Gary gives a quick history lesson to set the record straight about a recent Rolling Stone article about Chief Justice Alito.
A misconception is held by many that the drafting and signing of the Declaration of Independence was the beginning of our nation. Abraham Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address” (Nov. 19, 1863) contributes to the confusion with the opening line: “Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”
While America was not a nation of united states at the time, she was a nation nonetheless. Thirteen colonies with independent governments and intact constitutions were operating in 1776. The 52 signers of the Declaration weren’t dropped from the sky in Philadelphia on July 2. The freshly printed document announced that the 13 American colonies, then at war with Great Britain, were now independent states and no longer part of the British Empire. The decision was not made lightly. Thomas Jefferson expressed the sentiments of most of his fellow Americans in a letter he had written in November of 1775 to John Randolph, who was in England at the time:
Believe me, dear Sir: there is not in the British empire a man who more cordially loves a union with Great Britain than I do. But, by the God that made me, I will cease to exist before I yield to a connection on such terms as the British Parliament propose[s]; and in this, I think I speak the sentiments of America.
In Jefferson’s mind, there was an America before its written Declaration of Independence. The political ideals of those who forged a more unified nation were not developed within a worldview vacuum. Since ideas have consequences, we should expect that the beliefs of the existing colonies would have an impact on the newly formed national government, and if not, then the individual states would retain them as they did.
The Case for America's Christian Heritage
America’s original founding was rooted deeply in the things of Jesus Christ and His kingdom. The original charter given to Sir Walter Raleigh by Queen Elizabeth I in the 16th century was to establish “the true Christian faith.” John Rolfe at Jamestown sought to “advance the Honor of God and to propagate his Gospel.” The faithful Christians who wrote the Mayflower Compact stated that their mission was “for the Glory of God and advancements of the Christian faith.”
Buy NowA Rolling Stone magazine reporter went into an event “undercover” posing as a conservative and supposedly got the dirt on Chief Justice Alito. It’s a tired tactic, and didn’t even remotely prove what the reporter was hoping. Gary gives a quick history lesson to set the record straight.