The arch in St. Louis, the Sears Tower, the Mackinaw Bridge, all have in common the ability to move with the wind. To design a structure that can not yield in measured amounts to the forces of wind is to invite failure. Modern building engineering is so advanced that materials are used that can withstand earthquakes that laid waste communities, not even sixty or seventy years ago. Modern steel is designed to flex and sheeting materials have engineered abilities to bend and stretch. All of this is within limits, of course. Engineering disasters occur, such as the collapse of the Hyatt Regency sky walk and others. Thankfully they are rare exceptions and the cause is usually in man's ability to calculate correctly.
The monumental structure that I call America is much like the engineered buildings and complexes of today. I have already stated my absolute conviction that the bedrock upon which our republic has been built is nothing less than, The Triune God as revealed in Holy Scripture. The single most important force that keeps the sway of the republic within the bounds of safety is, the vote. The gift, responsibility, voice, and power of the vote is what keeps the sway of the structure from moving to far to the extreme, past the tipping point. The current two main party system has worked to keep the sway in check.
The structure of our republic has faced strong forces of change in the past. I believe the single most influential force of change has been an extremely gradual erosion of the moral and ethical fabric of American life. Some people call the gradual changes in morals and culture progress. Other people find the changes to be threatening and dangerous. However it is looked at the changes are dramatic when time is concentrated and the changes examined over, let's say, the last fifty to seventy five years. Almost seventy five years ago the moral voice of America called for the end of the alcohol trade. The U.S. Constitution was amended and the production and consumption of alcohol was banned. The ensuing years witnessed the explosion of organized crime and no viable increase in morals and ethics. In fact, some would argue the point that the opposite of what was desired took effect. Morals and ethics declined as crime increased.
The past fifty years have witnessed an almost cataclysmic change in foundational morals and ethics. The judicial decision to treat the constitution as a living organism that must change with society is bringing forth disaster. The government sanctions placing a value on the living by sanctioning the destruction of the very life it is sworn to protect. We listen to educators who proclaim a, Post Modern, Post Christian, world. And that we are the better for it. Human sexuality has been reduced to, animals doing what animals do, as often and with as many partners as can be found. Today we give license to sexual relations that are even extremely rare in the animal world. When deviant sexuality is talked about even the church is changing her tune.
My warning is this: The monument that is America can only sway within limits and stay safe. If the monument sways too far to either side it will move past the ability to regain center and will collapse. If the moral center is abandoned by either, gradualism or an illegitimate vote and voice the sway may not be mitigated. The Supreme Court of the State of Pennsylvania, case of Updegraph v. The Commonwealth, 11 Serg. & R. 393-394, 398-399, 402-407, "...Religion and morality are the foundations of all governments. Without these restraints no free government could long exist... No free government now exists in the world unless where Christianity is acknowledged, and is the religion of the country.... It's foundations are broad and strong, and deep. it is the purest system of morality, the firmest auxiliary, and only stable support of all human laws." (italics mine)
The next post will speak of the extreme danger that an unyielding and constrictive fundamental politic would have on the monument, America.
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