How to Restore Freedom’s Foundations

By Brad Sherman

 

The Crisis

Hosea 4:6 says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” We are literally facing national destruction because of a lack of knowledge. James Madison was in agreement with Hosea when he said: “A well instructed people alone can be permanently free.”

George Mason said, “If free people do not examine their liberties and how they were obtained, they risk losing these rights.” We are in a freedom crisis because “we the people” no longer possess the knowledge that produces freedom. We have forgotten the principles that made us free and as a result, our freedoms and the American way of life literally hang in the balance.

 

The Solution

The founders understood what a freedom crisis was and how to deal with it. Jefferson put it this way:

“I know of no safe depositor of the ultimate powers of society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education. This is the true corrective of abuses of constitutional power.”

— Thomas Jefferson

The solution is simple, educate the people. It is the only true corrective for constitutional abuse. But how? We have an educational system in our nation that, not only fails to educate with the principles of freedom, but is generally teaching the exact opposite!

 

Preaching to the Choir

Since becoming aware of the Christian foundations of our nations more than 30 years ago, I have consistently taught my church accordingly and have published articles from time to time. A few years ago, to further address this lack of knowledge, I started doing educational seminars here in Iowa, as well as some in Missouri and Minnesota. I have also been involved in other organizations that expend their resources almost entirely on informing people regarding issues and where candidates stand on issues. Though these efforts have been beneficial and people are inspired and more informed, I have experienced two frustrations.

First, I have realized that most of those attending were already on board. In other words, we have been largely “preaching to the choir.” The other frustration is the cause of the first. After we “inspire the choir”, we typically leave them hanging without a plan of action. An informed and inspired person is ready to engage the crisis and needs an immediate avenue of action. Without this, the energy and zeal that has been generated soon begins to fade. We need a plan.

 

The Plan

Because we have been primarily speaking to the same people, our educational efforts have required new and deeper knowledge to keep them involved. Yet the deeper the knowledge, the narrower the band of people we reach because a greater volume of knowledge is harder to process and pass along to others.

We need a simple reproducible plan designed to reach a wider band of people with a smaller amount of critical information.  The Knowledge Is Power Project is such a plan. It is a “boots-on-the-ground” grassroots strategy designed to reach beyond “the choir” to inform and enlist new people for the cause of freedom.

It is one thing to distribute knowledge through literature, but quite another to get people to read it. This strategy works first by creating a desire to read the literature. Our technique involves the use a brief survey to create curiosity. Then we satisfy the curiosity by providing the answers to the questions in the survey in the form of a free booklet. It is simply human nature: people always want to know how they did on a “test.” People often begin to read the booklet immediately.

There is more to the strategy, including follow up, developing a database of new people, etc. The goal is to, not only educate, but to identify and activate those who will join the cause of freedom.

The Content

The booklet with the answers is designed to be brief yet plant the seeds of knowledge that will produce hunger for more knowledge. It address the demise of freedom, the importance of knowledge, the source of our rights, excessive taxation, the Second Amendment, the constitutional form of government, separation of church and state, and more.

Our pilot survey showed that people are woefully uninformed on these issues. However, these basic principles of freedom are not complicated and people grasp them quickly. With this strategy and the tools we have developed, learning these principles and passing them on is something most anyone can do. Jefferson said,

“Educate and inform the whole mass of the people. Enable them to see that it is their interest to preserve peace and order, and they will preserve them. And it requires no very high degree of education to convince them of this. They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty.”   

— Thomas Jefferson

Please read the Freedom Quiz book (a free online version is available on our website at www.knowledgeispowerproject.com and ask yourself: “What if these basic truths were restored to America?”

 

Taking Action

Imagine this basic concept multiplying exponentially. Using this method, how many minds could be opened to receive this knowledge? Thousands? Maybe Millions! This is possible because the process is simple, reproducible, and the amount of knowledge is not overwhelming.

If freedom in America is to survive, it will be because freedom-loving people rise up and take action. Someone once said, “If we fail to plan, we plan to fail.” But the reverse is also true. If we plan our work and work our plan, who knows how God may use us!

I invite you to join us and let’s get started restoring foundational knowledge to the people. Please go to our website, www.knowledgeispowerproject.com for resources and more information about this unique plug and play strategy. Then contact us for more information about starting this project in your community!

Website: www.KnowledgeIsPowerProject.com

Email: [email protected]

  Click to Take the Freedom Quiz

Brad is the founder of Purpose Ministries, a ministry platform for writing and speaking about biblical world view issues, which includes the Knowledge Is Power Project, Libations for Liberty, and Restoring the Power Seminars. He is also the president and board chairman for Informed Choice of Iowa, operating pro-life medical clinics in Iowa. Brad Sherman has served in ministry since 1975 and is currently the pastor of Solid Rock Church in Coralville, Iowa which he and his wife Carole founded in 1981. Brad and Carole were married in 1975 and have 4 children. [box] Proverbs 1:5 A wise man will hear and increase in learning, And a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel. Founders’ Bible article Galatians 5:15, page 1864. Excerpt from Abraham Lincoln “America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedom, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.[/box]