Rev. Mark H. Creech
Long live the Declaration of Independence!
FacebookTwitter
By Rev. Mark H. Creech
July 3, 2020

In his fascinating book Takedown: From Communists to Progressives, How the Left Has Sabotaged Family and Marriage, Paul Kengor introduces his readers to the English utopian-socialist Robert Owen. Owen was one of the first characters during the 19th century who helped lay the foundation for socialist dogma.

Kengor writes: "Robert Owen certainly left his collectivist's footprint. On July 4, 1826, as Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, the geniuses of the Declaration of Independence, both dramatically breathed their last gasps of life on the fiftieth anniversary of their eloquent achievement on behalf of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, Robert Owen stood in front of his new ideological colony in New Harmony, Indiana, and delivered his 'Declaration of Mental Independence.' It was, in effect, an anti-Declaration of Independence, and somewhat a precursor of the Communist Manifesto. 'I now declare to you and to the world,' proclaimed Owen, 'that man up to this hour has been in all parts of the earth a slave to a trinity of the most monstrous evils that could be combined to inflict mental and physical evil upon the whole race.' What were the monstrosities? 'I refer to private property, absurd and irrational systems of religion, and marriage founded upon individual property, combined with some of these irrational systems of religion.' Property, religion, marriage – Robert Owen's unholy trinity."

While we celebrate Independence Day, it seems that with much of what we are witnessing across the country, Owen's so-called "Declaration of Mental Independence" would for many, if provided sufficient opportunity, supplant the principles of the Declaration of Independence. Owen would likely feel right at home with some of the agitators and radicals of the present.

America's Declaration of Independence, in part, reads:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness."

Alan Keyes, a former ambassador during the Reagan years and currently a conservative political activist, pundit, and author, has masterfully argued that the Declaration of Independence has, in recent years, been seriously undermined and rejected. He says that this is because "it evokes the existence of God…the rule of reason that accepts man's dependence upon the prior determinations of God as the premise of understanding human nature and human liberty…the faithful logic that recognizes God as the source of wisdom that is indispensable if we are to appreciate the self-evident truths that establish human equality and God-endowed rights as the sine qua non of justice and true liberty."

Indeed, the Declaration does exactly what Keyes' claims, and the great principles of our nation's founding document are now being violently assaulted in the name of a socialist agenda by groups like Black Lives Matter and Antifa.

The Black Lives Matter website says that their organization wants to "disrupt" the "Western-prescribed nuclear family structure." The BLM website also includes phrases such as "comrade," "struggle" and "collective" – common language for those of the socialist/communist creed. In a 2015 video, BLM co-founder Patrisse Cullors and Alicia Garza, another co-founder, admitted that they are "trained Marxists."

Micah Clark, executive director of the American Family Association of Indiana, stated it well when he recently told OneNewsNow.com that BLM "is about revolution…. This is about destroying what America stands for…. They don't care about police brutality. They don't care about black lives, or they wouldn't support abortion, which disproportionately kills black babies. This is about the upheaval of American society.…"

Mark Bray, who is author of the book "Antifa: The Anti-fascist Handbook," and who defends the group, says that Antifa's "adherents are predominantly communists, socialists, and anarchists." Certainly, there isn't anything about these philosophies consistent with the American way.

Mark Thiessen, a columnist for the Washington Post, rightly condemns Antifa as "the violent advocates of a murderous ideology." He adds, "There is no difference between those who beat innocent people in the name of the ideology that gave us Hitler and Himmler and those who beat innocent people in the name of the ideology that gave us Stalin and Dzerzhinsky."

Let's be clear: everything about Socialism is anti-Christian. It essentially enshrines the state above all powers. Thus, it seeks to stand in place of God. History shows that socialist concepts have long been at war with marriage and the family. Socialism has a reprehensible record on life and liberty, and is best known in the dozens of places it's been tried for its tyranny and oppression.

Furthermore, as Robert Knight, in an editorial for the Washington Times, once so eloquently stated, "Socialism is grand theft. It uses the state to take earnings from productive people and redistribute it to create dependency and thus political power for those handing it out." In other words, Socialism is at war with private property.

Isn't it ironic that these groups, which are defacing and pulling down statues of American historical figures because of their alleged associations, complicity, or actual support for slavery, are the same people who would have us embrace a government system that would enslave us all?

Carl A. Keyser in Freedom's Bounty says: "A government that manipulates the people's money and credit, that regulates and controls the people's wages and prices and rents and profits, that owns, or closely supervises numerous business activities, and that offers welfare programs from cradle to grave is a government that threatens to tax the citizenry to serfdom."

What Keyser described is at the heart of Socialism. And, of course, serfdom is simply slavery.

Do you follow? Socialism is at war with the Declaration of Independence. It repudiates everything for which it stands.

Long live the Declaration of Independence!

Happy July 4!

© Rev. Mark H. Creech

 

The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)

Click to enlarge

Rev. Mark H. Creech

Rev. Mark H. Creech is Executive Director of the Christian Action League of North Carolina, Inc. He was a pastor for twenty years before taking this position, having served five different Southern Baptist churches in North Carolina and one Independent Baptist in upstate New York.

Rev. Creech is a prolific speaker and writer, and has served as a radio commentator for Christians In Action, a daily program featuring Rev. Creech's commentary on social issues from a Christian worldview.

In addition to RenewAmerica.com, his weekly editorials are featured on the Christian Action League website and Agape Press, a national Christian newswire.

Subscribe

Receive future articles by Rev. Mark H. Creech: Click here

More by this author

July 27, 2024
Executive Director of Christian Action League to take a month-long sabbatical


July 13, 2024
‘No other gods before me’: Seven false gods of the present age (Part 2)


June 24, 2024
‘No other gods before me’: Seven false gods of the present age


June 17, 2024
‘No other gods before me’: The first commandment’s national significance


June 8, 2024
From ancient idols to modern misconceptions: The call to worship only God


June 3, 2024
Restoring ethical foundations: The Ten Commandments in American culture


May 27, 2024
Repeating history: Medicinal whiskey’s echoes in medical marijuana policy


May 20, 2024
Billy Graham’s statue in the Capitol: What does it mean for the country?


May 10, 2024
Pillars of society: Reclaiming traditional motherhood in modern times


May 6, 2024
Navigating faith and civic responsibility: Pastor Loran Livingston’s controversial sermon


More articles

 

Stephen Stone
HAPPY EASTER: A message to all who love our country and want to help save it

Stephen Stone
The most egregious lies Evan McMullin and the media have told about Sen. Mike Lee

Siena Hoefling
Protect the Children: Update with VIDEO

Stephen Stone
FLASHBACK to 2020: Dems' fake claim that Trump and Utah congressional hopeful Burgess Owens want 'renewed nuclear testing' blows up when examined

Cliff Kincaid
A CIA plot to kill Trump?

Linda Goudsmit
CHAPTER 40: The Art of Using Technologies to Alter Human Cognition

Linda Kimball
Prayer against hatred (cold hearts; lack of love; death wishing)

Michael Bresciani
‘That’s misinformation’ – The Left’s standby excuse for everything devious, dishonest, and demonic

Cliff Kincaid
Maryland sheriff warns of terror cells in America

Stone Washington
Book review: The innovative efficiency and competitive dynamism of biotechnology

Jerry Newcombe
Reading the Bible and human flourishing

Linda Goudsmit
CHAPTER 39: Cognitive Warfare and the Battle for Your Brain

Joan Swirsky
Heads up, liberal Jews––Don’t be Jews with trembling knees

Frank Louis
No pain, no gain: At least Mike Pence isn’t in the copilot seat moving forward

Robert Meyer
The real reason the elites loathe Trump

Paul Cameron
What can experts cure or prevent?
  More columns

Cartoons


Click for full cartoon
More cartoons

Columnists

Matt C. Abbott
Chris Adamo
Russ J. Alan
Bonnie Alba
Chuck Baldwin
Kevin J. Banet
J. Matt Barber
Fr. Tom Bartolomeo
. . .
[See more]

Sister sites