MAY AMERICA TRULY
BE A 'NATION UNDER GOD'

The federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals says we are not a "nation under God," but what did the Founding Fathers have to save on the subject?

In theory, the current judges should go back into historical documents and determine what the writers of the Constitution meant when they declared that the federal government should not pass any "law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."

At that time, nearly every country in the world had its own state church, and it was considered treason, punishable by death, to oppose a state church. With good reason the Founding Fathers prohibited such a state-church partnership in America -- and this was, in and of itself, a revolutionary concept.

However, that does not mean the Founding Fathers wanted to expel God from public forums. To the contrary, Benjamin Franklin chastised the other delegates to the Constitutional Convention because their meetings were bogged down in strife and yet they had not called on God to guide their deliberations.

He said: "In the beginning of the contest with Great Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayer in this room for Divine protection. … Our prayers, Sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a superintending Providence in our favor.…  

"[Now] in this situation … how has it happened, Sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of lights. … Have we forgotten this powerful friend? Or do we imagine we no longer need his assistance?

"…We have been assured, Sir, in the Sacred Writings that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without his concurring aid, we shall succeed … no better than the builders of Babel," concluded Franklin.

With that reminder, the Constitutional Convention began regular prayer. And the results?

Another delegate, Benjamin Rush, wrote after the Constitution was concluded: "I am perfectly satisfied that the Union of the States in its form and adoption is as much the work of a Divine Providence as any of the miracles recorded in the Old and New Testament."

George Washington frequently testified of how God answered his prayers during the Revolutionary War. Thus, he noted in his inaugural address as our first president the importance of God in the affairs of this country.

"It would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official act my fervent supplication to the Almighty Being who rules over the universe, who presides in the councils of nations," he said. "…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."

In his Farewell Address eight years later, the "Father of our Country" again reiterated the importance of religion in America:

"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity -- religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness."

Our second president, John Adams, warned: "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."

Ironically, it was the first Supreme Court chief justice, John Jay, who warned Christians that they should hesitate before ever voting for a non-Christian who did not share common religious values.

Our Founding Fathers understood that it would be God who would "crown our good with brotherhood," and with happiness, peace, justice and security.

Let it be noted that before the 1962 Supreme Court decision throwing out prayer in school, social statistics relating to such things as teen pregnancy, divorce and violent crime were quite stable. But within 10 years of that first decision to throw God out of the classroom, all hell literally broke loose.

·        Premarital sex tripled.

·        Teen unwed motherhood more than doubled, and unwed teen births including abortions quadrupled.

·        Divorce doubled.

·        Murder arrests and all violent crime doubled.

President Abraham Lincoln warned: "The truth announced in the Holy Scripture, and proven by all history [is] that, 'Those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.'"

No matter what the federal courts say, may this always be a nation under God.

But more important than what words are uttered in school are the words uttered in our churches, in our homes and in our hearts. If we are to be a "nation under God," that's where it must begin.