During the US presidential campaign of 1960, John Kennedy would sometimes end his speeches with a particularly moving Abraham Lincoln quote. In Towson, Maryland, September 16th, Kennedy presented it like this. “During the campaign of 1860, Lincoln wrote to a friend, ‘I know there is a God and that He hates injustice. I see the storm coming and I know His hand is in it. If He has a place and a part for me, I believe that I am ready.’” Kennedy continued, “Now, 100 years later, we know there is a God and that He hates injustice, and we see the storm coming. But if He has a place and a part for us, I believe we are ready.”
He used the quote again in Cleveland a few days later. This time after presenting the Lincoln quote, he made his point even more clear. “Now, 100 years later… the issue is not whether this Nation will exist half slave or half free, but whether the world will.”
In those red-hot days of cold war, the slavery of communism encroached on more and more of the world. The liberal Democrat from Massachusetts made its defeat central to his presidential campaign. Like his Republican friend and political opponent, Richard Nixon, Kennedy had a long history of working against communism.
You can take a cynical point of view and say, “In those days, it was just good politics to fight the commies.” Maybe so. But why then and not now? What changed? Why is communism with its godless rule of an elite few, taught unabashedly on American campuses? Why do the most capitalistic organizations on earth — American corporations — give obeyance as well as millions of dollars to organizations run by avowed Marxists?
Why does our civilization careen toward servitude instead of liberty? Most thought communism was defeated with the fall of the Soviet Union. But today, it and other totalitarian ideologies are growing everywhere, especially in the United States. The answer boils down to a principle expressed in Proverbs 14:34. “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.”
When explaining the Constitution’s limits in keeping people free, John Adams said, “We have no government, armed with power, capable of contending with human passions, unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge and licentiousness would break the strongest cords of our Constitution, as a whale goes through a net.”
Morality forms the basis of our freedom. A nation that rejects God and His Word, also rejects the dividends of virtue — one of which is liberty. Psalms 119:45 in the New Living Translation says, “I will walk in freedom, for I have devoted myself to your commandments.” 2 Corinthians 3:17 says, “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”
Inner bondage to sin destroys societal freedoms. But “the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free” (Galatians 5:1) also extends outward — from individuals to the whole society. It brings with it the fruit of human liberty and human rights.
In his Gettysburg Address, Lincoln spoke of being highly resolved that “this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom.” The key words here are, “under God.” May we who know God highly resolve once again to spread His Word. Over time, the freedom He brings to individuals adds rights and freedoms to entire nations.
Hal Lindsey is an author and Bible prophecy teacher who hosts the weekly news and commentary series “The Hal Lindsey Report.”
