According to the American Protestant clergyman and historian, Benjamin Franklin Morris [1810-1867], the persecutions of the Puritans in England for ‘non-conformity’ and the religious agitations and conflicts in Germany by Luther, in Geneva by Calvin, and in Scotland by Knox “were the preparatory ordeals for qualifying Christian men for the work of establishing the civil institutions on the American continent.
 
“God sifted in these conflicts a whole nation that He might send choice grain over into the wilderness, and the blood and persecution of martyrs became the seed of both the church and the state.”1
 
Here are some examples of what the persecutions, sifting, and conflicts for ‘non-conformity’ in 16th and 17th-century England entailed for the subsequent American Founders:
 
1. The Act of Uniformity [1559] required attending Anglican services and using the Book of Common Prayer. Non-conformity led to fines, imprisonment, and social ostracism.
2. The Conventicle Act [1593] penalized unauthorized religious meetings. Puritans holding private worship services could be imprisoned or fined. John Bunyan spent 12 years in prison under this Act of Parliament.
3. The Five Mile Act [1665] prohibited non-conformist ministers from coming within 5 miles of any town or place they had previously preached, effectively exiling them from their communities.
 
“It was in these schools of fiery trial that the founders of the American Republic were educated and prepared for their grand Christian mission and in which their faith and characters became strong and earnest with Christian truth. They were trained in stormy times to prepare them to elaborate and establish the fundamental principles of civil and religious liberty and just systems of civil government.”2
 
Political and religious life in early America was indelibly intertwined. The question has been raised that if the Founders wanted to establish a Christian nation, why didn’t they just say so? Well, they actually did just say so, by means of their clearly formulated and unequivocal language of the 13 Original States Charters and Constitutions of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Connecticut, New York, South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, and Maryland. goo.gl/cBw4Xh
 
Yet, by staying out of the public square and sidestepping any involvement in the culture, contemporary Christendom has been partly responsible for the rise and establishment of the profane culture adulterated through public education over the last 75 years.
 
As Christians went AWOL, those living in rebellion against God elected their representatives, drafted and passed legislation, and, by that, codified idolatrous, pagan values into law. That modern culture is but the public manifestation of the secular religion ruling America is demonstrated by the following judicial decisions:
 
1. Banishment of prayer to Jehovah from public education; in Engel v. Vitale, 1962.
2. Banishment of the Bible banned from public education; in Abington School District v. Schempp, 1963.
3. Wholesale fabrication of a constitutional right to kill babies in utero; in Roe v. Wade, 1973.
4. Exclusion of the Ten Commandments from public schools, courthouses, and government buildings; in Stone v. Graham, 1980.
5. Normalization and exaltation of homosexual intercourse and marriage, codified into law; in Obergefell v. Hodges, 2015.
6. Institution of ‘special rights’ for homosexuals and transgenders; in Bostock v. Clayton County, 2020.
 
Brendan O’Neill is a British author and the former editor of Spiked [2007-2021]. Self-describing as a Marxist libertarian in 2019 and a former member of the Revolutionary Communist Party, O’Neill reflected on the Trump-Biden debate of June 27 in Atlanta, Georgia:
 
“So this is how republics die. Not with a bang but with the hoarse ramblings of their ageing leaders. Few events have shone a light on ‘American decline’ as much as Joe Biden’s sad, impassive performance in last night’s CNN presidential debate. Here was the leader of the free world speaking in faint, broken tones, and struggling to stay focused, and at points seeming to blank out entirely. Before the eyes of the world, it became clear: this man is too old, too frail, and too infirm to be at the helm of America.
 
“And yet, Old Joe’s physical infirmity is not the thing that should horrify us. Everyone ages, everyone withers. No, it is the moral infirmity of the Democratic establishment that is truly chilling. It is those who are so bent on power that they’ll force a frail man on to the world stage to do their bidding who deserve our ire. It is the media movers and shakers who said ‘Joe is fine’, and who damned the concerned as ageist cranks, who have behaved atrociously. Behind Biden’s physical decay is the far graver problem of the moral decay of a ruling class that will lie, gaslight, and bully just to stay on top.”3
 
Former New York Times reporter and independent journalist Alex Berenson [born 1973] reported a neurosurgeon’s diagnosis of President Biden’s health:
 
“He undoubtedly has Parkinson’s disease and is increasingly suffering from Parkinson’s dementia. The signs are unmistakable:
• his shuffling gait
• the absence of associated movements [facial expression, arm swinging]. When he does swing his arms, it appears stilted – probably because his handlers have told him to swing his arms when he walks. It’s something we all do naturally, but it goes away in Parkinson’s disease
• gait instability
• soft voice
• ON and OFF periods – times when the medication seems to be working well, and when it isn’t [also explains how a good dose of Sinemet could get him more animated]
• resting tremor is not prominent in Biden’s case, but this is true of many cases of Parkinsonism.
 
“His physicians UNDOUBTEDLY know this, and it is unconscionable that we do not know this about his health record. I understand HIPAA issues, but this is worse than the Roosevelt secret – he couldn’t walk. At least he had his mind about him! Here, we have someone with cognitive issues with his hand on the nuclear button.”
 
In his excellent An Exposition of Hebrews [1938], A.W. Pink illuminates the chasm between early Christian’s vigorous, full-spectrum worldview – ‘sifted by conflict’ – and present-day Christendom. He writes:
 
“In the verses [Hebrews 11:13-14] that are now before us clear light is thrown upon an essential element in the Christian life. They present to us an aspect of Truth that, in some circles, is largely ignored or denied today. [Some have] pressed the blessed truth of the eternal Security of the Saints with a zeal that was not always according to knowledge: they have presented it in a way that suggests God preserves His people altogether apart from their use of means.
 
“They have stated it in a manner as to virtually deny the Christian’s responsibility. They have implied that, having committed my soul unto the keeping of the Lord, I have no more to do with its safety than I have with money that I have entrusted to the custody of a bank or the government. The result has been that many who have accepted this false presentation of the truth have felt quite at ease in a course of careless and reckless living.”
 
Behold what has become of the American culture.
 
Thankfully, in God’s Providence, Gideons and Rahabs have now entered the public square.
 
David Lane
American Renewal Project
 
1-2. Benjamin F. Morris, The Christian Life and Character of The Civil Institutions of The United States; 1864.
3. www.spiked-online.com/2024/06/28/why-the-democrats-lied-about-joe-bidens-frailty/
4. Alex Berenson, Unreported Truths: A neurosurgeon diagnoses Joe Biden; July 1, 2024; alexberenson.substack.com