Before I get into the meat of the matter, I want to give special thanks (posthumously) to Mr. A.B. Jordan, the founder of The Dillon Herald, as well as Mr. A.B. Jordan, III, the present publisher.  
My acknowledgement and praise to them is due to the standards and principles that the Herald was founded upon and continues to maintain to this day.  In an age of compromise, ultra liberalism, and political correctness; when there is an all out assault on absolute truth, family values, and the Judeo-Christian tradition that made this nation great and the envy of the world.  It is indeed encouraging to know that our local newspaper is still a beacon of truth and traditional family values.  
May the posterity of the senior A.B. Jordan never forget the heritage, legacy, and awesome responsibility that has been entrusted them.
“The Bible is the rock on which this Republic rests.”     —  Andrew Jackson
This statement by our 7th president is the premise that our discussion will be based. Forgive and bear with me if I seem, in your opinion, to be a little too preachy or religious in this presentation.  I guess none of us can help but to reflect what is in us; what is the driving force or influence that makes us who we are, and therefore what we think, feel, say, and ultimately do.  With that having been stated, let’s consider the topic of this article and argument.  There are five Judeo-Christian principles that our founding fathers embraced and incorporated into the very fabric of our nation.  Most credible historians and other social scientists concur that the observance of these biblical principles is unquestionably one of the secrets to America’s ascension and greatness.  We are going to list them with brief comments after each.

Monogamous
Heterosexual
Marriages
I devoted an entire article to this issue recently entitled, “The Legalization of Same-Sex Marriages Does Not Make It Right.”  In view of this and how recent it was, there is no reason to repeat what we attempted to argue and establish in that piece.  However, I will say that this is an extremely important part of the fabric and foundation of America’s greatness.  It is a part of the rock upon which this nation rests.

Family Values and the   
Rearing of Children
Who among us can put forth an intelligent argument against the importance of family values on the rearing of children and the role it plays in developing a strong community and culture?  From the first settlers, who landed at Jamestown, Virginia, to those who came over on the Mayflower, this nation was founded upon family values and the rearing of children that came straight from the Judeo-Christian Bible.  When there were no Dr. Benjamin Spocks, no children or behavioral professionals, no Department of Social Services, or any of the other multiple resources on family values and the rearing of children in America, there was the greatest and most effective tool for doing it – the Bible.  God, the sovereign Creator and Designer of everything (families, marriages, and children included) already gave inerrant instructions on how to go about doing these things through His manual for all areas of life and human behavior called the Bible.  Our culture, nation, and humanity, as a whole, are in serious trouble because we have forsaken the Creator and Designer’s plan.  Regrettably, we think, or more appropriately, have been bamboozled to believe, that we are wiser than He.  This is the crux of our problem as a nation.  Things will continue to worsen until we accept the self-evident and irrefutable truth that Father knows best.

Christian-Based Education
Although you can not tell it now, due to the fact that the forces of ultra liberalism, secular humanism, and postmodernism, just to name a few, have long since invaded and taken control of most of our institutions of higher learning.  Schools like Harvard, as well as many others, were founded on biblical principles and a belief that the scriptures were infallible, inerrant, and the absolute and authoritative Word of God.  This train of thought and belief not only gave birth to many of these great schools, but it also permeated all of the colonial and early American education on all levels.  From early childhood through the collegiate ranks, our educational system was undergirded by biblical principles and practices like Bible reading, prayer, and daily or weekly devotions.  Regrettably, this is not the case now, thanks to the apathy and lack of vigilance of the Christian community who slept while people from the extreme radical left, like Madalyn O’Hair, took prayer out of schools.  Few may wonder why people like me, who once had our reservations about parochial Christian or private schools, have long since been convinced of their importance when it came to giving children a balanced and Christian education.  There is a diabolical scheme being perpetrated by the extreme radical left to seize and corrupt the minds of our children in regards to things like same-sex marriages and other issues pertaining to morality, ethics, and other absolute truths that are biblically based.  Regardless of the revisionists who want to rewrite American history and those who deliberately deny the truth of our Judeo-Christian heritage and creed, the beginning of our educational structure was biblically based.

The Work Ethic
One of the fundamental ingredients that goes into the making of a strong nation or society is the work ethic.  No nation can ever hope to rise to a place of prominence and prosperity without having a populace who’s willing to work hard and dutifully at their jobs.  A lazy and idle person will never experience or achieve greatness.  One of the keys to our ascension to becoming arguably the most powerful and richest nation in the history of humanity can be attributed to the fact that we had a citizenry who did not shun hard work.  In speaking of hard work that made America strong and prosperous, I dare not omit the free labor of the millions of black slaves who toiled for hundreds of years to make the South one of the most affluent sectors of our nation.  Can any one disprove or deny that this adherence to the work ethic or practice of diligence did not come from those who came to America from the Old World (Europe)?  The vast majority of the people who came to these shores in quest of a better life and religious freedom were Judeo-Christian in their faith and practices.  Their work ethic and hard working attitude and practice came straight from the Bible.

Mosaic Structure
of Our Government
The next thing that contributed to our greatness as a nation, which we can trace back to the Bible, is the structure of our government on the federal, state, and local levels.  Although it is reflected in all three branches of our government (executive, legislative, and judicial), the biblical account of Jethro and Moses is a clear model for our judicial system (see Exodus 18:13-26).  The Bible is the model and motivation for most of the Western nations.  It is not accidental that the Western nations, like Spain, France, Portugal, Italy, and of course, Great Britain and her progenies, flourished at a time when many nations in Asia and Africa floundered.  They were responsible for the great renaissance period beginning in the 14th Century in Italy, lasting into the 17th Century, and marked by a humanist revival of classical influence expressed in a flowering of the arts and literature and by the beginning of modern science.  Most historians attribute this renaissance, the industrial revolution, and the founding of humanitarian organizations, like the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, and many more who have helped to alleviate the pain and suffering of many millions around the world, to the direct impact and influence of the Bible.
As I prepare to conclude our discussion, it is very interesting to note that all of our national enemies, like Russia, China, and all the others who embrace an ideology or belief that is not based upon the teachings of our Judeo-Christian Bible, know what the key to our success has been.  Unlike far too many of our leaders of government, academia, the work force, or media and entertainment, these adversaries know that America cannot be defeated as long as we keep the Bible as the bedrock of our nation.
I will conclude with the following words of a man who was one of the greatest military strategists of all time.  In spite of what some have called or labeled him throughout history, these words prove that he was a very wise man, as well as a military genius:  “The Bible is no mere book, but a living creature, with a power that conquers all that oppose it.”   — Napoleon Bonaparte