love of country – americasgrand.design

The Books of Judah and Joseph

Each calendar year, as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we rotate our weekly Sunday School scripture study between what we call the Standard Works: The Old and New Testaments from the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and the Doctrine and Covenants. These four books represent our canon of scripture. Accordingly, calendar year 2024 is devoted to the study of the Book of Mormon.

The Bible is a divine library of sixty-six individual books divided into the Old and New Testaments, collected and edited over many centuries. The books were written by divinely inspired authors about Israel’s sacred history and theology, her covenants with God, her faith and loyalty to Him, her patriarchs and prophets, her expectation of a Messiah, and the fulfillment of that expectation in the advent of Jesus Christ.

Our Church honors and reveres the Bible. We believe that the Bible has had greater influence on the world for good than any other book ever published. We consider the Bible to be the Book of books!

The Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ, is a volume of holy scripture comparable to the Bible. Foretold in both the Old and New Testaments, it is a record of God’s dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas and contains, as does the Bible, the fullness of the everlasting gospel. The Book of Mormon is the greatest witness for the truth of the Bible that has ever been published. Through its teachings, we draw nearer to the Infinite, greatly aided in our discovery of the reasons for our being.

In support of these claims, Plato’s divine ontology and Socrates’s divine signs manifestly fit the narrative of the human quest: to discover our highest potential. As members of the human family, we were in the beginning with God. Each of us is on the Earth because of our acceptance of the plan of salvation, and because we lived satisfactory preexistent lives. We won the right to be here; we were not forced to come; we won our place on the earth!

The work of God has been designed and will not be complete until every soul has been taught the gospel and has been offered the privilege of salvation and the accompanying great blessings which the Lord has in store for His children. Joining the Bible in proclaiming that our purpose in mortal life is to seek and follow divine pronouncements, the Book of Mormon is essential to mankind.

Further substantiating these assertions are four narratives, each beginning around 600 BC. First are the prophecies of Isaiah which foretell the coming of the Messiah, a time of falling away through transgression of the laws and changing of the ordinances, the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, and the establishment of an ensign for the nations in anticipation of the gathering of Israel and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Second is the philosophical account which led to ethics and helped preserve Christianity in the time of Constantine. The three great minds behind this unfolding were Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Third is the Muslim scholarly tradition. The role played by eastern intellectuals in keeping truth alive was essential, as visionary Muslim scholars fled the Ottoman Empire, bringing sacred and vital works to Italy, thus fueling the Renaissance. The fourth in this series of connected events is the record of Nephi, a succession of kings and prophets in the New World. Containing the fullness of the everlasting gospel, this record is known as the Book of Mormon.

Creating a paradox, the philosophical, Roman, and Muslim narratives had at their heart the idea of obscuring, burying, or eliminating true Christianity. For example, in the face of biblical and historical evidence, the Greeks and Jews scoffed at the idea of Christ’s resurrection, thus negating the purpose for which He had come to Earth and given His life. Islam, on the other hand, though regarding Jesus as a great prophet, is not Christian. Siding with universal truths that were appealing and important, in order to be popular and relevant in the world, these movements sold out what Jesus Christ was really about, and precious truths were lost.

Upon the foundation of Hellenism–the act of becoming Greek in thought and culture–and warped by speculative thinking–resulting in creeds and edicts–God lost His corporeal form and free will yielded to the iron yoke of man-made ecclesiasticism through the joining of the altar and the throne and the establishment of the Divine Right of Kings. Moreover, many of the Master’s original teachings, such as the correct mode of baptism, the doctrine of preexistence, and the emblematic nature of His sacrifice were allowed to wither away. Over time, through the introduction of doctrines and practices such as purgatory, limbo, the sale of indulgences, and the establishment of national churches, the Roman Church would greatly limit the spiritual quest of ordinary people. To ensure conformance with an ever-changing orthodoxy, the state became the arm of power.

Unique from other Christian churches, this combination of events, known historically as the Dark and Early Middle Ages, and theistically as the Great Apostasy, triggered the loss of priesthood power from the earth, severed the lines of revelation, and signaled that purity of doctrine would not long remain. Over a period of centuries, guided by the hand of the Lord and designated scripturally as a marvelous work and a wonder (see Isaiah), a series of events took place which prepared the way for constitutional government and the Restoration of that which had been lost. Beginning with the Renaissance, and continuing with the Protestant Reformation, the Ages of Enlightenment, Discovery, and Colonization, and the War for Independence, the way was paved for civil and religious liberty and pluralism, wherein the restitution of all things as foretold by Peter could begin to unfold.

As the doctrine of biblical inerrancy and the rise of state churches continued to perpetuate the falsehoods of apostasy in America, the timing was right for a great reset. Translated by the gift and power of God and coming forth as the great clarifier of the true mission of Jesus Christ, the Book of Mormon was brought forth in 1830. Bypassing the influences of Greek and Roman jargon and sophism, the Book of Mormon was also spared the grueling process of polemical translation that the Bible had undergone. Accordingly, we believe, as expressed by the Prophet Joseph Smith, that the Book of Mormon is “the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.”

Beginning with the events of 1820, the Doctrine and Covenants is not a translation from ancient documents but rather direct revelations and communications from God to His children through His chosen prophets in our times. It is a book of scripture given directly to our generation, containing the will of the Lord for us in these last days that precede the Second Coming of Christ.

Throughout the history of the world, the Lord has revealed His word and will to prophets. In our day, all the streams and rivers of the past are flowing into the grand ocean of truth that is known as the dispensation of the fulness of times.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Brent Russell’s book, America’s Grand Design (2022), retraces the history of American heritage and humanity’s Constitutional liberties, grounded in the hope of universal goodwill.

Holistically outlining the interconnectedness of the historical events which caused and then overcame the Dark and Middle Ages, leading to the development and establishment of America’s civil and religious liberties, this treatise is a timely reminder that God governs in the affairs of men.

Developed through centuries of struggle, freedom of conscience and expression are woven into the very soul of our nation. Yet, there is danger lurking, for those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it.

Because error is preached all the time, truth must be repeated constantly. We must stop the mindless destruction of historical America.

The American experiment was foreordained. America is a part of redemptive history, of divine prophecy fulfilled, of God’s grand design. As a society of free-born people, we must reawaken to the truth that “righteousness exalts a nation.”

Third in a trilogy of Constitutional enlightenment and awareness, the author supports the Utah State Legislature’s designation of September as Founders and Constitution Month. In an effort to champion civic awareness and the common good, he reaffirms that it was not by chance that the Puritans and others who followed later left their native land and sailed to New England where they were inspired to establish the God-given system of government under which we live.

Laying the foundation for the 1820 vision of the Prophet Joseph Smith and the unfolding Restoration, this series of historical events is described by the biblical prophet Isaiah as “a marvelous work and a wonder.” In an acknowledgement of our responsibility to teach the true greatness of our founding and nation, may we reenergize a spirit of patriotism in recognition of God’s hand in the origin and destiny of America, that we will be a nation under God, not without God.

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Courage and Resolve

Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed, is more important than any other one thing. –Abraham Lincoln

On a recent Sunday, as we sat down with our wives for a spontaneous brunch, a friend and I had one of those conversations that seem to come out of nowhere. Our topics covered a lot of ground. However, the part that touched me deeply was his personal story.

Speaking freely, we discussed the meaning and purpose of life. Why we are here (on earth) and what we are supposed to be doing with our lives.

He grew up in Chicago in a very dysfunctional situation. There was divorce, alcoholism, drug use, abuse, early separation from his siblings and parents, suicide, and poverty. His reaction was anger, bitterness, loneliness, and hopelessness, a teenager with a horrible temper and poor self-esteem.

At 18, traveling to California with his girlfriend, they stopped at Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah. He felt something. Shortly thereafter he joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons).

A year later, sitting in a speed-reading class at BYU, he gazed out the window, thinking how much he hated being there. Standing directly in front of him, the professor asked a couple of questions about the assignment, and then surprised him by asking, “How do you feel about things?”

“You want to know how I feel?” asked my friend.

“Yes,” responded the teacher.

Facing one of those moments requiring courage, he was tempted to ease his way out of the situation. But not today! He spoke his mind, and it all came out.

“I think you and the others are just a bunch of posers. You say things to impress people, but you don’t mean them, and you don’t care about us. It’s all for show.”

Realizing a teaching moment was at hand, the instructor responded with kindness, “My challenge to you, young man, is to get an education and then go out and confront the hypocrisy you so readily see in the world and change things for the better.”

This was the turning point of his life! He began pursuing his education with a higher purpose in mind. With degrees in hand and happily married, he has been teaching philosophy, critical thinking, and creative writing at the university level for the past 30 years.

Knowing my friend as I do, I can say with great confidence that he has been changing things and making a positive difference in the lives of students, associates, and his family since that day.

In this account we find a universal truth: when you educate a man, you liberate a man. The most important key to a proper education is to read to the point that words become precious. As you learn, you will begin to see that you are the person who has the most to do with you and what happens in your life.

This matters because our country needs you! You need to understand that the men who founded this nation believed that our system of government was designed for a well-informed and educated people. They understood that each of us needs to play our very important part in maintaining liberty.

While it’s true we need smart people to understand and correct our problems, what we need even more is people who care. People who are willing to love God, to love their neighbors, and to live by the Golden Rule. Like the teacher at BYU, our nation’s greatest need is people with common sense who care about others and the future of our country.

There is a great deal riding on the education of our young people. Misunderstanding freedom, many great and powerful nations have destroyed themselves from within through moral decay, fiscal irresponsibility, and selfishness. A proper education will instill these lessons because they matter, for the same fate could happen to us.

You can make a difference! Be inspired by men like Abraham Lincoln who carried a book with him everywhere he went; and often that book was the Bible. Be motivated by women like Emily Dickinson, who wrote, “There is no Frigate like a Book, to take us Lands away.” Be anxiously engaged in self-improvement. Discover a steadfast purpose to sustain you.

Like my friend, you were sent to earth to make a difference. Improve yourself, gain experience, help others along the way. As encouragement, I offer this poem:

The more you read, the more you know;

The more you know, the smarter you grow;

The smarter you grow, the stronger your voice;

When speaking your mind, or making your choice.

America is the only country founded on the principle that men and women should and could govern themselves. Seek true knowledge and govern yourself accordingly. Have confidence that the goodness of your life will lead to success and happiness.

Please see: http://www.americasgranddesign.com

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Oppenheimer: an appeal to the academic left

The Vital Importance of Limited Government, Religious Influence, and Economic Freedom

The secret of education lies in respecting the pupil. –Emerson

When J. Robert Oppenheimer, a physics professor at Berkeley, was approached by General Leslie R. Groves to head the Manhattan Project there was the “snag” of Oppenheimer’s left-wing background, which, in the words of General Groves, “included much that was not to our liking by any means.” The general wanted Oppenheimer anyway, because none of the other men suggested for the position appeared to be his equal. “He’s a genius,” declared Groves.

For his part, Oppenheimer thought himself “a most improbable appointment. I was astonished.” At thirty-eight years of age in 1942 when he accepted the assignment, he listed three reasons on how he had changed in recent years from one who “had no understanding of the relations of man to his society.”

First, “I had a continuing, smoldering fury about the treatment of the Jews in Germany.”

Second, says Oppenheimer, “I saw what the Depression was doing to my students. And through them I began to understand how deeply political and economic events could affect men’s lives. I began to feel the need to participate more fully in the life of the community.”

Third, a few years prior to 1942, as he began to move among what he called “leftwing friends,” he wrote, “I liked the new sense of companionship, and at the time felt that I was coming to be part of the life of my time and country.” However, after reading Engels and Feuerbach and all of Marx and finding their dialectics less rigorous than his taste, Oppenheimer declared, “I never accepted Communist dogma or theory; in fact, it never made sense to me.”

Appealing to all members of academia, I would like to ask you to consider how deeply political and economic events are affecting the lives of your students. In hundreds of thousands of cases, year after year, young people are leaving our institutions of higher learning saddled not only with debt but unable to find suitable employment in an economy that has been reduced in many respects to a manifestation of leftwing politics. To address this very basic and systemic problem, your students need each of you–like Oppenheimer’s students needed him–to feel the need to participate more fully in the life of the community by promoting an economic environment that allows them to fulfill their potential and actualize their dreams.

How can this be done? Sadly, with leftwing politics so ingrained within our society, rather than moving into an economy built on meritocracy and free-market values, the talents and gifts of hundreds of thousands of students are being denied expression. With an emphasis on undermining the values of Western civilization, as well as a full-throated endorsement of a green agenda–which, in turn, leads to censorship, the curtailment of free expression, and mob rule–powerful interests are scuttling human potential by promoting a limited kind of diversity. This is no surprise, for as the data demonstrates, at many institutions of higher learning, those with the highest levels of education (including administrators and educators) are the first to dismiss those with conflicting points of view. In one of the great paradoxes of our time, many of those who prize academic freedom for themselves above all else are denying the very essence of academic freedom to those they teach. This is not the education standard our young people have been promised. The resulting impoverishment of intellect is a great loss to them and a tragic loss for our country.

There needs to be a major change in how we approach education. Instead of the politics of coercion, which are grounded in sensitivity, diversity, multiculturalism, and environmentalism (as defined by liberals), we need classrooms where traditional and theoretical ideas can find expression. We need laboratories where students can come to grips with how best to unleash their talents and potential in pursuit of their highest aspirations. Unfortunately, however, to the collective detriment of all Americans, an iron curtain of censorship has descended upon many of our institutions of higher learning. Rather than promoting academic freedom of speech and the free exchange of ideas many of our most prestigious centers of higher learning are promoting diversity in everything but thought.

The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield, and government to gain ground. –Thomas Jefferson

That which the academic left undermines and opposes through censorship can be reduced to three categories: limited government, religious influence, and economic freedom. Institutional opposition to these foundational elements is one of the great mysteries of a free society, especially in light of the conclusion reached by Dr. Oppenheimer (the UC Berkeley creator of the greatest school of theoretical physics that the United States has ever known) that Communist dogma or theory never made sense to him.

It is imperative that today’s young people are taught and understand that limited government, religious influence, and economic freedom are the pathway to the fulfilling of their potential and the betterment of society. No centralized government, no matter how big or well-intentioned, can effectively and efficiently control society in a beneficial way. On the contrary, big governments are inherently inefficient and harmful because in their promotion of dependency they rob citizens of their initiative and self-respect. As declared by President Franklin Roosevelt, “Continued dependence on government support induces a spiritual and moral disintegration fundamentally destructive to the national fiber. To dole out relief in this way is to administer a narcotic, a subtle destroyer of the human spirit.” Evident in our time, big government corrupts the political process and eventually kills the goose that lays the golden eggs.

The parents have a right to say that no teacher paid by their money shall rob their children of faith in God and send them back to their homes skeptical, or infidels, or agnostics, or atheists. –William Jennings Bryan

During the past several years, I have had many rewarding experiences driving people from the Salt Lake Airport to Park City for the Sundance Film Festival or their ski vacations. The 45-minute drive is always interesting as I get to know people from all around the world. Two winters ago, as I drove two first-year college students from Austin, one of them proudly announced that she was a philosophy major who does not believe in God anymore. When I asked her how her parents felt about her atheism she said, “My dad is very sad.”

On a subsequent occasion I was driving a family of four. A daughter, who was attending Notre Dame, happened to be a philosophy major as well. When I asked her if her teachers had destroyed her faith, her mother looked up and said, “I want to hear the answer to this!” The twenty-six-year-old responded, “No. At Notre Dame they are very respectful of religious belief.”

Contrast her experience with what happened to one of my nieces at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, during her freshman year a few years ago. As related by her, she said that she was sitting in a required philosophy class with hundreds of other students when a tenured professor walked in and said, “If any of you believe in God that’s okay. But if you believe in God at the end of this semester it will be because you are a ‘blanking’ idiot!” My niece related that she stood up at that moment and walked out of the class.

Her stand reminds me of the experience of Robert P. George, a devout Catholic and tenured Princeton professor who has been called the most influential Christian conservative thinker” in the United States by Time magazine. As a 19-year-old, George was sitting in an introductory political philosophy class at Swarthmore College discussing “Gorgias,” in which Plato questions the motives for debate by asking if individuals argue in order to find and advance the truth or simply to boost their own social standing by winning the argument.

For George, contemplating those questions for the first time in college was like “having a bucket of ice water thrown in my face, and I woke up. I realized I should be asking a much more important question than about how to win debates. I should be asking the question, ‘What side am I on?’ For the first time in my life…I had to think my way to where I would stand, rather than just standing where I stood because it was what the ambient culture told me.”

With its foundation in faith, its action in works, and its aim of obedience to God in improvement of self and benevolence to others, religious influence is the foundation of society, the basis on which all true civil government rests, and from which power derives it authority, laws their efficacy, and both their sanction. In other words, religious influence is a universal good–a key ingredient in the flourishing of individuals and societies everywhere. Without its free expression, if shaken by contempt or loss of popular respect, the whole fabric of society cannot be stable or lasting.

Addressing why he is willing to fight for economic freedom, Charles Koch, Chairman and CEO of Koch Industries, Inc., recently wrote, “I want my legacy to be greater freedom, greater prosperity, and a better way of life for my family, our employees, and for all Americans. And I wish the same for every nation on earth.”

Those of us who cherish freedom and the opportunities freedom brings can relate to the desires of Charles Koch. We also want every living soul to experience the joy of potential fulfilled.

There are many reasons why the views of Oppenheimer, Roosevelt, George, and Koch have universal appeal. First, it is good to have feelings for the oppressed and to be willing to do something about it. Second, it is good to consider the state of young people who are facing a bleak economic outlook and be willing to participate more fully in the life of the community. Third, it is good to recognize the importance of limited government, religious influence, and economic freedom and then be willing to champion their value in the classroom, in the news, in political discourse, and from the pulpit.

A society that puts equality–in the sense of equality of outcome–ahead of freedom will end up with neither equality nor freedom. The use of force to achieve equality will destroy freedom, and the force, introduced for good purposes, will end up in the hands of people who use it to promote their own interests. –Milton Friedman

As a further inducement to the abolition of social injustice, I suggest that preparing students for an economy built on limited government, religious influence, and economic freedom is our best way forward as a nation. As things now stand, the rate of return on capital, such as real estate, dividends, and other financial assets, is racing away from the rate of growth required to maintain a healthy economy. Stagnant pay, except among the super-rich, soaring health care and education costs, unemployment, high energy and transportation costs, and diminished expectations among young and old alike are becoming the norm. If these trends continue inequality will get worse as wealth becomes ever more concentrated in the hands of a few. Moreover, the avenues of upward mobility that beckon us and define the American Dream will be closed off while retirement will become something to endure rather than to enjoy.

The solution to these problems is to create an economy with good paying jobs rather than an economy that punishes success via inflation, taxation, regulation, and redistribution of income. If academia could somehow reconcile their egalitarian views on poverty, income disparity, redistribution, and the environment with a realization of how deeply political and economic events are affecting the lives of their students and others, they might begin to see the harm in unrestrained government, of social engineering, of denigrating our Founders and our Constitution, of mocking religious influence, and of bashing capitalism.

To underscore the vital importance of economic freedom I turn to the wisdom of Charles Koch:

“Karl Marx famously said: ‘From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.’ The result of this approach is not equality, but rather a lowering of everyone’s standards to some minimal level.

“Some people worry about the disparity of wealth in a system of economic freedom. What they don’t realize is that the same disparity exists in the least-free countries. The difference is who is better off.

“Under economic freedom, it is the people who do the best job of producing products and services that make people’s lives better. On the other hand, in a system without economic freedom, the wealthiest are the tyrants who make people’s lives miserable. As a result of this, the income of the poorest in the least-free countries is one-tenth of what it is in the freest.”

The whole art of government consists in the art of being honest… As for governing, I love to see honest men and honorable men at the helm, men who will not bend their politics to their purses, nor pursue measures by which they may profit, and then profit by their measures. –Thomas Jefferson

By doing their part to prepare their students to obtain good jobs in a market based economy, teachers and administrators will maintain the integrity upon which the system of higher education should be built. In so doing they will also help alleviate the problems of poverty, unemployment, and income disparity by placing their graduates firmly in the middle and upper-middle class income brackets. Beyond that, if they will realize and teach that an economy based upon limited government, religious influence, and economic freedom is in the best interest of not only their students but the entire human family, then, and only then, will they play their unique and pivotal role in helping to turn around a desperately misguided ship of state.

Our Finest Hour

“There is not a truth from history more certain than this: that civil liberty cannot long be separated from religious liberty without danger, and ultimately without destruction to both.” –Joseph Story, Associate Justice U.S. Supreme Court

Coming out of the Great Depression and World War II, the parents of the Baby Boomer generation (1946-1964) wanted to give their children the good life. The result was that the Boomer generation “did many did things which their fathers would have deprecated, and then drew about themselves a flimsy cordon of sophistry while talking about the advance of humanity and liberal thought, when it was really nothing more than a preference for individual license” (John Hall). Agreeing with this sentiment, Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, recently stated that Baby Boomers will “go down in history as the most disappointing generation ever, from sex, drugs, and rock and roll to what we have today.” Hyperbole? I am not sure. But I do see where this could be the epitaph of my generation unless we act firmly and decisively in doing that which is still within our power: changing the course of American civilization.

Along with the aforementioned influences, the Boomer era saw the curtailment of prayer, Bible reading, reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, and the singing of Christmas carols in schools. In addition, they created Greenwich Village and Haight Ashbury, epicenters of the 1960s counterculture movement, orchestrated the passage of Roe v Wade, and saw some of the brightest and most ambitious among them take their talents to institutions of higher learning and to Wall Street where they could continue their bohemian lifestyles in more comfortable environs.

The collective result of these actions fueled the acceptance and teaching of Marxist ideas in universities, in the national media, and among the cultural elites. In other words, there was a steady cultural shift away from the traditional values upon which this nation was founded.

Accompanying these trends was America’s turning away from absolute truth and a sense of personal accountability. As described by a leading churchman, “We spend billions of our resources in litigation one against another. Our spiritual power is sapped by a flood tide of pornography, by a debilitating epidemic of the use of narcotics and drugs that destroy both body and mind, and by a declining moral standard that is alarming and devastating to relationships, families, and the integrity of our nation as a whole. In too many ways, we have substituted human sophistry for the wisdom of the Almighty.” (Gordon B. Hinckley)

While we live in a generally prosperous and optimistic age, yet grave problems persist, namely crime, violence, chronic poverty, teen depression, suicide, teen pregnancy, broken families, corruption, changing the meaning of words, fiscal irresponsibility, and other signs of cultural decline. The confrontation in which we are engaged is transforming popular ideas, beliefs, and our national character. Evidence abounds that the fight for the survival of our nation is upon us.

Having won the tacit approval of much of the press, influential policymakers, and a great many ordinary Americans, what has taken place is the triumph of sin and selfishness. In one of the great ironies of freedom, a growing number of our most gifted young people–as well as our citizens overall–are turning away from the principles of our founding, from the nobility of Western civilization, from the rule of law, from sound economic principles, and from the sacred, the very sources of our prosperity and survival.

Data also shows that the decline in foundational virtues–work, marriage, and religion–affects all levels of society. Wrote one essayist, “What a surprise! We raised a generation of bright kids without a foundation in religion . . . We never told them that the virtuous life was both necessary and hard, that character was something that had to be built step by step from youth, that moral weakness was contemptible and natural.” (Walter Russell Mead)

Affirming that although there are many successes in raising great individuals, a renowned scholar writes that conditions in today’s world are particularly difficult for boys. “Confusion regarding manhood abounds, including confusion about a proper understanding of virility. Fathers are missing from boys’ lives in devastatingly high numbers. Children are exposed to a dizzying array of cultural signals about what it means to be a man.” (William J. Bennett)

In search of answers as we cross traditional political and cultural boundaries, the driving force in the potential resolution of this conflict will be an increasing awareness that the fate of our nation depends, perhaps like never before, on this truth, as articulated by Aristotle, “All who have meditated on the art of governing mankind have been convinced that the fate of empires depends on the education of youth.” Order supplies the basics in training the rising generations; the fate of nations hangs on their education.

Thus, the biggest task at hand is to strengthen the home, family, and community, to remind ourselves of America’s Grand Design through a reaffirmation of our divine heritage and potential. To turn things around, we need a restoration of public sentiment in favor of America and to reintroduce classical literature and civic virtue into the classroom and the culture at large.

But there is a danger lurking. Alarming reports indicate fading respect for absolute truth and foundational traditions, which have obscured enduring values. With great numbers turning away from Christianity, and with many on the pathway to atheism, significant numbers from all generations are turning their backs on the religious traditions of their upbringing.

Each of these conditions point to the fact that if there was ever a time for religious influence in our society to be re-examined, the time is now. To achieve our common goals of the public peace, progress, and prosperity, we must be more articulate and persuasive in making the case for Christ, for Christianity, and for the principles of meritocracy, liberty, and justice, which are at the heart of the American system of government.

The rights of conscience and freedom of expression developed gradually and took centuries of struggle to establish. For these essential characteristics of life in America to continue, we must stop the mindless destruction of our Western and American heritage. We need not pretend to have a divine commission and a sacred destiny. America is a part of redemptive history, of divine prophecy fulfilled, of God’s Grand Design.

In a partnership between those who are living, those who are dead, and those who are to be born, we must honor the great primeval contract of eternal society, underwritten by the Golden Rule, which connects the visible and invisible world and finds expression in our Declaration of Independence as “the right to life.” Driven by an all-consuming desire to amass power through the doctrines of scarcity, privilege, and fear, we must also realize that freedom’s future hinges on an essential truth: we do not have to choose between a clean environment (via socialism) and a prosperous economy. We can have both.

The roots of this clash extend back hundreds of years. It is a battle between capitalism and Marxism, between the power of the state and equal opportunity for each individual, and between freedom and coercion. It is therefore essential to re-emphasize that a democratic system depends on its legitimacy, not upon equal results, but a sense of equal opportunity.

It has been said that we are fast approaching that moment when, “Even this nation will be on the very verge of crumbling to pieces and tumbling to the ground and when the Constitution is upon the brink of ruin this people will be the staff upon which the nation shall lean and they shall bear the Constitution away from the very verge of destruction.” (Joseph Smith)

“To those who have discerning eyes, it is apparent that the republican form of government established by our noble forefathers cannot long endure once fundamental principles are abandoned. Momentum is gathering for another conflict–a repetition of the crisis of two hundred years ago. This collision of ideas is worldwide. Another monumental moment is soon to be born. The issue is the same that precipitated the great premortal conflict–will men be free to determine their own course of action, or must they be coerced? . . .

“The war in heaven over free agency is now being waged here on earth, and there are those today who are saying, ‘Look, don’t get involved in the fight for freedom. Just live the gospel.’ That counsel is dangerous, self-contradictory, unsound.” (Ezra Taft Benson)

In the movie Apollo 13, as the spacecraft faced multiple perils with three astronauts on board, the chance for a safe return was greatly diminished. Upon hearing his supervisor say, “I know what the problems are. This could be the worst disaster NASA has ever experienced,” Gene Krantz (Ed Harris), the leader in Mission Control, turned towards him and said, “With all due respect, Sir, I believe this will be our finest hour.”

As a generation of Baby Boomers, the challenge before us to preserve human freedom is daunting. Will we be remembered as the generation that lost liberty because of “sex, drugs, and rock and roll?” Or will we, in our finest hour, be the generation that reestablished America as “the world’s best hope?”

Brent Russell is the author of America’s Grand Design. http://www.americasgranddesign.

Blog: americasgrand.design.

Religious Freedom: Cornerstone of Peace

The current divisions in the United States are distressing, complex, and increasing in intensity. In the main, they spring from differences between the religious and secular.

As a result of these differences, signs abound that the great battles of the future will occur over the free exercise of conscience, religion, and free expression. Because obedience to the law and political toleration are fundamental to peace and prosperity, if there was ever a time for religious influence to be re-examined, that time is now.

Such a refocus is essential because religious freedom is at the core of what America is and what it stands for. Yet, it is under fire from those who openly ask whether religion belongs in American public life at all.

“For the first time in nearly 300 years, important forces in American society are questioning the free exercise of religion in principle–suggesting that free exercise of religion may be a bad idea, or at least, a right to be minimized” (Douglas Laycock).

With no sense of history, some claim that religious people and institutions violate the constitutional separation of church and state if they bring their beliefs into the public square. A few scholars have even gone so far as to argue that religion does not deserve to be tolerated, much less receive special protection.

The intent of this blog is to promote shared interests and values for the good of society. It is put to forth ideas which will serve the needs of the people and the common good.

It is my belief that those who question the value or legitimacy of religious liberty do not understand that religious freedom is woven into the very soul of America. It is “the cornerstone of peace in a world with many competing philosophies” (D. Todd Christofferson). It is a cherished heritage we must defend.

Explained by historian Perry Miller, “When the English undertook to plant colonies in America, they commenced . . . not with propositions about the rights of man or with the gospel of wealth, but with absolute certainties concerning the providence of God.”

Our nation was founded as an experiment in human liberty: “It was religion, which, by teaching men their near relation to God, awakened in them the consciousness of their importance as individuals. It was the struggle for religious rights, which opened their eyes to all their rights. It was resistance to religious usurpation which led men to withstand political oppression. It was religious discussion which roused the minds of all classes to free and vigorous thought. It was religion which armed the martyr and patriot in England against arbitrary power, which braced the spirits of our fathers against the perils of the ocean and wilderness and sent them to found here the freest and most equal state on earth” (William Ellery Channing).

Religious purpose connected the Puritans of Massachusetts and stirred Virginia’s first colonists, with both groups looking to God for their success. William Penn (Pennsylvania) and Roger Williams (Rhode Island) established colonies dedicated to the principle of religious liberty.

Furthermore, the principal influence in public debates leading up to the American Revolution was the King James Bible. Indeed, America’s War for Independence cannot be understood without taking into account the religious teachings that motivated patriots to action.

Believing that no provision in our Constitution ought to be dearer to man than that which protects the rights of conscience, Thomas Jefferson defined freedom of thought as the most critical goal of the American Revolution. As the grand architect of our Founding Charter, Jefferson was firm in his conviction that without the freedom to live and practice what we believe, the other freedoms are irrelevant. These are the truths that called Americans to action and upon which this nation was founded.

Religious liberty is a fundamental right. “In a pluralistic society, promoting one’s values for the good of society is not imposing them on others–it is putting them forward for consideration along with others. Societies will choose and decide. Someone’s values will prevail in the end, and all of us have the right–and duty–to argue for what we believe will best serve the needs of the people and most benefit the common good” (Christofferson).

Religion and religious freedom are deeply connected to both the formation of America and our ongoing effort to form a more perfect Union and establish justice. Drawing upon our noble heritage as Americans, this is our moment to defend our fundamental freedoms. As Winston Churchill said on the eve of the Second World War, let us “arise again and take our stand for freedom as in the olden time.”

For further information, I invite you to visit: http://www.americasgranddesign.com