While John Adams was not the only Founder who feared what might happen to his posterity in the future, he may have most succinctly warned us of immorality and what it would do to our country. Unfortunately, we seem to have left his warning and counsel unheeded, as I will show. Despite my attempt to enumerate the iniquities, as that may take volumes, the reader will recognize what I hope will cause all to think and expand that thinking into areas I have not addressed, as well as ponder what solutions can be provided to help each individual and community to return to abiding by correct principles of moral living.

Adams wrote to the Massachusetts militia on October 11, 1798 “While our Country remains untainted with the Principles and manners, which are now producing desolation in so many Parts of the World: while she continues Sincere and incapable of insidious and impious Policy: We shall have the Strongest Reason to rejoice in the local destination assigned Us by Providence. But should the People of America, once become capable of that deep…simulation towards one another and towards foreign nations, which assumes the Language of Justice and moderation while it is practicing Iniquity and Extravagance; and displays in the most captivating manner the charming Pictures of Candour frankness & sincerity while it is rioting in rapine and Insolence: this Country will be the most miserable Habitation in the World. Because We have no Government armed with Power capable of contending with human Passions unbridled by…morality and Religion. Avarice, Ambition, Revenge or Galantry, would break the strongest Cords of our Constitution as a Whale goes through a Net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious People. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

In short, the Hand of Providence provided us the means through His commandments and the Constitution to live after the manner of happiness, to provide the beacon of freedom and morality to the world by example, and to show how nations can work amicably together for the benefit of all. Naturally, the requirements were, as Adams stated, that we be “a moral and religious People.” America would not work in any other way. Have we heeded his counsel, his warning? I believe we have not and will demonstrate with a few examples of how America has decimated our foundational principles found in religion, and our Constitution.

While all of the commandments fall under the two great commandments to love God and love your neighbor, the 10 commandments provide more specifically how this can be achieved. But we ignore them today and cannot do so with impunity. For example, the first commandment “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” is often violated. Has our god become the state, that is, government? Do we look to government for solutions, which solutions God has already provided for, if we would simply heed His words? Simply put, yes. Unfortunately, we have turned to government instead of serving our fellow citizens, by lifting their burdens, mourning with their losses, comforting them in their pain but rather we expect government will do so for us. Clearly, locking away our families, our elderly from their families, even healthy family being locked away from family and even neighbors from neighbors has contributed to the plight of America. Instead, these lockdowns and other draconian actions of government have turned us against each other, have made us fear each other, have made us quite unneighborly. And expecting government to solve our problems, whether concerning our health, our economic and mental health has led to exacerbating these rather than solving them.

Let us take another commandment- “Thou shalt not steal.” If it can be stolen it is, including property, votes, chastity, lives, identity and so on. There are numerous examples of this, though we may not recognize these as theft. When a man claims to be a woman or vice versa, they are attempting to steal another’s gender. When homosexuality is “condoned” by allowing “gay marriage,” especially by churches but also government, marriage itself has been stolen. Do not forget the theft of words such as gay (used to mean happy but wickedness never was happiness), liberal (used to mean one who advocates for individual freedom and liberties but now means a statist), even the words good and evil, among others. Isaiah warned us that in the last days good will be called evil and evil called good. We are seeing much of this. And let us not forget that government itself continues to show us the robbers they are. With a $27 TRILLION debt that they rapidly add to, they have stolen from us, from our children, from our grandchildren with no end in sight. States are no less culpable, nor are local governments, whether they have debt or not, as they greedily accept money from the debt god. When we expect or let government provide for us, we have reverted to allowing government to be our god that “provides” for us rather than allow God to show us that He will provide. Thus, we have allowed government to even steal His godhood.

“Thou shalt not covet” is no less an issue. We have heard of “white privilege” which coveting someone’s supposed privilege or even race. Coveting the rewards of the hard work of others and demanding government to take more from those who have so that those who have not may have is not only coveting but theft. Coveting someone’s position because of color, sex, age, or any other reason violates this commandment. Coveting another’s sex or another’s so-called privilege or the list found in the commandment itself — another’s wife, or any property or even their lifestyle— are all violations, which we often see. When one must point out or use terms such as “black lives matter” or “blue lives matter,” etc., it is an accusation that only white lives matter, and they are coveting that so-called status. In reality, as we are all children of God, that should be the only label that matters. But yet, government and people allow for atrocities done by these covetous people in the name of this covetous attitude.

“Thou shalt not kill.” Yet millions are killed before even being born. Not to mention the killing that is done typically because of their desires for another’s property, lifestyle, race, or numerous other excuses. Killing often occurs concurrently with other violations of commandments. As do so many others, such as coveting and stealing, coveting and adultery and so on. Governments are especially culpable in killing in the name of ethnic cleansing, cleansing from flaws in race, bodily shapes, mental capacities, the cleansing of the rich because of perceived injustices done by them upon the poor and so on, to the tune of hundreds of millions of people. And it still continues because government has become people’s god. Government does it themselves or allows others to do it, such as in the case of abortion.

Adultery too, is a major problem. And not just the physical action itself but this includes the actions of “looking upon a woman to lust after her,” or pornography, and not limited to just men but includes women, too. One study shows that over 50% of minors have viewed some type of pornography and the numbers only increase in adults. In America, sex has become a god. Hollywood portrays sex or shows it, none of the actors portraying these acts being married to each other either in real-life or in the story they are portraying, and this is perceived as normal. People tend to emulate those they place on a pedestal such as actors, musicians, characters in novels and so on. The only person that should be on any pedestal to emulate should be God. But coveting and theft of the lifestyle of those who should not be placed on a pedestal violates multiple commandments.

And then, of course, there is bearing false witness. Government, news and many, many individuals are guilty of this. We hear “follow the science” then hear doctors or read studies that conflict with the “science.” We hear about one scandal such as Russian interference in our elections with no evidence whatsoever. Many other examples could be used. However, failing to allow credible witnesses, withholding evidence, not reporting facts, ignoring facts, and so forth, is the same as bearing false witness. For example, when someone says that protests are mostly peaceful while in the background destruction and theft of property is clearly being shown is bearing false witness. Withholding evidence or squelching it to affect an outcome one desires fits this bill. Demanding we follow the science when any average person can recognize that the science is failing, that their individual lives are being destroyed when government tells them it is for their own good, is a clear violation of the commandment to not bear false witness.

But it does not stop there. When tin pot dictators in government tell the people to mask up, stay home, avoid indoor activities including eating out at restaurants with people not of your household, closing up small businesses that provide the same products or services as a large business, all the while exempting themselves from their declared edicts that follow their pseudo-science is bearing false witness. Furthermore, they threaten the public with the use of force, which, when it comes to government, is always a threat of deadly force, if the people do not comply, a violation of “thou shalt not kill.” They do this by lying to us when they tell us it is for our own safety. Anybody with minimal discernment skills can look at government’s own statistics and see, that safety is not the issue, control is. More lying.

While I could go on in America’s estrangement from our founding, which founding was based on a religious and moral society, I have pointed to enough violations to give the reader plenty to ponder and to expound upon themselves. Our system, as Adams said is “wholly inadequate” for anybody but a religious and moral people. The inadequacies are plentiful. The corruption within government and among the people are multitudinous, for a people whose voice continues to choose iniquity are ruled by evil and perverse people, who will further cause more corruption, more iniquity, more tyranny. The tyranny we endure today is NOT because we have corrupt leaders. It is because corrupt, immoral people choose leaders that represent themselves—corrupt and immoral leaders. But it is said that when the wicked rule the people mourn. Additionally, unrighteous leaders tend to cause or, at least, do not prevent the evils that plague society.

In the case of America, where leaders are chosen by the people, where leaders represent the people, it is wholly the people’s fault, making our system wholly inadequate for a free people, but tyranny is always adequate for an immoral people, either to their destruction or to turning the people back to Him whose right it is to rule. We choose to follow God by keeping his commandments and thus to liberty and life or choose the god of the state, which leads to death and misery. It also leads us to fear of government, fear of our fellow citizens, complete and paralyzing fear.

So, which will we choose now in this new year of 2021 and in the future? Liberty and life or misery and death? If we wish to choose liberty and life, we must choose the one and only God who created all, who wishes to provide for our lives and happiness. If we truly love Him we will  keep His commandments. Or we can choose to follow a false god, which will lead to unhappiness, death and destruction. But one thing is certain, wickedness never was happiness. So choose you this day whom you will serve. God in heaven has proclaimed liberty to all. But He will never force us into choosing liberty. It is our choice alone. So let us choose wisely, for ourselves and for our country and, like the Founders who paved the way to freedom, choose “a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence” and thus choose liberty and life over the false god’s provisions of death and misery. Let us cleave, therefore, unto Him as He cleaves unto us and this government will become wholly adequate for us.