So my family loves to watch movies. It's kind of almost a weekly, or at least monthly, thing for us. We order pizza, kick back in the den, and watch a movie on our super cool big TV with the surround sound blaring (of course my dad claims it's MUCH louder in the movie theater, but I have to say it gets pretty loud in our house when we crank up that surround sound).
Anyway, so tonight was a movie night for the Bruces. We decided to watch National Treasure. One of my all time favorites. It's not only a great adventure movie, but a very historically accurate movie as well. Of course the whole story is fiction, but the way they incorporated so many accurate historical facts to make the story and the treasure seem believeable is just phenomenal.
I think one of the reasons I've begun to love these historic types of movies is because of taking AP History with Mrs. Maddox. I was never really that crazy about history but I definitely liked learning about American history facts more than I did world history facts, so I decided to take Mrs. Maddox's class for that reason (plus getting some advice from older friends that it was worth it). The way Mrs. Maddox taught history made me love it. She always talked about how the study of history isn't just the study of facts. It is the study of how historical events happened, what could have gone differently if those events hadn't happened, and how those events changed the world from then on.
After taking a class like that and really processing every thing that the people who founded this nation went through, plus by watching movies such as National Treasure that really bring that history to life, I have to wonder...what have we done? Would the Founding Fathers really be proud of what has become of this nation? Or would they look at us and say, "What have you done here?" And then I wonder...is God proud of what we're doing here? The nation that was originally founded to be a "city on a hill", according to John Winthrop, has become...what exactly?
This past week for my AP Government class I read Federalist Paper No. 51, written by James Madison, and was moved by this very powerful line in the letter. Madison wrote, "If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary." Madison wrote this letter as a response to the Anti-Federalist argument that the new Constitution was not necessary (which it definitely was...) and he did so by stating this simple fact: we are not perfect and therefore we must be governed properly. The nation was not holding up under the Articles of Confederation and it was very clear that a new government system needed to be set up. (sorry if I'm losing those of you who don't care too much for history...) But basically I was just amazed by this statement. Madison realized that human beings by nature are not perfect and therefore must be governed. Also, since men are governed by men, the government must be given the right amount of power so that they do not abuse their power because by naturally selfish tendencies, the government would seek the most selfish solutions possible in their governing without the right controls.
I believe the Founding Fathers really got it. They understood what it meant to be given responsibility and do with it what was necessary. And that is why I admire them.
One thing I know I'm thankful for is that we can learn from history, whether the history we learn from is good or bad, and can continue to work towards positive change for the future. History is always in the making.
Sorry this blog post has been so scatter-brained, I can't really piece together what I'm trying to say so I just kind of threw it all out there. Make of it what you will. After all, interpreting someone's writing is usually more fun than just reading it.
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"Religion and virtue are the only foundations, not only of all free government, but of social felicity under all governments and in all the combinations of human society." -John Adams
"As I understand the Christian religion, it was, and is, a revelation." - John Adams
"Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people, who have...a right, an indisputable, unalienable, indefeasible, divine right to that most dreaded and envied kind of knowledge, I mean the character and conduct of their rulers." - John Adams
"By our form of government, the Christian religion is the established religion; and all sects and denominations of Christians are placed upon the same equal footing, and are equally entitled to protection in their religious liberty." - Samuel Chase
"It is the duty of mankind on all suitable occasions to acknowledge their dependence on the Divine Being... [that] Almighty God would mercifully interpose and still the rage of war among the nations...[and that] He would take this province under his protection, confound the designs and defeat the attempts of its enemies, and unite our hearts and strengthen our hands in every undertaking that may be for the public good, and for our defense and security in this time of danger." - Benjamin Franklin
"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." - Thomas Jefferson
"The patriot who feels himself in the service of God, who acknowledges Him in all his ways, has the promise of Almighty direction, and will find His Word in his greatest darkness, a lantern to his feet and a lamp unto his paths.' He will therefore seek to establish for his country in the eyes of the world, such a character as shall make her not unworthy of the name of a Christian nation...." - Francis Scott Key
"It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible." - George Washington
"In my view, the Christian religion is the most important and one of the first things in which all children, under a free government ought to be instructed....No truth is more evident to my mind than that the Christian religion must be the basis of any government intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people." -Noah Webster
"The cause of America is in a great measure the cause of all mankind. Where, some say, is the king of America? I'll tell you, friend, He reigns above." - Thomas Paine
Grace and Peace.
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