With the Fourth of July almost upon us, I’d like to share something about the spirit of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. That spirit was what gave us the great nation we have inherited. And without that spirit, it is unlikely we will keep this treasured possession—a nation that holds not only freedom and prosperity for its citizens, but hope for the free world.
I’m going to share something I wrote 20 years ago, in the text that follows.
What does it mean to be a hero? Perhaps we ought to begin by asking, “What does a hero mean to a people?”
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Dr. James Kennedy, founder of the Center for Reclaiming America, posed a provocative question in a nationwide broadcast: “How many of you have read a positive article about George Washington recently? Ah, I’m afraid there are few, if any.” Kennedy cited another commentator’s query: “How is it that reproductions of that marvelous portrait by Gilbert Sullivan of George Washington, which for 150 years hung in the bedrooms of many of the children of our country, have practically vanished… tone and tint? When is the last time you went into a home and saw a picture of the great American hero, ‘the indispensible man,’ as he was called?”
Kennedy, drawing upon the testimony of Washington’s own contemporaries, refuted revisionists’ allegations that Washington was not a Christian, refuted debunkers’ insinuations that Washington was not a man of good moral character, and refuted latter-day conjectures that Washington was neither heroic nor brave.
Said Kennedy: “I wonder how many of you know Washington was a preacher? As commander in chief of the defense forces of the Commonwealth of Virginia as a colonel [and then only age 22] he implored the government to send a chaplain for his army, a very considerable army, I might add. But a chaplain could not be found who was willing to go out onto the frontier and brave the elements and place his life in jeopardy. And so, for the last two of those three years, George Washington, believing that worship was so important, conducted divine worship for his army… Find that in your public school textbooks. I’d love to see it, but I don’t think you will find it in there.”
As for Washington’s courage and character, Kennedy cited many sources, including these two:
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Abigail Adams, who knew Washington personally, remarked, “He was possessed of power, possessed of an extensive influence, but he never used it but for the benefit of his country… if we look through the whole tenor of his life, history will not produce to us a parallel.”
The historian Cyrus R. Edmonds, who lived in Washington’s time, said, “The elements of his greatness are chiefly to be discovered in the moral features of his character.”
It is moral character that has made America great, and if this nation is to remain that way, integrity and character must be the traits not just of our leaders but of the citizenry on the whole.
It is the belief in heroism that makes us a people who can rise to such levels ourselves. “Nurture your mind with great thoughts,” Benjamin Disraeli said. “To believe in the heroic makes heroes.” – Jesse Mullins, editor, Permian Basin Oil and Gas
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