American Revolution: Compare to French Revolution

Tale of Two Nations

World History: Compare American Revolution and French Revolution

Dinner Topics for Independence Day

The Americans went on to create a Constitution that is a model of liberty for the rest of the world. This Constitution provides maximum freedom, limited power in the national government, and the majority of the power to the states and people. The success of the nation has been in proportion to the degree of fiscal responsibility and law-abiding character manifest by the elected government officials. 

Charles Dickens’ powerful novel, A Tale of Two Cities, is set during the French Revolution, involving characters in the cities of London and Paris. This moving tale gives one pause to consider a tale of two nations—the differences between the French Revolution and the American Revolution.

Only a few years before the French Revolution, colonial America had rebelled, not against poverty, but against the increasingly tyrannical rule of the British. In America, it was men of property and education, not the poor, who rebelled. For liberty, they invested their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. Ironically, it was the French nobility who stepped in with naval support and saved the American Revolution from the brink of failure. 

The purpose of the American Revolution was to change the ruling laws, not to kill the king. Many colonists, including Benjamin Franklin, had close ties with England. Franklin was the leader in trying all possible avenues of diplomacy; revolution was the last resort. George Washington scrupulously avoided abusing military power by consistently deferring to the directives of the civilian government, and he always put the needs of his men before his own. He refused to be king. Noble of character he was; greedy and power-hungry he was not. American leaders did all they could to avoid anarchy. They sought the help of God in their endeavor, and received miraculous help when it was needed.

The French Revolution, on the other hand, appears to have been driven by vengeance and hatred. Without a doubt, terrible injustices existed, as vividly depicted by Dickens and in Victor Hugo’s magnificent novel, Les Miserables. The French peasants were at a great disadvantage, because their poverty seemed insurmountable, and they lacked education and money; therefore they had no power to exercise influence on their oppressors. It is unfortunate that they resorted to terror. The mass murder of innocents resembled the ethnic cleansing of evil regimes in the twentieth century. The mindless killing thoroughly disqualified them from any divine assistance. By killing the upper class, and their families, and their servants, and anyone remotely related, they also purged the society of education, law, culture, and other refinements necessary to civilized society.  Only anarchy resulted from their efforts. The old oppressors were merely replaced by a new tyrannical regime, more brutal than ever. It was bad enough that some even looked to figures like Napoleon to save them, but that really didn’t work well, either.

The Americans went on to create a Constitution that is a model of liberty for the rest of the world. This Constitution provides maximum freedom, limited power in the national government, and the majority of the power to the states and people. The success of the nation has been in proportion to the degree of fiscal responsibility and law-abiding character manifest by the elected government officials. Because America was free, she became prosperous. Like many other European countries, France learned the best governing principles from the United States Constitution, only after long years of struggle.

Copyright 2011 © by Christine Davidson

Ten Commandments, Murder, and Sharia Law

Dinner Topics for Monday

Ten Commandments, Murder, and Sharia Law

A Tale of Two Laws

Charles Dickens’ Tale of Two Cities was about London and Paris, and the impact of their two differing forms of government. Continuing in our “Tale of Two” series, today we are seeing a tale of two laws: the Ten Commandments of the Judeo-Christian culture, and Sharia law of Islamic culture or political system.

I am all for freedom of religion. European history is fraught with religious wars and the slaughter of the Jewish people. We think how wrong it is to massacre so many innocent people.

When it legalized abortion, our own government failed in its Constitutional mandate to protect innocent life. Not only has the Supreme Court abused its power 50 years ago to establish the religion of atheism as the state religion, but it also has sanctioned the murder of countless millions of innocent born and unborn.

I am a Christian. My church, The Church of Jesus Christ, could only be restored in these latter days, in this great country of the United States, where there was freedom to do so. Even so, we know what it is like for Christians to be reviled, even in this free country, because great were the persecutions of the members of our Christian faith in the 19^th century, resulting in our prophet, Joseph Smith, and his brother being murdered in cold blood. Christians of many denominations are still persecuted and reviled all over the world today.

I am old enough to remember the Cold War era, in which Communists purged their entire empire of God, and brutally punished believers.  Even so, it is hard to believe that today we are involved in the greatest religious war of all time. Atheists still cause trouble in our society, but now the greatest threat to our Judeo-Christian culture comes from extreme Islam’s declared war on all faiths other than their own. Islamic extremists even punish and kill Muslim reformers. They also have an abiding hatred for the Jewish people, and have sworn to destroy Israel.

Because I believe in freedom of religion, I was glad my prayers were answered regarding the man in Florida who wanted to burn the Koran books. First of all, it was an unchristian act. We are taught that when we “receive railing and persecution and all manner of afflictions,” we are not to turn and revile again, but to be “humble and penitent before God.” (3 Nephi 6:13) The God of Israel is a God of love, not hate, or He would not have made it possible for all human beings to be saved from death and condemnation.

There is another reason I was relieved. Islamists world-wide were threatening nothing short of World War 3 if those books were burned; many more innocent people would have been killed. (They didn’t need to declare war; they already did that with the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers.)

Civil Law vs. Religious Law

Christians, Jews, Buddhists, and other religions residing in this land have always dealt with moral issues in their own way. However, a member of any religion who steals, vandalizes, rapes, murders, or violates any other law against the public safety is subject to those laws which protect the public. Someone who kills an abortionist is punished, even though the abortionist himself may be guilty of killing. We may not agree with that killing, but we do not take the law into our own hands.

In my church, which is worldwide, we are also taught to respect and obey the governments of the respective nations in which we reside, even if we don’t agree with them.  We don’t make political demands in the name of our religion. Sharia law (which is political), also, has a “necessity clause”, which allows Muslims to accommodate the laws of their land, such as buying car insurance or postponing prayers that cannot be performed at school or work. So, if their political demands are not met, no harm is done to their religion. (Warner, Bill, Sharia Law for Non-Muslims, p. 42-43. Center for the Study of Political Islam: 2010)

That said, I come to this matter of murder, with which I have issue. All faithful Christians obey the Ten Commandments, which include the commandment not to kill. Our United States government is based on the Ten Commandments. Therefore, it is simply against the law to kill, except in cases of legal punishment for capital crimes and terrorism, as in the execution of Timothy McVeigh, a terrorist and mass murderer.

Obviously, Islamic terrorists do not honor the Ten Commandments (I’m not referring to the religion observed by moderate law-abiding Muslims who reside in our country). Radical Islam is not a religion, but is a tyrannical political system, called terrorism. Political systems are subject to the laws of the land. Like communism, Islamic terrorism seeks to replace existing law (in America, the United States Constitution) with a tyrannical law called Sharia law. Some of the plethora of killings approved by radical Islamists include suicide bombings—often involving children or adolescents as the perpetrators; “honor killings”—an example of this was a man in Arizona who purposely ran over his daughter with his car because she was becoming too Westernized. Sharia law permits some forms of honor killing, but does not seem to punish any of it. Also included is the killing those Muslims who convert to another religion.  (Ibid., p.14)

So, do we really have a dilemma here about freedom of religion and the laws of the land? No, we do not. Our Constitution, which was created by men possessed of an abundance of common sense and responsibility rarely seen today, declares that there shall be no establishment of religion. So the religion of Islam should get no more special treatment than any other religion. We are all subject to the law of the land. Article 6 of the United States Constitution says the Constitution is the highest law of the land and cannot be subjugated to any other legal code.

The purpose of our government is to protect life, liberty, and property. Any person or group who violates the life, liberty, or property of another individual is in violation of the law and deserves to be punished. We have freedom, but not without responsibility. We are free to choose our actions, but we are not free to choose the consequences.

For a beautiful, illustrated collection of Charles Dickens Stories, type Charles Dickens in the search bar when you click here

*Blasphemy, Freedom of Speech, and Sharia Law

C.A. Davidson is author of Epic Stories for Character Education, a collection of scriptural epic stories told in easy, dinner-talk style. Young adult leadership training and daily dinner talk topics on parenting, sociology and culture, world history, heritage, stress management, and family traditions are provided in the “Dinner Talk for Champions” online magazine, and may be found at http://www.epicworld.info

© 2011 by Christine Davidson

Charles Dickens, Character, and Self Improvement

Dinner Topics for Friday

<--Dickens and his characters

Character Education, Self-Improvement—“By Any Other Name. . .”

In Charles Dickens’ classic novel, Great Expectations, the young boy Pip started out in difficult circumstances, being raised by his older sister, who was very harsh. When he came of age, he was blessed with a considerable fortune from an unknown benefactor. His money caused him to be rather prideful and vain, but his conscience always bothered him. When at length he discovered the source of that fortune, he was humbled. In due time, Pip overcame his pride and vanity, because he ultimately heeded his conscience, felt compassion for many he had once disliked, and developed a sincere desire to do what was right.

Another story from great literature is in the Bible, where Jesus Christ met the woman taken in adultery. After He shamed her accusers, there was no one left to condemn her or throw stones at her. The Savior told her to “go and sin no more.” Although Jesus did not condemn her, neither did He forgive her at that time. There is something she needed to do first, in order to obtain that forgiveness. She needed time to repent. (Spencer W. Kimball, The Miracle of Forgiveness, p.68)

The dictionary defines repent—“to turn from sin and dedicate oneself to the amendment of one’s life.”

Character education, self-improvement—what have you—implies the choosing of right over wrong, and making an effort to change for the better, or in other words, repentance. Repentance, by any other name, is still repentance.

People often have negative feelings about repentance. However, honest observations of our current culture compel us to acknowledge that good character leads to a more peaceful, orderly, and happy society. The truth of this principle cannot be ignored.

Parents need not be afraid of holding their children to high moral standards. The atonement of Christ is a safety net in the times of falling short, but it is fastened to repentance. Repentance is not easy, but it is easier in the long run. Still, “it is easier [yet] to prepare and prevent than to repair and repent.” (Ezra Taft Benson)

After His suffering was over, Jesus said that if we would repent, or turn from sin, we would not have to suffer for those sins, because He already paid the price. So, at the end of the day, we see that “repentance” is really a message of love, because it is the key to mercy, and ultimately saves us from a lot of unhappiness.

Copyright © 2011 by Christine Davidson