



Cleon Skousen - must be front and center on every reading list. Washington and “The 5000 Year Leap” by W. If civic classes were ever popular again in high schools and universities nationwide, “If You Can Keep It: The Forgotten Promise of American Liberty” - along with such essentials as “Up from Slavery” by Booker T.
#If you can keep it free
People the world over look to the very symbol of freedom embodied in Lady Liberty, standing stoically facing outward in New York harbor declaring, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free …. Metaxas makes it clear that the promise of American liberty is not just for the citizens of this country. Throughout chapters devoted to the importance of venerating American heroes, the magnitude of moral leadership, and love of country, Mr. This preservation of freedom is not only crucial for American citizens - our freedom resonates across the globe. Only so can a free people remain ‘free always.’ “ Guinness: “Freedom requires virtue, which in turn requires faith of some sort, which in turn requires freedom. A “Golden Triangle” of ideals supports America’s exceptional concept of liberty. Guinness’ book, “A Free People’s Suicide: Sustainable Freedom and the American Future” (reviewed in The Washington Times, Oct. The author dedicated “If You Can Keep It” to his friend Os Guinness “for helping me see these inestimably important things.” Mr. Metaxas wonders if focus on the “higher calling” will once again preserve this nation at this critical point in the life of liberty itself. Metaxas points out that “in the end all impasses were broken, compromises on all issues struck, and solutions found.” The representatives heeded the advice, setting aside time for prayer. And they were graciously answered.” In this same address at the first Constitutional Convention, Franklin declared that “God governs the affairs of men.” “In the beginning of the contest with Great Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayer in this room for the divine protection,” Franklin stated. Metaxas records the words that broke through the loggerhead of state representatives entrenched in their own ideas and ideals: When representatives from the 13 original colonies convened to create a Constitution under which all colonies would submit, they experienced overwhelming disagreement and discord, especially regarding slavery and commerce.
#If you can keep it code
”Ī unifying code of conduct and “common belief” were established decades before the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were even conceived. To be an American meant to buy into a new set of ideas about one’s equal status in God’s eyes - and by dint of this to be accepted into a new community …. Some were German by background and some were French and some were English, but none of it mattered: They were all equal under God …. People were being offered a new identity that fit well with the American way of thinking. “Americans were becoming united in the wake of nonstop preaching. All who attended were profoundly influenced toward unity as they embraced the overarching themes of individual freedom balanced with responsibility for the welfare of one’s neighbors and community. Whitefield preached thousands of sermons, often attracting tens of thousands of people at a time and ultimately reaching about 80 percent of the population with his challenging and uplifting messages. Over a century later, in the mid-1700s, this spirit of equality and justice for all men would be built upon by Englishman and preacher George Whitefield, who traveled the length of the 13 original colonies to bring the message of the Bible’s good news. From research for his own children’s book, “Squanto and the Miracle of Thanksgiving,” the author illumines the miracle of the Pilgrim’s survival as well as their code of ethics and fair play. Metaxas transports readers to the Pilgrim landing and the establishment of the very first colony on what would become American soil.
