America, History, and the Truth

 

One has to wonder if people are interested in the truth because what you hear in the media and what the truth is are two fundamentally different things. Let’s start with these two examples when it comes to what it means to be a Constitutional republic that was founded on an acknowledgment and belief in God.

First, we hear incessantly about our democracy and that we must do everything we can to save our democracy. But that is a false talking point, America was never founded on being a democracy. Our Founders wrote extensively about the volatility and dangers of democracy and created a system to guard against them. The electoral college, state election of Senators, and two senators per state were all ways and means to minimize the dangers of democracy. Plus, democracy was only capable of governing a small land mass; the Founders knew America in 1787 was already too big for pure democracy. 

The truth is that we are a republic which is a fundamentally different thing to learn about than a democracy. 

Second, we, as 13 independent states and one union were formed and founded on the understanding that there is a God. Not a God of religion, even though our Founding generation were mostly Christian, but a God of nature. A God that exists before religion, that created the plants, animals, air, water, and people, and that made us all equal in His image with a soul that is uniquely ours. 

How can one study the Declaration of Independence and not study what the Founders meant by the Laws of Nature and Nature’s God? How can one study these things and not understand that the justification and authority of our Independence came from a fundamental belief in God? 

The answer is that they cannot. They can gloss over it, schools have, they can ignore it, we’ve done that too, but that doesn’t make any of this less true. Furthermore, teaching these facts does not mean you are “picking sides” but rather that you are picking the truth. These truths are vital to our Founding, to understanding what it means to be an American, and to the duties we owe to ourselves and to each other. 

So the question then to the independent thinkers is why ignore these truths? Why embrace the lies about them? Because seeking the truth, and not just nuance for nuance’s sake, is the true marker of independent free-thinking. One worthy end of education is standing with and knowing the truth despite the whirlwind of propaganda. 

Plus, these are also good truths. They make us more human and they make our society and government function better. It is our job as those who are willing and capable of knowing and speaking the truth to do so clearly and succinctly. The truth is all we have, but it’s also all we need. 


Hi all! Excited to be here. My name is Gary Vesper and I am a former High School history and home school academy government teacher turned educational entrepreneur. I built my own course and virtual classroom to teach High School students a better, more human story of our Founding Principles. If you have a High School student I’d love to teach them! You can check it out at www.PreservingFreedomUSA.com 

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  1. Gossamer Cat Coolidge
    Gossamer Cat
    @GossamerCat

    Do you happen to know if civics is taught at all these days?  I have been appalled at the ignorance of the college students I have met about the nature of our government.  Not one could explain why we had an electoral college back in the days of Bush vs Gore yet they were all for abolishing it.  I know that Richard Dreyfuss started an initiative a few years back – I see the web page is still up https://thedreyfussinitiative.org/  but I don’t know if it is active.  Have any inroads been made?

    • #1
  2. Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patriot) Member
    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patriot)
    @ArizonaPatriot

    Good post.

    I’m not sure that I agree with this part:

    GaryVesper: Second, we, as 13 independent states and one union were formed and founded on the understanding that there is a God. Not a God of religion, even though our Founding generation were mostly Christian, but a God of nature. A God that exists before religion, that created the plants, animals, air, water, and people, and that made us all equal in His image with a soul that is uniquely ours. 

    The Declaration did use the term “nature’s God.”  I don’t think that they were describing some sort of nature-god like Pan.  They were describing the Christian God, using “natural rights” terminology.

    I think that there’s a misunderstanding of the term “natural rights,” which leads me to disfavor the term.  I don’t think that the Founders and philosophers argued that these rights derived from “nature,” meaning the natural world.  I think that they argued that these rights derived from “human nature,” specifically meaning the nature of the humanity that was created by the God of Scripture.

    • #2
  3. Saint Augustine Member
    Saint Augustine
    @SaintAugustine

    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patrio… (View Comment):

    I think that there’s a misunderstanding of the term “natural rights,” which leads me to disfavor the term.  I don’t think that the Founders and philosophers argued that these rights derived from “nature,” meaning the natural world.  I think that they argued that these rights derived from “human nature,” specifically meaning the nature of the humanity that was created by the God of Scripture.

    Yes.

    Yes.

    Yes.

    • #3
  4. GaryVesper Inactive
    GaryVesper
    @GaryVesper

    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patrio… (View Comment):

    Good post.

    I’m not sure that I agree with this part:

    GaryVesper: Second, we, as 13 independent states and one union were formed and founded on the understanding that there is a God. Not a God of religion, even though our Founding generation were mostly Christian, but a God of nature. A God that exists before religion, that created the plants, animals, air, water, and people, and that made us all equal in His image with a soul that is uniquely ours.

    The Declaration did use the term “nature’s God.” I don’t think that they were describing some sort of nature-god like Pan. They were describing the Christian God, using “natural rights” terminology.

    I think that there’s a misunderstanding of the term “natural rights,” which leads me to disfavor the term. I don’t think that the Founders and philosophers argued that these rights derived from “nature,” meaning the natural world. I think that they argued that these rights derived from “human nature,” specifically meaning the nature of the humanity that was created by the God of Scripture.

    Hey, thanks! With regard to the Declaration we were breaking from civil society – the social compact – by declaring independence and thus moving to a “state of nature.” The Founders wrote heavily on this concept of nature – where there is no civil law, much like a jungle where the only law is that of the strongest. When they wrote the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God they were referring to God the Creator to justify such a break from the social compact. Yes, they were Christians, but this statement and understanding of the God of Nature transcends religion and applies to all people, for all time. To your second point I agree, natural rights stem from the fact that we are created equally in the image of God. I like the term natural rights better than human rights though! That phrase has been butchered to mean housing, insurance, a good paying job, and vacation. 

    • #4
  5. Cassandro Coolidge
    Cassandro
    @Flicker

    GaryVesper (View Comment):

    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patrio… (View Comment):

    Good post.

    I’m not sure that I agree with this part:

    GaryVesper: Second, we, as 13 independent states and one union were formed and founded on the understanding that there is a God. Not a God of religion, even though our Founding generation were mostly Christian, but a God of nature. A God that exists before religion, that created the plants, animals, air, water, and people, and that made us all equal in His image with a soul that is uniquely ours.

    The Declaration did use the term “nature’s God.” I don’t think that they were describing some sort of nature-god like Pan. They were describing the Christian God, using “natural rights” terminology.

    I think that there’s a misunderstanding of the term “natural rights,” which leads me to disfavor the term. I don’t think that the Founders and philosophers argued that these rights derived from “nature,” meaning the natural world. I think that they argued that these rights derived from “human nature,” specifically meaning the nature of the humanity that was created by the God of Scripture.

    Hey, thanks! With regard to the Declaration we were breaking from civil society – the social compact – by declaring independence and thus moving to a “state of nature.” The Founders wrote heavily on this concept of nature – where there is no civil law, much like a jungle where the only law is that of the strongest. When they wrote the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God they were referring to God the Creator to justify such a break from the social compact. Yes, they were Christians, but this statement and understanding of the God of Nature transcends religion and applies to all people, for all time. To your second point I agree, natural rights stem from the fact that we are created equally in the image of God. I like the term natural rights better than human rights though! That phrase has been butchered to mean housing, insurance, a good paying job, and vacation.

    Yes, “religion” really is a misnomer as well, as the Bible indicates.  Adam walking in the garden walked with nature’s God, but Adam was not in any way religious.  Nature addresses the qualities of Adam, the garden, and the universe, and God being the God of all.

    • #5
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