Freedom-Fighters Forum

By William J. Dell
Amore Dei, Familiae, Patriae ducit !

Tolerance and Acceptance are mutually exclusive of each other. One cannot be both tolerant and accepting at the same time because once a tolerant person become accepting of any attitude or activity there is no longer any reason to be tolerant of that attitude or activity. The difficulty with these mutually exclusive terms in civil society is that minority groups tend to define “tolerance” as “acceptance.” This tends to place the civil society in the position of “the tail wagging the dog.”

In a civil society where families and individuals come together to form a community, state or nation those forming the civil society have a right to determine the parameters and limits of their mutual association. They may be tolerant of persons within their midst holding differing attitudes but they as a society do not have to accept the minority attitudes for their society.

Those with the minority attitudes are at liberty to go elsewhere and establish a civil society based upon their attitudes and activities as a majority. Such was the case with those who fled Europe to the New World so that they could worship God according to the dictates of their own conscience. It is interesting that once here they set up their “civil societies” based upon similar intolerance that they had just fled. For example, in New England if you did not belong to the “accepted” church of the several colonies, you were not permitted to own land or hold elective office.

Following this standard the majority of the thirteen colonies and later the original thirteen States had established “state religions” albeit they were all “Christian” religions. In fact, Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson, who formed the “civil society” of Rhode Island were expelled (more…)

By William J. Dell
Amore Dei, Familiae, Patriae ducit !

As I was traveling home Wednesday on I-57 just north of Salem, IL, I saw a billboard which caught my attention. A billboard that made a profound statement and identified the prime malady facing America today. A malady that transcends what many consider as our major national problems today; such as,

1. The need for jobs
2. An end to bi-partisan bickering
3. An ever increasing debt ceiling
4. A need for a federal balanced budget amendment.

What did the billboard say?

When America Worships God
God Will Bless America

There thunders from Mount Sinai the injunctions of the Almighty:

AND God spake all these words, saying, I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. [Ex 20:1 - 7]

In the 17th and 18th Centuries, our forefathers arrived on our shores to worship God according to the dictates of their hearts. They honored the God of the land and America prospered. When tyranny raised its ugly head to suppress freedom and liberty our Founding Fathers came together and “with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, [they] mutually pledge to each other [their] Lives, [their] Fortunes, and [their] sacred Honor” to freedom’s preservation. Then over a period of 13 years they established our Constitutional Republic based on Judeo-Christian principles. For 125 years freedom and liberty prevailed because America honored and worshiped God and America continued to prosper.

So how do Americans today differ from their forefathers? Who do Americans today choose to worship? How do they choose to follow the injunction stated above?

They choose to violate His fourth commandment, to “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy” as they worship the gods of recreation and sports as they attend the church of the lake and the church of the sports arena. They choose to violate His sixth commandment, “Thou shalt not kill” as they have aborted more than 52 million unborn babies in the name of “choice” for no other reason than birth control. They choose to violate His seventh commandment, “Thou shalt not commit adultery” as they worship the god of pornography through movies, technology, and in their lives. They choose to violate His eighth and tenth commandments, “Thou shalt not steal” and “Thou shalt not covet” as they take advantage of any situation to create civil turmoil so that they might loot and pillage to obtain goods without labor; or to petition the government to redistribute wealth from “haves” to “have nots” who could work but who choose not to work.

We as a nation have chosen to ignore the God of the land. Why then should we, as a nation, expect His blessings? The billboard stated it well:

When America Worships God
God Will Bless America

May God Bless and Save the United States of America.
Our Constitutional Republic

By William J. Dell

In the Gospel of the Redman, the Seatons record the Twelve Commandments of the Redman. The first is stated as follows:

There is but one Great Spirit. He is eternal, omniscient, omnipotent, invisible. He pervades all things at all times. Reverence Him, and respect all worship of Him by others, for none have all the truth, and all who reverently worship have claims on our respect. So also, show respect to such things as are held sacred by others. [The Gospel of the Redman. Ernest Thompson Seaton & Julia M. Seaton, 1966, emphasis added.]

We profess to be a Christian nation. Then perhaps we should behave like Christians. Was it not Jesus Christ who taught (more…)

By William J. Dell

As I write this today, I am reminded of the admonition of Goethe, the German philosopher, “Truth must be repeated again and again because error is constantly being preached round about.”

There is recorded in the Book of Proverbs the following: “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; but when the wicked beareth rule, the people morn.” [Proverbs 29:2]

I used a similar text for a thesis in 1968 just prior to my deployment to Viet Nam. In the 42 years since then, the situation in our beloved America, (more…)

By CTMCM William J. Dell, USN (Retired)

It is the year of our Lord two thousand ten and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred thirty-fourth. As I reflect upon the rich heritage of freedom which is ours, I am returned to the years of my youth in the Methodist Church where I first learned the strains of our Centennial Hymn [God of Our Fathers]. As I write this I wonder if we, as a people and a nation, can with fervor continue to sing its strains? Do we, as a people and a nation, really believe that the Divine Providence led this nation into existence? Can we, as a people and a nation, who once felt to raise songs of gratitude to the God of our fathers for our freedom and heritage feel so now?

God of our fathers, whose almighty hand
Leads forth in beauty all the starry band
Of shining worlds in splendor through the skies
Our grateful songs before Thy throne arise.

I make no apology for my belief that God did raise up the Founding Fathers to establish freedom’s beacon of hope (more…)