By Caleb Mentink

“What? What do you mean I might go to jail if I sell raw milk?” “Do you mean to tell me I could get charged with murder for protecting my family?” “They can close my church down at their whim and fancy?” Unfortunately, these are all questions we are forced to ask all too often of our federal and even state government these days. “I thought this was a free country” you say, and you would be right, this was a free country. The truth is, we have made about as far a slide as Israel made after the divide of the kingdom. The good news is we don’t have to continue down this plunging spiral. We can turn back to the Lord and confess our sin and reclaim our responsibility from the federal government who was never meant to serve in the capacity it serves today.

To understand this fall from freedom, it is imperative we examine what made us a free nation in the first place. As a matter of fact, the story of our independence began long before the declaration of independence or even the first continental congress. Any attempt at “liberty from England” would have proved futile or at best resulted in an “independent American tyranny” had not a firm Christian foundation been laid by the first colonists who came to America.  These colonists were largely comprised of Christians fleeing from persecution. Along with having firm biblical beliefs, these Christians had witnessed tyranny firsthand and knew of its devastating consequences. They were determined from the start that the same would not happen in each of the separate colonies they established. The principles of biblical government were being played out in each of the colonies to the best of their abilities even before they were united into an independent nation. They soon recognized, however, that England felt threatened by this independent mindset. They also soon found that the English government   cared little for the needs of the American colonies. It wasn’t long before England began cracking down on their most basic fundamental rights evincing a design to reduce them under absolute despotism.

Rendering unto Caesar what was Caesar’s, they strove in vain for reconciliation. Finally, having done all they could, they published the declaration of independence marking an official point of no return.  In it they clearly stated those places in which King George and his associates had failed in their God given authority to govern the colonies. After a long and brutal war against impossible odds, America triumphed in her just cause.  The story has only just begun however. America was not the first nation to strive for independence, we have seen the same story played out time and time again. A country, colony, or other people tires of the tyrannical government over them and decides to overthrow it. If the movement is successful, the nation at first might start out with a constitution, not at all unsimilar to ours (hmmm. . . strange), but it always progresses swiftly downhill from there. Why? Is it because they didn’t have the wealth or military strength we had? No. At the very beginning of our nation we had an absolutely empty treasury (that was the most we’ve ever had) and we certainly didn’t have much of an army to start out with.  Rather the reason for our success had to be attributed to the strong Christian foundation already ingrained on the hearts of both our founding fathers and the majority of the American people at large. So, while the letter of the constitution may be similar, without the underlying “spirit” of the constitution it could not be enforced. In other words, laws are useless if the people being governed have no conscience. This underlying “spirit” is the only reason America has remained a nation to this day.

So now we come back to present reality. How did we fall to the point we are today? At what point in history did we lose these freedoms? So glad you asked. To answer the second question, first there wasn’t really any particular point or person in history we can blame for the mess we’re in. It has come about as a long slow process during which we gave up, rather than lost, our freedoms. We wanted security, so we made the federal government essentially our king. Unfortunately, to be free is to take a risk. It is not secure. You cannot relegate your responsibilities to someone else and remain free.  Civil government has been instituted to uphold good and punish evil. God is our source of security (“in God we trust”). As we moved away from biblical principles and turned to humanistic thinking, we began to feel a sense (with good reason) of insecurity. Unfortunately, the federal government is simply incapable of providing such security. Everything has a hidden cost. If they give you welfare when “tough times” hit, they must steal that money at some point either from you or someone else.  That’s taxes. If you ask for other peoples’ AR15s to be taken from them, don’t be surprised when they come and take your home defense shotgun. And if you don’t even want that, don’t be surprised when violent crime increases due to criminals, who, by the way, still have their guns (because they’re criminals), while the responsibly armed citizen has had his taken away. The same can be said any time the government is allowed to take control of peoples’ private lives in any way. Either you can take responsibility for yourself and trust God to provide, or you can ask the Government to dictate your everyday life. And they will. And you will regret it.

Now this probably seems like a pretty bleak picture I’ve painted here. Because it is. We have turned from our God and asked man to save us, and if we aren’t on a downhill landslide, we sure aren’t going up. So, the question becomes, do we have to admit defeat? Are we too far gone? The answer is a resounding no. We have fallen yes, and we are being disciplined for, when it all comes down to it, our plain, old laziness. Nevertheless, we need not stay where we are. This is rather, a call for repentance and return back to the biblical foundation our country was originally founded upon. It is time we take responsibility for our own lives and acknowledge that no government whether Democrat or Republican (or other) can give us security. Civil government has a very important role to play, but when any men are given too much control and allowed to overstep their God ordained boundaries, tyranny and bedlam must ensue. In America we are still blessed with what is probably the best government in the world. The foundations are not completely destroyed. We can still, by God’s grace, rebuild the shattered remnants and continue on the legacy our forefather’s envisioned.