The Constitution of the United States of America was composed after much consideration and strife with our mother country, England. It was written to elucidate and safeguard the truths our founding fathers deemed self-evident; these were the rights granted to every man, woman, and child by the grace of God. In creating the Constitution, James Madison, Ben Franklin, and their worthy colleagues sought to craft a document that would stand the passage of time.
Although the document emphasized centralization (federalization) of our new government, it included provisions to safeguard the rights of the individual States and for the separation of Church and State: a condition that guaranteed American citizens the right to practice their religion without fear of persecution. This freedom distinguished our nation from others and became a beacon of hope to those experiencing religious oppression in their own countries.
From the moment of our nation’s birth, George Washington and every successive leader has made reference to God in governing and protecting our land. Religious symbols and terminology were always invoked in swearing parties into public office and demanding that witnesses speak the truth in courts of law. Every denomination of our currency carries the words, “In God We Trust.” These things echoed the underlying tenets of the Constitution: that every citizen and lawmaker is held to a higher authority.
The Constitution was designed to be shaped, interpreted, and modified to protect our citizens against threats both within and without our borders. Yet, our Founding Fathers could not have foreseen the magnitude of change we have experienced as a nation evolving over more than two hundred years. Now, interpretation of the Constitution is left to the best or perhaps the most powerful (i.e., moneyed) legal minds in the nation, also known as the Supreme Court. Their decisions are final. The phrase “Who died and made you God?” is particularly apt, for God has ceased being the Higher Authority in this nation. Indeed, He has ceased to be, because right or wrong, We the People have to live with the decisions handed down by the Supreme Court.
Did our Founding Fathers gaze into a crystal ball when crafting the Constitution? Could they have envisioned the issue of abortion when they sought to separate Church from State? Did they prophesize the tug of war fought to display/not display religious symbols on public property? Or, did they mean to simply guarantee religious freedom to our citizens? You do not have to be a Supreme Court Judge to answer these questions.
In defending our country from its enemies, we find God being written out of our history. Although engraved onto the World War II National Memorial, President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Pearl Harbor Day speech has been politically corrected. Many current references to this speech eliminate FDR’s heartfelt words, “So help us God.”
Christ has been removed from Christmas, for Christmas has been amended to The Holiday Season, Happy Holidays, or Winter Break. Religious symbols are verboten in governmental structures; prayer was banned in public schools in the early 1960’s. All of this was done under the guise of separating Church from State. So, how does religious freedom fit in a Godless country that still professes to be the greatest democracy in the world?
The Bible states that God set forth a set of laws by which man was compelled to live. The Ten Commandments were handed down to Moses on two stone tablets. Containing not a single amendment, they serve as the basis of our own laws (“Thou shalt not steal,” “Thou shalt not kill,” “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor,” etc.). Whereas our legal system is convoluted and often confusing, God managed to cover all the bases with but Ten Commandments. I guess that’s why we call Him God!
Do you want to continue to write God out of our history and ensure that he is omitted for future generations? If not, contact your Congressman or Congresswoman to demand that God is re-instituted. While you’re at it, say a prayer. Ask God’s help to give our leaders the wisdom they need to lead us properly through a society that worships The Almighty Dollar instead of a truly Higher Authority.
Today June 28 2010, the Supreme Court extended the 2nd Amendemnt of the Costitution to state and local levels, with a vote of 5-4
the 2nd Amendment protects the rights of individuals to have a gun for self-defense. …
Are we rewritng history?