“Resolved: We Will Not Be Irrelevant” generated more mail than any column this year. Readers’ expressions and comments ranged from shock that a church might have an opinion — much less express it — to relief that somebody was finally speaking out. Many promised to take the
resolution to their own churches, and for this I am grateful.
The idea that religious faith is divorced from human action by a First
Amendment wall of separation is one of the more absurd and arrogant constructions of the secular humanist mind. After Freidrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) removed God from the Throne, his followers promptly sat down in it themselves. There they began directing the lives and thoughts
of others. There they have struggled to create, as Nietzsche prophesied (Thus Spake Zarathustra, 1883, 1891), an elite superman who “would be beyond good and evil and would destroy decadent democracy.” (The Columbia-Viking Desk Encyclopedia, 1953, vol. 2.)
From their lofty position, secular humanists show few pangs of conscience
when they use the power of the state to exterminate other religions, exclude people of faith from expressing themselves in public schools, and
threaten churches with IRS tax audits and otherwise coerce them into silence on the moral issues of the day.
Except, of course, churches that support their liberal, the state-is-our-god
gospel according to Robin Hood, and his apostate redistributionist agenda.
Perhaps that is why other news organizations have not been flooded with letters decrying Jessie Jackson’s partisan sermonizing and President Clinton’s Democratic campaigning from the pulpit over the weekend.
The humanists and their charlatan agenda have succeeded, in large part,
due to the ignorance of so many Christians regarding our heritage. The sad
fact is, unless these same Christians educate themselves about their past
and act on it, 1800 years of progress since the Magna Carta (1215), which put the king under the law, is going to be erased in the next 18 months as Democrats create a new king and declare him beyond the reach of the law.
For those who doubt the part that the God of the Bible has played in the
formation and ascendancy of America, here are a few glimpses into our past, when our nation better understood its dependence on God.
Isaac Potts, a devout Quaker who was Gen. George Washington’s temporary
landlord at Valley Forge gave this account:
“In 1777 while the American army lay at Valley Forge, a good old Quaker by the name of Potts had occasion to pass through a thick woods near headquarters. As he traversed the dark brown forest, he heard, at a distance before him, a voice which as he advanced became more fervid and interested.
“Approaching with slowness and circumspection, who should he behold in a dark bower, apparently formed for the purpose, but the Commander-in-Chief of the armies of the United Colonies on his knees in the act of devotion to the Ruler of the Universe!
“At the moment when Friend Potts, concealed by the trees, came up, Washington was interceding for his beloved country. With tones of gratitude that labored for adequate expression he adored that exuberant goodness which, from the depth of obscurity, had exalted him to the head of a great nation, and that nation fighting at fearful odds for all the world holds dear. …
“Soon as the General had finished his devotions and had retired, Friend Potts returned to his house, and threw himself into a chair by the side of his wife. ‘Height! Isaac!’ said she with tenderness, ‘thee seems agitated; what’s the matter?’
“‘Indeed, my dear’ quoth he, ‘if I appear agitated ’tis no more than what I am. I have seen this day what I shall never forget. Till now I have thought that a Christian and a soldier were characters incompatible; but if George Washington be not a man of God, I am mistaken, and still more shall I be disappointed if God does not through him perform some great thing for this country.'”
Congress, September 10, 1782:
“In response to the need for Bibles which again arose, granted approval to print ‘a neat edition of the Holy Scriptures for the use of schools.’ The printing was contracted to Robert Aitken of Philadelphia, a bookseller and the publisher of The Pennsylvania Magazine. … The following endorsement of Congress was printed on its front page:
‘Whereupon, Resolved, That the United States in Congress assembled … recommend this edition of the Bible to the inhabitants of the United States, and hereby authorize (Robert Aitken) to publish this recommendation in the manner he shall think proper.'”
Congress, May 1, 1789:
“Approved in the House of Representatives to elect Rev. William Linn, a Dutch Reformed minister in New York City, as its chaplain and then appropriated five hundred dollars from the Federal treasury to pay his salary. The Right Reverend Bishop Samuel Provost was elected and publicly paid to be the chaplain of the Senate.”
President Franklin D. Roosevelt:
The White House
Washington
January 25, 1941
To the Armed Forces:
“As Commander-in-Chief, I take pleasure in commending the reading of the Bible to all who serve in the armed forces of the United States. Throughout the centuries men of many faiths and diverse origins have found in the Sacred Book words of wisdom, counsel and inspiration. It is a fountain of strength and now, as always, an aid in attaining the highest aspiration of the human soul.
Very Sincerely Yours,
Franklin D. Roosevelt”
Congress In 1954, approved a joint resolution calling for the establishment of “A room with facilities for prayer and meditation for the use of Members of the Senate and House of Representatives.
“This small room in the Capitol, just off the rotunda, is always open
when Congress is in session. It is for the private prayer and meditation of members of Congress, but it is not open to the public.
“An open Bible is upon an altar, and located above it is the focal point
of the room, which is a stained glass window showing George Washington kneeling in prayer. Behind him are etched these words from Psalm 16:1: ‘Preserve me, O God; for in thee do I put my trust.'”
We had to “come a long way, baby,” to arrive at 1984, when on August 11, Congress passed the Equal Access Act:
“Sec. 4071. (a) It shall be unlawful for any public secondary school which receives Federal financial assistance and which has a limited open forum to deny equal access or a fair opportunity to, or discriminate against, any students who wish to conduct a meeting within that limited open forum on the basis of the religious, political, philosophical, or other content of the speech at such meeting.”
Quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from America’s God and Country Encyclopedia of Quotations, by William J. Federer. 1994, Fame Publishing, Coppell, Texas.
