Rediscovering God In America 5

(This article was taken from the book “Rediscovering God in America” by Newt Gingrich featuring the photography of Callista Gingrich. This article is the fifth of many based on that book)

UPON THE ALTAR OF GOD

The Jefferson Memorial

“God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God?”

Thomas Jefferson

President Jefferson allowed the use of public buildings for church services, including the US Capitol Building. When he wrote the first plan of education adopted by the District of Columbia, he used the Bible and Isaac Watts’ hymnal as the principal texts for teaching reading to students.

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HE WHO MADE THE WORLD STILL GOVERNS IT

The Lincoln Memorial

“I am profitably engaged in reading the Bible. Take all of this Book upon reason that you can, and the balance by faith and you will live and die a better man.”

Abraham Lincoln

The Gettysburg Address concludes with “We here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation, under God, shall have anew birth of freedom.”

Lincoln’s second inaugural address, considered by some to be his greatest speech, mentions God fourteen times and references the Bible four times.

At a White House dinner during the war, the clergyman who gave the benediction closed with a thought: "The Lord is on the Union's side" to which Lincoln responded: "I am not at all concerned about that, for I know that the Lord is always on the side of the right. But it is my constant anxiety and prayer that I and this nation should be on the Lord's side."

In the November following the Battle of Gettysburg—the same month as the Gettysburg Address—Lincoln proclaimed that the last Thursday of November should henceforth be set aside as a day of thanksgiving. Many days of thanksgiving had been proclaimed by presidents before this one, but this proclamation is the one that finally made Thanksgiving the national holiday that we celebrate annually. Lincoln explained:

"It has seemed to me fit and proper that they [gifts of God] should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American people. I do, therefore, invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens." [October 3,1863]

A year later, upon receiving a gift of a Bible from a group of African- Americans from Baltimore, Lincoln offered these words of thanks: In regard to this great book, I have but to say, it is the best gift God has given to men. All the good Savior gave to the world was communicated through this book. But for it we could not know right from wrong. All things most desirable for man's welfare, here and hereafter, are to be found portrayed in it. To you I. return my most sincere thanks for the elegant company of the great Book of God which you present. [September 9, 1864]

Ray R Barmore
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Rediscovering God in America 4

By Ray Barmore

GEORGE WASHINGTON

(This article was taken from the book “Rediscovering God in America” by Newt Gingrich featuring the photography of Callista Gingrich. This article is the fourth of many based on that book)

“It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God and to obey his will.” George Washington

Washington took the oath of office on April 30, 1789, with his hand on the Bible. Immediately following the oath, Washington added, "So help me God," and bent forward and kissed the Bible before him. He then delivered America's first inaugural address, in which he made note of America's indebtedness to our Creator, stating: No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand which conducts the affairs of men more than the people of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of Providential agency.

THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT

From the base of the Washington Monument to its aluminum capstone, this memorial to our first president is filled with references to our Creator. This is no coincidence, as George Washington was a profoundly religious man.

The ceremonial cornerstone was laid on July 4, 1848, with much fanfare, although the stone was eventually covered up during the construction, and its exact location is unknown today. Many items were placed inside of it, including a Holy Bible and a gift from the Bible Society. They were placed alongside copies of the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution.

The east side of the capstone reads the Latin inscription Laus Deo, which means "Praise be to God."

As you walk inside the monument, you will see a memorial plaque from the Free Press Methodist-Episcopal Church, which was donated in 1893 by the Sabbath School Children of the Philadelphia Congregation.

This is the first of many references to God, including a prayer offered by the city of Baltimore on the twelfth landing, a memorial offered by Chinese Christians on the twentieth landing, and a presentation made by Sunday school children from New York and Philadelphia on the twenty-fourth landing.

Other carved tribute blocks in the Washington Monument include: "Holiness to the Lord"; "Search the Scriptures"; "The memory of the just is blessed"; "May Heaven to this union continue its beneficence"; "In God We Trust"; and "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

THE FAITH OF GEORGE WASHINGTON

During the first meeting of the Continental Congress in Philadelphia in September, George Washington prayed alongside the other delegates, including Patrick Henry, John Jay, and Edmund Randolph, as they received the news that war with England had erupted in Boston. Here Anabaptists, Quakers, Congregationalists, Episcopalians, Unitarians, and Presbyterians all recited Psalm 35 together as patriots.

George Washington also proclaimed the first national day of thanksgiving in the United States. In 1795 he offered a proclamation of prayer and thanksgiving to the nation. His entire proclamation follows:

“When we review the calamities which afflict so many other nations, the present condition of the United States affords much matter of consolation and satisfaction. Our exemption hitherto from foreign war, an increasing prospect of the continuance of that exemption, the great degree of internal tranquility we have enjoyed, the recent confirmation of that tranquility by the suppression of an insurrection which so wantonly threatened it, the happy course of our public affairs in general, the unexampled prosperity of all classes of our citizens, are circumstances which peculiarly mark our situation with indications of the Divine beneficence toward us. In such a state of things it is in an especial manner our duty as a people, with devout reverence and affectionate gratitude, to acknowledge our many and great obligations to Almighty God and to implore Him to continue and confirm the blessings we experience. Deeply penetrated with this sentiment, I, George Washington, President of the United States, do recommend to all religious societies and denominations, and to all persons whomsoever, within the United States to set apart and observe Thursday, the 19th day of February next, as a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, and on that day to meet together and render their sincere and hearty thanks to the Great Ruler of Nations for the manifold and signal mercies which distinguish our lot as a nation, particularly for the possession of constitutions of government which unite and by their union establish liberty with order; for the preservation of our peace, foreign and domestic; for the seasonable control which has been given to a spirit of disorder in the suppression of the late insurrection, and generally, for the prosperous course of our affairs, public and private; and at the same time humbly and fervently to beseech the kind Author of these blessings graciously to prolong them to us; to imprint on our hearts a deep and solemn sense of our obligations to Him for them; to teach us rightly to estimate their immense value; to preserve us from the arrogance of prosperity, and from hazarding the advantages we enjoy by delusive pursuits; to dispose us to merit the continuance of His favors by not abusing them; by our gratitude for them, and by a correspondent conduct as citizens and men; to render this country more and more a safe and propitious asylum for the unfortunate of other countries; to extend among us true and useful knowledge; to diffuse and establish habits of sobriety, order, morality, and piety, and finally, to impart all the blessings we possess, or ask for ourselves, to the whole family of mankind.”

Ray R Barmore
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Rediscovering God In America 3

REDISCOVERING GOD IN AMERICA 3

By Ray Barmore

THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES

(This article was taken from the book “Rediscovering God in America” by Newt Gingrich featuring the photography of Callista Gingrich. This article is the third of many based on that book)

The National Archives is the repository of our nation’s most important documents. Upon walking into the building, you will see an image of the Ten Commandments engrave in bronze on the floor, signifying that our legal system has it’s origin in the Ten Commandments. The Judeo-Christian beliefs brought by the Pilgrims and others to the New World formed the foundation of our Constitution and our system of laws today

Probably the most important documents in American history are kept here, The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States of America.

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

The Declaration of Independence has four references to God:
-- As Lawmaker “the laws of nature and nature’s God”
-- As Creator “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights”
-- As Supreme Judge “the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions”
-- As Protector “the protection of Divine Providence”

President John Quincy Adams raised the connection between Christianity and the Declaration at a speech given on Independence Day 1837 at Newburyport. He queried: Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer's mission upon earth? That it laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity?

The Declaration of Independence provides the proper context through which to understand the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights, with a renewed focus on the nature of the rights these documents were designed to protect.

THE CONSTITUTION AND THE BILL OF RIGHTS

Another document housed in the National Archives is the Constitution of the United States. Because of their belief that each person's unalienable rights come from God, the authors of the Constitution began the document with these three historic words: "We the people." Notice that they did not write "we the states" or "we the government." The Founders rejected the notion that such entities were sources of freedom and liberty.

The first ten amendments to the Constitution are known as the Bill of Rights. Amendment 1 begins: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." Contrary to those who want to eliminate religious expression from the public square, these important words were written to protect freedom of religion, not freedom from religion. The language clearly prohibits the establishment of an official national religion, while at the same time protecting the observance of religion in both private and public spaces. In fact, two of the principal authors of the First Amendment, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, who were also our third and fourth presidents, respectively, both attended church services in the Capitol building, the most public of American spaces. During Jefferson's presidency, church services were also held in the Treasury building and the Supreme Court. Therefore, these Founding Fathers clearly saw no conflict in opposing the establishment of an official religion while protecting the freedom of religious expression in the public square.

The Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights all show that America's Founding Fathers intended to forge a nation under God. These are only a few of the treasured documents housed in the National Archives, but together they form the foundation for the freedoms all Americans enjoy today.

Ray R Barmore
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Rediscovering God In America 2

THE CREATOR AND THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SQUARE

(Most of this article is taken from the book “Rediscovering God in America” by Newt Gingrich featuring the photography of Callista Gingrich. This article is the second of many based on that book) The text in Italics has been inserted by me.

The Founding Fathers, from the very birth of the United States, publicly acknowledged God as central to defining America and to securing the blessings of liberty for the new nation.

Our first president, George Washington, at his first inauguration on April 30,1789, "put his right hand on the Bible . . . [after taking the oath] adding 'So help me God.' He then bent forward and kissed the Bible before him." In his inaugural address, Washington remarked that:

It would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official act my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the universe, who presides in the councils of nations, and whose providential aids can supply every human defect, that His benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the people of the United States a Government instituted by themselves for these essential purposes, and may enable every instrument employed in its administration to execute with success the functions allotted to his charge. . . . No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than those of the United States. You will join with me, I trust, in thinking that there are none under the influence of which the proceedings of a new and free government can more auspiciously commence.

Then in the Thanksgiving Proclamation of October 3,1789, Washington declared, "It is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the Providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor." Note that Washington was not only asserting that individuals have obligations before God, but that nations do as well. At this point, the United States government was not yet a year old.

That most astute observer of early America, Alexis de Tocqueville, observed in Democracy in America (1835):

I do not know whether all Americans have a sincere faith in their religion, for who can read the human heart? But I am certain that they hold it to be indispensable to the maintenance of republican institutions.

This view that religion was an indispensable support of republican government was all encompassing among the founding generation:

I dwell on this prospect with every satisfaction which an ardent love for my Country can inspire: since there is no truth more thoroughly established, than that there exists in the economy and course of nature, an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness, between duty and advantage, between the genuine maxims of an honest and magnanimous policy, and the solid rewards of public prosperity and felicity: Since we ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven, can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which Heaven itself has ordained: And since the preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the Republican model of Government, are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally staked, on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.

— GEORGE WASHINGTON
— First Inaugural Address

True religion affords to government its surest support.

— GEORGE WASHINGTON
— to the Synod of the Reformed Dutch Church of North America , October 1789

Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.

— GEORGE WASHINGTON
— Farewell Address

We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.

— JOHN ADAMS

Religion and good morals are the only solid foundation of public liberty and happiness.

—SAMUEL ADAMS

The politician who loves liberty sees . . . a gulph [sic] that may swallow up the liberty to which he is devoted. He knows that morality overthrown (and morality must fall without religion) the terrors of despotism can alone curb the impetuous passions of man, and confine him within the bonds of social duty.

— ALEXANDER HAMILTON

Without morals a republic cannot subsist any length of time; they therefore, who are decrying the Christian religion, whose morality is so sublime and pure, which denounces against the wicked, the eternal misery, and insures to the good eternal happiness, are undermining the solid foundations of morals, the best security for the duration of free governments.

— CHARLES CARROLL

Our country should be preserved from the dreadful evil of becoming enemies of the religion of the Gospel, which I have no doubt, but would be the introduction of the dissolution of government and the bonds of civil society.

— ELIAS BOUDINOT

Religion and Virtue are the only Foundations, not only of Republicanism and of all free Government, but of social felicity under all Governments and in all Combinations of human society.

—JOHN ADAMS

Reading, reflection, and time have convinced me that the interests of society require the observation of those moral precepts . . . in which all religions agree.

— THOMAS JEFFERSON

Religion is the only solid Base of morals and Morals are the only possible support of free governments.

— GOUVERNEUR MORRIS

The only foundation for a useful education in a republic is to be laid in religion. Without this there can be no virtue, and without virtue there can be no liberty, and liberty is the object and life of all republican governments.

—BENJAMIN RUSH

For the Founders, it was abundantly clear. Religious liberty and freedom of religious expression would be indispensable supports for our democratic traditions of government and our pluralistic society.

And so they have, for over two hundred years.

It is important to recognize that the benefits of these supports accrue to people of  for all people of goodwill, whether religious, agnostic, atheist, or radical secularist. Likewise, the Founders clearly believed that the weakening of these religious supports—such as by the hostile treatment of religion in American public life—threatens to undermine the very republican institutions under which the religious and the non-religious alike find their liberties.

It is with this understanding in mind of the beliefs of America's founding generation that it becomes very clear why our national leaders have consistently invoked the protection of divine Providence in times of great national strife. It didn't happen for the first time in 1954 when the Congress added the words "under God" to the Pledge. On July 2, 1776, as the Continental Congress was meeting in Philadelphia to declare independence, George Washington was gathering his troops on Long Island to meet the British in battle. Washington wrote in the general orders to his men that day:

The time is now near at hand which must probably determine whether Americans are to be freemen or slaves.... The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and conduct of this army.

The very same week we were declaring our independence from Great Britain, Washington was asserting that American independence ultimately depended on God.

Likewise, Abraham Lincoln, in his Gettysburg Address, remarked that: It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to the cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom; and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Like Washington before him, Lincoln understood that America's new birth of freedom would require that the nation seek the source of its liberties in the same place it had prior to the Civil War—under God.

In the ongoing effort to reject the founding generation's vision for religious liberty by removing any form of religious expression from American public life, the courts and the classroom are the two principal places at the center of this fight. These are the two arenas in which the secular Left has imposed change against the wishes of the overwhelming majority of Americans. Yet if we insist on courts that follow the facts of American history in interpreting the Constitution, we will reestablish the right of every American to publicly acknowledge our Creator as the source of our rights, our well being, and our wisdom. And if we insist on patriotic education both for our children and for new immigrants, we will preserve the "mystic chords of memory" that have made America the most exceptional nation in history.

In the National Archives you will find the original Declaration of Independence. It is in this document that you will find the immortal phrase declaring that we "are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights."

This was the beginning of our independence as a free people.

Note: For additional quotes by our Founding Fathers, go to the beginning of this blog.

Ray R Barmore
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Why I believe in God

By Ray Barmore

This months post is going to be different than normal.

I have been asked if I ever question the existence of God. My answer may be a surprise, but yes I do question the existence of God. To me, it really doesn’t make any sense to exist and stay hidden from your creations. One might answer that God is all around us, just open your eyes and your heart. Ok, I agree! But why hasn’t God appeared in the last 2000 years. It seems that if I were a God, I wouldn’t leave any question as to my existence. There would be no doubt as to the proper way to worship me or what was the proper religion – Christianity, Judaism, Islam or even which church, Catholic, Mormon, etc.

Ok if I question the existence, why do I still believe that a God exists? It’s actually pretty simple; I have used the process of elimination. There are only two theories of how we got here. One is called the Theory of Evolution and the other is called the Theory of Creation. Neither theory addresses the beginning. Where did matter, space or even God come from? By the way, both theories require faith. The Theory of Evolution has so many holes in it that the only conclusion an intelligent individual can make is that evolution couldn’t possibly actually happen and therefore the Theory of Creation must be correct.

Some of the Problems with the Theory of Evolution.

1. According to the big bang theory, a tiny particle of very dense matter exploded, creating the beginning of the universe. Imagine an explosion in space without any gravity or resistance. You would have all matter blown away, leaving nothing in the center. As the particles traveled through space, their separation would increase making it very difficult to rejoin other particles. Also, no void of matter exists which would represent the point of explosion.

2. But, assuming the big bang occurred; the universe would now be filled with inorganic particles. We are led to believe that a magic elixir of inorganic particles could produce organic particles. Non-living to living. No life to life.

This elixir would have had to happen at least twice. At one time, dinosaurs ruled the earth, without humans. Then the dinosaurs all died. We now believe that a giant meteor measuring 100 miles in diameter landed in Mexico, causing earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis and wildfires. The destruction was so great it left most of the world a wasteland, shrouded in dust, perpetually cold and virtually devoid of all life and vegetation.

Then, the magic elixir would have had to happen again. Not just in one place in the ocean, but in most bodies of water all over the world. Look at the diversity of plants and animals all over the world. Every continent in the world has unique plants, animals, fish, birds and reptiles that exist only there. Plus many of them are localized to certain areas of the continent.

3. According to the theory of evolution, mankind climbed out of the water and continued to evolve until we became modern man. Since this took millions of years, one would naturally assume that there would be millions of fossils representing the evolution of all animals, not just man. However, there isn’t even one fossil suggesting that an evolutionary process took place. In fact, every single fossil found is identical to the present day being.

Another thing that most people don’t think about: dinosaurs also had to evolve. That means there should be millions of dinosaur fossils representing their evolution. Once again we come up blank.

Also, everyone of these animals that were evolving had to know about their reproduction process and had to have the organs to reproduce.

And then we have the evolution of plants. Did a rose bush and a dandelion get together and produce a giant redwood? Not hardly. It is actually more difficult for me to believe in the evolution of plants than the evolution of animals. Think about it, seeds also had to come from the water and in sufficient quantity.

4. Evolution itself is really an unjustified theory. Question - What is evolution? Answer - The mutation of an organism. Every mutation that we are aware of hasn’t improved the subject, but instead has made it worse.

There are many scientific problems with the big bang that I don't understand, but you can learn more at Big Problems with the Big Bang

So, since the theory of evolution is too ridiculous to take seriously, the only belief left that makes any sense is the Theory of Creation.

Ray R Barmore
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Rediscovering God In America 1

THE CREATOR AND THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SQUARE

(Most of this article is taken from the book “Rediscovering God in America” by Newt Gingrich featuring the photography of Callista Gingrich. This article will be the first of many based on that book) The text in Italics has been inserted by me.

We are a religious people and our institutions presuppose a Supreme Being.

On June 25, 1962, the U.S. Supreme Court declared school-sponsored prayers unconstitutional in the landmark case Engel v. Vitale. This was the start of the movement to remove God from public life. I have often wondered how any intelligent person could consider what was done from July 5, 1776 to June 25, 1962 was wrong and unconstitutional.

In the last fifty years, the Court has moved from recognizing the central importance of religious supports to America's republican institutions to tolerating traditional expressions of religious belief only on the basis of their presumed insincerity.

For most Americans, the blessings of God are the basis of our liberty, prosperity, and survival as a unique country. For most Americans, prayer is real, and we subordinate ourselves to a God on whom we call for wisdom, guidance, and salvation.

For most Americans, the prospect of a ruthlessly secular society that would forbid public reference to God and systematically remove all religious symbols from the public square is horrifying.

Yet, the voice of the overwhelming majority of Americans is rejected by a media-academic-legal elite that finds religious expression frightening and threatening, or old-fashioned and unsophisticated. The results of their opposition are everywhere.

Our schools have been steadily driving the mention of God out of American history. (look at your children’s textbooks or at the curriculum guide for your local school.)

Our courts have been literally outlawing references to God, religious symbols, and stated public appeals to God.

For two generations we have passively accepted the judiciary's assault on the values of the overwhelming majority of Americans. It is time to insist on judges who understand that throughout our history— and continuing to this day—Americans believe that their fundamental rights come from God and are therefore unalienable.

The secular Left has been inventing law and grotesquely distorting the Constitution to achieve a goal that the Founding Fathers would consider a fundamental threat to liberty.

A steadfast commitment to religious freedom is the very cornerstone of American liberty. People came to America's shores to be free to practice their religious beliefs. It brought the Puritans with their desire to create a "city on a hill" that would be a beacon of religious belief and piety.

The Pilgrims were another group that poured into the new colonies! Quakers in Pennsylvania were another; Catholics in Maryland yet a fourth.

One of the first things English settlers did when arriving to the new world in 1607 was to erect a cross at Cape Henry to give thanks to God for safe passage.

A religious revival, the Great Awakening in the 1730s, inspired many Americans to fight the Revolutionary War to secure their God-given freedoms. Another great religious revival in the nineteenth century inspired the abolitionists' campaign to end slavery.

It was no accident that the marching song of the Union army during the Civil War included the line "as Christ died to make men holy let us die to make men free." That phrase was later changed to "let us live to make men free." But for the men in uniform—who were literally placing their lives on the line to end slavery—they knew that the original line was the right one.

It is a testament to the genius of the Founding Fathers that they designed a practical form of government that allows religious groups the freedom to express their strong religious beliefs in the public square—a constitutional framework that avoids inter-religious conflict and discrimination, which had characterized part of the colonial period.

It was in this historic context that America proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence that all people "are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

This is the proposition upon which America was based, and when Thomas Jefferson wrote these lines, he turned on its head the idea that power only came from God through the monarch and then to the people. Jefferson's immortal words about unalienable rights coming from our Creator echoed the thinking of so many of the Founding Fathers.

Four years before the Declaration of Independence was written, John Adams wrote, "If men, through fear, fraud, or mistake, should in terms renounce and give up any essential natural right, the eternal law of reason and the great end of society, would absolutely vacate such renunciation; the right to freedom being the gift of God Almighty, it is not in the power of Man to alienate this gift, and voluntarily become a slave."

In 1775, Alexander Hamilton wrote, "The sacred rights of mankind are not to be rummaged for, among old parchments, or musty records. They are written, as with a sun beam, in the whole volume of human nature, by the hand of divinity itself; and can never be erased or obscured by mortal power."

John Dickinson, a Pennsylvania Quaker and signer of the U.S. Constitution, wrote in the same year of the Constitution's adoption that "Kings or parliaments could not give the rights essential to happiness— we claim them from a higher source—from the King of Kings and the Lord of all the Earth. They are not annexed to us by parchments or seals. They are created in us by the decrees of Providence, which establish the laws of our nature. They are born with us; and cannot be taken from us by any human power."

The Founding Fathers believed that God granted rights directly to every person. Moreover, these rights were "unalienable"—-government simply had no power to take them away. Throughout the dramatic years of America's founding, religious expression was commonplace among the Founding Fathers and considered wholly compatible with the principles of the American Revolution. In 1774, the very first Continental Congress invited the Reverend Jacob Duche to begin each session with a prayer. When the war against Britain began, the Continental Congress provided for chaplains to serve with the military and be paid at the same rate as majors in the army.

During the Constitutional Convention of 1787, Benjamin Franklin (often considered one of the least religious of the Founding Fathers) proposed that the Convention begin each day with a prayer. As the oldest delegate, at age eighty-one, Franklin insisted that "the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth—that God governs in the Affairs of Men." Because of their belief that power had come from God to each individual, the framers began the Constitution with the words "we the people." Note that the Founding Fathers did not write "we the states." Nor did they write "we the government." Nor d id they write "we the lawyers and judges" or "we the media and academic classes."

These historic facts pose an enormous problem for the secular Left. How can they explain America without addressing its religious character and heritage? If they dislike and, in many cases, fear this heritage, then how can they communicate the core nature of the American people and their experience? The answer is that since the secular Left cannot accurately teach American history without addressing America's religious character and its religious heritage, it simply ignores the topic. If you don't teach about the Founding Fathers, you do not have to teach about our Creator. If you don't teach about Abraham Lincoln, you don't have to deal with fourteen references to God and four Bible verses in his 703- word second inaugural address. That speech is actually carved into the wall of the Lincoln Memorial in a permanent affront to every radical secularist who visits this public building. You have to wonder how soon there will be a lawsuit to scrape the references to God and the Bible off the monument so as not to offend those who hate or despise religious expression.

This is no idle threat. Dr. Michael Newdow, the radical secularist, has vowed to continue his fight in court to outlaw the words "under God," telling the New York Times that he intends to "ferret out all insidious uses of religion in daily life.

Michael Arthur Newdow (born June 24, 1953) is an American attorney and emergency medicine physician. He is best known for his efforts to have recitations of the current version of the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools in the United States declared unconstitutional because of its inclusion of the phrase "under God". In November 2005, Newdow announced he wants to have "In God We Trust" removed from U.S. coins and banknotes. This man represents pure evil. Could he be one of satan’s demons or just totally misguided?

I often wonder why atheists work so hard to remove God from our lives. I have come to the conclusion that it’s just like the majority of people when they do something wrong or unpopular. The more people they can get to do the same thing or believe the same way, the better they feel and the more secure they feel in their belief.

I'm writing this article on the atheists national holiday, April 1st.

Ray R Barmore
Health and Wellness Coach
The Herbal Guy
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Founding Fathers

By Ray Barmore

Lets pretend that a group of elected people get together and write down some rules for the group that elected them. Then, that group applies those rules to the group for 170 years. Do you think it would be legitimate to have another group of people 170 years later say that everybody has been doing it wrong for the last 170 years?

Well, that is what has happened with the discussion of separation of church and state.

How can this be?

In the last 60 years, the courts have decided that everything our Founding Fathers wrote about God in America and in fact practiced wasn’t what they really intended. Again I ask you: how can this be?

The voice of the majority has been silenced due to apathy, fear and political correctness. The fear that they will be considered old fashion and too conservative. The liberal movement has taken control or reason, fact and history. History is being changed because a liberal believes they and only they should determine what is right and wrong, good or bad. Forget about the original intent of our Constitution and the men who wrote it. We even have a Supreme Court Justice now that has stated the Constitution is fluid and means something different today than it did when it was written.

Every facet of our lives has been changed. From removing religious symbols from public display to ridding our schools of any notion that there could be a God.

Our schools are afraid to even mention the word God. The school books have removed the mention of God and religion to the point that they really aren’t teaching American history anymore, they are teaching make believe.

In school we used to study the farewell speech of George Washington, but we don’t any longer because he mentions the importance of religion in our lives. He wrote: “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.” and “And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.”

The last sentence has proven to be correct. National morality has decreased to the point that we expect people to lie, cheat and steal. Our politicians make campaign promises they don’t intend to keep and we don’t expect them to. Abortion is a great way to limit births. A teenager needs a permission slip from their parents to go on a field trip, but not to get an abortion. Profanity is prevalent everywhere in society.

George Washington's had tremendous support for the importance of religion and morality in not only promoting private and public happiness, but also in promoting the political prosperity of the nation. If you read some of my earlier blogs, you will notice that people came to America for religious freedom. From Christopher Columbus to the Puritans, they were all deeply religious and developed a country they believe would have religious freedom. They also recognized the fact that God was an important part of American and that we had God’s help in designing the Constitution and in developing America. We have gone from separation of church and state to the separation of religion and state, making us basically an atheist nation.

GOD HELP US.

Ray R Barmore
Health and Wellness Coach
The Herbal Guy
San Diego California
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America's Christian Roots

By Dr. Michael Youssef

In my last column, I explained that while a country itself is not a Christian being, Christian individuals make up a country, and the ideals of a country certainly can reflect a Christian heritage and legacy. I want to explain more to you why we do consider America a country founded upon Christianity, and not a set of secularist philosophies.

President Obama declared during his April 2009 visit to Turkey that, "One of the great strengths of the United States is...we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation. We consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values."

While I have utter respect for the office of the presidency of the United States and I pray for our President daily, I cannot abide by his statement. His words were not only an affront to our nation's history, but the statement is a contradiction of terms. He claims Americans are bound together by shared ideals, but history shows us that our country's foundational laws and charters were rooted in the Bible. Every one of our country's values blossomed out of biblical roots.

Contrary to what many secularists today try to tell us, the Founding Fathers were not skeptics or unbelievers. They were not Muslims or Buddhists. They were men and women whose faith was built on the Lord Jesus Christ. Their Christian devotion manifested itself in the documents they wrote, in the laws they formed, and in their very patriotism for their new God-given land.

Here are some truths regarding the true Christian nature of our country. Beginning with the colonial charters, we see a great passion for not only promoting God's truths, but for spreading the Gospel. The Mayflower Compact specifies that the colonies were established "for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith." The Delaware Charter defines one of the purposes for its settlements as the "further propagation of the Holy Gospel." The charter of Rhode Island commits to "the true Christian faith and worship of God." The Charter of Maryland explained a "pious Zeal for extending the Christian Religion."

In the Declaration of Independence, our Founding Fathers acknowledged God as our country's Divine Protector. In an 1844 U.S. Supreme Court case, the Court said, "Why may not the Bible and especially the New Testament be read and taught as a divine revelation in the [school]?...Where else can the purest principles of morality be learned so clearly or so perfectly as from the New Testament?"

Without the Bible, we would have no values and ideals. We would have anarchy in this land. Yet that is exactly what secularists are trying to do by ripping out the cross from public life, from hiding prayers at public and even private events, and by silencing Christians from freely speaking biblical truths. These so-called forward thinkers are dismantling over 200 years' worth of Bible-based freedoms and exchanging them for liberal dependence on a secularized government.

Before God fully removes His protection and blessings from this nation, we must repent of our apathy regarding the state of this union. We must no longer be content with what politicians tell us is the fate of our country, but rather we must unite in prayer to bring back the biblically based ideals which founded this nation.

About the author: Michael Youssef, Ph.D., is the Founder and President of Leading The Way with Dr. Michael Youssef, a worldwide ministry that leads the way for people living in spiritual darkness to discover the light of Christ through the creative use of media and on-the-ground ministry teams. More on Dr. Youssef can be found at http://www.leadingtheway.org/web/guest/home.


Ray R Barmore
Health and Wellness Coach
The Herbal Guy
San Diego California
619-876-5273
Skype: barmore4
Contact Me

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