Rita’s Final Chapter on Restoring America’s Soul
Love the Good — Hate the Evil
Part X: “Restoring a Culture of Virtue”
Crossroads On Valley Radio This Weekend, Aug. 19-20,
or Online HERE Anytime
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“You are the Salt of the Earth and the Light of the World. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. … Therefore, let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:13-16)
“Live as sons of God, above reproach, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.” (Philippians 2:15)
“Whatsoever things are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, virtuous, worthy of praise, and of good report, think on these things.” (Philippians 4:8)
“Be not conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you might live out all that is good and acceptable in the perfect will of God.” (Romans 12:2)
“The Constitution is made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” (John Adams)
“Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? Who will stand for me against the workers of iniquity? (Ps. 93:6)
“Be strong and of good courage, and don’t be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)
Review of Ch. 1-9: Restoring America’s Soul
This weekend on Crossroads we move into the final chapter of Rita Peters’ book entitled Restoring America’s Soul. However, as always, we begin with a quick review of what we’ve covered so far, focusing on what it means to be a Bible-believing constitutional conservative.
1. In our first week, Rita emphasized that, as conservatives, we should focus on what we are FOR rather than just what we are AGAINST. We want to conserve from our rich heritage all that is good.
2. We then talked about the importance of tone and civility in our debates, especially on the hot button issues of politics, religion, and morality. That also means we need to listen to each other.
3. We moved on to the importance of making decisions on the basis of what we know to be good and true rather than just on our “feelings”, which often get us into trouble by telling us “If it feels good, do it.”
4. We looked back at how conservative principles grew out of our Judeo-Christian heritage, and how they helped our Founding Fathers create the Constitutional system of limited government.
5. We also examined some contrasts between liberals and conservatives. For example, who does a better job of “Caring for the Poor”, liberals or conservatives? The answer was surprising.
6. That took us to debates about religious freedoms. Another example, when “LGBT activists” challenge our “Rights of Conscience” not to support same-sex “weddings”, who wins?
7. There’s a similar debate about competing rights between an unborn baby’s “Right to Life” and the mother’s “Right to Choose” to have it destroyed. In that case, who decides?
8. We then took the Case for Natural Marriage against a growing trend to make it “Optional” through cohabitation; “Disposable” through divorce; and even “Re-definable” through same-sex “marriage”.
9. Finally, last week, Rita proposed to put government back in its place with a Convention of States that would consider constitutional amendments to impose fiscal restraints on the federal government, limit its power and jurisdiction, and set term limits on federal officials.
10. And that bring us to Rita’s final chapter this week. It tackles the big question of what has happened to Virtue in our culture and what we can do to bring to bring it back.
Part 10: Restoring a Culture of Virtue
In a nutshell, Rita says that advocating for virtue is key to everything else in her book because we live in a “post-truth” culture which has bought into the idea that people should be guided by their feelings and also that government is the highest authority on questions of law and morality. It’s a battle for Goodness, Truth, and Beauty.
To that end, she quotes Martin Luther King, Jr. in his letter from a Birmingham Jail. In it, he challenged the church to shape the culture rather than to allow the culture to shape it, as follows:
“The early Christians rejoiced when they were deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the Church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles or popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society.” (1963)
A: What Qualifies Rita for This Challenge?
Before we go any further, however, we need to review “What qualifies Rita – or anyone else for that matter — to tackle this monumental challenge of Restoring America’s Soul.”
In case you missed our earlier snapshots, Rita is first of all a constitutional attorney with honors degrees from West Virginia University and the Washington and Lee University School of Law.
She has worked as staff counsel for the Rutherford Institute, as an allied attorney for the nationally respected Alliance Defending Freedom, and now serves as the National Legislative Strategist for the Convention of States Project.
In addition, she has contributed to various academic journals and media outlets, has personally testified and written briefs for various courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, and also serves as Deputy Director of the Valley Family Forum and as co-host of these weekly Crossroads radio programs.
B: The Role of the Family
Rita begins this review of how to “Restore America’s Soul” by pointing to the Family as the best place to engage in this pursuit of virtue, and then emphasized the importance of explaining and discussing with our children the deep “why” behind what we believe and to share the beauty of conservatism so that they can embrace it for their own as they grow older.
That would include memorizing those specific portions of the Declaration of Independence which clearly state that the proper role and purpose of government is to secure our inalienable rights.
It also means that parents should discuss with them the things they read, what they watch, what they listen to, and what they see on social media. They must know and analyze with them what they are being taught in school, especially in their FLE classes where they can be exposed to inappropriate materials without the knowledge or consent of the parents.
C: The Reformation of Manners
As a further extension of this, Rita pointed to a movement formed by a member of the British Parliament William Wilberforce over 200 years ago who not only fought to end slavery but also called for the “Reformation of Manners”. His goal was to “bring civility and self-respect into a society that had long since spiraled down into vice and misery”.
Rita also suggests that perhaps we too can band together in our communities to “make goodness fashionable again”. That would include encouraging sexual modesty and abstinence until marriage, and rejecting businesses and forms of entertainment that normalize and promote immoral sexual behavior and which exploit and display women and girls as sexual objects.
It also includes returning to “sexual sanity”, which means to appreciate and accept the biological gender given to us at birth, and to practice the art of “Civilized Discourse” in our conversations with each other on these and other topics without resort to vulgarities and obscenities.
D: The End: How to Purchase Her Book
Although this is the final program from Rita’s book on Restoring America’s Soul, you can still pick up a copy at Blessing’s Christian Bookstore in Harrisonburg or order a copy online at www.amazon.com/Restoring-Americas-Soul-Rita-Dunaway/dp/1643074172.
E. Crossroads: Where Faith and Culture Meet
To learn more about “Restoring a Culture of Virtue”, please join Rita and me this weekend on the following Valley stations: WBTX (1470 AM and 102.1 FM), today (Saturday) at 4:00 p.m. and again on Sunday at 7:30 a.m., followed by WSVA (550 AM and 92.1 FM) at 8:30, ESPN (1360 AM and 106.9 FM) at 9:00, and WNLR (1150) at 11:30. You can also listen online by clicking on the Crossroads menu available on our home page at www.valleyfamilyforum.org.
Crossroads is almost entirely listener supported, with support from some of our business sponsors, and we are so grateful for your prayers, your encouragement, and your financial support. If you would like to help, please send your tax-deductible donation to Crossroads at PO Box 881, Harrisonburg, 22803.
Finally, if you would like to share a personal note with our Crossroads Team, you can send it to the same address noted above, or by email to family@valleyfamilyforum.org. We would love to hear from you.
For God and Country, and on behalf of the Crossroads Team, thank you!
Dean
Working and Walking Together, We Can Make a Difference