ROBERT A. BOX
Every once in a while, I come across an article that really speaks to me. One such article appeared in the Central Region Life Monthly newsletter (Vol. 113, No 8) written by the Rev. Mike Justice, a Regional Staff Minister for the American Baptist Churches of the Central Region. While not quoting the Rev. Justin verbatim, I do wish to acknowledge that I have borrowed liberally from his article.
We recently celebrated the 240th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, an amazing document that actually declared us free from British rule and set us on a course to self-government. From this small beginning, America has become a beacon of hope throughout the world in freedom, equality and democracy.
Unfortunately, too many of the people in the United States have not read the Declaration of Independence. If they do, they will notice the second paragraph that contains some of the most stirring words penned by man.
It says, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
This is an amazing statement. Note that there is a reference to God and to rights granted to individuals regardless of what has happened during their lives. Many times, I remind those working in our jails that even prisoners have certain “inalienable rights” that cannot be taken from them.
There are many Americans today who recognize that we have seen a steady erosion of our freedom. Consider, for instance, the “right to life.”
The Roe versus Wade decision by the Supreme Court has destroyed this freedom for millions of unborn children and called it “freedom of choice.” It is a sad commentary on our society that “freedom of choice” outweighs our “freedom of life.” This ruling also has ignored the role men play in the creation of life and ruled out their input about whether a viable fetus should live or die.
We also have seen the erosion of our right to religion. Yes, we live in a land where the freedom to worship as we please is vitally important to everyone, but that does not mean that the lowest religious influence should dictate what others believe and our declaration of Independence asserts. Battles over prayer, statues, pictures, nativity scenes, what goes into our textbooks, and the Ten Commandments are just a few of the limitations being placed upon our religious society today.
When Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. preached his famous “I Have a Dream” sermon, he did not say, “I have a dream also, but my dream has nothing to do with equality.” No, he declared that the “truth” says that all men are created equally, the same proclamation found in our Declaration of Independence. Or, put it this way: In John 14:6 of the Bible, Jesus addressed the Jews of his time and said, “I am the way and the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me.” Throughout the New Testament, it is amazing to note that those who came to Jesus immediately recognized that he spoke the truth. Indeed, they said he did not speak as did the Jewish leaders. Rather, they said he spoke with authority. So profound was the belief that Jesus spoke the truth that, Pontius Pilot, the Roman ruler who sentenced Jesus to death, asked the question, “What is the truth?” But he left before he could receive an answer.
There are many people today who do not really want to discover the truth about much of anything. The biblical word for truth is “Aletheia,” which literally means “not forget.” Today, people want to find the truth in themselves, someone else, a political party, the news, the internet,
Facebook, philosophies and so on. They do not take the time to remember the things that happened in the past and the truth associated with them. Rather, they redefine the past in order to placate the present.
In the Old Testament, Zechariah, a prophet of God, said in Zechariah 8:16-17, “These are the things you are to do: Speak the truth to each other,
and render true and sound judgment in your courts; do not plot evil against your neighbor, and do not love to swear falsely. I hate all this declares the Lord.”
Reread the founding documents that shaped our country and rediscover the value of real freedom and the truth.