With the passing of First Lady Nancy Reagan, I have been thinking about Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan.

President Reagan was 41 when he married Nancy, and they shared 52 incredible years together. She married him at a low point in his life, and helped him achieve amazing things.

To me, as I reflect on Nancy Reagan – I am thinking about the value of marriage. I am thinking about the importance of working as a team. I am contemplating about the amount of work it takes to become such a team, and the fact that it is accomplished not with emotions and feelings only – but by a steadfast commitment. A lifelong commitment.

The work I do with High Frontier, we reflect often on Reagan’s peace through strength strategy and his willingness to call evil, well – evil. We are thankful for his willingness to speak truth to power – and how that changed the course of nations – literally.

I think of Lech Walesa, an imprisoned electrician in Poland, due to his efforts in the labor movement, who later in life, after becoming President of Poland, shared how Ronald Reagan’s optimism and speaking truth to power inspired him, as he studied in prison, and listened to the American President on the radio.

Yes – Ronald Reagan impacted countless people – and the course of nations. This side of the veil, we will likely never know his full impact.

But we know one thing for certain – Nancy was at his side all the way and I believe God worked through Ronald in a greater way, causing him to be the effective leader he was in large part to Nancy being his side.

Thank you Nancy – for your service to our country. We greatly appreciate you!

__________

This was the fourth week I was published in The Edgefield Advertiser, the longest running continues paper in South Carolina, published March 16, 2016.

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It’s true, this week I travelled through Paradise.

I travelled to Michigan for business, as well as to take time to visit several dear friends along the way.  Midweek I found myself at the very top of the Upper Peninsula, having several hours to myself, which I had not planned.  Initially I thought I would simply go to a library to study, but after thinking I might never make it to that part of the country again, I decided to travel the scenic route to Whitefish Point to visit the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum.  To get there, you travel North Whitefish Point Road, which actually ends at the lighthouse and museum.

My destination was the museum, however I had not adequately studied the map – I had just keyed what I thought was the museum into my GPS.  When my GPS told me I was there, I wasn’t.  I was actually still 11 miles away, but I was in Paradise!  Unsure exactly where the museum was, I pulled into a small driveway of a home, which had a sign by the driveway stating there was a gift shop that was “Open for Business.”

After parking, I followed the cute signs back to a small building beside the adorable small home, which was on the edge of Lake Superior and Whitefish Bay.  When I walked in the woman at the counter said “Welcome to my little piece of Paradise!”

The woman was most pleasant and had a great selection of gifts.  She was extremely helpful in getting me back on the path toward my destination.  She said, which if I had studied a map what would have been obvious, “just keep taking this road to the very end – it dead ends at the lighthouse and the museum.  There is no way you can miss it!”

I spent the rest of the week thinking about that incident, the journey I was on, and today, Independence Day.

That day I was on the road to learn about shipwrecks, and found myself in Paradise.  For some reason my mind took me back several days prior to arriving in Paradise, when I had decided to drive through Detroit to see the devastation which I had read, seen pictures of, and watched videos on YouTube about. (If you click on link, you can see pictures, and once there, you can click on the video button to see videos).  For some reason, I had wanted to see with my own eyes what many claim to be the result of flawed policies.  It’s true, there are blocks and blocks and blocks of devastation, just like the picture below.  I spent time looking at it myself – and I spent a large portion of the week grieving about it, in particular the lives of countless families represented and impacted by the devastation…….a week when I wanted to be thinking about the glories of Independence – and all that we are celebrating today.

The most famous of shipwrecks on the Great Lakes in our lifetime is the Edmund Fitzgerald, made famous by Gordon Lightfoot’s song.  What I did not know prior to this week is that The Edmund Fitzgerald is but one of 240 ships lost in Whitefish Bay alone, and some 6,000 ships and 30,000 lives have been lost on the Great Lakes.  What impressed me about the museum was not only the history of the devastation of the wrecks, but the history of constantly improving not only the industry of shipping, but the technology of recovering and studying shipwrecks.  Later that afternoon I took a boat tour of the Soo Locks, which opened in 1837, and still today some 10,000 ships per year pass through the locks, which connects Lake Superior to the lower Great Lakes.

As I journeyed home yesterday to celebrate Independence Day with family and friends – I reflected on my week.  Not only did I accomplish my business and visit with friends, I witnessed a devastated city, which 100 years ago was the pride of our nation.  I studied shipwrecks.  I travelled country roads and marveled at the number of old farm homes which were in disrepair, with outbuildings surrounding them, which were in extreme disrepair, and quite honestly needed to be razed.

But you know what else I noticed – I passed countless farms which were thriving and had grass which my cows would love!  I saw modern farm buildings sitting beside old farm homes, as well as new farm homes.  I passed numerous old homes which had been restored to the glories of their by-gone era.  I spoke with a man who spends time in Detroit, who shared with me stories of the effort to revitalize Detroit, and families who maintain their little piece of Detroit (their paradise), despite the chaos which surrounds them.

I passed through 9 states this week, and at each stop, I made a point to try and speak with folks, to look in their eyes as I spoke with them or watched them as they went about their business.  Whether it was the individual working in the coffee shop I ate breakfast in, in Wheaton, IL, the good folks I attended church with in downtown Columbus, OH, the truck driver I spoke with at the rest area in Kentucky, the black woman who needed a jump start at a gas station outside of Chicago, or folks on the tour with me in the UP of Michigan and even the individuals who were leaving the baseball stadium in Detroit, headed back to their cars – just a couple blocks from the devastation so many write about in Detroit.

There are things going on in our country which grieve our hearts.  But the potential ingenuity and compassion of the human heart is no different today than at any other point in the history of man.  While I did witness devastation and shipwrecks this week – I truly believe our country is about the closest we can get to paradise.

As we celebrate Independence Day, many may choose to write about the growing dependency in our nation – and how it is the exact opposite of the liberty our founders were brave enough to pledge their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to bequeath to us.  Many point out that it is going to lead to shipwreck and devastation.  That may be true.

As we celebrate our birthday – I hope each of us will think about the lighthouse our founders provided for us – the tool required to keep our inheritance.  And that is the Constitution.  If we follow that path, we can restore our republic to its founding principles of Liberty and Independence which were birthed this day, 239 years ago.  Kind of’ like the woman at the gift shop told me on Wednesday – it is the dead end, and “there is no way we can miss it!”

#IChooseHope

#HappyBirthdayAmerica

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As we celebrate Memorial Day, a day rightly set aside to honor the fallen from past wars, those men and women from the military services who gave all to provide liberty to us, are on the forefront of my mind.

But the way my mind works – I also can’t help but think about the tests to religious liberty we have experienced in just the last couple years and then reflect on the men and women who fell during the first winter at Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts.  While they were not serving in the military, they laid down their lives to begin a foundation for what 150 years later would become The United States of America.

In history class we learn about Pilgrims who escaped not only the tyranny of high taxes and high government debt, but most importantly came to the new world to start a new life seeking religious liberty, and forming a new government which originated with the Mayflower Compact.

45 of the 102, or 44 %, of those who came on the first ship died that first winter – including the wife of their leader, William Bradford.  Despite that horrific percentage, when given the opportunity to return to The Old World the following spring, not one of the remaining 57 choose to give up on the generational inheritance they had committed in their hearts and minds to provide for us.

On March 2, 2012 I shared with those who follow my blog, and are on my e-mail list about Kirk Cameron’s one night Simulcast of the movie Monumental.

This weekend I shared with a very good friend the importance of that movie – and after spending yesterday evening reflecting on it – I decided I want to encourage you to not only enjoy the BBQ’s, Parades, Beer, Wine and Soda’s as we celebrate those who gave all – but to invest a little time with your family either today or in the coming week to learn about this amazing group, who gave 44 % of their population some 395 years ago, that we may “stand on their backs,” and enjoy the fruit of their investment to the cause of liberty.

For those who subscribe to Amazon Prime, the movie is available via streaming.  To those who do not, you can enjoy a 30 day free trial of Amazon Prime in order to watch this film.

In order to pass the baton of Liberty on to our children and grandchildren, we truly need to understand the lives of those who came before us – and investing the time in this movie, with our families, I believe, will help us understand this inter-generational baton race each of us are a part of.

May God Bless you and you family on this beautiful holiday weekend – and may we both individually and collectively bless God, in order that He may choose to bless our very much loved republic.

Scott Cooper

P.S.  In addition to the encouragement to watch the movie – I want to provide you with three things –

1.  Glenn Beck in February 2012 interviewed Kirk Cameron about Monumental.  It is a good explanation of the “why” behind the movie.  I would encourage you to watch it!

2. One of my favorite video’s from Michael W. Smith – reflecting on our Flag –

3. To those who served – but are still with us – Thank you!

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I have given a lot of thought to this recently –

Paul’s Use of His Freedom

¹⁹ Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. ²⁰ To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. ²¹ To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. ²² To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. ²³ I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

I Corinthians 9:19-23

Paul had Freedom.  Paul had Liberty. Paul stated he was free to live his life as he saw fit – the same freedom bestowed upon us by our triune God: God the Father, God the son – Jesus Christ, and God the Holy Spirit.

Interesting – sounds like a form of government conservatives in The United States are very, very proud of and we seek passionately to defend.

Those in the conservative movement, myself included, talk a lot about Freedom and Liberty.  Paul’s letter to the Corinthians gives us pause to think about what our intentions should be with this God given / God ordained liberty.

There are those within our movement who have the “co-exist” mentality, otherwise known as the “live and let live” mentality – our liberty, our freedom is provided for us so that everything under the sun is permissible.  And it is, but Paul clearly states that while everything may be permissible, not everything is beneficial.  Paul, actually writes about that earlier in the same letter – I Corinthians 6:12-20.  He wraps up that section with vs. 20: “For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”

If you want to read Paul’s letter to the Corinthians in its entirety, you may do so by clicking here.

At the end of the day – I think this is what separates the two factions of the Conservative movement – those who want to make everything permissible for the purpose to live and let live, to simply live our lives to the absolute fullest, enjoying all that we possibly can before going to the grave, and those who recognize that our liberty, our freedom was purchased with blood.  It was purchased at a great price.  And ultimately, that price requires a lifestyle that goes beyond simply living life to the fullest and getting all we possibly can prior to death.

Our National Independence was purchased with the blood of our Patriot forefathers.  But they indeed recognized the blood that ultimately purchased all of humanities liberty – and they were not ashamed to proclaim it.  (Romans 1:16).

Our founders wrote extensively on the importance of virtue and it being a required ingredient to the success of our republic.  Looking to their writings, I am convinced that without a resurgence of virtue – or what some are praying for, a spiritual awakening, we will never again enjoy the liberty and Independence our republic was founded upon – and for so long enjoyed.

I encourage you to review some of the writings of our early and past leaders on the importance of virtue in our society.  You may do so by clicking here!

May you and yours have a blessed week!

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QUOTES ON LIBERTY AND VIRTUE

Compiled and Edited by J. David Gowdy, President
The Washington, Jefferson & Madison Institute

lib-er-ty\ ‘lib-er-te` \ n [ME, fr. MF liberte’, fr. L libertat, libertas, fr. liber free]
1. FREEDOM 2. POWER 3. CHOICE 4. RIGHT 5. PRIVILEGE 6. DUTY 7. STANDARD

vir-tue\ ‘ver-(,)chu: \ n [ME virtu, fr. OF, L virtut-, virtus strength, virtue]
1. MORALITY 2. POWER 3. VALOR 4. MERIT 5. CHASTITY 6. FORCE 7. AUTHORITY

“[V]irtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government.”
George Washington

“Can it be that Providence has not connected the permanent felicity of a nation with its virtue? ”
George Washington

“[T]here is no truth more thoroughly established, than that there exists . . . an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness.”
George Washington

“Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim tribute to patriotism who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness — these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. . . . reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principles.”
George Washington

“The aggregate happiness of the society, which is best promoted by the practice of a virtuous policy, is, or ought to be, the end of all government . . . .”
George Washington

“Human rights can only be assured among a virtuous people. The general government . . . can never be in danger of degenerating into a monarchy, an oligarchy, an aristocracy, or any despotic or oppresive form so long as there is any virtue in the body of the people.”
George Washington

“Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become more corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.”
Benjamin Franklin

“Laws without morals are in vain.”
Benjamin Franklin (Motto of the University of Pennsylvania)

“Sell not virtue to purchase wealth, nor Liberty to purchase power.”
Benjamin Franklin

“A nation as a society forms a moral person, and every member of it is personally responsible for his society.”
Thomas Jefferson

“No government can continue good but under the control of the people; and . . . . their minds are to be informed by education what is right and what wrong; to be encouraged in habits of virtue and to be deterred from those of vice . . . . These are the inculcations necessary to render the people a sure basis for the structure and order of government.”
Thomas Jefferson

“It is in the manners and spirit of a people which preserve a republic in vigour. . . . degeneracy in these is a canker which soon eats into the heart of its laws and constitution.”
Thomas Jefferson

“[In a republic, according to Montesquieu in Spirit of the Laws, IV,ch.5,] ‘virtue may be defined as the love of the laws and of our country. As such love requires a constant preference of public to private interest, it is the source of all private virtue; for they are nothing more than this very preference itself… Now a government is like everything else: to preserve it we must love it . . . Everything, therefore, depends on establishing this love in a republic; and to inspire it ought to be the principal business of education; but the surest way of instilling it into children is for parents to set them an example.'”
Thomas Jefferson: copied into his Commonplace Book.

“When virtue is banished, ambition invades the minds of those who are disposed to receive it, and avarice possesses the whole community.”
Montesquieu (written by Thomas Jefferson in his Common Place Book).

“Dependence begets subservience and venality, suffocates the germ of virtue, and prepares fit tools for the designs of ambition.”
Thomas Jefferson

“Liberty . . . is the great parent of science and of virtue; and . . . a nation will be great in both always in proportion as it is free.”
Thomas Jefferson

“The order of nature [is] that individual happiness shall be inseparable from the practice of virtue.”
Thomas Jefferson

“Without virtue, happiness cannot be.”
Thomas Jefferson

“The institution of delegated power implies that there is a portion of virtue and honor among mankind which may be a reasonable foundation of confidence.”
Alexander Hamilton

“To suppose that any form of government will secure liberty or happiness without any virtue in the people, is a chimerical idea.”
James Madison

“The aim of every political Constitution, is or ought to be first to obtain for rulers men who possess most wisdom to discern, and most virtue to pursue, the common good of society; and in the next place, to take the most effectual precautions for keeping them virtuous whilst they continue to hold their public trust.”
James Madison

“. . . Virtue, morality, and religion. This is the armor, my friend, and this alone that renders us invincible. These are the tactics we should study. If we lose these, we are conquered, fallen indeed . . . so long as our manners and principles remain sound, there is no danger.”
Patrick Henry

“Bad men cannot make good citizens. It is when a people forget God that tyrants forge their chains. A vitiated state of morals, a corrupted public conscience, is incompatible with freedom. No free government, or the blessings of liberty, can be preserved to any people but by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality, and virtue; and by a frequent recurrence to fundamental principles.”
Patrick Henry

“The only foundation of a free Constitution, is pure Virtue, and if this cannot be inspired into our People, in a great Measure, than they have it now. They may change their Rulers, and the forms of Government, but they will not obtain a lasting Liberty.
John Adams

“We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry would break the strongest cords of our constitution as a whale goes through a net.”
John Adams

“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
John Adams

“Liberty can no more exist without virtue and independence than the body can live and move without a soul.”
John Adams

“Public virtue cannot exist in a nation without private, and public virtue is the only foundation of republics.”
John Adams

“[I]t is religion and morality alone which can establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand. The only foundation of a free constitution is pure virtue.”
John Adams

“The laws of man may bind him in chains or may put him to death, but they never can make him wise, virtuous, or happy.”
John Adams

“Statesmen, my dear Sir, may plan and speculate for liberty, but it is religion and morality alone, which can establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand. The only foundation of a free Constitution is pure virtue, and if this cannot be inspired into our People in a greater Measure than they have it now, they may change their rulers and the forms of government, but they will not obtain a lasting liberty.”
John Adams

“Honor is truly sacred, but holds a lower rank in the scale of moral excellence than virtue. Indeed the former is part of the latter, and consequently has not equal pretensions to support a frame of government productive of human happiness.”
John Adams

“Human nature itself is evermore an advocate for liberty. There is also in human nature a resentment of injury, and indignation against wrong. A love of truth and a veneration of virtue. These amiable passions, are the “latent spark”… If the people are capable of understanding, seeing and feeling the differences between true and false, right and wrong, virtue and vice, to what better principle can the friends of mankind apply than to the sense of this difference?”
John Adams

“Our liberty depends on our education, our laws, and habits . . . it is founded on morals and religion, whose authority reigns in the heart, and on the influence all these produce on public opinion before that opinion governs rulers.”
Fisher Ames

“It is certainly true that a popular government cannot flourish without virtue in the people.”
Richard Henry Lee

“Whenever we are planning for posterity, we ought to remember that virtue is not hereditary.”
Thomas Paine

“[N]either the wisest constitution nor the wisest laws will secure the liberty and happiness of a people whose manners are universally corrupt. He therefore is the truest friend of the liberty of his country who tries most to promote its virtue, and who, so far as his power and influence extend, will not suffer a man to be chosen onto any office of power and trust who is not a wise and virtuous man.”
Samuel Adams

“The diminution of public virtue is usually attended with that of public happiness, and the public liberty will not long survive the total extinction of morals.”
Samuel Adams

“[M]en will be free no longer then while they remain virtuous.”
Samuel Adams

“If virtue & knowledge are diffused among the people, they will never be enslav’d. This will be their great security.”
Samuel Adams

“No people will tamely surrender their Liberties, nor can any be easily subdued, when knowledge is diffused and Virtue is preserved. On the Contrary, when People are universally ignorant, and debauched in their Manners, they will sink under their own weight without the Aid of foreign Invaders.”
Samuel Adams

“A general dissolution of the principles and manners will more surely overthrow the liberties of America than the whole force of the common enemy…. While the people are virtuous they cannot be subdued; but once they lose their virtue, they will be ready to surrender their liberties to the first external or internal invader…. If virtue and knowledge are diffused among the people, they will never be enslaved. This will be their great security.”
Samuel Adams

“No people can be great who have ceased to be virtuous.”
Samuel Johnson

“No free government, or the blessings of liberty, can be preserved to any people, but by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality and virtue, and by frequent recurrence to fundamental principles.”
George Mason

“[A] free government . . . cannot be supported without Virtue.”
Samuel Williams

“In selecting men for office, let principle be your guide. Regard not the particular sect or denomination of the candidate — look at his character. It is alleged by men of loose principles, or defective views of the subject, that religion and morality are not necessary or important qualifications for political stations. But the scriptures teach a different doctrine. They direct that rulers should be men who rule in the fear of God, men of truth, hating covetousness. It is to the neglect of this rule that we must ascribe the multiplied frauds, breaches of trust, speculations and embezzlements of public property which astonish even ourselves; which tarnish the character of our country and which disgrace our government. When a citizen gives his vote to a man of known immorality, he abuses his civic responsibility; he not only sacrifices his own responsibility; he sacrifices not only his own interest, but that of his neighbor; he betrays the interest of his country.”
Noah Webster

“…if the citizens neglect their Duty and place unprincipled men in office, the government will soon be corrupted; laws will be made, not for the public good so much as for selfish or local purposes; corrupt or incompetent men will be appointed to execute the Laws; the public revenues will be squandered on unworthy men; and the rights of the citizen will be violated or disregarded.”
Noah Webster

“Let a man’s zeal, profession, or even principles as to political measures be what they will, if he is without personal integrity and private virtue, as a man he is not to be trusted.”
John Witherspoon

“… the manners of the people in general are of the utmost moment to the stability of any civil society. When the body of a people are altogether corrupt in their manners, the government is ripe for dissolution.”
John Witherspoon

“So true is this, that civil liberty cannot be long preserved without virtue.”
John Witherspoon

“… but a republic once equally poised, must either preserve its virtue or lose its liberty, and by some tumultuous revolution, either return to its first principles, or assume a more unhappy form.”
John Witherspoon

“A country cannot subsist well without liberty, nor liberty without virtue.”
Jean Jacques Rousseau

“Machiavel, discoursing on these matters, finds virtue to be so essentially necessary to the establishment and preservation of liberty, that he thinks it impossible for a corrupted people to set up a good government, or for a tyranny to be introduced if they be virtuous; and makes this conclusion, ‘That where the matter (that is, the body of the people) is not corrupted, tumults and disorders do not hurt; and where it is corrupted, good laws do no good:’ which being confirmed by reason and experience, I think no wise man has ever contradicted him.”
Algernon Sidney

“[L]iberty cannot be preserved, if the manners of the people are corrupted . . .”
Algernon Sidney

“[A]ll popular and well-mixed governments [republics] . . . are ever established by wise and good men, and can never be upheld otherwise than by virtue: The worst men always conspiring against them, they must fall, if the best have not power to preserve them. . . . [and] unless they be preserved in a great measure free from vices . . . .”
Algernon Sidney

“Fruits are always of the same nature with the seeds and roots from which they come, and trees are known by the fruits they bear: as a man begets a man, and a beast a beast, that society of men which constitutes a government upon the foundation of justice, virtue, and the common good, will always have men to promote those ends; and that which intends the advancement of one man’s desire and vanity, will abound in those that will foment them.”
Algernon Sidney

“[I]f vice and corruption prevail, liberty cannot subsist; but if virtue have the advantage, arbitrary power cannot be established.”
Algernon Sidney

“If the public safety be provided, liberty and propriety secured, justice administered, virtue encouraged, vice suppressed, and the true interest of the nation advanced, the ends of government are accomplished . . .”
Algernon Sidney

“[L]iberty without virtue would be no blessing to us.”
Benjamin Rush

“Without virtue there can be no liberty.”
Benjamin Rush

“The only foundation for… a republic is to be laid in Religion. Without this there can be no virtue, and without virtue there can be no liberty, and liberty is the object and life of all republican governments.”
Benjamin Rush

“No free government can stand without virtue in the people, and a lofty spirit of partiotism.”
Andrew Jackson

“Lastly, our ancestors established their system of government on morality and religious sentiment. Moral habits, they believed, cannot safely be on any other foundation than religious principle, nor any government be secure which is not supported by moral habits.”
Daniel Webster

“[I]f we and our posterity reject religious instruction and authority, violate the rules of eternal justice, trifle with the injunctions of morality, and recklessly destroy the political constitution which holds us together, no man can tell how sudden a catastrophe may overwhelm us, that shall bury all our glory in profound obscurity.”
Daniel Webster

“Liberty cannot be established without morality, nor morality without faith.”
Horace Greely

“What is liberty without wisdom and without virtue? It is the greatest of all possible evils; for it is folly, vice, and madness, without tuition or restraint.”
Edmund Burke

“Among a people generally corrupt liberty cannot long exist.”
Edmund Burke

“Manners are of more importance than laws. Upon them in great measure the laws depend. The law touches us but here and there, and now and then. Manners are what vex and smooth, corrupt or purify, exalt or debase, barbarize or refine us, by a constant, steady, uniform, insensible operation, like that of the air we breathe in. They give their whole form and color to our lives. According to their quality, they aid morals, they support them, or they totally destroy them.”
Edmund Burke

“It is better to cherish virtue and humanity, by leaving much to free will, even with some loss of the object , than to attempt to make men mere machines and instruments of political benevolence. The world on the whole will gain by a liberty, without which virtue cannot exist.”
Edmund Burke

“Men are qualified for civil liberty in exact proportion to their disposition to put moral chains upon their appetites; in proportion as their love of justice is above their rapacity; in proportion as their soundness and sobriety of understanding is above their vanity and presumption; in proportion as they are more disposed to listen to the counsel of the wise and good, in preference to the flattery of knaves. Society cannot exist unless a controlling power upon will and appetite be placed somewhere, and the less of it there is within, the more there must be without. It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things, that men of intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters.”
Edmund Burke

“Among a people generally corrupt liberty cannot long exist.”
Edmund Burke

“[T]he very best forms of government are vain without public virtue . . . .”
William A. Cocke

“No polity can be devised which shall perpetuate freedom among a people that are dead to honor and integrity. Liberty and virtue are twin sisters, and the best fabric in the world . . . .”
James H. Thornwell

“[P]erfect freedom consists in obeying the dictates of right reason, and submitting to natural law. When a man goes beyond or contrary to the law of nature and reason, he . . . introduces confusion and disorder into society . . . [thus] where licentiousness begins, liberty ends.”
Samuel West

“When was public virtue to be found when private was not?”
William Cowper

“The laws by which the Divine Ruler of the universe has decreed an indissoluble connection between public happiness and private virtue, whatever apparent exceptions may delude our short-sighted judgments, never fail to vindicate their supremacy and immutability.”
William Cabell Rives

“Unless virtue guide us our choice must be wrong.”
William Penn

“If men be good, government cannot be bad.”
William Penn

“Republics are created by the virtue, public spirit, and intelligence of the citizens. They fall, when the wise are banished from the public councils, because they dare to be honest, and the profligate are rewarded, because they flatter the people, in order to betray them.”
Joseph Story

“The life of the nation is secure only while the nation is honest, truthful and virtuous.”
Frederick Douglas

“[R]eligion, morality and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall be forever encouraged.”
Northwest Ordinance of 1787

“I consider the domestic virtue of the Americans as the principle source of all their other qualities. It acts as a promoter of industry, as a stimulus to enterprise and as the most powerful restraint of public vice. . . . No government could be established on the same principle as that of the United States with a different code of morals.”
Francis Grund

“The American Constitution is remarkable for its simplicity; but it can only suffice a people habitually correct in their actions, and would be utterly inadequate to the wants of a different nation. Change the domestic habits of the Americans, their religious devotion, and their high respect for morality, and it will not be necessary to change a single letter in the Constitution in order to vary the whole form of their government.”
Francis Grund

“History fails to record a single precedent in which nations subject to moral decay have not passed into political and economic decline. There has been either a spiritual awakening to overcome the moral lapse, or a progressive deterioration leading to ultimate national disaster.”
Douglas MacArthur

“[Liberty] considers religion as the safeguard of morality, and morality as the best security of law and the surest pledge of the duration of freedom.”
Alexis de Tocqueville

“I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her comodious harbors and her ample rivers, and it was not there; in her fertile fields and boundless prairies; and it was not there; in her rich mines and her vast commerce, and it was not there. Not until I visited the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.”
An old adage attributed to Alexis de Tocqueville

“Somehow strangely the vice of men gets well represented and protected but their virtue has none to plead its cause — nor any charter of immunities and rights.”
Henry David Thoreau

“To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society.”
Theodore Roosevelt

“We have never stopped sin by passing laws; and in the same way, we are not going to take a great moral ideal and achieve it merely by law.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower

“No government at any level, or at any price, can afford, on the crime side, the police necessary to assure our safety unless the overwhelming majority of us are guided by an inner, personal code of morality. And you will not get that inner, personal code of morality unless children are brought up in a family — a family that gives them the affection they seek, that makes them feel they belong, that guides them to the future, and that will build continuity in future generations. . . . the greatest inequality today is not inequality of wealth or income. It is the inequality between the child brought up in a loving, supportive family and one who has been denied that birthright.”
Lady Margaret Thatcher

“A state is nothing more than a reflection of its citizens; the more decent the citizens, the more decent the state.”
Ronald Reagan

“Today it would be progress if everyone would stop talking about values. Instead, let us talk, as the Founders did, about virtues.”
George Will

“The ultimate success of this government and the stability of its institutions, its progress in all that can make a nation honored, depend upon its adherence to the principles of truth and righteousness.”
John Lord

“Righteousness exalteth a nation.”
Proverbs 14:34

My friends, it is quite possible that you did not know that this week marks the 200th anniversary of the writing of The Star Spangled Banner.  200 years ago, we – The United States – were on the brink of losing our newly formed republic.  It seemed all hope was lost – but that generation of American’s rose to the occasion, in spite of the fact Washington DC had been taken over by those who sought the destruction of our republic.

Please take three minutes to watch this trailer –

And consider joining us for a webcast tonight, Sunday September 14th at 7 PM EST for what undoubtedly will be an inspiring evening, recounting our history of Faith, Family and Freedom – and encouraging us to face the challenges in front of us today.  

Please click here for details on why to take part.

Click on “Home Viewing” on the right hand side of THIS PAGE in order to watch at home!

Update 9/16/14 – Well – it’s over – and you can watch it in it’s entirety here!

Blessings!

Scott Cooper

My dog autumn got stuck under the bed this morning. Fortunately I had not left yet, and I could hear her…..

When I first heard her, she was scrambling trying to get herself out. 

After a few minutes of scrambling she started whining and exhibiting traits of more intense scrambling. 

That was followed by barking and even more intense scrambling. 

She grew tired, and then just put her head down. 

When I came in and asked her how she got in that predicament, she sheepishly wouldn’t even look me in the eye. I had to physically bend down and drag her out of the sad state of affairs she had put herself in. 

This is a great picture, in my opinion, of Political Correctness – what I believe to be the Trojan Horse of the 21st century – the tool our enemy – strict adherents to The Quran (and their current, but not permanent allies) are using very, very effectively. 

There are a few who are doing everything they can to wake society as a whole up to the reality that we are stuck in a very flawed state of political correctness (absence of proper worldview training – especially the Truth upon what made Western Civilization great).

The condition Autumn is in, in this picture, is exactly where our enemy wants us. So stuck in our sad state – that only our head and neck remains visible – so that the infidels head will be easily sliced off. 

It is my prayer that there is a generation of leaders currently enroute to positions of influence great enough that they will be able to bend down and drag us out of our stupor and into reality. 

We can’t pray for them by name yet – as their names are yet unknown – but will you join me in praying for them anyway?

Written by: Scott Cooper

In the early 1930’s, Winston Churchill lost his seat in Parliament, and was largely unpopular because he warned of future troubles England would face if they failed to address the growing threat of Nazism in Germany.  Political Leadership ridiculed him, because they were still recovering from WWI, and they did not have the vision that Mr. Churchill did.

Mr. Churchill was a statesman, who wanted to prepare for the next generation.  He was disliked by the politicians who could only see through the next election cycle.

In many ways, Winston Churchill’s statesman like qualities can be seen in individuals who understand the Infiltration of The Muslim Brotherhood in America.  Five such individuals are Reps. Bachmann, R-Minn., Trent Franks,  R-Ariz., Louie Gohmert,  R-Texas, Thomas Rooney, R-Fla., and Lynn Westmoreland, R-GA, who were criticized last summer by GOP leadership simply for requesting an investigation into the background of State Department Employee Huma Abedin.  For example, John Boehner, before reviewing the facts of a letter stated that Michelle Bachmann was “pretty dangerous.”  John McCain, before doing any research called the effort for an investigation “Sinister”.  At one point John Boehner considered removing her from the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, for doing the very thing that committee is tasked to do!

Interestingly enough, Mr. Churchill actually warned about the Islamist Threat as early as 1899, and again in 1921, as was mentioned in an editorial celebrating his 138th Birthday today!

There are modern day Winston Churchill’s among us today!  Five were mentioned above.  Many political leaders who are willfully blind to the truth of the Islamist threat don’t like these statesmen.  Some like Allen West, who have an articulate knowledge on this threat have actually lost elections; however we at The Sharia Awareness Action Network believe these individuals will end up being loved like Winston Churchill, who after defeat and ridicule, was called back to London almost a decade later to lead his country through World War II.

Happy 138th Birthday Mr. Prime Minister Churchill.  You still are an inspiration to many!  Click here to hear some of his inspiration!

Shared by: Scott Cooper

This morning on Fox and friends, author James C. Humes was interviewed about his new book “Churchill, The Prophetic Statesman.”  In the interview it is evident that Winston Churchill knew long before today that the west would be at war with Islamists.

Click here to watch the interview!

An often quoted verse from Romans – “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

Ah – but let’s read the context – then please continue below!

Romans 8:26 – 39:

“And in the same way, the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groaning’s too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.  And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.  For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first born among many brethren; and whom He predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

What then shall we say to these things?  If God is for us, who is against us?  He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?  Who will bring a charge against God’s elect?  God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns?  Christ Jesus is He who died, yes rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?  Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?  Just as it is written,

“For Thy sake we are being put to death all day long.  We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

What started my thoughts this morning was the thought, “Nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus.”  So I did a search.  This part of Romans was written to the church that was being persecuted in ways unimaginable to us, yet Paul is writing these words to encourage these believers to stand firm.

Persecution is not new.  It has been prevalent in every civilization since the church was formed.  We have been blessed in America up until this point because we understood that our republic was formed by people who had escaped Europe for religious freedom.  The Colonies in the new world were started in a search for freedom.  People were driven to this continent because they were fleeing religious persecution.  Our forefathers were faithful to educate the history of our founding up until about the 1960’s.  It is true that each State, which had its own religious denomination, bonded to together to fight for complete freedom from a tyrannical government which had oppressive taxes which was stifling their ability to simply exist.  However we must not forget that most of our forefathers were driven to this continent primarily for religious freedom.

Like our beginning, being formed due to religious persecution, the demise of our republic will end, as a result of a tyrannical government that seeks to control everything, through taxes, fees, fines and the controlling of our behavior – and this will ultimately lead back to a loss of religious freedom, unless we stop this trend now and re-educate the American public about our past.  Anyone who is paying attention to the news and the rhetoric, who cannot see this – I believe is simply blinded and incapable of seeing what is happening – but that does not change the fact that religious persecution is coming to America at a rapid pace, and it is being driven by a desire to fund an out of control government.

Many are choosing to work diligently within the system to ensure Conservatives who understand the philosophical principles of Plato, Thomas Moore, Thomas Hobbes and Karl Marx which we are opposed to as well as the principles of John Locke, Charles de Montesquieu and Alexis de Tocqueville to return our republic back to the principles of limited government, the rule of law, individual rights, personal responsibility and private property.  It was these principles of the second set of philosophers that led to the prosperity in America which has been unprecedented in the history of man.  Ultimately, failure to return us to these principles will not only lead to the demise of The United States of America, it will lead to what tyrannical governments have done through the centuries, religious persecution.

You can read from others, as well as my previous blogs to find ideas of what needs to be done in the civic arena.  A great starter would be to attend the one night viewing of “Monumental” on March 27, 2012.

It is my hope that you will not only attend this movie, but that you will organize “your personal sphere of influence” to attend this movie as well.  Talk to your friends, your co-workers, those who attend church with you, and those in any civic organizations you belong to and organize large groups to attend this movie nationwide on Tuesday March 27, 2012.  It will be in theaters one night only.

In order to reclaim our future – we need to start by looking at our past!

Here is a preview of the movie – Monumental:

Click here to follow Monumental The Movie on Facebook!

To learn more about how Kirk Cameron and his team decided to produce this film, I encourage you to watch his interview with Glenn Beck.

To my friends in the Fredericksburg region – stay tuned for details on an organized effort to go as a group – but in the mean time, click here are the lists of current theaters it will be playing near us.