Pope or because they won't do exactly what the lust and greed demand of a member of the Inquisition. I just it's astounding. Or that they won't worship images, apparently the way they were supposed to. Don't forget the atrocities that the Muslims did just two years ago in Israel when they got into the country, and the fact that it wasn't just a particular terrorist group, but that that terrorist group was, or the members were cheered on as they returned by the general population.
Speaker 1:We went back again to my chamber and Mary said that another day she would show me the torments designed for other transgressors. But I was in such agonies at what I had seen that I begged her to be terrified with no more such sights. She soon after left me, but went not without enjoining my strict obedience to Don Francisco, for if you do not comply with his will, said she, the dry pan and gradual fire will be your fate. The horrors which the sight of these things and Mary's expressions impressed upon my mind almost bereaved me of my senses and left me in such a state of stupefaction that I seemed to have no manner of will of my own and to do these things to women folks. We'll come back and read some more of this young lady's story, fifteen years old. It's hard not to think that there's not a special place in hell for people that do commit those atrocities, especially while pretending to be upstanding priests or pastors or servants of Christ. History of the Rise, progress and Termination of the American Revolution by Mercy Otis Warren. It's still in chapter four, I think, and we're talking about, yes, p, the first steps taken in Boston.
Speaker 1:The first step taken in Boston was to request the consignees to refuse the commission. The inhabitants warmly remonstrated against the T's being landed in any of their ports and urged the return of the ships without permitting them to break bulk. The commissioners at New York, philadelphia and several other colonies were applied to with similar requests. Most of them complied. In some places the T's were stored on proper conditions and others sent back without entry.
Speaker 1:But in Massachusetts the difficulties were accumulated by the restless ambition of some of her own degenerate sons. Not the smallest impression was made on the feelings of their governor by the united supplications of the inhabitants of Boston and its environs. Mr Hutchinson, who very well knew that virtue is seldom a sufficient restraint to the passions but that in spite of patriotism reasons or religion, they scale too frequently preponderates in favor of interest or appetite, persisted in the execution of his favorite project as, by force of habit, this drunk drug had become almost a necessary article of diet. The demand for teas in America was astonishingly great and the agents in Boston sure of finding purchasers if, once the weed was deposited in their stores, audibly declined a resignation of office and determined, when the ships arrived, to receive and dispose of their cargoes at every hazard. Kind of like coffee today huh, we do love our coffee.
Speaker 1:Before either time or discretion had cooled the general disgust at the interested and supercilious behavior of these young pupils of intrigue, the long-expected ships arrived which were to establish a precedent, thought dangerously consequential, resolved not to yield to the smallest vestige of parliamentary taxation, however, disguised, a numerous assembly of the most respectable people of Boston and its neighborhood repaired to the public hall and drew up a remonstrance to the governor urging the necessity of his order to send back the ships without suffering any part of their cargoes to be landed. His answer confirmed the opinion that he was the instigator of the measure. It irritated the spirits of the people and tended more to increase than allay the rising ferment. A few days after this, the factors had the precaution to apply to the governor and council for protection to enable them to receive and dispose of their consignments. As the council refused to act in the affair, the governor called on Colonel Hancock, who commanded a company of cadets, to hold himself in readiness to assist the civil magistrates if any tumult should arise in consequence of any attempt to land the Tees. This gentleman, thought professedly in opposition to the court, had oscillated between the parties until neither of them at that time had much confidence in his exertions. It did not, however, appear that he had any inclination to obey the summons. Neither did he explicitly refuse. But he soon after signed his commission and continued in future, unequivocally opposed to the ministerial system.
Speaker 1:On the appearance of this persevering spirit among the people, governor Hutchinson again resorted to his usual arts of secondary and deception. He affected a mildness of deportment and, by many equivocal delays, detained the ships and endeavored to disarm his countrymen of that many resolution which was their principal fort. The storage or detention of a few cargos of teas is not an object in itself sufficient to justify a detail of several pages. But as the subsequent severities toward the Massachusetts were grounded on what the ministry termed their refractory behavior on this occasion, and as those measures were followed by consequences of the highest magnitude both to Great Britain and the colonies, a particular narration of the transactions of the town of Boston are indispensable. There the sword of civil discord was first drawn, which was not resheathed until the emancipation of the Thirteen Colonies from the yoke of foreign domination was acknowledged by the diplomatic seals of the first powers in Europe. This may apologize, if necessary, for the appearance of locality in the preceding pages and for its farther continuance, in regard to a colony on which the bitterest cup of ministerial wrath was poured for a time and where the energies of the human mind were earlier called forth than in servile of the sister states, were earlier called forth than in several of the sister states.
Speaker 1:Not intimidated by the frowns of greatness, nor allured by the smiles of intrigue, the vigilance of the people was equal to the importance of the event, through expectation though. Expectation was equally awake in both parties. Yet three or four weeks elapsed in a kind of inertia. The one side flattered themselves with hopes that, as the ships were suffered to be so long unmolested with their cargoes and tire, the point might yet be obtained. The other thought it possible that some impression might yet be made on the governor by the strong voice of the people. Amidst this suspense, a rumor was circulated that Admiral Montague was about to seize the ships and dispose of their cargoes at public auction within 24 hours. This step would as effectually have secured the duties as it sold at the shops of the consignees and was judged to be only a finesse to place them there on their own terms.
Speaker 1:On this report, convinced of the necessity of preventing so bold an attempt, a vast body of people convened suddenly and repaired one of the largest and most commodious churches in Boston where, previous to any other steps, many fruitless messages were sent both to the governor and the consignees, whose timidity had prompted them to a seclusion from the public eye. Yet they continued to refuse any satisfactory answer. And while the assembled multitude were in quiet consultation on the safest mode to prevent the sale and consumption of an herb noxious at least to the political constitution, the debates were interrupted by the interests of the sheriff, with an order from the governor styling them an illegal assembly and directing their immediate dispersion. This authoritative mandate was treated with great contempt and the sheriff instantly hissed out of the house. And the sheriff instantly hissed out of the house. A confused murmur ensued both within and without the walls, but in a few moments all was again quiet and the leaders of the people returned calmly to the point in question. Yet every expedient seemed fraught with insurmountable difficulties and, evening approaching, without any decided resolution, the meeting was adjourned without delay.
Speaker 1:Within an hour after this, as known abroad, there appeared a great number of persons clad like the aborigines of the wilderness, with tomahawks in their hands and clubs on their shoulders who, without the least molestation, marched through the streets with silent solemnity and amidst innumerable spectators, proceeded to the wharves, boarded the ships, demanded the keys and, with much deliberation, knocked open the chests and emptied several thousand weight of the finest teas into the ocean. No opposition was made, though, surrounded by the king's ships, all with silence and dismay. This done, the procession returned through the town in the same order and solemnity as observed In the outset of their attempt. No other disorder took place and, it was observed, the stillest night ensued that Boston had enjoyed for many months. This unexpected event struck the ministerial party with rage and astonishment, while, as it seemed to be an attack upon private property, many who wished well to the public cause could not fully approve the measure. Yet perhaps the laws of self-preservation might justify the deed, as the exigencies of the time required extraordinary exertions and every other method had been tried in vain to avoid this disagreeable alternative. Besides, it was alleged, and doubtless it was true, the people were ready to make ample compensation for all the damages sustained whenever the institutional duty should be taken off and other grievances radically redressed.
Speaker 1:But there appeared little prospect that any conciliatory advances would soon be made. The officers of government discovered themselves more vindictive than ever. Animosities daily increased and the spirits of the people were irritated to a degree of alienation even from their tenderest connections when they happened to differ in political opinion. I think that last sentence is a good place to stop, for today the spirits of the people were irritated to a degree of alienation even from their tenderest connections when they happened to differ in political opinion. We're pretty divided today, folks. Local opinion we're pretty divided today, folks. I would say we are divided in the same sense that our nation was divided here in the 1760s and early 1770s and the same in the 1850s and 1860s, and that division really just boils down more or less to those who acknowledge that they sin and that they strive to do better and those who refuse to acknowledge sin. And you can craft that a bunch of different ways.
Speaker 1:But, folks, the bottom line is that we don't have any hope in America without God. We're going to be worse than Stalin and the Soviet Union or Mao in China or anything else, the mullahs in Iran. If we fall, we're going to make all of those places look like amateurs. Because we were born for a relationship with God and Jesus Christ here in America and we haven't been holding up our bargain and we haven't even been acknowledging that's. The problem is, we're human, we're going to fail. But we haven't even been acknowledging that we Civil War. If God decided that the cost for the blood of the slaves and the money that was stolen through their labor was continued, blood poured out in the Civil War and money spent from the treasury on the Civil War, that that was God's call. Civil War, that that was God's call. We have shed blood of tens of millions of our fellow citizens via abortion, we've committed every kind of sexual ludity and immorality and you can make the argument pretty easily that we have stolen money from hardworking American families via the government to give to those who don't work via the welfare state and illegal immigration.
Speaker 1:It is not hard to see the corollary, the comparison there, comparison there. The only hope we have, folks, both as individuals and as a nation, is God and Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. God bless y'all. God bless your families. God bless your marriages. God bless America. God bless your nation, wherever you are around the world. Listening folks, glad you're here. Look forward to talking with y'all again. We'll talk to y'all again real soon.