Three American Values, inscribed on every one of our American Coins: E Pluribus Unum, Liberty and In God We Trust.

Three American Values, which lead to vastly different results than the French values: Libertė, Egalitė, Fraternitė my friend Robert Scott, who also periodically writes for the Edgefield Advertiser, wrote about in the May 8^th, 2019 print edition.

Robert’s editorial made it to the online version, and I encourage you to read it by clicking here!

We live in a time period of history where there is a lot of confusion.  Generally, I disagree with Mr. Scott’s conclusions on a wide range of fronts.  However, I am glad he is encouraging American’s to review the philosophical underpinnings which drive culture and ultimately politics and nation-states.  One thing Mr. Scott and I likely agree on, is that politics is downstream of culture.

Last month I shared in “Notrė Dame Revisited,” two tidbits of history about this historic French building.  First, it is owned, not by any church, but by the French Government.  Second, on October 10, 1793 the statue of Mother Mary was removed from Notrė Dame and replaced with a statue of the secular goddess “Reason.” 

This “modern” change was a change from a theological worldview to a secular worldview, over 200 years ago.  Many argue this change contributed to very different results between the American and the French Revolutions, both wars taking place during that era of change, and how our nations developed as a result.  I would encourage you to read that editorial, as well as listen to the commentary about Notrė Dame by Dr. Albert Mohler, which is linked within, by clicking here!

As it relates to the three American Values in the title of this editorial, as you contemplate these values, compared to the French Values Mr. Scott wrote about last week, I would encourage you to watch a short 5-minute video prepared by Mr. Dennis Prager.

Mr. Prager, founder of Prager University https://www.prageru.com/, is an online collaboration of dozens of world known thinkers from business, non-profit, government and academia whose vision is to prepare “Short Videos with Big Ideas!”  Their homepage states “with 2.1 billion views and counting, our videos are changing the conversation about American Ideas.”

Mr. Prager coined these three American Values: E Pluribus Unum, Liberty and In God We Trust as “The American Trinity.”  No pun intended!  In the video he compares the difference between the French value of “liberty” and the American value of “Liberty.”

He also discusses the inequality which true liberty allows.  Mr. Prager takes head on the reality that some American’s desire to replace American values with European values. Prager then discusses where such trends will take us.  Finally, Prager ends by stating “Which set of values Americans adopt will determine whether America remains free, prosperous and the force for good in the world that it has been.   With the exception of the Civil War, this is the greatest internal battle in American History.”

More next week.  Here’s wishing you a productive week!

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My March 29^th, 2018 editorial to the Edgefield Advertiser was about Notrė-Dame, how it was crumbling from within, and in my opinion was a potential symbol of the church at large. 

Rather than re-printing last years editorial, I would encourage you to read the online version:  http://www.edgefieldadvertiser.com/2018/03/notre-dame-at-risk-potential-symbolism/, prior to continuing with this weeks.

Monday April 15^th, 2019 the world watched in horror as this heirloom to our Judeo-Christian faith, as well as centuries of history went up in flames.  What has been interesting to watch, as well as encouraging, following this tragic event, is the outpouring of love for Notre-Dame coming from all sectors of our secular society, not merely those who adhere to the Judeo-Christian faith.

I would venture to say that even now, after all the publicity Notre-Dame received last week, that most global citizens don’t realize integral parts of its history.  For example, the structure is not owned by any “church,” but rather the French Government.  Or perhaps, that on October 10, 1793 the statue of Mother Mary was removed and replaced with a statue of the secular goddess “Reason.” 

This “modern” change was a change from a theological worldview to a secular worldview, over 200 years ago.  Many argue this change led to very different results between the American and the French Revolutions, both wars taking place during that era of change.

I could write more editorial, but I would rather encourage my friends who want to learn about the history of Notre Dame, and how it impacts the worldview’s at play today, to listen to last Tuesday April 16’s “Daily Briefing” from Albert Mohler.  It can be found by going to this link:  https://albertmohler.com/2019/04/16/briefing-4-16-19

Dr. Mohler’s Bio is taken from his website:

“Dr. R. Albert Mohler Jr. serves as president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary – the flagship school of the Southern Baptist Convention and one of the largest seminaries in the world.

Dr. Mohler has been recognized by such influential publications as Time and Christianity Today as a leader among American evangelicals. In fact, Time.com called him the “reigning intellectual of the evangelical movement in the U.S.”

In addition to his presidential duties, Dr. Mohler hosts two programs: “The Briefing,” a daily analysis of news and events from a Christian worldview; and “Thinking in Public,” a series of conversations with the day’s leading thinkers. He also writes a popular blog and a regular commentary on moral, cultural and theological issues. Called “an articulate voice for conservative Christianity at large” by The Chicago Tribune, Dr. Mohler’s mission is to address contemporary issues from a consistent and explicit Christian worldview.”

In closing, I have written many times in this venue about the cold civil war we are facing, and how ultimately the conflicts we face are conflicts of worldview.  It is my humble opinion that we will only prevent this cold civil war from boiling over, if our citizenry become passionate about understanding our history, and the conflicting worldviews at play.  The source I listed above is a daily venue to help one’s personal effort in that process.

Here’s wishing you a productive week.

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If you have been following my writing, you know I like to write about things which unify.  Things which effect all of us equally, regardless of race, creed, nationality, or socio-economic status.  I have called these issues, non-respecter of person issues.

As we approach a new year, time is one of those issues, and one worth reflecting upon, in my opinion.

Each of us are appointed a time to be born, and a time to die.  Neither date do we get to choose.  All we get to choose is how we invest the time in between.

How will you invest your next year?

If your appointed time doesn’t arrive in the course of the next 365 days, how will the investment you make over that time period compound to enhance your 2020 and beyond? 

Yes, I believe our investment of time is like our investment of money.  It has the potential to compound the effectiveness of our abilities in future years.  Conversely, if we squander our time, our abilities will likely be squandered rather than enhanced. 

I am pro-choice when it comes to how an individual chooses to invest or squander the time they are allotted. 

I pray you will choose to invest your time wisely in 2019. 

I wish you a productive and prosperous new year.

More next week.

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“Let us not despair but act. Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past – let us accept our own responsibility for the future.” – John F. Kennedy, Loyola College Alumni Banquet, Baltimore, MD, February 19, 1958.

I began this week sad about the radical division which exists in our republic. A division which is amplified and exacerbated by the main stream media, on both sides of the political spectrum.

It is interesting to note that while the networks and the personalities driving the division become wealthy, those digesting their product are angrier and more stressed, which has an impact on quality of life, healthcare, and ultimately the pocketbook.

I still believe as citizens, more unites us than divides us!

If we are willing to make the effort to get to know our neighbors, who on the first look of things, are on the opposite side of the divide, we will become amazed at the similarities and the healing and understanding which can be accomplished, if we make the investment.

The cold civil war, which is fomenting, aided by a complicit media, will not be stopped in Washington. Perhaps it won’t be stopped within politics at all, but through individual courage, hope and love, at the lowest of local levels – investing time, seeking to understand more than simply seeking to be understood.

As we approach Christmas, where we celebrate and desire “peace on earth,” I hope each of us will make such an investment.

Here’s wishing you a productive week, and a very Merry Christmas!

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Last week I shared my personal experience of holding back vomit when I toured the Nazi Concentration Camp Dachau twice during the 1980’s.  I wrote about today’s trend of American millennials and even their parents not having a solid grasp of history as it relates to the horrific acts and statistics surrounding the holocaust in Europe and the extreme sacrifice of our immediate past American generations to restore liberty and sanity to the European continent.  Click here to read.

At the end of March, I wrote about The Cathedral of Notre Dame collapsing from within.  Click here to read.

I begin this week linking both articles as I believe there is a correlation.  Also, in both, I call for action from the coalition of the willing.

Thinking more deeply on the holocaust, we must recognize tyranny never ends.  It existed before the 20^th Century hell created by the German Nazi regime.  It continues today in many third world nations.  It prevails in the cultures dominated by particular worldviews.

What made the scenario of the holocaust in Germany unique and so devastating is the fact it took place in the homeland of Beethoven and Bach.  This evil thrived in the homeland of the great theological reformer Martin Luther.  Stated differently, this was a nation-state which had a history of exceptional culture, great faith, significance in the reformation, and was clearly impacted by the renaissance.

Yet there are multiple documented stories of houses of worship along the train-tracks of the beautiful Bavarian landscape who would choose to sing louder as the trains passed by, in order to drown out the cries of human life as their fellow citizens, loaded like cattle in train cars, passed by the church, in route to their forced labor, abhorrent bodily experiments, and for most their ultimate demise through the gas chambers.

What is it about human nature that causes so many, the multitudes actually, to do nothing in the face of evil?  How do we as a culture strengthen the spines of the few, so that culture will lean in the direction of principle and virtue?

Next week is a great opportunity to help strengthen the spines of some, in the best way we really can in my opinion, and that is through prayer.

Next week, Thursday May 3^rd is the annual National Day of Prayer.  The organizers of the National Day of Prayer, which was first created in 1952 by a joint resolution of the United States Congress, and signed into law by President Harry S. Truman, recognize that as a republic we are facing forces dividing our citizenry in vitriolic camps which is extremely unhealthy for our country.  As a result, the theme this year is “Pray for America – Unity, based upon Ephesians 4:3 which challenges us to mobilize unified public prayer for America, “Making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”

I encourage you to visit the website by clicking here and participate in one of the events in our region.  If you are a faith leader, and you are not yet leading your congregation to participate, I would encourage you to add an event for your individual community.

Here’s wishing you a productive week!

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In mid-January the credit card bill for Christmas arrives.  What shape will you be in when you open that envelope(s)?

Perhaps you’re one of the few who never spends beyond their savings account.  My grandmother was like that.  I’ll never forget the advice she gave me shortly after graduating college and purchasing my first car on credit.  I asked her experience with car loans.  She replied, “Scott, if we didn’t have the cash, we never bought it.”  She lived her life that way.  That was in 1991.  She was 82.  I wish she was here to visit my kids, and now my grandson, to impart such wisdom.

When was the last time you looked at the US Debt Clock?  If it’s been a while, I would strongly urge you to check it out at www.USDebtClock.org.  I implore you to look a number that isn’t today’s current debt of over $ 20 Trillion, but the Unfunded Liabilities number, which due to commitments we have made, which aren’t funded, adds to our current debt.  As of Sunday, our republic’s Unfunded Liabilities was over $ 111 Trillion.  Stated differently, that’s over $ 111,000,000,000,000.00.  Watch the pace that number grows.

In short, we are creating one hell of a credit card bill for our grandkids and great grandkids.

I am sure when the bill comes due, they will be happy they provided us such a tremendous, decades long spending spree.  What do you think?  #Sarcasm.

Personally, I think our descendants will look at our lives and ask, “Why did they do this to us?”  They, being us collectively.  Then our descendants will look at our personal lives to ask, “What did he/she do to prevent this bill from being delivered?”

Personally, I believe our national overspending and overcommitting to spend future dollars, as a republic, is a national security issue.  Furthermore, I do not believe our elected leaders, or the deep-state bureaucracy in Washington, DC is capable of reigning in our collective appetite for spending our descendant’s future income.  I believe spending beyond our means as a nation is a non-partisan, non-respecter of person issue.  It should concern every one of us, regardless of race, creed or party.  Furthermore, I believe it is a moral issue.  Proverbs 13:22: “A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children.”  I would assume the opposite of this Proverb is also true.

I do however believe there is a solution, and that is called The Convention of States.  https://conventionofstates.com/.  If you are concerned about the debt bill we are sending to our future generations, I would encourage you to do three things:

• Go to https://conventionofstates.com/ to learn about this process for yourself.
• Watch a debate on this issue, which is between two personal friends. In this case I agree with Michael Farris.

• If you live in South Carolina, please consider joining your fellow South Carolinians at the State Capitol on January 17^th as they meet with State Legislators about this Constitutional process. You can find more information about this event by clicking here.

I’d like to mention The South Carolina Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, who serves most of us as our State Senator fully endorses Convention of States, and will be involved in the January 17^th event mentioned above.  I greatly appreciate Senator Massey for leading in this effort.  I also appreciate my State Representative Bill Hixon, who supports this effort and Representative Bill Taylor who has spear-headed this effort in South Carolina, and is known nationwide for his efforts.

In closing, one of the best things we can do for our great grand-kids is to get our republic’s debt-house under control.  More next week!

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In my article last week, I applauded Saudi Arabia, the cradle of Islam, for hosting the summit where United States President Donald Trump called on the world to work together to “Drive Out” those who seek death and destruction.  Our Commander in Chief specifically stated that those who adhere to the death and destruction of infidels must be driven out of the mosques throughout the world.  Although President Trump didn’t specifically state it, one should deduce he meant the mosques in the closed nations of the Islamic faith, like Saudi Arabia, from where he was speaking, as well as the thousands of mosques which are being constructed all throughout the Western Hemisphere.  It should be noted that many of the newly constructed mosques throughout the West are on sites of former churches of both the Protestant and Catholic Christian traditions.

Monday morning, I had the privilege of attending the Memorial Day Service in Edgefield, where the names of fallen heroes from Edgefield County, who fought in past wars, were read.  I am so thankful for Michael Washington, Edgefield County’s Veterans Affairs Officer, and all the others who organized this important event.

As I sat listening to the names of the fallen service members, who invested in us with their service and sacrifice in the Armed Forces, I couldn’t stop thinking of the thousands of civilians who are dying annually in the war Commander in Chief Trump was addressing one week prior.  The warfare taking place today most often leads to the death and destruction of civilian innocents and most of their names will never be read in future Memorial Day Services.  Yes, large attacks like September 11^th, 2001 we will continue to remember, and read the names of those lost.  But the vast majority of skirmishes in today’s war, taking place on a weekly basis around the globe, will not be memorialized.

Then I reflected on another historic day which coincides with Memorial Day 2017 – the 564^th Anniversary of the fall of Constantinople, when the Islamic Ottoman Turks invaded and conquered the cradle of the Eastern Orthodox Church.  On that day over 4,000 citizens were killed and some 30,000 were enslaved or deported. The majority of churches were burned.  Constantinople was renamed to Istanbul.

Finally, I reflected on the demographics of the crowd honoring Edgefield’s heroes and the challenge we have ahead of all of us in educating not only the upcoming generation, but much of the generation currently in leadership about the worldviews which for centuries dictated the prevention and outcome of the wars those we memorialized this week fought in.

The Barna Group, which studies the five dominant faith groups in our republic has found that only roughly 4 % of today’s Millennials have an understanding of the Judeo-Christian worldview upon which Western Civilization was built.  The percentage of Generation X’ers isn’t significantly better.

What encourages me about our time period in history, where our collective knowledge of these conflicting worldviews is so poor, is that we can rapidly improve our knowledge, if we are willing to make the investment.

More on making that investment over the coming weeks.  Here’s wising you a productive week!

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I watched three programs this weekend which I greatly appreciated, because I learned things I didn’t know which are worth appreciating. One was Oprah Winfrey’s interview with Michelle Obama.  One was the Fox News program Donald Trump: Objectified.  One was Breit Baier’s interview with Charles Krauthammer.  Each program highlighted these individuals for an hour.

Both Obama and Trump have raised accomplished children, who grew up with the tremendous pressure of living in the spotlight in a way 99.9 % of other individuals will never have to navigate. The poise and resilience their children demonstrate is indeed impressive and says a tremendous amount about their parents, which is positive.

Krauthammer is a man whose fierce determination as a very young man enabled him to complete Harvard Medical School while lying on his back in a hospital bed following a freak diving accident resulting in a broken neck.  A feat never accomplished by anyone before.  Krauthammer is a man who has worked for individuals at the highest level of political office on both sides of the ideological spectrum.

As a very young man Trump spent five years leading in many, many categories at the New York Military Academy, graduating in 1964 at the top of his class. Interesting.  Perhaps that is where he garnered so much respect for the military.

Obama has a legitimate concern of our food supply and its connection to healthcare, and attempted to speak out about it in a way not previously done.  Personally, I find it interesting her effort didn’t convey into the healthcare debate more than it did, and I hope it does in the future.

I could list more about these individuals; however, the main thing solidified for me this weekend is that our systems – media, political and educational systems specifically – foster environments where we don’t listen to others very well.  These systems spend more time demeaning and deconstructing people than trying to legitimately listen and understand them.

Also this weekend I thought quite a bit about Christmas 1986, 30 years ago.  That vacation at our family farm 30 years ago was spent reflecting on a year where I had eaten breakfast, lunch and dinner for close to 180 days with students from around the globe.  Literally all my meals at school were eaten at a table of 12 where I was the only American.  For example, the morning of the bombing of Libya on April 15, 1986, following the terrorist attack in Berlin, I was eating breakfast between my two Libyan schoolmates, both of whom had parents in Tripoli, who were unreachable.  I could invest over 500 words on that one breakfast alone! I elaborated on it in April. (linked).

The bottom line for me is we have some serious ideological worldview issues which are struggling for the dominance of our American culture. This struggle ultimately streams into education, media and politics; however we need citizens who can engage in the process thoughtfully, articulately and truthfully without degrading to name calling, which is so prevalent in today’s reality based culture.

As we think this week about “Peace on Earth,” I pray each of us, on both sides of the political aisle, will contemplate how we might get outside of our own echo-chambers and try to understand the human that is on the other side of our ideological divide.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

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This is week three in a three-week series on things I am thankful for.  The first two subjects were work and family.  Today’s subject is grace.  Three things definitely worthy of our thankfulness, three things we definitely need, and three things connected.

I often address the theme that most of life’s issues are non-respecter of person issues.  Meaning that regardless of one’s race, socio-economic status, faith, education level, nationality or geographic region, the issue being discussed affects all of us equally.  That is definitely true when it comes to the three things I have stated I am thankful for.  Regardless of our background, all of us need to work, we all need family, and we all need grace – and we should be grateful for these things!

I went to thesaurus.com to consider all the words related to grace. It’s amazing as you can see, http://www.thesaurus.com/browse/grace. It is interesting to look at the antonyms as well.

Ultimately, I was thinking about forgiveness.

This Thanksgiving season we are coming out of a Presidential election where the word vitriolic sounds like an understatement.  Following the election, the vitriol evidenced on the nightly news seems historically high.

I returned to thesaurus.com again to look up vitriol.  The words that came up are: nastiness, contempt, hostility, sarcasm, distain, hatefulness, maliciousness.  There are more – but that sums up what we have witnessed on the nightly news since we elected our next Commander in Chief, Donald Trump.

In multiple cities we have witnessed organized protests where citizens who, rather than getting permits and protesting peacefully which is their First Amendment right, have, among other things, inconvenienced their fellow citizens by shutting down traffic which defies the rule of law, meanwhile chanting “Not my President!”

So, I decided to do a little research on the closeness of Presidential elections.  The electoral college is an important part of our republic, but today I am specifically speaking about the popular vote.  Our electoral history has produced 45 Presidents as a result of 58 elections.  Out of 58 elections, 7 were decided with less than a 1 % margin in the popular vote, 11 with less than a 3 % margin and 17 with less than a 5 % margin.  Stated differently, almost a third of our national elections for Commander in Chief have been decided by a less than 5 % margin of the popular vote.

Division in our country is not new, but the lack of grace is, at least for most of us.

I don’t know about you, but I find this troubling.  Especially when I consider the gospel message from Mark 6:14 & 15 “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

Just like my previous editorials of things I am thankful for, work and family, there is an indication that the things we are thankful for include responsibility.  We can be thankful for work, and are responsible to work.  We can be thankful for family, and we have a responsibility to family.  Finally, we can be thankful for grace, but in order to receive grace, we have a responsibility, indeed a moral obligation to provide it.

I wish you and your family a rewarding Thanksgiving week.  In our republic, we have much to be thankful for.  After we recover from overeating and excessive football this weekend, I hope each of us will think about how we can be more graceful as we go about the work of providing for our family, the lowest level of civil governance and the communities we choose to reside in.

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I have the privilege of sitting on a porch my great-grandfather sat on as our republic prepared for WWI. The same porch my grandfather sat on as he lived through the depression and our republic prepared for WWII.  The same porch my father sat on as he worked through the issues of the Cold War.

Today, I sit on that same porch as my generation, and the generation of my sons try to figure out a way to pay off the existing debt and unfunded liabilities our elected leaders have created for us since WWII.

With the crumbling infrastructure we face at the same time as the out of control and mis-prioritized spending – combined with the global insecurity we face, the road ahead can seem daunting.

I am, however encouraged. My son and his entrepreneurial spirit encourages me. His friends who are also entrepreneurs encourage me. His friends, and other young family members who are serving or have served in the armed services, in addition to the countless others who are serving in the armed services, also encourage me. Technology and the ability / opportunity to self-educate also encourages me. The young man I met this past Saturday in Columbia, SC who will be a junior in high school this year, who is organizing conservative groups in high schools all through-out our state encourages me.

I believe the next greatest generation is being assembled – and with the right mentorship from the middle-aged, of which I consider myself a part, and older generation, my father’s generation – I have great hope for our republic.

I also was with some folks this past weekend who were saying, “God is coming back soon,” almost as if we should take our hands off the steering wheel He charged us to steward. To those folks I say – “Let us live as if He is returning tomorrow, but work as if He isn’t returning for a thousand years!”

This is the first part of a four-part series surrounding the issue of fatherhood, which I believe is one of the most pressing issues of our day, and appropriate since this month we celebrate Fatherhood on June 19^th.

I do find it interesting I wrote this on Saturday night, the night before the terrorist attack in Orlando, Florida.  In this editorial, I referenced both my grandfather and my great-grandfather sitting on the porch thinking through the issues surrounding the World Wars they lived through.  There are some who believe World War III has already begun, we simply have not had our Pearl Harbor moment, yet.

I hope you have a blessed week.

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P.S.  As we reflect on this inter-generational baton race we are in, you may be interested in the article I wrote last week, as we remember the Allied invasion of Normandy.  Click Here to read that!  If you find it interesting, please leave a comment!