America was known as the great experiment at its conception. Our nation was given this specific title because we did something no other people group has ever done before. Our nation, was formed on the foundation of freedom and equality. Our declaration of independence makes this clear when our founders said "We hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness." This was a revolutionary statement. A statement that would literally shake the foundations of the entire world for the years to come. Equality came forth because all men are created equal by almighty God. Freedom came forth because we are all endowed by God with rights that we are born with which includes liberty or the ability to make our own decisions without government interference. Tolerance is the glue that allows freedom and equality to coexist. All of these values directly originate from the scriptures.
I will be the first to admit that at our nation's conception we did not live out these values. But our founders understood that we had to start somewhere. By making these values clear in our Declaration of Independence, and by protecting these values through the constitution and the bill of rights our founders ensured our nation would be bound by these righteous values and that as a people, if we followed our founding documents, we would make continued progress to perfecting these values. This manifested itself through the Abolitionist movement, the Civil Rights movement, and the Women's Rights movement. All of these movements were driven by God himself, by Christian values of equality, tolerance and freedom. But now as a nation we have seemed to forgotten our founder's intent in writing the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. They have forgotten how Christianity, and the Bible influenced our founders in creating this great experiment. So let us dive into scripture and reaffirm the reality of our history.
FREEDOM, the idea of free will is a good characteristic God created us all with. Genesis explains that he created mankind in his image, and that mankind should rule over all creation and subdue it. God gave all of creation to us except for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. So God gave us a choice, he gave us free will to choose him or not. Spiritually God gave us freedom so our founders protected this spiritual freedom in the first amendment of the Bill of Rights. Also God gave us liberty through the Bible. Galatians 5:13 "For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another." John 8:32" And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." 2 Corinthians 3:17 "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." Liberty is a Biblical right, with guidelines. To ensure each individual's freedom does not intrude on another individual's freedom we must be a moral people. Using Liberty not to fulfill our sinful fleshly desires as mentioned in Galatians. But we must use our freedom to love one another and build up our unified society. I guess that is why John Adams stated " Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."
EQUALITY, the idea of true equality can only be upheld in a Biblical society. We know in a Muslim society equality is not upheld (Iraq), in an atheist society equality is not upheld (North Korea) in all societies in history equality fails to be upheld. America and Christian societies are not perfect because we all continue to sin. But equality is protected and upheld in scripture. In Genesis God says we are all created in his image, men and women! Genesis 1:27 "So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them." Did God say only white people are created in his image? Or only men? No, God said all people are created in his image! Therefore we are all created equal in worth. Thus when our declaration mentions how all men are created equal, we know that this statement is legitimate since all were created in the Creator's image.The reality of equality is reinforced in Galatians 3:28 God says "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus." This statement shows us that the God of the Bible, treats all equally. All are one in Christ Jesus, no matter your cultural background, no matter your occupation, no matter your gender all are equal in created worth in the eyes of the Biblical God! In fact God calls out discrimination of non sinful matters evil! In James 2:1-4 God says "My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, 'Here's a good seat for you,' but say to the poor man, 'You stand there' or 'Sit on the floor by my feet,' have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts". James 2:9 goes on to say "But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers."Now we are also all equal in sin (Romans 3:23) and in equal need of a savior. But speaking from a government perspective equality must be upheld to be a truly God honoring society.
TOLERANCE, the idea of tolerance is the glue that holds freedom and equality together. Tolerance is agreeing to disagree, it is peacefully coexisting with others of different beliefs. It is the opposite of hate! Now lets get one thing straight. Attempting to convert someone or correcting someone is not an act of intolerance. In fact the more interactive discussion and action you have in a society only shows the bountiful amount of tolerance that society has to allow such interaction! But tolerance is scattered all throughout the Bible in Proverbs 10:12 God says "hatred stirs up conflict, but love covers all wrongs". Here Solomon is demonstrating a fact of life. More hate more conflict, more love less wrongs. God hates hate! Another example of this is Proverbs 15:1 "A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." One final example of God's view on hate is found in 1 John 3:15 "Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him." God views hate as murder! Clearly if we applied this same view of hate in our society tolerance would abound and love would flourish. Furthermore Luke 6:29 is a classic way to sum up Biblical tolerance. Christ said "If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not withhold your shirt from them." If you get slapped wouldn't it take a lot of tolerance to turn the other cheek? You better believe it would. Biblical tolerance is derived from love, political correct tolerance is not.
Freedom is a human right since the beginning of creation. We can choose the freedom outside of God and morality which leads to chaos, or we can choose the freedom found in God which leads to peace and prosperity. Where the spirit of the Lord is there is liberty! Equality is only possible in a God honoring society. If there is no god, there is no creator, thus no equal worth in creation. If evolution became our prevalent belief then it is only logical to assume some races are more evolved then others. The God of the Bible created all in his image, all in equal worth, and he demands protection of equality in his Word! Finally tolerance is a clear value upheld throughout all of scripture. God will not tolerate intolerance. We are to hate evil, but correct in love. A society corrected by love, will be a society cured from hate. This type of society can only be found in a Biblical one.
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