Messages 2008
The Founding Fathers’ Reality.
June 3rd, 2008
Santa Cruz, California
Received by FAB
I am here, Benjamin Franklin.
Yes, we founding fathers did provide for a system that would protect our interests. There, our critics are correct. But we saw ourselves as enlightened and qualified to govern. It is now clear to all of us that we failed on the slavery issue. Even those who actively supported it then have since seen the light.
The spirit world can be harsh, and where we failed, we had to give an accounting. It is certainly a good thing that people in the United States realize that this system was imperfect at birth. But it is also important to understand that it was simultaneously a great step forward, as evidenced by our attempt to limit the religious intolerance that we felt crippled the colonies.
To properly understand the founding of the country, it is important to be aware of the specific circumstances that faced us. It is easy to pass judgment. Every period in history has its own failings.
But I will say that, just as we sought sincerely to extend the benefits of a fairer government, so today, citizens should continue to strive for more equality. It is true that reactionary forces are currently strong, but it is equally true that there also now exists a very powerful worldwide movement of liberation which cannot be ignored, and which, as we spirits know, will be successful, as an expression of God’s plan of freedom and justice.
So it depends on one’s point of view whether to call us a reactionary class or champions of freedom. I think a healthy and accurate assessment would take both tendencies into consideration. We certainly have had to scrutinize our earthly behavior, as every spirit has had to do.
You are wondering about the slavery issue. Well, those of us who opposed slavery nevertheless saw that the only way we could create a government was to compromise with the slaveholding states. We felt that at least other blessings of government would thus be preserved. And over here, it was our motives that determined the extent of our sufferings or our happiness. We all now see that slavery was wrong, and our spirit compensation was based, as I have said, on our motives.
But it is a new day, and the people of the world are waking up to their rights, which cannot be denied.