The American Soul
The American Soul
American Soul: Faith and Marriage
The decline of marriage in America mirrors our national decline, and both stem from abandoning God's design. This powerful examination connects the dots between our spiritual foundation and societal health.
Marriage forms the cornerstone of the family, which Reagan correctly identified as the cornerstone of our republic. When marriages falter, families crumble, and society follows. Research consistently demonstrates that children raised by two married biological parents experience better outcomes across all measurable metrics - from educational achievement and emotional stability to avoiding substance abuse and criminal behavior. Even adults benefit enormously from healthy marriages, experiencing better health, greater longevity, and deeper community connections.
Yet modern attitudes have systematically undermined this vital institution. No-fault divorce removed accountability and incentives to preserve marriages. Feminist ideologies painted men as oppressors rather than partners and providers. The traditional roles that created mutual dependence and respect between husbands and wives have been dismissed as outdated or even oppressive. The result? Many men see marriage as all risk with little reward, while women pursue independence at the cost of familial stability.
The solution isn't merely political. As evidenced throughout American history - from de Tocqueville's observations in 1831 that American courts wouldn't accept testimony from non-believers to the bold determination of Revolutionary-era Americans - our nation's strength has always flowed from its spiritual foundation. When we abandon God's design for marriage as outlined in Scriptures like 1 Corinthians 13, Ephesians 5, and 1 Peter 3, we shouldn't be surprised when both marriages and the nation falter.
True restoration begins with personal virtue, daily prayer, and reading God's Word. No third party, charismatic leader, or policy proposal can save a people who have abandoned the biblical principles that once made them strong. Want to strengthen America? Start by strengthening your marriage according to God's design.
The American Soul Podcast
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Hey, this is Jesse Koch, back with another episode of the American Soul Podcast. I hope y'all are doing well, wherever y'all are, whatever part of the day you're in. I sure do appreciate you spending a little bit of it with me and I will try and use that time wisely. I know you'll have other things vying for your attention, so thank you very much. For those of y'all that have been around for a while, I'm glad you're coming back. For those of y'all that are new, I'm glad you're here. Hope you enjoy it on both accounts. Hope y'all are getting to listen to it with somebody else and, well, I'm glad you're here accounts. Hope y'all are getting to listen to it with somebody else. Well, I'm glad you're here.
Speaker 1:For those of y'all that continue to share the podcast with others and tell others about it, thank you so much. Very grateful for that. For those of y'all who continue to pray for me and for the podcast, thank you, I'm very, very grateful for your prayers. Definitely Need them. So Thank you, father. Thank you for today. Thank you for you following your son, jesus Christ and your Holy Spirit. Thank you for your love and your mercy and your grace and your forgiveness of sins. Thank you for your love and your mercy, your grace and your forgiveness of sins. Thank you for all the blessings, not just on us as individuals, but on us as a nation. Thank you for the time to record this podcast and the people that listen to it. Please be with them and their families. God bless them and surround them with grace. Protect them from evil or any kind. God bless you as ourselves. Forgive us when we fail. Forgive us in our greed, in our pride, in our selfishness, in our judgment of others, in our rash words and actions. Coward us in our unbelief. Be with the families of those who have lost loved ones in the flooding. Be with those families of the police officers and firefighters who have been hurt, injured, killed. Comfort them, father. Help us to be a comfort to them. Help our nation to turn back to you, father. Help us to truly repent, as a people, of our sins. Turn back to you and your Son, please. God. My mercy, your Son, I'm in your place, 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 talk to Him? Listen to Him. I think I mention that pretty often. That's one of the things that I need to focus on more and more is the listening part, and if you're married we're going to talk about marriage a few times today Does your spouse know it? Do you act like it? Do they go to bed each night knowing that they are your second priority each day, behind only God and Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit? I was talking to somebody about it on. Well, I talk to people about it a lot of times on social media.
Speaker 1:You know we can say whatever we want, folks, but, as our preacher mentioned a few weeks ago in his sermon, words are cheap, it's easy to talk and it doesn't mean much. It's your actions that show what your priorities truly are. It's your actions that show what your priorities truly are. Do we really care about our spouse? Are they really our top priority each day, second to God? Our actions will show it, and if they aren't, if we don't act like that, then it really doesn't matter what we say. The words are only a positive, folks. If they are kind of like a force multiplier behind actions, the words are worse than useless. They're hypocritical and self condemning. Without the actions. With the actions, it's kind of like a positive and I guess without the action, this really no more. It's more of a negative right. But the key thing is our actions, and we're going to come back to that in a minute, but we're going to go ahead and get into the Bible for now, which is fitting, talking about marriage 1 Corinthians, chapter 13,.
Speaker 1:The excellence of love. If I speak with the tongues of man and of angels but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of man and of angels but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor and if I surrender my body to be burned but do not have love to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned but do not have love, it profits me nothing. Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous. Love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly, it does not seek its own, it is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness but rejoices with the truth, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. But if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away. If there are tongues, they will cease. If there is knowledge, it will be done away, for we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away, for we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away.
Speaker 1:When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child. When I became a man, I did away with childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now in part we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face, now in part, but then I will know fully, just as I also have been fully known. But now faith, hope and love abide these three, but the greatest of these is love. Love you've probably heard this before right Is an action. It's not a bystander, it's not passive, it's something that you do. And I think this verse 11 really gets overlooked a lot, that it's in this chapter on love and that verse 11 is "'When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, "'think like a child, reason like a child. "'when I became a man, I did away with childish things'". One of the most childish things I feel like I have done in my life and I think really people in general is to make excuses. It's the lack of ability to accept accountability, not even for our actions alone, but for our responsibilities.
Speaker 1:There's a story that my father told me out of the Vietnam era when he was in Quantico from one of the schools for the Marine Corps. There was a group of instructors at this school this particular school that decided in the winter to get out on a boat, despite orders not to, on the Potomac I think that was the river and the boat flipped over and they died all of them and these were top-notch Marines. You didn't get to go to this school as an instructor if you were just some Joe Schmoe off the street. They were really good at what they did, but they made the choice to get in this boat and go out on the river and they all end up dying. And the CO at the time the commanding officer of this particular school. He lost his career. He had given an order, the correct order, not to go out there. He had expected the Marines to follow him, told them and the Marines did what they wanted anyway. He had expected the Marines to follow him, told them and the Marines did what they wanted anyway. But he was the CO, he was the commanding officer. At the end of the day it was his responsibility and in the Christian sense, thank God for Jesus Christ and grace and mercy, because for all of us without Jesus Christ in grace and mercy, because for all of us without Jesus Christ, it's really like being that CO and we've all sinned, we've done worse. This commanding officer, actually he did the right things. The Marines just refused to do what they were supposed to in this particular case, but it was still his responsibility particular case, but it was still his responsibility.
Speaker 1:And I think in marriage in particular, you talk about love. But really in any relationship where there's love, you talk about parents with children, children with parents, even just really good friends. But especially in that marriage relationship we like to make excuses for why we're not doing what we're supposed to be doing, and we blame the environment, we blame circumstances. We blame lack of time and energy and too many obligations. We blame our past history with other relationships romantic, sexual, physical, whatever. We blame our parents and their marriage and their example, and it's not that some of these things aren't valid reasons for why we struggle in our marriage currently. But the problem is this maturity level and this verse 11 comparing to how we acted when we were a kid versus how we act when we're a man or a woman. At some point we have to quit making excuses. If we're really going to show maturity At some point we have to actually follow through with the commands that God's given us. Follow through with the commands that God's given us. I think that's a verse that gets overlooked a lot in this chapter.
Speaker 1:A lot of y'all many of y'all who are listening, who aren't Christians, probably even know these words because this chapter on love has been used over and over again so often. What does it really look like to love, especially within the confines of a marriage? 1 Corinthians 7,. 1 Peter 3, ephesians 5, titus 2, hebrews 13, 4, proverbs 5, 19, song of Solomon. Those are all great places. There's other places in the Bible to look that are in line with these scriptures, but those are some places to start, alright. So I mentioned that we were going to talk about marriage a couple times today and we are. We're going to talk about it once more.
Speaker 1:There's an article out of the recent Epic Times in the opinion section, the July 1-8. There's an article out of the recent epic times in the opinion section, the july one through eight I almost said episode, I guess you could call it, but the volume or edition titled marriage and our social health and it's by janice flamingo fiamingo I'm not sure how you pronounce that, I apologize and it's a pretty decent article and it talks in particular about our nation is struggling so much. One of the key reasons is because our marriages are struggling so much. You know, we go back often to this quote that Reagan had about the fact that the family is the cornerstone of our American republic and really of any country, but particularly here in the United States, the family is the cornerstone of the republic. Well, the cornerstone of the family is the marriage. If you've got a weak marriage, you've got a weak family. If you've got a strong marriage, you have a strong family. And so if you really want to focus on strengthening the nation, you have to strengthen the family, and in order to strengthen the family you have to strengthen the marriage. But there's a lot of people that aren't very interested in marriage today, for a number of different reasons, and so this flamingo if I'm saying that right kind of goes through and talks about some of these reasonings. There's a couple, so one, here. She says the good news on marriage is far reaching, as the author shows. She's talking about a book, for most of this article written on marriage.
Speaker 1:Children born to and raised by two married parents fare better than other children on a range of measures. They are less likely to grow up in poverty or to be physically or sexually abused. They are more likely to finish school and to secure employment. They have fewer emotional and behavioral problems, being less likely to attempt suicide, experience mental illness or abuse drugs. Married adults also experience benefits, enjoying better health and greater longevity than their single or divorced counterparts, while escaping social ills such as isolation, addiction and homelessness. The wider society is strengthened too, as married couples tend to be more civic-minded than others, supporting sports clubs, rotary clubs, business associations, places of worship and charities.
Speaker 1:You can also look at voting and see what impact marriage has, particularly on women, when you look at the tendencies of single women to vote for the left and therefore evil, versus the tendency, the greater tendency of married women to vote for conservative Christian principles. So marriage has a lot of positives and breaking down marriage has a lot of negatives. And as far as the kids go, all you need to do, folks, is go talk to a counselor elementary, middle school, high school. Just find one that you trust, really just teach or coach, for that matter too, and they can pretty much walk you through this list talking about the just overwhelming increase in emotional, behavioral problems, physical sexual abuse and just a range of other measures, as the author says here, where kids do worse, coming out of broken families, regardless of whether that spouse remarried and that kid was raised in a whatever they call it now blended household or whatever, but where the spouse one and that kid was raised in a whatever they call it now blended household or whatever, but where the, the spouse, one of the parents, was remarried and the kids were raised in that household and that household was functional.
Speaker 1:You still have this increase in problems when it's not a biological mom and dad not always, but often, and so one of the things she talks about here is the fact of no fault divorce, which is huge. It didn't. No fault divorce didn't make she says here, right, no fault divorce did not necessarily decrease divorce trauma, especially for those spouses who found themselves divorced against their wishes or for their children, powerless to keep the families together. Marital breakdown is not made less acrimonious or heartbreaking simply because it has been legally simplified. On the contrary, the authors of this book she's talking about Mrozek and Mitchell the pain has simply been spread to more people.
Speaker 1:No-fault divorce is a lie. To begin with, folks, somebody's always at fault, maybe two people, often two people, but definitely at least one. And so this idea of no-fault divorce well, we just didn't feel like we were compatible. Okay, well, one of you messed up at least, if not both of you. No-fault divorce didn't make the divorces any less traumatic. It just made it a lot easier for a lot more people to get divorced and it made it there's less of an incentive to put into your marriage. It's the same thing as the phones and screens sports workouts, tv, social media. It's a distraction. In a certain sense, it allows us to make excuses again to not put the energy into the marriage each day that we ought to be putting in because you feel like you don't need each other anymore. And she talks about courts and how brutal that's been to men divorce court, and that's true, right, let me see if I can. Well, there's a number, I'm kind of hopping around here. Here's another one. A quote from the author Many other feminist policies, from domestic violence initiatives to equity hiring programs, have increasingly demonized men as oppressors, reduced men's earning power, thus making them undesirable as mates, and delegitimize their roles as fathers.
Speaker 1:Right. And so she starts toward the letter. Half of this article and it's a full page article starts talking about why so many men today aren't interested in marriage or even cohabitating in a lot of cases, because in some places cohabitating is considered the same legally as marriage. But she makes the argument that a lot of it is because they're getting the short end of the stick. But I'm going to go back and lean on a friend of mine from years ago who there was a really nasty divorce in his family not his, but he was talking to me about it and he said what happened basically I've said it on the podcast before is that the husband and wife forgot they needed each other.
Speaker 1:Well, what are some of the things that make you realize that you need your spouse traditionally. Well, the wife looks at it and goes well, I need protection and I need provision, and so I need this man. I need him to go out and work each day and earn money for me and for the kids, to provide for us, to build a home for us, to take care of us, to protect us from evil men out there, right. And so she looks at it and goes man, I need this guy. Well, the guy looks at it and goes well, I want a wife, and there's nothing wrong with this folks in either way, I want, I need sex, right, because for most guys it's pretty much a need. I want kids, and so I need a wife. I need someone that's gonna want somebody to make the house peaceful, civilized, if you will. And so a lot of and men realize that they needed this.
Speaker 1:Well, so what have we done today? Through a ton of different avenues, we've made it where women don't really need a man, so they think they can go out and earn money on their own, so they don't need the guy there and they make as much, if not more, than the man. So there's no real, there's no benefit there. I have actually a pretty good friend of mine that's talked about that before, the fact that in her case she makes more than her husband and it shouldn't be that way. So now, when we're kind of looking at it going well, I don't really need a man for money and I can buy my own house and voting also over the last century. I don't need a man to kind of vote as the head of the household. I can go take care of myself politically as well, and I mean honestly, if we get really down and nitty gritty, I can go have kids on my own Without a man. I just need to go find a sperm bank somewhere and and then the protection.
Speaker 1:I think you know Hollywood's done such a great job of pretending that minimum with a sign that you can take a hundred thirty pound woman and she can beat up a 220 pound man. But a lot of women at least think that they don't need a man in that regard as well. And then we have seemed to have this complete mental dysfunction as far as who's going to build the roads, who's going to lay the bricks, who's going to fight the wars, who's going to come in as a firefighter and save people from fires or law enforcement officers. There's a video I think it's an old video but I just saw it again from a female police officer over in the UK that got attacked by a bunch of men in an airport and face got bloodied up and she just starts freaking out and losing her mind. And it's just a perfect example of how Hollywood and TV and the leftist feminist propaganda about men and women being equal it's just a fantasy. They're not the same and I've said this often.
Speaker 1:The reason that the co-ed units in the military and firefighter and law enforcement are really dysfunctional isn't the physical side, it's the mental side, the emotional side. I can go find a woman that can meet the requirements even before they started getting watered down. Not very many, but I can find a few. You look at some of these CrossFit athletes, for example, the females there. Now their bodies still gonna break down faster. But you can find some women that can meet the physical requirements out there. The problem is the dynamic changes. You cannot take roles and responsibilities and sex out of the equation and it's going to degrade good order and discipline. It's going to degrade unit effectiveness. It just simply does. And anybody that's been in those high stress units, which all MOSs, for example, all specialties in the military, have that potential to be high stress units. It just doesn't work well at all. So here's, here's kind of her. I'll wrap up and we'll move on.
Speaker 1:Many men, looking at marriage as it is now constituted and seeing the agony of friends and relatives, simply find the risks too great. And she talks about the fact that men, divorced men, commit suicide at a rate far higher than non-divorced men. But she got the sentence right. But her solution here is, for example, ending no-fault divorce, rewarding married couples with tax incentives and other legal and policy protections, by guaranteeing the rights of children and fathers through mandated equal parenting after divorce and by taking other initiatives to prioritize marriage, marital stability. Not that any of those are bad ideas, folks, but it's still missing the boat.
Speaker 1:The reason that a huge chunk of men are not looking for marriage or even cohabitation today is her sentence is right. They look at marriage and the risks are just too great. But it's not just legal risks. The legal risks kind of fall under this greater umbrella of why am I going to marry a woman that's not going to fulfill her roles and responsibilities in marriage and sex, that's not going to respect me. She's constantly going to argue and be contentious, right? Which feminism has taught even women that claim to be conservative inside the church today? Well, I have my own opinion. I have the right to talk about my opinion and argue and make my voice heard Again.
Speaker 1:Why is a man going to willingly put himself in a situation where it's a constant battle, every decision, where his authority is not respected in everything, every aspect of the family life, of the married life, when physical satisfaction, the idea of Proverbs 5.19, that a wife has a responsibility to satisfy her husband at all times that that's just a joke. If you tell that anywhere, even inside the church, women will just lose their minds. Right To raise their own children. We drop our kids off at six weeks old now in daycare. Women want to go chase a career. They don't want to be tied down to children at home. That's oppressive, that's a burden, right, and then make the home peaceful. No, no, no. We're going to split the chores 50 50. I that's not. I don't do your laundry, I'm not your mother, I'm not your housemaid. We're going to split everything 50 50. So the man looks around and he goes.
Speaker 1:Why in the world would I willingly engage in that institution today because it's a non-functioning institution. It's kind of like a lot of parents are starting to pull their kids out of public school. It's not that the institution is a bad idea Public school is a great idea it's that it's absolutely non-functional in America today because it's not based on the Bible. The days are too long, the years are too long and a number of other problems. Marriage is a wonderful institution when done correctly from God's design.
Speaker 1:Those verses that we talk about so consistently Again, I mentioned them earlier 1 Corinthians 7, ephesians 5, titus 2, 1 Peter 3, hebrews 13, 4, proverbs 5, 19, song of Solomon Marriage is a great institution, folks. Don't let anybody tell you otherwise. The problem is we are not functioning correctly. It's like trying to run your gasoline car on diesel or vice versa, diesel on gasoline. Either one is pretty catastrophic in the end, or maybe better yet, it's like trying to run your car on water or on cooking oil. It just will not work. It's not functional, and that's the problem that nobody really wants to talk about. That's why so many young men today, and even older men, when you start talking about the quote-unquote creative worship, they're just simply not interested in marriage. And why would they? You can't blame them. There's no benefits really, and huge risks and pitfalls. Alright, medal of Honor for today William B Ball, if I'm saying that correctly, william Bernard Ball, pfc, korean Korean War, gulf Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division, reinforced US Marine Corps.
Speaker 1:November 29, 1950, along the road from Kodori to Hagaru-ri, korea, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity, at the risk of his life, above and beyond the call of duty, while serving as a member of an anti-tank assault squad attached to Gulf Company, during a nighttime enemy attack against a motorized column, acting instantly when a hostile hand grenade landed in his truck, as he and his squad prepared to alight and assist in the repulse of an enemy force delivering intense automatic weapons and grenade fire from deeply entrenched and well concealed roadside positions, pfc Ball quickly shouted a warning to the other men in the vehicle and, unmindful of his personal safety, hurled himself upon the deadly missile, thereby saving his comrades from serious injury or possible death, sustaining severe wounds from which he died a short time afterward. Pfc Ball, by his superb courage and valiant spirit of self-sacrifice, upheld the highest traditions of the US Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country. Accredited to Harrison, hamilton County, ohio, awarded. Posthumously. Presented August 27, 1952. Dayton, ohio, presented to the parents, born July 7, 1930. Mckinney, lincoln County, kentucky, died November 29, 1950. Korea, buried at Glenhaven Cemetery, harrison, ohio, united States. William Bernard Ball. How old was he at this time, folks? He was born in 1930, so in 1950 he was 20.
Speaker 1:I want to read something else today, so I think that's the only Medal of Honor I want to read. I wanted to go back and read something from De Tocqueville. I was talking to my father about this the other day and it popped up. This was from August of 1831. De Togelville was traveling through Chester County in New York and he went in to observe a court case While I was in America.
Speaker 1:A witness, who happened to be called at the assizes of the county of Chester, state of New York, declared that he did not believe in the existence of God or in the immortality of the County of Chester, state of New York declared that he did not believe in the existence of God or in the immortality of the soul. The judge refused to admit his evidence on the ground that the witness had destroyed beforehand all confidence of the court in what he was about to say. The newspapers related the fact without any further comment. The New York Spectator of August 23rd 1831 relates the fact in the following terms the Court of Common Pleas of Chester County, new York, a few days since, rejected a witness who declared his disbelief in the existence of God. The presiding judge remarked that he had not before been aware that there was a man living who did not believe in the existence of God, that this belief constituted the sanction of all testimony in a court of justice that he.
Speaker 1:So there's two huge things here. One we used to throw if you didn't believe in God, your testimony was not worth anything. And two, as the judge says here, this is a Christian country. This isn't a deist country. This isn't a Muslim country. This isn't anything else. This is a country, god, the Father, the one true God, the Father of Jesus Christ, the Son and the Holy Spirit. If you believe in Allah, that doesn't count in America. If you believe in Buddha, if you believe in Mother Nature, if you believe in some other god, that doesn't count and your testimony should be of no validity and your vote, if you somehow got elected, like the Democratic congressman in the state of Texas recently who put his hand on the Koran to take his oath. Your vote should be absolutely null and void and it should carry no weight in America and the Christian Republic. And that's when you go back to our founding, when you actually read our history, when you look at our relationship with God, that's where we stood and that's where we should stand. It's ironic, isn't it, that this is in New York. Can you imagine today if any place in New York did the right thing and actually threw the testimony of witnesses out who weren't Christian, who didn't believe in God, didn't believe in the immortality of the soul? Because if you don't believe in the immortality of the soul, what do you have to fear? Nothing.
Speaker 1:I wanted to get back into the sermon from Stiles. Maybe we have enough time to do it. Read a little bit. Yeah, if this specimen applied to all the states and God be thanked. It does not. It would show not only the greatness and momentous importance of our trade to Europe, but the necessity of legitimate regulations and commerce to invalidate future foreign mortgages and yet support credit by the enforcement of certain payments, whether with profit or loss. Without this, no permanent commerce can be supported. I observe that the above specimen may assist us. It is not necessary for every purpose.
Speaker 1:To come to great exactness in capital estimates, the total exterior commerce of Great Britain with all the world is about 12 millions annually, of which 5 millions, or nearly half, was of American connection and 4 millions of this directly American, as Mr Glover asserts, and four millions of this directly American, as Mr Glover asserts. And the real profits of the American trade was become to Britain equal to nearly half the benefit of her total exterior commerce to the whole world. You look back at this and wonder what in the world the king and parliament were really thinking by risking losing the colonies in America. Good Lord, give them a seat at the table, some members in Parliament, so that they have a vote. The total of British exports to all the world AD 1704, was only six million and a half sterling. The American-British trade in its connection, returns and profits, nearly equaled this in the year of our Lord, 1774. We are better to Britain than all the world was to her seventy years before. The world was to her seventy years before.
Speaker 1:Despised as our commerce was, it is evident that had the union continued, our increasing millions would soon have made remittances for more than the fewer millions of Britain could have manufactured for exportation For the greater part of the manufacture of every country must be for domestic consumption. A specimen of this we have in the woolen manufactureland grows 11 million fleeces a year worth 2 million sterling, manufactured into 8 million, of which 6 million is of domestic conception and 2 million only for exportation. When it is considered that a great part of this went to other countries, how weak must the supposition that britain clothed america while america, from the beginning, in her own domestic manufacturers furnished nine-tenths of their apparel. Didn't have a lot of time today, folks. So we're going to stop there. But again, what were they thinking? What in the world were the king and parliament thinking to just willy-nilly throw America away? And what are we thinking today? Kind of following in their footsteps, Just seem to be so willing to throw away what so many people have sacrificed so much for To secure liberty in America that can only be secured based on our relationship with God and Jesus Christ. All right, we'll move on. So we're going to get back into Fox's Book of the Martyrs today.
Speaker 1:Next section here, an account of the persecutions in Venice. While the state of Venice was free from inquisitors, a great number of Protestants fixed their residence there and many converts were made by the purity of the doctrines they professed and the inoffensiveness of the conversation they used. The Pope, being informed of the great increase of Protestantism in the year 1542, sent inquisitors to Venice to make an inquiry into the matter and apprehend such as they might deem obnoxious persons. Hence a severe persecution began and many worthy persons were martyred for serving God with purity and scorning the trappings of idolatry. Again, you see the problem, folks. The concern here for the Catholic Church wasn't that people were following Christ and God. The concern was that they weren't following the Roman Catholic Church, their particular denomination. Various were the modes by which the Protestants were deprived of life. Various were the modes by which the Protestants were deprived of life, but one particular method which was first invented upon this occasion we shall describe. As soon as sentence was passed, the prisoner had an iron chain which ran through a great stone fastened to his body, was then laid flat upon a plank with his face upwards and rowed between two boats to a certain distance at sea when the two boats separated and he was sunk to the bottom by the weight of the stone, if any. Denied the jurisdiction of the inquisitors at Venice, they were sent to Rome where, being committed purposefully to damp prisons and never called to a hearing, their flesh mortified and they died miserably in jail.
Speaker 1:A citizen of Venice, anthony Resetti, being apprehended as a Protestant, was sentenced to be drowned in the manner we have already described. A few days previous to the time appointed for his execution, his son went to see him and begged him to recant that his life might be saved and himself not left fatherless. To which the father replied A good Christian is bound to relinquish not only goods and children, but life itself for the glory of his Redeemer. Therefore, I am resolved to sacrifice everything in this transitory world for the sake of salvation in a world that will last to eternity. That's the whole point, isn't it? Folks Resolved to sacrifice everything in this transitory world, this world that won't last, will never last, for the sake of salvation in a world that will last through eternity. Forever, ever and ever. That's the choice, folks. Forever in hell, with no possibility of ever leaving, or forever in heaven, with no threat of ever leaving?
Speaker 1:The lords of Venice likewise sent him word that if he would embrace the roman catholic religion, they would not only give him his life but redeem a considerable estate which he had mortgaged and freely present him with it. This, however, he absolutely refused to comply with, sending word to the nobles that he valued his soul beyond all other considerations, and being told that a fellow prisoner named Francis Saga had recanted, he answered If he has forsaken God, I pity him, but I shall continue steadfast in my duty, finding all endeavors to persuade him to renounce his faith, and effectual he was executed according to his sentence, dying cheerfully and recommending his soul fervently to the Almighty dying cheerfully and recommending his soul fervently to the Almighty. What Riccati Ricciti had been told concerning the apostasy of Francis Sega was absolutely false, for he had never offered to recant but steadfastly persisted in his faith and was executed a few days after Ricciti in the very same manner. That's uh, god, it's just shady there too, and that's just so, so bad. Shady is not the right word for it, it's just the one that popped into my head. Not only to be. Condemning someone to die because they wouldn't join your particular club Doesn't have anything to do with following Christ. Not that that would have mattered folks. The idea of claiming to follow Christ and murdering someone in this fashion is just beyond the pale. Continue steadfast in my duty, though, and dying cheerfully and recommending his soul fervently to the almighty. I mean, at the end of the day, folks, that's all we can do. Is god, take my soul please, for the sake of your son Jesus Christ, not for my own, forgive me my sins and bring me home to you and your son Jesus Christ in your timing, for his sake, not my own.
Speaker 1:All right, we'll pick up here Again. All right, we'll pick up here again, back into History of the Rise, progress and Termination of the American Revolution by Mercy Otis Warren. The spirited proceedings of the country of Suffolk soon after the arrival of Gage and his hasty dissolution of the General Assembly in some measure damped the expectation of the ministry, who had flattered themselves that the depression and ruin of Massachusetts would strike terror through the other provinces and render the work of conquest more easy. But the decision and energy of this convention, composed of members from the provincial principal towns in the country, discovered that the spirit of Americans at that time was not to be coerced by dragoons and that if one colony, under the immediate frowns of government with an army in their capital, were thus bold and determined, new calculations must be made for the subjugation of all.
Speaker 1:Where do you get this spirit, folks? Where do we get it today? How do we rekindle this bold and determined spirit? God, we have to turn back to God. Read the Bible each day, pray each day. It's all back to God. Read the Bible each day, pray each day, draw close to him, practice virtue in our own spheres and encourage it in others. That's the only answer.
Speaker 1:A third party by Elon Musk isn't going to solve it, just like Trump. It's amazing the number of people that were sure that Trump, if he got elected, he was going to solve everything, and a lot of people are still clinging to that. But a number of people are realizing that that's just simply not true and now they're jumping from one bandwagon to the next to cling to. Well, if we just had a third party, then everything would be okay. We just need a place for those moderates. You know we're centrist and that's noble. No, it's not. It is just a simple way for saying a slow liberal, a slow leftist, communist, socialist, nazi, fascist, you're in the middle of the stream, folks in the river, there is no treading water out there. You're going to get swept downstream. You've got to swim for one bank or the other. On one bank is chaos, evil, all these bucket of isms in Islam and on the other bank is Christ.
Speaker 1:The convention met in Suffolk at once, unanimously renounced the authority of the new legislature and engaged to bear harmless all officers who should refuse to act under it. They pronounced all those who had accepted seats at the board of council by mandamus the incorrigible enemies of their country. They recommended to the people to perfect themselves in the art of war and prepare to resist by force of arms every hostile invasion. They resolved that if any person should be apprehended for his exertions in the public cause, reprisals should be made by seizing and holding in custody the principal officers of the crown, wherever they could be found, until ample justice should be done. They advised the collectors and receivers of all public monies to hold it in their hands until appropriations should be directed by authority of a provincial Congress. They earnestly urged an immediate choice of delegates for that purpose and recommended their convening at Salem I meant to say this on the previous podcast, I don't know if I did or not of delegates for that purpose and recommended their convening at Salem.
Speaker 1:I meant to say this on the previous podcast, I don't know if I did or not Any, just to any degree. Folks that you can acquire training with arms, training in reloading ammunition, maybe acquiring ammunition, rifles, pistols. Whether it's just a little bit, whether it's a lot of bit, you know. But these, a lot of these, call us folks. They weren't wealthy by any stretch of the imagination. We were a hodgepodge group. John Quincy Adams, duty is ours, results are God's. Anything you can do will help a little bit, just to get ready.
Speaker 1:These and several other resolves in the same style and manner were considered by government as the most overt acts of treason that had yet taken place. But their doings were but a specimen of the spirit which actuated the whole province. Every town, with the utmost alacrity, chose one or more of the most respectable gentlemen to meet in Provincial Congress, agreeable to the recommendation of October 15, 1774. October 15, 1774. They were requested by their constituents to take into consideration the distressed state of the country and to devise the most practicable measures to extricate the people from their present perplexed situation. In the meantime, to preclude the appearance of necessity for such a convention, governor Gage issued precepts summoning a new General Assembly to meet at Salem the week preceding the time appointed for the meeting of the convention. The people obeyed the order of the governor and everywhere, chose their representatives, but they all chose the same persons they had recently delegated to meet in convention. All chose the same persons they had recently delegated to meet in convention.
Speaker 1:Whether the governor was apprehensive that it would not be safe for his mandamus council to venture out of the capital, or whether conscious that it would not be a constitutional assembly, or from the imbecility of his own mind in a situation altogether new to him, is uncertain. But from whatever cause it arose, he discovered his embarrassment by a proclamation dated the day before he was to meet them at Salem to dissolve the new House of Representatives. This extraordinary dissolution only precipitated the predetermination of the delegates. They had taken their line of conduct and their determinations were not easily shaken. The council chosen by the House on that day of their last election had also, as requested, repaired to Salem. Their design was to proceed to business as usual, without any notice of the annihilation of their charter. Their determination was, if the governor refused to meet with or countenance them, to consider him as absent from the province. It had been usual under the old charter, when the governor's signature could not be obtained by reason of death or absence, that by the names of fifteen councillors affixed thereto.
Speaker 1:All the acts of assembly were equally valid as when signed by the governor, but by the extraordinary conduct of the chief magistrate, the General Assembly was left at liberty to contemplate measures in any mode or form that appeared most expedient. Accordingly, they adjourned to Concord, a town situated about thirty miles from Salem, and there prosecuted the business of their constituents. As it was not yet thought prudent to assume all the powers of an organized government, they chose a president and acted as a provincial congress, as previously proposed. They recommended to the militia to choose their own officers and submit to regular discipline at least thrice a week, and that a fourth part of them should be drafted and hold themselves in readiness to march at a moment's warning to any part of the province. They recommended to the several counties to adhere to their own resolves and to keep the courts of common law shut until some future period when justice could be legally administered. They appointed a committee of supplies to provide ammunition provisions and warlike stores and to deposit them in some places of safety, ready for use if they should be obliged to take up arms in defense of their rights Again.
Speaker 1:Folks, these are all great steps and there's nothing wrong with pursuing them. I encourage us to do all we can to increase the readiness of our local law enforcement. We can to increase the readiness of our local law enforcement state militia, firefighters, ems, build up stores, however we can, but none of this is going to matter if we don't turn back to God and Jesus Christ. That's the central part of everything. If we don't become.
Speaker 1:You know John Adams I wish I had that quote in front of me right now, I don't. He talked about the fact that if our people didn't become a more virtuous people than they currently were, they could. We can exchange our government, our leaders. All we want, all we're going to be doing, is exchanging one tyrant for a different one, one form of government for a different one, one form of tyranny for a different one.
Speaker 1:That's the deal with this third party right, the party system Washington warned us about to begin with. I'm not defending the party system. What I'm saying is, if we don't really change our virtue, it doesn't matter whether we have one party or two parties or three parties or 15. We're not going to improve our lot as Americans. The improvement in our nation has to, has to be circle up. We have to practice virtue more in ourselves and encourage it in those around us.
Speaker 1:And the only place you get those virtues are the best place that you get them, the purest source of them, is the bible. Everywhere else that you get virtue, any other faith, any other place, you know religion, ideology. If it's a positive, if it's truly a virtue, a positive virtue, it's going to be in line with the general principles of Christ. And if it's not in line with the general principles of Christ, it's not going to be a virtue, it's going to be a vice, it's going to be a problem. 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. Listen, we'll talk to y'all again real soon. Folks Looking forward to it.