OPINION:
The good news is President-elect Donald Trump beat Vice President Kamala Harris and Republicans won majorities in both the House and Senate and that means the adults are poised to enter the positions of influence and leadership in the new year.
The better news is Bible sales in America are booming.
People are anxious; people are worried; people are wondering what’s going on — and rather than relying totally on government to solve their problems and salvage their futures and save their families, they’re turning to the true source of provision for solace and answer: God. That’s fantastic. And in this nation in particular, that’s the place to look. Why?
The Founding Fathers provided a formula for long-lasting liberty that was rooted in individualism and reliant on a model of self-governance. But, as they warned, self-government is only sustainable when the people are moral and virtuous enough to restrain their fleshly, secular and oft-wicked desires. Laws aren’t enough to keep citizens in check. Citizens must be capable of keeping themselves in check, or else civility will eventually go by the wayside and selfish egos will eventually dominate and cause chaos, and self-governance will become impossible — and Big Government will be called upon to restore order.
The problem with modern, educated society is many of the modern and educated citizens believe they’re capable of determining right and wrong absent any higher moral authority. That’s led to some very tyrannical times. That got us into some very tyrannical situations.
That’s how we got an Anthony Fauci who thought nothing of compelling an entire nation to shut down and live off the tax-paid stimulus check, religious freedom, right-to-work, Constitution and law and order be danged.
That’s how we got a president of the United States named Joe Biden who thought nothing of forcing supposedly free American citizens to stick largely experimental shots in their arms as conditions of working, leaving home, attending church and traveling — and oh yes, slapping face masks over their mouths at the same time.
That’s how we got this same president, Joe Biden, pardoning his own son, Hunter, for crimes that would’ve sent the average U.S. citizen for prison for 17 years, for 25 years, or somewhere in between, not to mention fining them thousands of dollars, tens of thousands of dollars, hundreds of thousands of dollars.
That’s how we got this same President Biden’s law and order and justice officials tossing members of the opposing political party in jail over the past few years for offenses that were entirely exaggerated and even entirely fabricated, and on top of that, entirely excusable and defensible when committed by those of the favored political persuasion.
That’s how we got this system of Democrats doing what they want, with the help of their boot-lickers in the media, and Republicans, particularly MAGA types, having to fend off attacks and allegations and assaults and whatever else those on the left want to throw, based on their own minds’ notions of what’s right, what’s wrong and what’s good versus evil.
The list is long.
The twisting of evil as good has gone on for very long.
The point is this: Without a higher authority, humankind is apt to define rights and wrongs and goods versus evils in ways that personally suit.
And framers understood this.
John Adams put it succinctly: “[Statesmen] may plan and speculate for liberty, but it is religion and morality alone, which can establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand,” he said, as the Library of Congress notes.
Without religion, morality becomes that of one’s own making. As secularism rises, freedom falters; individualism is squashed; liberty dies; government grows; collectivism thrives; tyranny ensues — and society crashes.
We’re at this point in time of crashing.
America’s foundation is God’s word. From the Mayflower Compact to the Constitution to modern-day courts of law, it’s biblical teachings and Judeo-Christian beliefs that have kept this country on a path of civility and prosperity, and served as a model of individual rights and freedoms that have been the envy of nations of the world for decades. Everybody wants to come to America. Everybody wants a taste of that American Exceptionalism.
Everybody wants to know what it’s like to live in a country where individuals are granted rights and liberties by their Creator, and where governments are only instituted among the citizens to protect and preserve those inherent birth rights and liberties.
But God-given rights and liberties only last so long as God is kept in that equation. Take Him out and it becomes “government granted.”
That’s why this headline — “Bible sales soar as number of American Christians shrinks,” in The Washington Times — is so very, very good news.
Publishers are seeing a 22% jump in Bible sales this year, The Times wrote.
Americans are coming back to God. On the heels comes a return of the insistence on God-given rights and liberties for the individual. American Exceptionalism is on the rise once again.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter and podcast by clicking HERE. Her latest book, “Lockdown: The Socialist Plan To Take Away Your Freedom,” is available by clicking HERE or clicking HERE or CLICKING HERE.
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