The answer to this paradox is contained in one word: integrity. It is not a piece of paper (a constitution) that protects people from human rights abuses but rather it is the integrity of government leaders to abide by the constitution. A constitution without integrity in the hearts of government leaders is useless. Leaders without moral integrity will ignore or twist the contents of any constitution.

Integrity comes from morals and morals are contained in God's laws and God's laws are contained in the Bible. Thomas Jefferson said "The reason that Christianity is the best friend of government is because Christianity is the only religion that changes the heart." Our second president, John Adams said "Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other." The father of the constitution and fourth president, James Madison said "We have staked the whole of all of our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government, upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves . . . . according to the Ten Commandments of God."

The founders set up a limited government with strict accountability to the people. Moral reform movements flourished in America. There was a movement led by Christians to outlaw dueling, to reform prisons and reform insane asylums and to abolish slavery. America's Christian heritage produced a people who were law abiding and who believed in fair play.

America produced leaders with moral integrity who governed within the limits of the constitution and respected human rights. It is this moral component joined to a constitutional government that accounts for American freedom.

In sharp contrast we can look at the USSR and its reign of terror from 1917-1991. Lenin, Stalin and the other founders of the Soviet Union closed the churches, jailed the clergy and in other ways brutally crushed Christianity in the early days after the 1917 revolution. The Jews were given a pass for a while but then were cruelly suppressed beginning in the years after World War II.

It is undeniable that the USSR was a government based on secularism. It was atheistic. It had no transcendent moral code. Every leader was a law unto himself and not submitted to God's laws.

The constitution of the USSR, with all of its guarantees of human rights was just a piece of paper. The bureaucrats and judges lacked the moral courage and integrity to enforce the human rights provisions of the constitution.

In America, as secularism advances and Christianity is evermore forced out of the public schools and universities we see a decline in the integrity of most of our leaders. It is not surprising that he see some of America's leaders twist or ignore the human rights guaranteed in the constitution.

Judges write fanciful judicial decisions that are basically the same as writing law from the bench. This is explicitly forbidden in the US constitution which places all law writing power in the congress. This is how abortion was legalized. The Supreme Court invented the right to abortion and cloaked it in constitutional sounding language. Now mass murder of the unborn continues unchecked. There are many other examples that could be given. We should remember that the source of America's freedom is Bible based morality. The fact that the fruit of Christianity is a government that honors human rights is further proof that Christianity is true and that the Bible is God's inspired word.

The Bible is scientifically accurate! Find the evidence at www.icr.org.  

Steps to salvation: Jesus said "Ye must be born again." (John 3:7)

1. Believe that God created you and loves you and sent the Messiah (Messiah is Hebrew for Christ) to redeem you.
2. Believe that Jesus the Messiah came in fulfillment of over 300 Bible prophecies to die for you to take upon Himself the penalty for your sins. (Isaiah 53:5-6, John 6:29, Romans 4:5, First Peter 3:18)
3. Turn from sin and call on the name of Jesus to receive forgiveness. (Romans 10:13)
4. Receive Jesus as Savior and experience the new birth. (John 1:12, Acts 2:38)
5. Follow Him as Lord. (John 14:21)

"Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:13)

To receive the salvation that Jesus purchased for us at the terrible cost of His suffering and death on our behalf I invite you to pray this simple prayer:

"Dear heavenly Father, I thank you for sending Jesus, the promised Messiah, to die for my sins. I admit that I am a sinner and I ask for your forgiveness on the basis of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I ask you to fill me with your Holy Spirit to empower me to serve you under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, Amen."

If you prayed that prayer in the humble sincerity of your heart then you have received everlasting life, which includes power to live right in this life and entrance into heaven in the afterlife!

Bill Nugent, Overcomer Ministries of West Harrison, New York, USA

(C) 2010 William P. Nugent, permission granted to email or republish if credit given

DEFENDING THE FAITH APOLOGETIC ARTICLES Bill Nugent currently writes a series of articles called "Defending the Faith" which, as the title suggests, defend the Christian faith from the many attacks leveled against it in our postmodern world. The articles deal with such topics as evolution, UFOs, cults, modern/postmodern philosophy, liberal theology and popular culture. At the end of each article is an invitation to receive Christ as Savior and Lord. These articles are sent out over the Internet to several opt-in email lists. People who receive these articles are encouraged to resend them to their own lists and in this way reach their own unsaved relatives and friends with the Gospel. All Defending the Faith articles are © 2009 William P. Nugent, permission is granted to email or republish if credit given. To receive these articles which are sent out once per month fill in your email address below and click the SUBMIT button. *Security: Write the characters in the image above (Case sensitive)