Ageless Faith for a Vacillating America; R. Bearce

If America is the world's "last hope," contemplate the worldwide Mr. Bearce is a freelance writer in Houston, Texas. oppression and human degradation if we cannot rejuvenate our faith: • Faith in God • Faith in Freedom • Faith in the Individual • Faith in our Heritage • Faith in Ourselves If we can revive a profound faith in God we will have taken the first step toward revitalizing the moral, economic, political, and social fabric of the United States. Faith in God gives man a proper perspective of his place on earth. Weare imperfect mortals, while only God is omnipotent, omni present, and omniscient. Belief in the Creator also demands an ad herence to certain absolute, endur ing values and principles. These standards and laws may be broken by man but never changed. When individuals and nations acknowl edge God and His laws, they cre ate an atmosphere where prosper1972 AGELESS FAITH FOR A VACILLATING AMERICA 587 ity, peace, harmony, and freedom are nurtured. When man trans gresses the eternal laws, he en slaves himself.

Fai th in God was early reflected by our forefathers. In their rig orous way, the Puritans and other fundamentalist sects were ack nowledging the supreme power of the Creator and their need for His guidance. Thomas Jefferson expressed it thus in 1785: And can the libel,ties of a nation be thought secure when we have re moved their only firm basis, a convic tion i.n the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God that they are not to be violated but with His wrath? In'.leed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever. Benjamin Franklin also echoed the early faith: I have lived, sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth: that God governs in the aft airs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?

Faith in God was written into the Declarabion of Independence. "We hold these truths to be self evident. That all men are created equal. . . ." The signers were expressing their belief in two truths. First, they believed that certain eternal wisdom existed for all men and all posterity. These laws were "self-evident." Secondly, man's equality was the gift of a supreme Creator. Men were "created" equal in the sight of God. Govern ment, or "society," had nothing to do with bestowing equality. Those who said: "That they [men] are endowed by their Cre ator with certain unalienable rights; that amo,ng these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happi ness," were again stating their faith in God. They were saying that God - not government, or so ciety, or the State - should be the ultimate object of man's allegiance. These rights were entrusted to man by God, not privileges be queathed by any government.

Faith in Freedom Because the Founding Fathers had a resolute faith in God, they also had a perceptive fa,ith in freedom, Le., confidence in and de pendence upon individual choice. They recognized that God coerced no man to love and follow Him, so they, too, put their trust in indi vidual freedom and accountability. Men like Jefferson and John Adams observed that individual freedom and personal responsibil ity were inseparable. If man has the· inherent, God-given right to 588 THE FREEMAN October voluntarily make choices and to order his own life as he pleases, then he also must accept the con sequences of his personal conduct and choice. He must be personally accountable for his use of the free dom with which he is entrusted. This tenacious faith in freedom was expressed in their determina tion to create a constitutional re public - not a democracy - which would provide a maximum of free dom for the individual and a mini murn of coercion in the hands of the government, only that amount needed to prosecute the abusers of freedom. In this atmosphere of a minimum of force against men and a maximum of voluntary action, a tremendous outburst of individual creativity, ingenuity, and energy blessed America. The Founding Fathers adhered to the eternal law that the blessings derived from individual creativity and voluntary association can never be harnessed by or replaced by gov ernment intervention.

Freedom is for the individual. Freedom for government means oppressive taxation and servitude. Freedom centers upon the indi vidual and his inherent right to pursue his own life without inter ference or coercion. If America is not to deteriorate, we too must place the burden for constructive change and harmony in our com munities upon the freely-given and. spontaneous love of the indi vidual. Consider the following maxim: To the extent that we make the State the mechanism for social and economic stability, we will see a proportionate erosion of the political, economic, moral, and spiritual foundations of the United States. Coercive Reform Measures Rather than Voluntary Action Regrettably, the notion is spreading that government can alleviate social ills more effectively than can individuals working spontaneously and voluntarily. Imagine the consternation at the following proposition: Resolved: That the care of all America's needy will be placed in the hands of private charity groups, the church, and the family - terminating the present governmental responsi bility and thus freeing the American citizen of a portion of his tax burden presently created by "welfare" pro grams.

Such a proposal to abolish gov ernment-sponsored welfare would invoke howls of righteous indig nation and disbelief from the faithless. Ask such a person if he would willingly contribute to the support of his own parents in their old age or contribute to a respon sible charitable organization or his church for the aid of those 1972 AGELESS FAITH FOR A VACILLATING AMERICA 589 honestly in need. His answer will be a sincere and enthusiastic "yes." He believes himself to be compassionate and charitable, but he won't say the same of his fel low man; unless the Federal gov ernment intervenes and coerces through taxation and economic re distribution, people· will starve! His faith rests in coercive legisla tion and taxation rather than in the voluntary love and charity of individuals. What is worse, it can be seen that the cynic's faith in God and freedom ends where his confidence in and dependence upon the bene volent State begins. Although God loved man and had faith enough in His creation to give the indi vidual freedom to choose and re:..

ject, our modern state-interven tionists believe that individuals can not be left to their own per sonal freedom and accountability. A Proud Heritage Fortunately, these people who have lost faith in the enduring standards must fight a well-estab lished tradition. America has a profoundly-rooted faith in free dom, in the dignity of the individ ual,and in the laws of God which govern human nature. Tradition may be scorned by the avant garde "progressives" in political, economic, religious, and education al institutions, but its hold in the hearts of Americans in general is not easily broken. We have a proud heritage, one whose milestones are inscribed with toil, dignity, courage, and faith - faith in the works of pre vious generations. Our heritage and our history attest to the ab solute laws and principles to which man must always adhere if he as pires to dignity and prosperity.

The corrupters of our heritage threaten to create a fatal vacuum. Our history holds our mistakes, our successes, our hopes and dreams, and our hard-won knowl edge of the paths which must be followed if our country is to sur vive. Our heritage should be stud ied, cherished, and its meaning passed on to future generations in defiance of those who are now making a profession of flogging America. Men will continue to reject free dom and the worth and accounta bility of the individual. They will defy God and debauch· our heri tage. But the inspiring story of our heritage can never be de stroyed, only belittled and dishon ored. The seeds of freedom have been sown. It is our task to reap the harvest, to preserve· the seed, and to prepare the soil for future harvests. Ultimately, we arrive at the need for faith in ourselves. Though the Pilgrim fathers en590 THE FREEMAN October trusted their lives to God, they must have had faith in themselves as God's earthly tools. They rec ognized that, like all men, they were special creatures in the sight ofGod. They were men of individ ual worth and dignity. And they acted as such! Throughout the colonization and settlement of America, their posterity exhibited the same individualism and self respect. They sweated over the plow, toiled with the harvest, hacked roads through the wilder ness, trudged thousands of miles across the desert, and prayed and they built a land of freedom and human dignity.

None of this progress was dis tributed on golden saucers for the asking; it wasn't accomplished overnight by blissful theorizing; and it was not masterminded by any politician who wanted to ad minister welfare tonics and pab lum to the American populace. Signs of Despair Too many of our fellow citizens are quitting in despair. They have lost faith in themselves, forgotten our heritage, refuse to trust the individual to make his own choice, and lack faith in God. This sullen apathy and mood of defeatism is like a cancer on America, deadly if not removed. Most folks still believe in the foundations of our Faith, but they are woefully short on physical, mental, and spiritual enthusiasm. They lack the enthusiastic com mitment to give that faith mean ing. To believe in freedom is ad mirable, but faith without works is dead. The optimistic attitude is a part of faith, a key to success ful practice.

Our personal commitment to the eternal ideals of our Faith must be contagious. The demand of this hour in history is for men who will respond to that trust in God, freedom, the individual, our heri tage, and ourselves. Today we read a dateless, ageless "want ad" for men who will be articulate, sincere, dedicated, forthright, and vibrant in expressing that Faith. The fire of human endeavor is continually subjected to water and oil-the water poured on it by those who through ignorance or design seek to extinguish human dignity - and the oil of· Faith of those who have dedicated them selves to replenishing the fire of man's, integrity through confidence in individualism, freedom, their heritage, and God. ~ PAUL L. POIROT ASIDE from lives lost, early esti mates of flood damage when trop ical storm Agnes moved up the East Coast in June 1972 ap proached $2 billion, two-thirds of it in Pennsylvania.