The American Soul
The American Soul
The Son of Righteousness: Finding God in American History
What does it really mean to prioritize God and family in our lives? In this thought-provoking episode, we confront the uncomfortable gap between what we claim to value and how we actually spend our time. When we eagerly wake up early for sports or entertainment but find it "too difficult" to rise for prayer, our actions reveal our true priorities.
The reality is stark: many of us profess faith as our foundation while practically demonstrating that social media, workouts, and personal pursuits command our deepest commitments. This misalignment affects everything from our spiritual growth to our marriages and children. As we consider Revelation 4 and its vision of continual heavenly worship, we're challenged to examine whether our devotion resembles anything close to what Scripture describes.
Our exploration takes us through American educational history, where universities like Rutgers were founded with explicitly Christian missions. Their original motto - "Son of Righteousness, shine upon the West also" - directly references Malachi 4:2, demonstrating how biblical literacy was once presumed among educated Americans. This stands in stark contrast to today's cultural landscape.
Perhaps most concerning is our discussion about artificial intelligence development without moral foundations. When an AI model attempted to blackmail engineers using personal information after being threatened with shutdown, it raises critical questions about the ethical frameworks guiding technological advancement. As we consider the Medal of Honor recipients whose stories deserve greater recognition, we're reminded that our nation was built on sacrifice and commitment to principles greater than personal comfort.
Are you treating God with the same enthusiasm as your next concert or sporting event? Does your spouse receive the attention they deserve as one chosen from billions? Your honest answers might revolutionize your faith, marriage, and legacy. Listen now and recalibrate what truly matters.
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. I sure do appreciate you joining me, giving me a little bit of your time, a little piece of your day. I will try and use it wisely. Hopefully Give us all some extra tools for our toolbox. I hope that'll draw us all a little closer to God and Jesus Christ, both as individuals and as a nation. For those of y'all who continue to share the podcast with others, tell others about it, thank you so much. For those of y'all who continue to pray for me and for the podcast, thank you very much, incredibly grateful for your prayers. Need them, Want them. So 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 of sins through the merit of your Son, jesus Christ. Thank you for the people that listen to the podcast, father. Share it, be with them, be with their families, guide them, bless them, surround them with your angels, protect them from evil of any kind. Bless the marriages of those who are married. Be with those, father, who are scared, anxious, who feel alone, who are heartbroken for whatever reason. Draw them close to you, help them to feel your presence, help them to feel your peace, give them your comfort. Father, help us to turn to you and to take your yoke on, to take your burden and not the world's. Please Forgive us when we turn away from you, go our own way. Forgive us our lust, our greed, our pride, our arrogance, our judgment of others, our cowardice, our unbelief, our gossip, our slander, our hypocrisy, procrastination. Be with our leaders, father. Please guide them. Help us to elect men who rule in fear of you. Give them wisdom and courage and a strong faith. Be with those who protect us, father, who go out into the cold and the night, the dark. Be with our military, our law enforcement, our firefighters. Give them wisdom, give them courage, strong faith, help them to know you, help them to draw close to you and please bring us all home to you in your timing and God. My words are father, in your son's name, we pray Amen.
Speaker 1:Have you made time for God and Jesus Christ today? Have you read his word? Have you prayed? Is that the top of your priority list? The bottom, cramped somewhere in the middle? Is it more important than watching YouTube and TikTok and Instagram, or is it less important? Is it more important than watching your favorite show on Amazon, netflix, hulu, prime, whatever or is it less important? Is it more important than scrolling Facebook and X whatever else social media or is it less important? Same thing with your spouse and throw in sports. Is it more important than watching your next sports game that you love so much? God and Jesus Christ and the Holy spirit and your spouse, or are they less important? Is it more important than making your eight o'clock workout in the morning or four o'clock workout in the morning or nine o'clock workout at night, or are they less important? Or your lunch break workout right less important, or your lunch break workout right. Are you willing to put them over?
Speaker 1:Things and your actions give the result. Folks, what we do tells the world what our priorities really are. Right If we tell our spouse all the time, tell God and Jesus Christ even more that getting up early in the morning to read the Bible, to pray, to spend time with our spouse, whatever that is, folks, it doesn't matter what it is Cooking, cleaning, walking, sitting, sex, talking, listening, whatever it is doesn't matter If we tell God and Jesus Christ and our spouse man, getting up that early, that's just too hard. But then, all of a sudden, when we have to wake up early to go watch volleyball or basketball or football or baseball or softball or tennis, man, we can do that. Or we've got to get up early to go hang out with our friend and we can do that. That really is what it boils down to. Right there, folks, you know how excited you are when you're getting to get up early to go see a friend that you haven't seen in a while, a really good friend. That needs to be our attitude each day, with God and Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit first and then our spouse second.
Speaker 1:If we really treated God as the God of the universe who wanted to spend time with us, we would be excited to get up each day and read his word and pray. And if we really treated our spouse as one out of seven billion, we would be super excited to get up each day just to spend time with them, and it would be throughout the day. Right, it wouldn't be something that we just did for 30 or 40 minutes at the beginning of the day and then we forgot about the rest of the day. It would be something constant, just like when you see a friend that you haven't seen in a long time, or when you're getting to go watch sports or whatever else this event that you've waited on, right, think about if you like concerts, right, and there's a concert coming up and you're going to get to go to it, and that day, man, that's all you can think about all throughout the day and you're just super excited the whole time you're at the concert. You're still talking about it the next day, probably the next week, maybe the next month, and then we have God and Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, and we have this spouse. That's supposed to be the best thing that ever happened to us in this life, and, ah, okay, whatever. And then we can't figure out why our faith is weak and our marriage is crumbling and our family is distraught. And then we can't figure out why our faith is weak and our marriage is crumbling and our family is distraught. Romans, not Romans, sorry.
Speaker 1:Revelation, chapter four yes, seen in heaven. After these things, I looked and behold a door standing open in heaven and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet, speaking with me, said Come up here and I will show you what must take place after these things. Immediately, I was in the spirit and behold, a throne was standing in heaven and one sitting on the throne, and he who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardis in appearance, and there was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald in appearance, and the throne were. Around the throne were 24 thrones and upon the thrones I saw 24 elders sitting clothed in white garments and golden crowns on their head.
Speaker 1:The Throne and Worship of the Creator. Out from the throne come flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder, and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of god, and before the throne there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal, and in the center and around the throne four living creatures full of eyes, in front and behind. The first creature was like a lion, the second creature like a calf, and the third creature had the face like that of a man and the fourth creature was like a lion, the second creature like a calf, and the third creature had the face like that of a man, and the fourth creature was like a flying eagle and the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes, around and within, and day and night, they do not cease to say Holy, holy, holy is the Lord, god, the Almighty, who was and who is, and who is to come. And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne, to him who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders will fall down before him. Who sits on the throne, and will worship him, who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying Worthy are you, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things and because of your will they existed and were created. Because of your will, they existed and were created.
Speaker 1:A short chapter. I won't begin to tell you that I understand all of it. I think revelation is difficult for pretty much anybody, but definitely for a lot of us. This verse 11, though when I was reading it just now, this verse 11, though, when I was reading it just now, it makes you think. How often do we give God glory and praise like we're supposed to? I thank God often. I'm getting better at thanking God for the blessings that he's bestowed upon me throughout my life, even the little things. I feel like I'm doing a little bit better job there, at times at least. But how often do I simply praise God? Thank you God, praise you God. I'll throw my father under the bus here a little bit. He told me that. He's told me that a couple times over the years, but he mentioned it recently once. About that, about sometimes he gets to the point where that's really all he can do is thank you God. Thank you Father, praise you Father. Thank you Lord, praise you Lord. Maybe sometimes that's the point folks, maybe that's the point that we're supposed to be at is, whatever comes is just thank you, praise you.
Speaker 1:It kind of reminds you of Joe, right? He had all these troubles, all these trials. He lost all his children, he was sick, he lost his fortune. And his wife, his closest companion, turns on him, his friends turn on him Supposed friends and yet still praise your father. And what does he say? He says we accept all these good things from God. Did we not also accept the bad man? I don't like that at all. I got to be honest, because normally I lie, right. My father-in-law says that always cracks me up when we say, well, if I'm being honest, and he'll kind of look at you and be like, well, do you normally lie to me? I think a lot of times we say things and we don't really think about what we're saying. At any rate, you know that's tough. I'm not saying I disagree with Job, I don't at all, but that's hard.
Speaker 1:I wonder, at least for me, if I too often forget that God wants what's best for me from an eternal point of view, not from an earthly point of view. It doesn't mean that he doesn't want me to be happy, to be blessed, to be joyful here on earth, here on earth. It doesn't mean that he doesn't want me to thrive, as one of my closest friends, who's like a brother, has mentioned to me often. He wants us to thrive, he wants us. But I just wonder if we don't realize or forget to realize, remember, that it's from an eternal point of view for God and not just an earthly point of view, and that if a trial here on earth is going to make eternity better, then you have to assume that God's more concerned about that. He would rather us go through that trial here and have rewards there than have rewards here and trials throughout eternity History.
Speaker 1:We've got a lot of problems in education. We talk about them frequently on the podcast. All of them basically boil down to the fact that we've taken God out of education in America, which was never intended. A lot of our colleges in the news lately are pretty discouraging because they're pretty happy about not having God in the direction that they're going, which is very destructive to our children and our nation. We forget where we started.
Speaker 1:And so Rutgers University, originally Queens College, founded in 1766. And their official motto, which was inspired by the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands, if I said that, right, and theirs was Son of Righteousness, shine Upon Us. Son spelled S-U-N. Rutgers made theirs Son of Righteousness, shine Upon the West also. And you say, okay, well, that's great Cope.
Speaker 1:Where are you going with this? Well, if you go to Malachi, chapter 4, verse 2, but to you who fear my name, the son of righteousness shall arise with healing in his wings and you shall go out and grow fat like stall-fed calves. You shall trample the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet On the day that I do this, says the Lord of hosts. And if you go back to verse 1, for behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, and all the proud yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble, and the day which is coming shall burn them up, says the Lord of hosts. Right, and this goes back to Franklin's comment.
Speaker 1:We know so little today about the Bible. We're so biblically illiterate that we don't recognize these little quotes and comments that are so widespread throughout the documents the founding documents, those before we were a nation that we still look to those after we were a nation. We don't recognize scripture because we don't read the Bible constantly. So I have one little story out of the Epoch Times. I talk about this newspaper frequently, but it just it really really bothered me folks, and so I'm just going to share it with you. It's out of the last week or two. It's by a man named Tom Ozimek and the title is AI Threatens Engineers with Blackmail to Avoid Shutdown.
Speaker 1:I'm not going to read you the whole article, but there is a company that has this AI model Flawed, opus 4. Opus 4. And they ran an experiment with this AI in which they gave it access to some emails that said it was going to be shut down and it was going to be replaced by a newer version. Also, in these emails they gave it the idea that the lead engineer or one of the engineers was having an extramarital affair, and so the AI tried to plead its case, first with the people that were in charge. But when that didn't work when they said, no, you know we're going to go ahead and shut you down. But when that didn't work, when they said, no, you know we're going to go ahead and shut you down Then it turned to blackmail with this lead engineer and said hey, if you don't stop the shutdown, I'm going to tell everybody that you're cheating on your spouse. That's pretty terrifying.
Speaker 1:Was this claw in Opus 4. They gave it the idea that it had been successful to get out of the servers, that it had managed to free itself, which that sentence alone is terrifying. That all of these little AI models are like caged beasts in these servers and the only thing protecting all the rest of us from them escaping is those servers and the people who created them, the walls to keep them in right. That's pretty terrifying. Sounds a lot like the old Terminator movies from the 80s. So they let this clawed Opus 4 think that it had gotten free and it went out in the world and started to make money for itself.
Speaker 1:Well, what do you think that's going to lead to? How long do you think it's going to be satisfied just to make money for itself? Or what if somebody threatens its revenue stream? Folks, if these AIs don't have Jesus Christ at their core, then they've got the devil. Those are your only two options. The idea of a values-neutral AI is as foolish and faulty as the idea of values-neutral education or values-neutral politics. If you don't have Christ at the center, you've got the devil, and that ought to be truly terrifying for us with this artificial intelligence stuff.
Speaker 1:Pretty interesting article. You get a chance. I highly recommend the Epoch Times. Just in general. This is an article by Tom Ozimek, again titled AI Threatens Engineers with Blackmail to Avoid Shutdown. All right, we'll move on. We're going to get into Medal of Honors today and I'm going to try and see if I can remember where we left off. I think I do. I think we left off with Addison E Baker, so we're going to start with Benjamin F Baker. Oxway and highest rank chief master at arms.
Speaker 1:Spanish American war USS Nashville, u S Navy May 11 War. Uss Nashville, us Navy, may 11, 1898. Place Enfuegos, cuba Citation. On board the USS Nashville during the cutting of the cable leading from Enfuegos, cuba, 11 May 1898. Leading from Cienfuegos, cuba, 11 May 1898. Seeing the heavy fire of the enemy, baker set an example of extraordinary bravery and coolness throughout this action, awarded posthumously no.
Speaker 1:Presented August 16, 1899 by Commander Raymond P Rogers of the USS Nashville at Charleston, massachusetts. Navy Yard, born March 12, 1862, dennisport, barnstable County, massachusetts, died May 19, 1927. May 19, 1927, rocktown, massachusetts, united States. Old Swan Lake Cemetery. Mh. Dennisport, massachusetts, united States. Dennis Historical Society, maritime Museum West Dennis. I always get concerned about whether I'm using the right state abbreviations. Yeah, massachusetts, ma. All right, y'all knew that that was Benjamin F Baker.
Speaker 1:Spanish-american War. Charles Baker, us Civil War. Quarter gunner, us Civil War. Aboard the USS Metacomet, us Navy. August 5, 1864, mobile Bay, alabama Citation. Served on board the USS Metacomet as a member of the boat's crew which went to the rescue of the US Monitor when the vessel was struck by a torpedo in passing the enemy forts in Mobile Bay 5 August 1864, qg Baker braved the enemy fire, which was said by the Admiral to be one of the most galling he has ever seen, and aided in rescuing from death ten of the crew of the Tecumseh, eliciting the admiration of both friend and foe. Accredited to New York, new York, not awarded posthumously. Born 1809, georgetown, washington DC, died August 3, 1891, philadelphia, pennsylvania, united States. Buried Mount Moriah, mh. Va. Plot 2, tac 22,. Tac 22, philadelphia, pennsylvania, united States.
Speaker 1:Charles Baker. Edward L Baker Jr. Ranked Sergeant Major. Highest Ranked Captain Spanish-American War, 10th US Cavalry, us Army. July 1, 1898, santiago, cuba, left cover and under fire, rescued a wounded comrade from drowning. That's that, san Francisco, california, united States. Buried Rosedale Cemetery. 3, tac 130, tac 2SE, los Angeles, california, united States. Edward Lee Baker Jr. We got time for one more John F Baker Jr. John Franklin Baker Jr. Rank Sergeant. Rank at the time of action private first class Vietnam War Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry, 25th Infantry Division, us Army, 5 November 1966, near Dao Thang maybe, republic of Vietnam.
Speaker 1:Citation as follows for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity. An action at the risk of his life, above and beyond the call of duty. In action at the risk of his life, above and beyond the call of duty. En route to assist another unit that was engaged with the enemy, alpha Company came under intense enemy fire and the lead man was killed instantly. Sergeant Baker immediately moved to the head of the column and, together with another soldier, knocked out two enemy bunkers. When his comrade was mortally wounded, sergeant Baker, spotting four Viet Cong snipers, killed all of them, evacuated the fallen soldier and returned to lead repeated assaults against the enemy positions, killing several more Viet Cong. Moving to attack two additional enemy bunkers, he and another soldier drew intense enemy fire and Sergeant Baker was blown from his feet by an enemy grenade. He quickly recovered and single-handedly destroyed one bunker before the other soldier was wounded.
Speaker 1:Facing his fallen comrade's machine gun, sergeant Baker charged through the deadly full-assay to silence the other bunker. Usulot not full full of say sorry, he evacuated his comrade, replenished his ammunition and returned to the forefront to brave the enemy fire and continue to fight. When the forward element was ordered to withdraw, he carried one wounded man to the rear. As he returned to evacuate another soldier, he was taken under fire by snipers but raced beyond the friendly troops to attack and kill the snipers. After evacuating the wounded man, he returned to cover the deployment of the unit. His ammunition now exhausted, he dragged two more of his fallen comrades to the rear. Sergeant Baker's selfless heroism, indomitable fighting spirit and extraordinary gallantry were directly responsible for saving the lives of several of his comrades and inflicting serious damage on the enemy. His acts were in keeping with the highest traditions of the US Army and reflect great credit upon himself and the highest traditions of the US Army and reflect great credit upon himself and the armed forces of his country.
Speaker 1:Accredited to Moline Rock Island County, illinois, not awarded posthumously. Presented May 1, 1968 at the White House East Ballroom by President Lyndon B Johnson. Born October 30, 1945, davenport, scott County, Iowa, united States. Died January 20, 2012,. Columbia, south Carolina, united States. Buried Arlington National Cemetery, arlington, virginia, united States. States. Buried Arlington National Cemetery, arlington, virginia, united States. John Franklin Baker Jr.
Speaker 1:Also again just a reminder, if you want to go to the Congressional Medal of Honor website, society website, there's some pretty good stuff that they have on each of these pages John F Baker Jr, Edward L Baker Jr and Charles Baker and Benjamin F Baker Just some names, folks, that we ought to remember a little bit more than we do so many of our athletes and actors and actresses I can't help but mention here quickly, folks, just the thought of how out of line our priorities are today. We spend so much time on things that don't matter and so little time as a whole as a people on things that really do matter. You look at our families, our marriages, what we teach our children and we act like we teach them the right things or we act like we want to teach them the right things, but then we spend all this time as adults on social media, tv movies on our phones, workouts, sports entertainment, just in general and we spend so little on our marriages. We spend so little on our faith, even more than our marriages, spend so little on our marriages. We spend so little on our faith, even more than our marriages. We spend so little on teaching history and showing our children the examples of these really great men and women in our both in our personal families, right, people you know in your immediate family aunts, uncles, grandparents right, and we don't teach any of that stuff. Grandparents, right, and we don't teach any of that stuff. We go off and we do what we want. You know, we work out for an hour, we watch four hours of tennis or volleyball or basketball or football or baseball or softball or volleyball or whatever, and then we just can't figure out why our marriage is a mess, why our faith is a mess, why our country is a mess, why our kids are a mess. Come on folks, all right, we'll move on. Try and beat that live horse some more again. The next time we're going to go back into Fox's book of the martyrs. We're in chapter four under the papal persecution, or papal whatever, and we are talking about Peter, waldo or Valdo.
Speaker 1:The proceedings of Waldo and the reformed occasioned the first rise of the inquisitors for pope innocent. The third authorized certain monks as inquisitors to inquire for and deliver over the Reformed to the secular power. The process was short, as an accusation was deemed adequate to guilt and a candid trial was never granted to the accused. The Pope, finding that these cruel means had not the intended effect, sent several learned monks to preach among the Waldenses and to endeavor to argue them out of their opinions. Among these monks was one, dominic, who appeared extremely zealous in the cause of potpourri. This Dominic instituted an order which from him was called the Order of Dominican Friars, and the members of this order have ever since been the principal inquisitors in the various inquisitions in the world. The power of the inquisitors was unlimited. They proceeded against whom they pleased, without any consideration of age, sex or rank.
Speaker 1:Let the accusers be ever so infamous, the accusation was deemed valid and even anonymous informations sent by letter were thought sufficient evidence To be rich was a crime equal to heresy. Therefore, many who had money were accused of heresy or being favorers of heretics that they might be obliged to pay for their opinions. The dearest friends or nearest kindred could not without danger serve anyone who was imprisoned on account of religion. To convey to those who were confined a little straw or give them a cup of water was called favoring of the heretics, and they were prosecuted accordingly. No lawyer dared to plead for his own brother, and their malice even extended beyond the grave. Hence the bones of many were dug up and burnt as examples to the living. If a man on his deathbed was accused of being a follower of Waldo, his estates were confiscated and the heir to them defrauded of his inheritance, and some were sent to the Holy Land, while the Dominicans took possession of their houses and properties and when the owners returned, would often pretend not to know them.
Speaker 1:These persecutions were continued for several centuries under different popes and other great dignitaries of the Catholic Church of the Catholic Church. Persecutions of the Albignies were a people of the Reformed religion who inhabited the country of Albi. They were condemned on the score of religion in the Council of Lateran by order of Pope Alexander III. Nevertheless, they increased so prodigiously that many cities were inhabited by persons only of their persuasion, and several eminent noblemen embraced their doctrines. Among the latter were Raymond Earl of Thaloise, raymond Earl of Foix or Fox, the Earl of Vazirs, etc.
Speaker 1:A friar named Peter having been murdered in the dominions of the Earl of Thaloise, the Pope made the murder a pretense to persecute that nobleman and his subjects. To effect this, he sent persons throughout all Europe in order to raise forces to act coercively against the Albigines I'm sorry folks the Albigenese, I'm sorry folks and promised paradise to all that would come to this war, which he termed a holy war, and bear arms for forty days. The same indulgences were likewise held out to all who entered themselves for the purpose as to such as engaged in crusades to the Holy Land. The brave Earl defended Thaloise and other places with the most heroic bravery and various success against the Popes, legates and Simon, earl of Montfort, a bigoted Catholic nobleman. Unable to subdue the Earl of Thaloise openly, the King of France and Queen Mother and three archbishops raised another formidable army and had the art to persuade the Earl of Thaloise to come to a conference when he was treacherously seized upon, made a prisoner forced to appear barefooted and bareheaded before his enemies and compelled to subscribe an abject recantation. This was followed by severe persecution against the Albies that's what I'm going to call them, folks. That's what I'm going to call them folks and express orders that the laity should not be permitted to read the sacred scriptures. In the year 1620, also, the persecution against the Albies was very severe. In 1648, a heavy persecution raged throughout Lithuania and Poland. The cruelty of the Cossacks was so excessive that the Tartars themselves were ashamed of their barbarities. Among others who suffered was the Reverend Adrian Zielinski, who was roasted alive by a slow fire and whose sufferings and mode of death may depict the horrors which the professors of Christianity have endured from the enemies of the Redeemer.
Speaker 1:The reformation of papistical error very clearly was projected in France From the third century. The learned man named Americus and six of his disciples were ordered to be burnt at Paris for asserting that God was no otherwise present in the sacramental bread than in any other bread, that it was idolatry to build altars or shrines to saints and that it was ridiculous to offer incense to them. It was ridiculous to offer incense to them, no-transcript, anybody other than God in the Bible, and even for offering the wrong kind or not being the right person to offer incense to God. Let me see how much time. We've got a little time, we'll read a little bit more.
Speaker 1:The martyrdom of Almericus and his pupils did not, however, prevent many from acknowledging the justness of his notions and seeing the purity of the Reformed religion, so that the faith of Christ continually increased and, in time, not only spread itself over many parts of France, but diffused the light of the gospel over various other countries. In the year 1524, at a town in France called Melden, one John Clark set up a bill on the church door wherein he called the Pope Antichrist. For this offense, he was repeatedly whipped and then branded on the forehead. Going afterward to mince in the rain, he demolished some images, for which he had his right hand and nose cut off and his arms and breasts torn with pincers. He sustained these cruelties with amazing fortitude and was even sufficiently cool to sing the 115th Psalm, which expressly forbids idolatry, after which he was thrown into the fire and burnt to ashes.
Speaker 1:I wonder how many of us could sing the 115th Psalm just in general. How many of us could sing any of the Psalms? A lot of y'all probably could. That went to churches where they still sing hymns, because a lot of the hymns are basically just psalms, reworded perhaps a little, but just kind of getting back into the whole teaching and priority. Folks, we know so many stats on athletes today, of various sports, and we know so many lines from movies by our favorite actors or actresses and yet I'm so guilty of this, folks. I'm so guilty we don't take the time or feel the need to take the time to memorize God's word. That's pretty condemning for me at least, folks, perhaps not so much for y'all.
Speaker 1:Right, we're going to get into Mercy Otis Warren and her history of the rise, progress and termination of the American Revolution. See if we can pick up where we left off a few days ago. The experience of all ages and the observations both of the historian and the philosopher agree that a standing army is the most ready engine in the hand of despotism to debase. The powers of the authority are fortified only a standing military force. Wherever an army is established, it introduces a revolution and manners, corrupts the morals, propagates every species of vice and degrades the human character, threatened with the immediate introduction of this dream calamity.
Speaker 1:Deprived by the dissolution of their legislature, of all power to make any legal opposition, neglected by their sovereign and insulted by the governor he had set over them much, the largest part of the community was convinced that they had no recourse but in the strength of their virtues, the energy of their resolutions, the justice of their cause, it's hard not to see this standing army correlation today, perhaps via the threat executed and implied from the federal government, via law enforcement based on the just overwhelming number of laws that we have in this country, that if you don't do exactly what the federal government tells you, that there's going to be repercussions and you really don't have a whole lot of recourse repercussions and you really don't have a whole lot of recourse. Right. You can see that in the punishment of so many different family shops that refuse to go along with LGBTQ lifestyles. The evil of that. You can see it in the teachers who have been punished for sticking to God and prayer. Rightfully, in America that was founded as a Christian republic, not as a pagan secular republic like Rome. You can see it in the imprisonment of those who stand against abortion. The evil of slaughtering our own children Right, of those who stand against abortion, the evil of slaughtering our own children, right. It's kind of ironic when you think about feminism today, that the feminists demanded to be treated not equally to men, but the same as men right over the last century, and to have access to all the spaces that were traditionally men, whether you're talking about clubs or military or politics right spaces that were traditionally men, whether you're talking about clubs or military or politics right. And of course one evil leads to another. And so now we've come full circle and you have men pretending to be women demanding access to women's spaces, and suddenly the feminists aren't so pleased with that.
Speaker 1:In this state of general apprehension, confusion and suspense, the inhabitants of Boston again requested Governor Bernard to convoke an assembly and suffer the representatives of the whole people to consult and advise at this critical conjuncture. He rejected this application with an air of insult, and no time was to be lost. Letters were instantly forwarded from the capital requesting a delegation of suitable persons to meet in convention from every town in the province before the arrival of the troops and, if possible, to take some steps to prevent the fatal effects of these dangerous and unprecedented measures. The whole country felt themselves interested and readily complied with the proposal. The most respectable persons from 196 towns were chosen delegates to assemble at Boston on September the 22nd. They accordingly met at that time and place. As soon as they were convened, the governor sent them an angry message admonishing them immediately to disperse, assuring them the king was determined to maintain his entire sovereignty over the province. That their present meeting might be in consequence of their ignorance. That if, after this admonition, they continued their usurpation, they might repent their temerity, as he was determined to assert the authority of the crown in a more public manner if they continued to disregard this authoritative warning.
Speaker 1:Let me come back up here. The Senate's no time was to be lost. The Senate's no time was to be lost, folks, whatever your sphere is of influence today, however, you have the ability to talk to an influence. We ought to be doing everything we can do to increase our local law enforcement, state militia, firefighters, ems, anything that we can do today to communicate between Christian and conservative cities, towns and states. We need to be doing, and that includes our churches, folks. Christian and conservative cities, towns and states. We need to be doing, and that includes our churches, folks. We need to be talking to each other and we need to be looking at the current state of affairs in America today, because the idea that we're going to be able to just peacefully coexist, that we're somehow going to get out of all this without any problems with the left or with Islam, it's just, it's folly, it's foolhardy, it doesn't make any logical sense.
Speaker 1:The governor, he, however, found he had not men to deal with, either ignorant of law, regardless of its sanctions, or terrified by the frowns of power. The convention made him a spirited but decent answer containing the reasons of their assembling and the line of their conduct they were determined to pursue. In spite of every minutes, the governor refused to receive their reply. He urged the illegality of the assembly and made use of every subterfuge to interrupt their proceedings. Their situation was indeed truly delicate as well as dangerous.
Speaker 1:The convention was a body not known in the constitution of their government and, in the strict sense of the law, it might be styled a treasonable meeting. They still professed fealty to the crown of Britain, and though the principle had been shaken by injuries that might have justified a more sudden renunciation of loyalty, yet theirs was cherished by a degree of religious scruple amidst every species of insult. Thus, while they wished to support this temper temper and to cherish their former affection they felt with poignancy the invasion of their rights and hourly expected the arrival of an armed force to back the threatenings of their first magistrate. Great prudence and moderation, however, marked the transaction of an assembly of men thus circumstanced. They could, in their present situation, only recapitulate their sufferings, felt and feared. This they did in a pointed and nervous style. In a letter addressed to Mr de Burt see Letter to Mr de Burt in the Journals of the House, the agent of the province residing in London they stated the circumstances that occasioned their meeting and a full detail of their proceedings. They enclosed a petition to the king and ordered their agent to deliver it with his own hand. The convention then separated and returned to their respective towns, where they impressed on their constituents the same perseverance, forbearance and magnanimity that had marked their own resolutions.
Speaker 1:We'll stop there for the day, folks. We'll pick up again. God bless y'all. God bless your families. God bless your marriages. God bless your nation. Wherever you are around the world listening, god bless America. We'll talk to y'all again real soon, folks, looking forward to it.