This essay is the third enstallment of my five part series entitled: “The Five Pillars of American Restoration”. Today I am writing on the subject of truth.

I have made it my goal in these writings to present you with an honest and accurate view of the subjects that I cover. Truth is a foundational concept in my efforts, and I want that to show. However, it is clear to me that truth is not a very sought out thing amongst many media and literary outlets. Truth has never been, and will never be, a popular thing.

In my last two posts, I expounded on the two most important “pillars” of our country that ABSOLUTELY need to be restored if our country is to retain it’s heritage of observance of justice and liberty, as well as progress further towards those ideals. These two pillars were Faith in God, and reliance on traditional Family values. Today I add a third pillar: Truth.

We as human beings have a natural aversion to the truth whenever it becomes uncomfortable. From Adam and Eve’s lie to God after the first sin, to Bill Clinton’s lies about his relationship with a White House Secretary after being impeached in 1998, we as human beings tend to fib our way out of trouble when trouble comes. As we all know, our country is currently  experiencing a lot of trouble. This trouble is running rampant in the form of terrible fiscal responsibility (This is true for households as well as government policies), eroding freedoms formerly guaranteed to be respected by our government, less respect for human life, and in many other forms as well.

I and many others have been making the case for quite a while now that we as Americans need to look to our Biblical heritage in order to find the solutions to the problems that we face. I hold to that premise more heartily than ever before.

Read this selection of scripture taken from John’s account of Christ’s ministry, beginning in verse 31:

³¹ To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. ³² Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

³³ They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”

³⁴ Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.

It is highly important that we don’t lose sight of this reality. The truth is the only thing that can save us. The truth that was lived through the example, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ for the redemption of your sins and my sins. If you would like to know more about this, please e-mail me at calvinlyman@rocketmail.com.

In the next addition to this series, I will tell you why I think education is the fourth area in which we must make drastic change if our nation is to reclaim it’s lost ground in the battlefield of liberty.

Calvin

I am posting at this time to let you know about several changes that I will be making to Teens for Liberty.

In the past, I have focused centrally on political discussion when posting, and topics have ranged from abortion to Federal Spending and from shady backroom deals to terrorism.

I am writing today to tell you that I will be broadening the scope of my attention to several other topics. The name will stay the same, and I will still provide political opinion, but in the future I wish to capitalize on other aspects of Liberty, and not just the self evident truths written about in the Declaration of Independence (Natural Law). Namely, the liberty that Christians have from eternal death when they begin their walk as a Christian.

I want to bring more attention to the tearing down of walls. I am not speaking strictly about the Berlin Wall of which President Reagan so famously said: “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”, but also of the many walls that our Lord has a habit of tearing down. This includes the walls of sin that stand between us and a relationship with our Lord.

In short, my focus will from now on be to glorify God through journalism, and edifying the reader (you) through my writing. I also want to broaden my horizons in respect to journalism, because I feel that God has called me to do so.

I hope that you and I will be drawn closer to the Lord throughout this journey.

God be with you!

-Calvin

Continuing on the same thread of American Restoration, I present to you the second establishment of my five part solution to America’s problems. This second “pillar” of American Restoration as it were, is the re-birthing of traditional family values in the home.

It has been made strongly apparent to me that one cannot restore America to former greatness without first dealing with the root of the problem in American society. In my last posting, I suggested that a nation without God is a nation without order (Proverbs 29:18). Today I am going to continue by suggesting to you that also integral to our nation’s success is the establishment of the traditional family. I believe that this establishment has been torn down immensely in our culture today, and I propose that if we restore this establishment, along with the other pillars or restoration, we will continue to be the land of liberty.

The God ordained family structure is as follows:

First, there is marriage. Marriage is reserved for one man and one woman. This is God ordained as according to the scriptures. After marriage, it is the man’s job to provide for the family (This does not imply male superiority, but rather distinction in gender roles). ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife’ (Mark 10:7, English Standard Version). The parents are responsible for their kid’s education, and it is their duty to ensure that their children are brought up to be faithful to God, as well as members of the civil society. It is certainly not the role of government, or any other institution, to do the child raising for the parents.

Here is the dilemma we find ourselves in:

In this day and age, all of the above principles have been majorly in society. The traditional family has been widely distorted into something that can no longer build a civil society. What I mean is this: When the God ordained, traditional family is in motion, the whole unit contributes to society. The children are raised to be members of God’s church, as well as upstanding members of society. Society is strengthened. However, when God’s purpose for the family is distorted, society ceases to be benefited by the family unit. Children are raised by either the Department of Education, day cares, etc.. In the fourth pillar of restoration: Reclaiming future generations, I will say more on the issue of education. For now, I would like to continue by giving a defense for the institution of marriage:

Marriage is where the family begins, thus it is important that a defense for it’s benefit’s to society be given. I also want to stress that marriage is God ordained, and that he holds it in high regard.

To the first point, let it be known that marriage is beneficial to society, and statistical evidence proves it to be so. In preparing this piece, I read sections of a report by the IWF (Independent Woman’s Foundation) on the subject of marriage and it’s importance to a society’s function. In this report statistical evidence was given supporting the notion that the state of disarray in which the institution of marriage finds itself in is co-relational to our society’s problems. The report made mention to the fact that:

• The U.S. Census Bureau reports that for 1996, the percentage
of poor children in married-couple families was
9.2 percent for white children, 13.8 percent for black children,
and 29.4 percent for Hispanic children.
• For the same year, the U.S. Census Bureau reports that
in female-headed households, the percentage of poor
white children is 43.1 percent, the percentage of poor
black children, 58.2 percent, and the percentage of poor
Hispanic children, 67.4 percent.

The report also pointed out that woman are safer in a marital environment than in cohabitation, an alternative support system that our society today is overwhelmingly resorting to:

• All violent crimes against women by their intimate
partners between 1979-1987, about 65 percent were committed
by either a boyfriend or ex-husband, while only 9
percent were committed by husbands.13
• The Family Violence Research Program at the University
of New Hampshire reports that overall rates of violence for
cohabiting couples was twice as high and the overall rate
for “severe” violence was nearly five times as high for
cohabiting couples when compared with married couples.

If you would like to further explore this subject, I would refer you to the full report by the IWF.

As for the second point in my argument: That God holds marriage in high regard, I will consult the scriptures to show you that this is so.

Many bible verses speak on the topic of marriage. I will list a few of these that pertain directly to our study:

—Hebrews 13:4

—Ecclesiastes 9:9

And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

—Genesis 1:26-28 (God speaking to Adam and Eve)

As is shown in the verses above, God does care about marriage. He established it in the beginning, and he has told all of his children (For everyone is a child of God) to honor it.

Conclusion

Traditional family values, namely heterosexual marriage and parental accountability for the raising of children, are critical to our society’s structure. The current deterioration of these values is concurrent with our society’s problems. If we are to restore our country to former greatness, we must restore traditional family values nationwide.

Thank you for reading and please stay tuned for the next installment of this series on the Five Pillars of American Restoration: The Renewing of a National Pursuit of Truth.