How the Changing Focus of the “Dream”
Affected American Life

As with almost every human endeavor, the ideals, ambitions, and zeal of a new venture are never better than when they start out. Most changes to an entity—be it a person, company, organization, or country—that cause its eventual destruction, are made because of human depravation. Our forefathers went through a great struggle to establish this nation. It was clear to them that the ideals of freedom and liberty were a gift of God. It was also clear that God’s hand had allowed them to persevere and win their struggle for freedom. In framing the foundation of our new government—the Constitution and Bill of Rights—they sought God’s face in asking for wisdom and protection. Almost every law of our new nation was patterned after the commandments of God found in the Bible. In the beginning of our history there was no “separation of church and state” such as we see today. Religion and government walked hand in hand in the establishment of our country.

The first amendment to the Constitution, known as the First Article in the Bill of Rights, did not restrict the role of religion in government; but forbade the suppression of religion, and the establishment of a state controlled religion. In proclaiming that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” it was made clear that individuals were to have complete freedom to worship God according to the dictates of their own conscience. It was also made clear that the place of religion in our society was not to be suppressed. What this amendment dictated was that government was not to get involved in matters of religion; but we see just the opposite of that taking place today. The  purpose and meaning of that article has been so perverted by our courts, that we now have numerous laws directly against the individual’s freedom of religion, and the establishment of the philosophy of “freedom from religion”  that so dominates our country. We now have embedded in our government, and in our educational system the religion of humanism; and it is a religion that has been established by the laws of our country and the courts of our country. It is a religion that is protected from all opposition, and is supported by the taxes of the American people. Humanism, along with its siblings, “big bang” and “evolution,” now is the official “religion” of America, and dominates every aspect of our national life.

These changes to our country did not come overnight however. The trampling of our liberties by big government would never have been permitted in its early years; and any attempt to thrust God from our country and establish a state religion would have been met with violent actions. We have been the ‘frog slowly cooked to its death’ over the past two hundred years. What began as a sincere effort to have God and His Word be the cornerstone of our nation’s foundation, slowly evolved into what we see today. What happened to America is what happened to ancient Israel. After going through all the struggles to enter the Promised Land; and then conquering all their enemies once they entered the Land; they forgot the God who had led them out of Egyptian bondage and gave them the victory over all their enemies. They soon turned their hearts away from God as they began to enjoy the “land flowing with milk and honey.”

Exodus 3:7 And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;
8 And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

Judges 2:7 And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the LORD, that he did for Israel.
8 And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old.
9 And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill Gaash.
10 And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.
11 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim:
12 And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the LORD to anger.

Our forefathers also discovered that America was “a land flowing with milk and honey.” In America they not only found freedom and independence from their European oppressors, but that this land was rich in beauty and natural resources. Men cannot be faulted for wanting to make a living and developing the resources that God gives to them—indeed, they are commanded by God to do so. The problem with most men however, is that they turn their hearts away from the Living God, who blesses them with all things, to the gods of materialism and self-reliance. The liberties that men found in America provided the prospect for making great wealth, and along with it, power. This country not only provided the opportunities for the average man to own property and make a living, but for men such as Carnegie, Rockefeller, Vanderbilt, and Morgan to exploit these liberties for their own selfish ambitions. Greed and lust for power soon began to replace love for God and brotherly kindness.

Gen 2:15 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.

1 Timothy 6:9 But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

As more and more people abandoned their zeal for God and His Word, so also we see the changing focus of the true American Dream. While America remained “religious” well into the twentieth century, those believers considered to be fundamental[1] soon became a minority. The primary shift in philosophy, from that of honoring the God who gave us liberty, to that of materialism and humanism, soon began to erode the foundations laid down by our founding fathers. When men trade the True and Living God for idols of wood, metal, and stone, even so they also become receptive to false teaching and ideas. The measuring stick for many of our laws was no longer the Word of God, but how the obtaining and protection of wealth could be propagated. Those men who had obtained great fortunes soon began to unduly influence our elected leaders by intimidation and bribery. These barons began to introduce into our legal system laws that protected their wealth, and at the same time made it increasingly harder for the average man to obtain it. Foundations, trusts, and legalized tax loopholes provided these men and their descendents with the shelters that protected their fortunes; and the graduated income tax, business taxes, social security taxes, and a myriad of other taxes and regulations made it difficult, not only to start a business,  but to make a living with it.

Jeremiah 2:11 Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.
12 Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the LORD.
13 For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

The start of the twentieth century in America also saw the rise of the mega-corporations. Although foreign corporations, such as the British East India Company, had existed for over a hundred years before the American Revolution, early Americans had seen the evils of that form of enterprise, and made these kinds of business arrangements difficult to form. Early settlers practiced the Biblical ideal of family farms, family practices, and family businesses. This economic model gave early America its small town, family orientated, community atmosphere, and provided almost everyone a source of adequate income. However, all of that was to change as New Jersey, and then Delaware liberalized their laws to make corporations easier to form—all for the benefit of making those states money. Other states soon followed and corporations began to proliferate. While many small corporations existed in the late nineteen hundreds, that also was to change. The liberalizing of laws also led to corporate consolidation. It is estimated that from 1898 to 1904, 1,800 U.S. corporations were consolidated into 157.[2] Small companies found themselves either making sweetheart deals to sell out, or were the victims of hostile takeovers. The nineteen seventies saw the advent of the corporate raiders. These were companies or groups of individuals who would leverage the purchase of larger, profitable corporations, and then sell or mortgage the valuable assets for profit, leaving the former company to flounder in debt, and many filing for bankruptcy.

What, may we ask are the evils of corporations, and why does the Bible condemn them?

• Corporations are soulless institutions, whose only aim is to make more profit. The driving principles are only those which bolster the stock price. They only benefit American communities when they can use benevolence to bolster their public image.
• Although corporations provide jobs where they are located, they generally have destroyed small town America. Families and small businesses cannot compete against these large behemoths that use their leverage to run smaller companies out of business. Consider what happens when a mega-store moves into a community.
   
• The jobs that most corporations provide are mostly menial, low paying occupations for those who are employed by them. Most workers find themselves in repetitious, boring work with no incentive to be productive. Only the top management, who often live like kings, and the rich stockholders are the true beneficiaries.
   
• Corporations live by gobbling up smaller companies, and soon find themselves drowning in debt. They become so large that many can no longer be effectively managed, and fall victim to insider fraud and pilfering. In order to present a positive balance sheet to stockholders many use questionable accounting and outright lies about their state of business. The American investment community has been shocked again and again by the likes of WorldCom, Adelphia, and Enron; and we now see the need for large government bailouts to support the likes of General Motors, Chrysler, insurance companies, investment firms, and the large mega-banks.

Isaiah 5:8 Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth!

The nineteen hundreds also saw the disappearance of many family farms that were once the basis of rural life in America. Government intrusion into farming practices, regulations, increasing costs, and the lure of “good paying” factory jobs, all led many people to abandon farming and move to the cities. Many of those farms that did remain are either large family owned or corporate farms. This migration from country life to city life had a great impact on America philosophy and culture. The close knit family structure, simple, basic farm life, and the rural communities they supported, were all traded for the material pursuits of life.

Micah 4:4 But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken it.

As America turned more and more to the gods of humanism and materialism, it produced an explosion in the number of laws and regulations. When men turn from God, who is the author and sustainer of liberty, and attempt to maintain their own freedom apart from God, they must do so by the enacting of laws—which effectively robs them of their liberties. This is because men who will not be governed by God must be controlled by outward restraints. Contrary to popular beliefs, man is not inherently good; but rather, man is a fallen creature subject to sin; and sin must be restrained. Furthermore, as the evils of materialism and greed began to abound, so did the need for more laws to protect society. By comparison, the number of laws that governed ancient Israel (given to them by God in the Old Testament) was 613[3] ; and many of those are dietary and ceremonial, not moral or ethical laws. The Ten Commandments was the most basic and necessary set of edicts that could, if followed, provide for a peaceful society. The exact number of laws that we live under in the United States is almost incalculable—because of all the different Federal, State, and Local jurisdictions. Some would guess that the number is in the hundred’s of thousands. However, if we include all of the Federal governmental agencies and their regulations (OHSA, EPA, HUD, ATF, etc), plus all the regulations of state and local agencies, the number could well be in the millions. Although some of our laws are patterned after God’s Word, most are the product of our changing philosophy.

1 Timothy 1:9 Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,
10 For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;

Galatians 4:21 Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?
22 For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.
23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.
24 Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.
25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

What we now find in America is that almost every aspect of our lives is controlled by external laws and regulations. Americans no longer live in a “free” country, but are in bondage to a restrictive governmental and legal system. America’s legislative bodies, law enforcement personnel, lawyers, judges, and regulatory inspectors are the enforcers for the new “ruling class” in our land. Every American is under the watchful eye of “big brother’s” law enforcement personnel, who are empowered to imprison, fine, and control the citizenry. A person cannot make a living, work on their home, build a fire, or do anything that should be considered as part of their “unalienable rights … among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness,”[4] without being subject to some law or regulation, and under the oversight of some government official. As an example we now have “garage sale police,” who drive around making sure everyone is in compliance by having permits and following regulations. Common sense and inventive thinking are both muffled, because we are no longer free to express ourselves, except within the bounds of a complex system of laws.

Furthermore, our spirit of adventure and exploration is severely limited. Everywhere we go we are told to “keep out”, “no hunting”, “no fishing”, “no trespassing”, and “restricted area”. Even our “so-called” National and State Parks have so many restrictions and regulations that people do not have the freedom to explore or enjoy themselves without worrying whether they are breaking some law. Most areas are off limits, and in many parks people are restricted to man-made trails with the threat of fines for stepping off of them. Activities such as camping, fishing, hiking, canoeing and many others are not allowed except by permit. Of course all of these restrictions are done in the name of “environmental” concerns. The only ones free to do as they please are the park personnel, while the tax payers, who funded these areas, are restricted. Even children, who need to be encouraged to explore, exercise, and show imagination, are everywhere told “no skateboarding,” “no ball playing,” “no trail bikes,” “no swimming,” and a myriad of other restrictions.

Along with restricting personal liberties, all of these laws have severely limited American industry's ability to compete. Hiring competent workers, firing incompetent workers, advancement of less qualified personal because of race or gender consideration, have forced many companies to struggle with workers who are unqualified or less qualified than others. Civil Rights legislation, American’s With Disabilities legislation, and other social legislation have taken away the freedom of businesses to structure themselves to be productive and profitable. These laws have also been the reason for rising cynicism among those who get passed over, despite their hard work and qualifications. Regulations concerning workplace safety, regulations brought about by environmental concerns, unemployment taxes, social security taxes, and a myriad of other taxes and regulations have all contributed to making it unprofitable for companies to manufacture products in America. These are some of the reasons why we have seen such a vast exodus of companies to other countries to produce their goods. We are not suggesting that all of these laws are without some merit, or that some companies exploited workers and the environment in their quest for greater profits, but many of these “laws” are against common sense and allow no flexibility. A great amount of time and money is wasted just to satisfy these regulations without providing any added benefits. All of these laws and regulations could effectively have been avoided if men acted in the fear of God, and with love and respect for their fellow man.