July 4: Pilgrim's Pride or Gay Pride

President Obama called the recent Supreme Court ruling on marriage "A victory for America."

On this 4th of July weekend, a petition is circulating around the nation to change the American flag to a rainbow colored Gay Pride flag.

The iconic 1945 photo of Marines raising the American flag over Iwo Jima has been recreated with the gay pride flag replacing the American flag.

Why?

The petitioners say, "A lot of people are offended by the American flag" and they are offering "a new American flag for a new world order."

To keep prospective, remember more than 200 million people agree with Samuel Francis Smith who wrote the lyrics to what we know as "My Country 'Tis of Thee" or simply "America"---"My country 'tis of Thee, Sweet land of liberty, Of thee I sing; Land where my fathers died, Land of the pilgrim's pride, From every mountainside, let freedom ring."

Much like 1776, there are currently 2 very distinct views for America's future. Pilgrim's pride or gay pride?


Claiming the gay pride flag is now used worldwide,  activists are calling for it to become the new American flag.

The photo of Marines planting the flag on Iwo Jima was first recreated about 10 years ago for the cover of a homosexual magazine. It is now circulating online around the world.

This illusion is energized by President Obama and his undying support for the homosexual agenda. After ordering the White House be bathed in the rainbow colors of the gay pride flag this past week, he lamented that due to security concerns, he was unable to come outside and share the victory with the activists gathered in front of the White House, or as he refers to it, "his house."

The Pilgrims and those who followed envisioned a "City on a Hill," a "Bell of Liberty" that would ring across the land and around the world proclaiming freedom to worship God and live according to His Word, principles and values.

The Pilgrim's pride was selfless, purposeful and God centered. Gay pride is self centered and demanding.

The Pilgrim's pride was humble and serving. Gay pride is arrogant, self centered and self serving.

The Pilgrim's pride relates to matters of the heart, while gay pride is driven by sexual desire.

The Pilgrim's pride saw America as exceptional. Gay pride sees America as a nation that needs to be "fundamentally remade."

One that requires an apology to the rest of the world.

The Pilgrim's pride was about building to the glory of God, gay pride is about tearing down the traditions of marriage and family, replacing them with a "new world order."

Both expressions of "pride" have a legacy. Rome is a study in godlessness.

The Pilgrims and those who followed infused their godly beliefs into the institutions and even the principles and institutions of civil government.

Because of the "Pilgrim's pride," America became the most prosperous, free, blessed nation in the history of the world.

These Pilgrims were proud to be Christian. They were proud to serve God. They and those who followed them carried forward these godly principles:

• The concept of universal human rights and equality comes exclusively from the biblical teaching that all people are created in the image of God.

• Women in ancient cultures were considered "property" of her husband. The "enlightened" Greco-Roman world disposed of infant female babies because of the low status of women in their society. Greco-Roman society forced widows to remarry or be legally charged and punished. Christianity was the first religion in the world to teach otherwise. Biblical teaching requires widows be cared for. If a Christian man wanted to live with a woman, he is required to marry her. Christian missionaries teaching biblical principles were a major part of changing this discrimination toward women. These values were carried to America.

• In Rome and Greece, infanticide was not only legal, but applauded. Killing a Roman was murder, but it was commonly held in Rome that killing one's own child could be an act of beauty. A Christian document called the "Didache," dated from the first century or early second century contained instructions against abortion.

• While it is true that Christians owned slaves, it is equally clear that it was Christians who led in their emancipation. Early Christianity elevated the roles of slaves and women, and all who were oppressed. In fact slaves often were included in Christian worship services. Early Christians purchased slaves for the express purpose of setting them free. Two-thirds of the members of the American abolition society in 1835 were Christian ministers.

• Christianity exalts heterosexual monogamous love, which provides the basis for a long lasting and exclusive relationship between a husband and a wife, oriented toward the rearing of children. These premises were introduced into a society in which these principles and values were completely foreign.

• From the beginning of Judaism, which Christianity is derived, there was an emphasis on the written word. The phenomenon of education for the masses has its roots in the protestant reformation. In order to promote Bible literacy, Christians like Noah Webster and others brought this concept to what would become the United States of America.

For the first 200 years in America, children's reading texts emphasized biblical literacy. The emphasis on literacy was so intense in colonial America that John Quincy Adams, son of Founder John Adams and product of that kind of education, said that in the early 1800s the illiteracy rate was only 4/10th of 1%. More than 40 million Americans are illiterate today.

All but one of the first 123 colleges in colonial America were Christian institutions. Our first, Harvard, was founded by Pastor John Harvard, who donated his library. Harvard's founding statement of purpose was "Let every student be plainly instructed, and earnestly pressed to consider well, the main end of his life and studies is, to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternal life."

Biblical Christianity was the basis for our form of government---government of, by and for the people. From the Mayflower Compact to the Declaration of Independence our public discourse, documents and policies declared the sovereign Truth of God's Word.

(Source: J.M. Roberts "The Triumph of the West". Dinesh D'Souza, What's So Great About Christianity")

The slogan on the Liberty Bell is "Proclaim Liberty throughout the land unto all the inhabitants Thereof" (Leviticus 15:10).

Founders John Adams and others emphasized II Corinthians 3:17 as the basis for American civil liberty.

That is a glance at the "Land of the Pilgrim's pride..."

And what exactly is gay pride contributing to family, education and society?

Light fireworks, wave flags and grill food this weekend. And remember what it is we are celebrating.

And why.

Be Free. Be Blessed.