Whom Should We Rely On?

From Patriot Post:

"It is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favors."
-- George Washington --

"And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with his wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep for ever."
-- Thomas Jefferson --

I point out these quotes to show that the Founders were clear in their intent that America was established on the principles of responsibility and gratitude to God, not to government.  When we rely on government to provide for us, and look to government for our guidance, and when we transfer our own responsibilities onto government, we have begun traveling a road that will only end in pain.  I'm no theological scholar, but I believe we have no further to look than the Israelites of the Bible for an example of how this works.

God chose the Israelites to be His people, His special people.  He provided for them, He guided them, and He blessed them, bringing them into a land of plenty and into international prominence (as of those days).  That only lasted until they turned away from Him, looking instead to idols, their kings, and the pagan religions of the surrounding nations.  Then God would send a prophet (sometimes more than one), calling on Israel to turn away from their sins and return to Him.  When they refused, God was forced to punish them for their disobedience like a parent punishes an errant child.  The Israelites were conquered, humiliated, enslaved, and scattered.  Eventually, they started listening to the prophets again, and turned back into God's favor, and He blessed them all the more.  This cycle has repeated itself through the Biblical history.

As Jefferson said, God is just, and His justice will not sleep forever.  I'll wager he was familiar with Biblical history, and was seeing America as a Christian extension of the history of the Israelites.  I agree.

The point here is that America is not exempt from God's judgment.  The further we turn away from Him, the more we invite his punishment.  By placing our 'hope' on government and depending on government to provide for all of our needs, we are essentially erasing our dependence upon God for our blessings, and that starts the downward cycle we've seen so many times before.  The Obama-Reid-Pelosi trifecta is attempting to do just that - put more and more power in the hands of the government, providing all things to all people (for your own good, you know).  That's the fundamental battle between the conservative world view and the liberal world view - who holds the power and responsibility, the individual or the state?  When it's the individual, we have the freedom to keep God at our core; when it's the state, there is no room for God anywhere (as can bee seen by the efforts to separate all mentions of prayer, God, or anything else remotely 'religious' from any government facility).

The Founders recognized the folly of too much government, and warned against it.  We need to look at history and listen to the Founders, and refuse to allow the government to gain too much power now.  Like Jefferson, I tremble at the thought of God's awakened justice.

There's my two cents.