Give me Freedom or Give me Death! Does Anyone Care Anymore?
July 4th, 2007 | Michael Pink
On this 4th of July, I wanted to treat you to one of the most famous and fiery speeches given during our struggle for freedom in this great country. I have edited it down slightly to give you the highlights. Would that one among us today could speak with the passion, clarity and eloquence that animated Patrick Henry in 1775!
“Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offense, I should consider myself as guilty of treason towards my country, and of an act of disloyalty toward the Majesty of Heaven, which I revere above all earthly kings.
Mr. President, it is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and, having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it.
I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past… Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss. Ask yourselves how this gracious reception of our petition comports with those warlike preparations which cover our waters and darken our land. Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled that force must be called in to win back our love? Let us not deceive ourselves, sir. These are the implements of war and subjugation; the last arguments to which kings resort.
They are meant for us: they can be meant for no other. They are sent over to bind and rivet upon us those chains which the British ministry has been so long forging… Sir, we have done everything that could be done to avert the storm which is now coming on. We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the throne… Our petitions have been slighted; our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult; our supplications have been disregarded; and we have been spurned, with contempt, from the foot of the throne!
If we wish to be free– if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending–if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained–we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms and to the God of hosts is all that is left us!
They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot?
Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. The millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave.
Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”
If those words move you at all, I urge you to investigate thoroughly the resource I am including this week. It is the most important, fundamental, freeing teaching series on the subject of freedom especially as it relates to business. In fact it is the foundation for high-level Christian Business Leadership training that has transformed the thinking of thousands of people. Check it out now. You will be glad you did!
Receive a FREE “Bible Incorporated” by email just for checking it out! Read this page carefully for details.
Digg This Share This
July 4th, 2007 at 9:28 am
Christian participation in, and support for, democracy and freedom is rooted in our supreme allegiance to Jesus Christ. This is true in at least two ways.
1. Because Jesus Christ is the only person who can be trusted with absolute power, Christians are very suspicious of any move toward the dictatorship of a sinful man-that is, any man. For the Christian, democracy is not rooted in the wisdom and trustworthiness of self-governing man, but in the sole right of Christ to govern absolutely with his supreme wisdom and trustworthiness, and in the folly, pride, sinfulness, and untrustworthiness of all other men.
C. S. Lewis put it like this in 1943:
I am a democrat [believer in democracy] because I believe in the Fall of Man. I think most people are democrats for the opposite reason. A great deal of democratic enthusiasm descends from the ideas of people like Rousseau, who believed in democracy because they thought mankind so wise and good that every one deserved a share in the government. The danger of defending democracy on those grounds is that they’re not true. . . . I find that they’re not true without looking further than myself. I don’t deserve a share in governing a hen-roost. Much less a nation. . . . The real reason for democracy is just the reverse. Mankind is so fallen that no man can be trusted with unchecked power over his fellows. Aristotle said that some people were only fit to be slaves. I do not contradict him. But I reject slavery because I see no men fit to be masters. (”Equality,” in C. S. Lewis: Essay Collection and Other Short Pieces, ed. by Lesley Walmsley [London: HarperCollins Publishers, 2000,] p. 666)
2. Because Jesus Christ accepts only uncoerced belief and obedience, Christians reject the use of the sword and the bullet to constrain religious faith, especially Christianity. Jesus said, “This people honors me with their lips but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me” (Matthew 15:8). He also said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting” (John 18:36). Coerced lip-religion is vain. A kingdom built with bullets is not the kingdom of Christ. He alone will build his kingdom in the end, and it will be with the sword of his own mouth, not the sword of our hands (Revelation 19:15, 21).This leads to the position that for the sake of Christ, Christians support freedom and its inevitable correlate, pluralism, in politics and culture. That is, for Christ’s sake Christians support the legal protection of many beliefs and behaviors that are anti-Christ.
In summary:
1. For Christ’s sake we must radically distinguish Christianity from the American, cultural, political system of democracy and freedom.
2. And for Christ’s sake we may support and serve the cause of truth and justice through that system.
From John Piper’s speech at the forum in Washington D.C. I agree. One day soon, I believe Christians will have to choose here in America between Jesus and our political system.
July 4th, 2007 at 1:40 pm
[...] truly appreciate Michael Pink for drawing our attention to the famous speech given by Patrick Henry which is most famous for the [...]
July 5th, 2007 at 8:04 am
“This leads to the position that for the sake of Christ, Christians support freedom and its inevitable correlate, pluralism, in politics and culture. That is, for Christ’s sake Christians support the legal protection of many beliefs and behaviors that are anti-Christ.”
Kern,
Piper is confusing two concepts here: Having a political system that provides legal protection for non-Christian beliefs (which is right) and having a political system that supports pluralism in politics, that is, all religions participate in the political system (which is wrong).
The only political system that is the right is one that is run on Christian principles, which alone, protects the “beliefs and behaviors that are anti-Christ” (i.e. Christians don’t force people to believe). Other non-Christian religions, like Islam, by the nature of their religion, force beliefs on people, and therefore can’t participate in government. Bottom line, the only political system that consistently protects the rights of all religions is a Christian one. Pluralism is a recipe for disaster.
July 5th, 2007 at 9:50 am
Kurt;
Excellent feedback on Piper’s comments. Thanks for helping us all today!
July 5th, 2007 at 10:32 am
Kurt is exactly correct on this matter. We in America, be we Christian or atheist think the the thing that makes America great is “pluralism”. They think & espouse that America is a “Democracy” & that “Democracy” is the government type we should give to the world.
The founders of America hated “Democracy”. Democracy is merely mob rule.
“Democracy never lasts long, It soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself. There was never a democracy that ‘did not commit suicide.’” — Samuel Adams
Christians need to wake up that the only way freedom works is in the freedom of Christ, all other types off “freedom” always end with debauchery & consuming itself then requring despotism to bring any amount of order.
–Roderick–
July 5th, 2007 at 11:03 am
You are right Roderick and few know the difference between a democracy with majority rule and a republic with representational rule. (”and for the republic for which it stands…”)
July 5th, 2007 at 11:49 am
Great thoughts from everyone. Here is another quote from Francis Schaeffer.
We cannot and must not depend on any man made government. Man will always start trusting in himself rather than God. History has proved that out.
Here in America to many people worship the government rather than God.
“What the Reformation did was to return most clearly and consistently to the origins, to the final reality, God; but equally to the reality of Man – not only Man’s personal needs (such as salvation), but also Man’s social needs.
What we have had for four hundred years, produced from this clarity, is unique in contrast to the situation that has existed in the world in forms of government. Some of you have been taught that the Greek city states had our concepts in government. It simply is not true. All one has to do is read Plato’s Republic to have this come across with tremendous force.
When the men of our State Department, especially after World War II, went all over the world trying to implant our form-freedom balance in government downward on cultures whose philosophy and religion would never have produced it, it has, in almost every case, ended in some form of totalitarianism or authoritarianism.”
- Francis Schaeffer, A Christian Manifesto (Crossway: 1982/2005) pages 27-29.
July 5th, 2007 at 12:33 pm
We certainly have a “Republic” in America but it was designed as a “Christian Republic”. Our form of government will not work in non-Christian societies & is the reason government is presently breaking down in America — which is becoming less & less Christian-based.
The Muslims see this & want no part of it. If “democracy” was hated by our nation’s founders why in the world would Muslims want it?
Back to Plato’s Republic for a moment — in that book he speaks of “Guardians” who were supposed to do exactly what the people wanted, the problem the book never addresses is, what if the people become corrupt?
The Federalist Paper #55 (which is commentary on the US Constitution, written by those who actually wrote the Constitution) says:
As there is a degree of depravity in mankind which requires a certain degree of circumspection and distrust, so there are other qualities in human nature which justify a certain portion of esteem and confidence. Republican government presupposes the existence of these qualities in a higher degree than any other form. (Federalist Paper #55)
See, even America’s founders realized the depravity/fallen nature of mankind & understood that godly leaders of a Republic were necessary to keep in check that depravity.
If our leaders aren’t godly, Christian men & women then they are incompatible with our form of Government & should be removed.
July 5th, 2007 at 4:24 pm
Reflecting upon his second and final visit among the American churches in the 1930s, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote prophetically of his frustration with the shape of Protestantism in the United States, assessing the influence that religious and ethnic pluralism had in the genesis of an anti-confessional, anti-creedal public life. American Christianity, Bonhoeffer observed, had “no central organization, no common creed, no common cultus, no common church history and no common ethical, social or political principles.”
The famed Harry Emerson Fosdick thundered from the pulpit of New York’s Riverside Church against the encroaching and seductive influence of what many have termed “civic idolatry”:
Millions today, some in this country and many elsewhere, are taking that attitude toward the absolute, nationalistic state. It is a substitute religion. It has its dogmas, its rituals, its symbols and its sacraments. At the heart of it is this tremendous matter: the utter devotion of millions of souls to the nationalistic god. Where do you think that substitute god will bring us out? He will tear our world into bloody pieces and make our children’s earth a hell.
July 6th, 2007 at 10:41 am
Kern: Bonhoeffer certainly carried a unique perspective, particularly coming from the historically state-linked church in Germany. Could we have expected him to have any other opinion? We’re certainly jumping all over the map here in terms of subject matter, but your point about the state being an idol is obviously true in any system that promotes state sovereignty. Socialism is one of the worst offenders, so it isn’t shocking that the socialist thought that seems to dominate the debate in the US today tends toward this. Ironically, it was a state-sovereignty tradition in Germany that informed Bonhoeffer’s perspective on the American Church in the 1930s. He expected the state — not the people — to carry sovereignty, and the church to be centralized because of its connection to the state.
Our Founding Fathers, on the other hand, promoted and established something quite the opposite. The supreme power in this nation was held by the individual States, not the federal government. As our federal government has centralized the money, all the power has followed. The Church in this nation was included not as linked to the federal government (What would’ve been the point? The power was not centralized there anyway!) but as an organic living part of every aspect of society, informing not just legislation and public policy, but all aspects of culture.
As we, the people of the Church, have abdicated our posts in politics, in business, in education, in entertainment, etc., and focused on trying to build our own subculture instead, we have left this country to those who had other agendae. May God forgive us and may He help us undo what we have done!
Certainly none of us should trust in a government — quite the opposite, the government has been entrusted to us!
I’m not certain what you’re promoting, Kern, but it appears that you hold the opinion that the Church should be centralized and attempt to combat the trend toward “civic idolatry” from that position. If that is the case, I would strongly disagree and argue that instead it is time for the Church to awaken to its power as “salt” and “light.” We do not need “Christian collective bargaining,” we simply need to walk in demonstration of the power which has already been committed to us!
July 6th, 2007 at 11:05 am
American culture does not belong to Christians, neither in reality nor in Biblical theology. It never has. The present tailspin toward Sodom is not a fall from Christian ownership. “The whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (1 John 5:19). It has since the fall, and it will till Christ comes in open triumph. God’s rightful ownership will be manifest in due time. The Lordship of Christ over all creation is being manifest in stages, first the age of groaning, then the age of glory. “We ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies” (Romans 8:23). The exiles are groaning with the whole creation. We are waiting.
But Christian exiles are not passive. We do not smirk at the misery or the merrymaking of immoral culture. We weep. Or we should. This is my main point: being exiles does not mean being cynical. It does not mean being indifferent or uninvolved. The salt of the earth does not mock rotting meat. Where it can, it saves and seasons. And where it can’t, it weeps. And the light of the world does not withdraw, saying “good riddance” to godless darkness. It labors to illuminate. But not dominate.
Being Christian exiles in American culture does not end our influence; it takes the swagger out of it. We don’t get cranky that our country has been taken away. We don’t whine about the triumphs of evil. We are not hardened with anger. We understand. This is not new. This was the way it was in the beginning –- Antioch, Corinth, Athens, Rome. The Empire was not just degenerate, it was deadly. For three explosive centuries Christians paid for their Christ-exalting joy with blood. Many still do. More will.
It never occurred to those early exiles that they should rant about the ubiquity of secular humanism. The Imperial words were still ringing in their ears: “You will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved” (Mark 13:13). This was a time for indomitable joy and unwavering ministries of mercy.
Yes, it was a time for influence –- as it is now. But not with huffing and puffing as if to reclaim our lost laws. Rather with tears and persuasion and perseverance, knowing that the folly of racism, and the exploitation of the poor, and the de-Godding of education, and the horror of abortion, and the collapse of heterosexual marriage, are the tragic death-tremors of joy, not the victory of the left or the right.
The greatness of Christian exiles is not success but service. Whether we win or lose, we witness to the way of truth and beauty and joy. We don’t own culture, and we don’t rule it. We serve it with brokenhearted joy and longsuffering mercy, for the good of man and the glory of Jesus Christ.
July 7th, 2007 at 12:31 am
There can be no tolerance in a law-system for another religion. Toleration is a device used to introduce a new law-system as a prelude to a new intolerance… Every law-system must maintain its existence by hostility to every other law-system and to alien religious foundations or else it commits suicide
–RJ Rushdoony
July 7th, 2007 at 12:48 pm
I’ve never seen “darkness” NOT dominated by light.
July 10th, 2007 at 12:31 pm
Kern,
This is what happens when you have a nation’s government that is grounded in non-Christian principles:
“China on Tuesday executed the former head of its food and drug watchdog who had become a symbol of the country’s wide-ranging problems on product safety.”
Read the whole article and see how oppressive China’s government where the punishment does not fit the crime. I don’t have to mention Islamic countries as well, do I?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/09/AR2007070900689_pf.html
July 10th, 2007 at 9:10 pm
Kurt,
My point exactly. All governments will only get worse. Man cannot and will not be controlled by Christian principles. There will be a remnant that will guided by Christian principles but not many. Good example is Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived and he wondered from Christian principles.
Kern
July 10th, 2007 at 9:44 pm
Kern,
You have a unBiblical pessimistic presuppositional view of Scripture. You improperly view the future of the Kingdom of God on earth based on what you pessimistically see now. Two books that will help you get started on the road of being a useful instrument in God’s hands now on earth:
That You May Prosper
http://s155777461.onlinehome.us/docs/21f6_47e.htm
He Shall Have Dominion
http://s155777461.onlinehome.us/docs/2202_47e.htm
Bon appetit!
July 10th, 2007 at 10:43 pm
Man is corrupt. Paul said I do the things I do not want to do and do not do the things I should do. Oh wicked man that I am, who is going to rescue me… Romans.
A book I recommend to you is Desiring God by John Piper. desiringgod.org
Kern
July 10th, 2007 at 11:36 pm
Kern,
Like so many who proof text, you left out the next verse: ” O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. ”
Christ in us has regenerated us so that through the Spirit of God, we triumph over or depraved thoughts and desires and are able to be God’s instruments on earth - “I myself serve the law of God!!!
BTW, I have read Piper. I think we already showed his confusion of two different concepts in my first post. Read the two books I suggested and see how you can be transformed from a hand wringer to an instrument of God while you still walk the earth, brother!