"Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall."
With those six words, President Ronald Reagan won the Cold War without firing a shot. Shortly thereafter the wall came down, the gate was opened, and the Soviet empire disintegrated. Without question, those words were THE defining moment of the Reagan presidency. He instinctively knew that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of the darkness of the age and against hosts of wickedness in heavenly places.
Historically, such defining moments have changed the world. Here are just a few examples:
In 2022, the nation witnessed defining moments when the Supreme Court rendered landmark decisions changing our nation’s legal trajectory:
Dobbs v. Jackson, reversing Roe v. Wade;
Kennedy v. Bremerton, where the praying football coach overturned the disastrous precedents set by Lemon v. Kurtzman
The Lemon test was used for over five decades, yielding thousands of blatantly unconstitutional decisions involving the First Amendment, and holding hostage our free exercise of religion and our freedom of speech. Thanks to Kennedy, that evil Lemon decision lies in the ash heap of history. After Kennedy, the First Amendment is to be interpreted by “reference to historical practices and understandings.”
We need look no further than to the historical founding of our country when the Bible was the most quoted source used to form our Constitution and Bill of Rights. Even in 1892, the Supreme Court case Church of the Holy Trinity v. United States, made statements such as, “this is a religious people,” and “this is religious nation ... not Christianity with an established church ... but Christianity with liberty of conscience to all men.” And then, “THIS IS A CHRISTIAN NATION.”
The 10 Commandments were present in schools and other public places during the first 200 years of our country. Now, we not only have the opportunity, but also the responsibility to place the 10 Commandments back in the public square.
Stone v. Graham (1980), using the Lemon test to remove the 10 Commandments from schools, ruled,
If the posted copies of the Ten Commandments are to have any effect at all, it will be to induce the schoolchildren to read, meditate upon, perhaps to venerate and obey, the Commandments.
We did not have mass school shootings until nearly 20 years after the 10 Commandments were removed by the Stone decision. Had the 10 Commandments been in schools, maybe we would not have heard the names of Columbine, Robb Elementary, Sandy Hook, and hundreds of others.
Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas and other states are taking action now to restore the 10 Commandments in schools and Alabama needs to do likewise.
Of the 7,000-8,000 wrongly decided cases based on the Lemon test, one of the most egregious was Alabama’s 2003 Glassroth v. Moore case, when the 10 Commandments were forced from the Alabama Judicial Building. This was a grave injustice for the people of Alabama, wrongfully denying them the right to acknowledge God and His 10 Commandments, the bedrock of American law and Western Civilization.
Today, Glassroth would be decided based upon “historical practices and understandings,” and the 10 Commandments would still be in place.
When the 10 Commandments are restored to the Alabama Judicial Building, it will be analogous to the marines planting the flag on Mount Suribachi during the WWII battle to take Iwo Jima. Restoring the 10 Commandments will not win the culture war, but it will reclaim the territory and proclaim our Alabama state motto: “We Dare Defend our Rights”!
"It is when a people forget God that tyrants forge their chains," Patrick Henry warned.
The time for choosing is now. The moral fiber of our country can be restored, but it is going to require "we the people" to decide whether we will be governed by God or we will be ruled by tyrants.
Kennedy tore down the Lemon wall and opened the gate for us to restore our religious liberties.
Will God’s people walk through the opened gate and reclaim the territory for God, for family and for country – for our defining moment?
Nov. 5th will be another defining moment. Will you urge your fellow believers, family members and neighbors to get out and vote as if their liberties depend on it – because they do?!
Consider this: In II Kings 9-10, God ordained Jehu as king, even though he was a flawed, imperfect and rough-around-the-edges man. His zeal was used to carry out God's judgment against King Ahab. Although not perfect, King Jehu was far better for the people of Israel than having to suffer under wicked Queen Jezebel.
Evil abounds in America; however, our constitutional republic still enables us to elect leaders, none of whom are perfect, but whom God can use. Elections can be lost when Christians choose NOT to vote.
Will the American church declare Jesus is Lord and obey HIS command to be salt and light to this dying culture?
“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.” (Often attributed to Dietrich Bonhoeffer.)
Soli Deo Gloria
Dean Johnson is an attorney in Huntsville. Please see the website: RestoreTheCommandments.com.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to Commentary@1819News.com.
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