From Bill Bennett's American Patriot's Almanac:
James Forten, born in 1766 in Philadelphia, was the grandson of a slave but the son of free blacks. As a boy, he heard the Declaration of Independence read to the people of Philadelphia, and when he was fourteen, he went to sea to fight the British aboard a privateer named the Royal Louis under the command of Stephen Decatur.
In October 1781 the Royal Louis was captured by the British warship Amphion. Forten faced grave danger: the British often sold black prisoners of war to slave traders. But he befriended the British captain’s son in a game of marbles, and the captain took such a liking to the young American that he offered to take him to England.
Forten would have none of that. “I have been taken prisoner for the liberties of my country, and never will prove a traitor to her interest!” he replied. So he spent the next seven months on a disease-ridden prison ship before being released in a prisoner exchange.
After the Revolution, Forten went to work for a Philadelphia sailmaker. Two years later he became foreman of the shop, and in 1798 he was able to buy the business. He invented a device that helped seamen handle sails, and his business prospered. In time he became a wealthy man.
What did Forten do with his success? He used it to protect and better his country. During the War of 1812, he recruited blacks to help defend Philadelphia. He later helped organize the American Anti-Slavery Society and contributed money to the abolitionist newspaper the Liberator. He aided runaway slaves on their way north, and extended a helping hand to all manner of people, black and white.
Forten did not live to see the end of slavery, but he believed it would come. He helped set his country on the road toward freedom for all Americans.
Every day, Bill Bennett provides via email--for free--a reading from his American Patriot's Almanac. You’ll read about heroes, their achievements, and key events that took place “On This Day” in American history. Click here to subscribe.
Welcome to the Intersections Blog, where I try to work out where politics, pop culture, and the Bible meet
So What's This All About?
In case you didn't know, I'm in the multi-year-long process of posting a Christian devotional at the TAWG Blog. The TAWG Blog is, and always will be, mostly apolitical. For the most part, Bible-believing Christians will find little to disagree with there. But I also firmly believe that God's word can--and should--inform everything in life, and this should include politics and popular culture. How should we vote? How should we respond to hot topics such as abortion, capital punishment, taxes, and other issues? Which party, if either, is closer to the Biblical ideal? Tony Campolo and Ron Sider, Evangelicals whose political leanings are on the Left, have made the case in several of their writings that God wants his followers to vote politically on the Left more than on the Right. At times, some of them have gone so far as to equate voting on the Left with obedience to Christ, either subtly or not-so-subtly contending that the converse is true as well: If you vote Republican, you're sinning against the Savior.
I don't agree. I think that to the degree they actually resort to the Bible, they're misinterpreting it. With a whole bunch of caveats, I think politically conservative positions are a lot more compatible with the Scriptures than the Leftist positions.
Just to clarify, I would never accuse people who disagree with me--especially siblings in Christ--of what they accuse me of. I don't judge my own heart, much less anyone else's, and I don't equate political disagreement with theological fidelity to God. I have no reason to doubt their love for the Lord and "for the least of these," but I believe that they're sincerely wrong.
Just to clarify, I would never accuse people who disagree with me--especially siblings in Christ--of what they accuse me of. I don't judge my own heart, much less anyone else's, and I don't equate political disagreement with theological fidelity to God. I have no reason to doubt their love for the Lord and "for the least of these," but I believe that they're sincerely wrong.
So there are two main purposes for this blog. One is to make a case for my political beliefs based on Scripture. The other is a bit more vague, basically to work out my political beliefs and figure out what's based on Scripture and what's based on my own biases. I certainly don't have all the answers. Some of this stuff I'm still figuring out. And I'm certainly open to correction. As long as you make your case civilly and based on Scripture, feel free to make a comment, and I promise I'll post it and consider your arguments thoughtfully and prayerfully. Who knows? Maybe we'll learn a little something from each other.
May God bless our common striving together towards both the "little t" truth and "Big T" Truth. Our watchword here is a line from C. S. Lewis's The Last Battle: "Further up and further in!"
P.S. -- Below on the left is "Topics I've Covered" which lists everything I've posted topically. It's come to my attention that some people would like to see everything just listed for them. If that's you, you can get it here. Thanks to my friend Stephen Young for the tip!
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