Editor

As we celebrate the 247th birthday of our nation this month, it’s important that we not take our freedom for granted. Historical context is essential to understanding of freedom.

In the 6,000 years of recorded human history, freedom was rare. Slavery was common in all ancient civilizations. The great Roman empire was built up on the backs of slaves. The Russian empire was fed by the forced labor of 23 million Serfs. When the Spanish conquistadors landed in Mexico, they found the mighty Aztec empire had 4 different levels of slavery and offered up 250,000 slaves per year as human sacrifices to their gods. In North America, the native Indian tribes were constantly at war with each other and the defeated would be dragged from their homes and made slaves in the camp of the victorious tribe.

So the big question is: Where did freedom originate? How did it come to be?”

Dr. Sharon James wrote, “The liberties and rights that we value in free societies are to a great degree the result of Christianities influence. They are based on the conviction that all humans, created in God’s image, are equal in dignity.” - Christianity and Freedom, 2016 The concept of freedom originated with the Bible. It was Moses who commanded the Israelites to “Proclaim freedom throughout all the land.” (Leviticus 25:10) and Jesus who taught, “You shall know the Truth and the Truth will set you free.” (John 8:32) Rodney Stark, a sociologist, has written, “Free institutions hardly ever developed in societies not influenced by Jewish and Christian ideas.” He went on to state, “ Of all the worlds religions...only in Christianity did the idea develop that slavery was evil and should be abolished.”

Thus history confirms it was Christianity that gave birth to freedom. It was the pilgrims who came to America in 1620 seeking freedom to worship God. In 1630, the puritans came to America to establish a “city on a hill” to be a light for the world. The 13 colonies were settled by Anglicans, Baptists, Catholics, Huguenots and Quakers all seeking freedom to worship God in peace.

In 1776, A Christian nation was birthed when the Founding Fathers made an official declaration “Appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world... We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal and endowed by Their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

This declaration, called the greatest government document in the history of the world, established the greatest free nation that the world has ever seen.

Of the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence, 52 were members of orthodox Christian Churches, and 27 were graduates of seminaries. Yes, it’s true. It is Christianity that has given birth to freedom, and the farther our nation drifts from the Christian faith, the more we lose our freedoms. It’s time to wake up and turn back to God.

In God we Trust, 

Tom Seaman. Richmond Hill