An Appeal to Faith

by Steve Farrell (Nevada)

In 1970, as a seventh grade student, I remember the thrilling inspiration I felt as I studied the lives and words of the founding fathers. There was Sam Adams and the Boston Tea Party, Thomas Jefferson and the Declaration of Independence, John Adams and the Fair Trial, George Washington and Valley Forge, Paul Revere and his famous Night Ride, and most distinct in my memory, Patrick Henry’s immortal oration “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death!”

At that impressionable age, I perceived little difference between Henry’s message and spirit than what I had felt when I heard the great stories of the Bible. The founders seemed, to me, as prophets, dedicated to the “holy cause of liberty.” Heaven-sent men, called to inspire a generation to strip themselves of the sin of fear and allay themselves, even unto death - to duty, honor, and country. Freedom was, to them, a “celestial article,” which “Heaven” had “highly rated.”

Thus when Henry asked, “Is life so dear and peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery.” His answer, “Forbid It! Almighty God!” was an appeal to the innate, and an exclamation point upon the sentiment already burning bright in so many American hearts. A call to have faith compliment itself with manly works.

And you could do that, in Henry’s day, for religion was in so many ways, the heartbeat of early American civilization. Thus, Henry’s speech was typical for both the era, and himself, in that his prose “rustled with the leaves of the New Testament,” accompanied by strong appeals to reason. Yet it was unique in the terrible majesty of its delivery, and it’s bold entreaty to place all upon the alter in the cause of freedom.

And besides, why should they fear? Granted they had been told that they were weak, and   “unable to cope with so formidable an adversary.” Granted,  the British Navy, the world’s most powerful, had already “forged” their “chains [and] their “clanking could be heard.” Yet Henry like Elijah, surrounded by the numberless hosts of Syria, inspired his countrymen to cross the bridge of faith and open their eyes. We are “invincible [against] any force which our enemy can send against us,” for we are “three million strong...armed in the holy cause of liberty.” Look, and see what I see! “we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations; and [He] will raise up friends to fight our battles for us.” And by no small miracle, Henry’s words were fulfilled!

Yet, what of the majority of us today, would we join hands with Henry and our forefathers in a solemn Amen? Would such faith bound eloquence, which comprehends agency as a necessary fundamental above life, and death flying in the face of tyranny as a moral victory of the spirit over the flesh, provoke in our hearts renewed faith and determination to stand by the principles of liberty?

Let us remember, as did our forefathers, that God does not construct or alter truth by opinion poll, congressional act, Supreme Court ruling, or executive decree. Nor do technological leaps, geopolitical alterations, and the downward spiral of moral trends, supercede fundamental values, human nature, and the settled lessons of history.

Like our forefathers, there should be some beliefs which should never be compromised, and at the center of these should stand affixed - “Faith in God.” For from that fountain flows inalienable rights, equality before the law, representative government, the rejection of Kings, and the conviction that “righteousness exalteth a nation.” Washington identified “Religion and Morality” as the “surest” and most “indispensable supports...of public prosperity.” And they are.

This Christmas Season, as America stands at a crossroad, let us not forget, Marx was wrong, and our founders were right. There are truths and principles that can and must endure, that cannot be compromised, if civilization hopes to long preserve free government. It behooves us to relearn them, to become resettled in our hearts and minds about them, and to once again apply them with vigor. If we do so America’s future will be forever bright.