by David Morgan, Lawrence County Executive
Tomorrow, we celebrate the 246th anniversary of our Declaration of Independence from Great Britain, a document that launched the Revolutionary War. Freedom came at a high price for our young nation, paid by the blood and sacrifices not only of the enlisted Colonial Army and Navy, but of every home, family, and countryman.
Our founders fought for the freedom to live the way almighty God created us to live: free to worship, work, and rise to any height we set our minds to.
However, these freedoms were never meant to be experienced without the oversight and guidance of our wonderful creator.
I was fortunate to spend a few days recently in our nation’s capital. Seeing the engineering marvels and precision planning of that amazing city always reminds me of the great lengths to which our founders went to get this thing right. One thing they acknowledged then was their need for divine guidance in every step of the journey. In this season of American history, we would do well to establish a similar humility and submission to God’s providential hand.
In his farewell address George Washington said, “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity.
“Let it simply be asked: Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice? And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.”
What was clear then must be made clear today. If America is to remain free, we must, as George Washington said, cultivate the habit of religious discipline and morality to insure prosperity, not only for ourselves but for our friends, neighbors, and countrymen. These great pillars hold up the whole dream that was and is America. May we never subvert or destroy these great pillars of freedom.
Independence from Britain generated a deeper dependence on our creator’s providential hand. I’d like to encourage all freedom-loving Americans to put into practice an unwavering dependence on Him. It’s the only thing that gives us true Freedom!! Happy Independence Day!
