You are currently browsing the monthly archive for June 2010.
The backers of the “DISCLOSE Act,” which just passed the House, say it’s about “saving the 
electoral process,” but wait until you hear what it would do to groups wanting to speak out on principle. In the Focus Action Update, Stuart Shepard asks Tom Minnery for the details, and also gets some insight into media bias in coverage of the G20 summit.
Watch the Video Here:
http://www.citizenlink.org/focusactionupdate/A000012934.cfm
Jesus and his disciples traveled unto the outskirts of Jerusalem where they would rest for the night before heading into the city. When they were settled, Jesus told two of his disciples to go into the city and procure an ass and a colt, which he knew was available for them. They did as they were required and returned. [1] 
It is a popular biblical story of Jesus Christ entering Jerusalem. Clearly if he was moved to do so, he could have acquired a chariot, decorated steeds, and arrived in the best comfort and luxury the era had to offer. However, in his legendary way, he humbly entered the city on this hybrid equidae and began healing, teaching, and moving closer to his crucifixion.
How the story would be different if Jesus had acquired a chauffeured Lexus to pick him up after his private jet with “JC” on the tail wing arrived at Jerusalem International where he would talk about piety, working for daily bread, and doing without in the name of charity.
A mule was all Jesus needed but many of the celebrity “disciples” of the modern day use their church’s tax-free revenue to buy toys and be politically active, in Jesus’ name.
Of course, if the givers are pleased with how the money they donate is spent, then no harm no foul. However, the other givers to churches are those in the communities that make up the property tax difference.
Scrolling through archives of articles on church taxation, I came across a New York Times article published on November 4, 1901. [2]
“Oppose Amendment to the Constitution” the non-biased newspaper headline read, “It will permit the taxing of church property if passed.” The amendment was a single line work of a surely self-proclaimed “clever” wordsmith who wrote “legislature shall not pass a private or local bill granting to any person, association, firm, or corporation an exemption from taxation of real or personal property.”
This would not only affect churches but benevolent associations as well. Many pastors, ministers, rabbis, and priests took to the podiums the Sunday prior to the vote to clearly tell their congregation to “vote no.”
Churches have always been exempt from taxation in the United States. The need for documenting revenue of churches was not something on the minds of the forefathers as churches were generally small congregations made up of the residents of the small communities in which they were built.
A church can simply be a church and be tax-exempt without filing a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, tax deductible, status; however, most of the modern day mega churches sign up to receive a gift from 1954’s Senator Lyndon B. Johnson. [3]
It was in 1954 that the churches could receive the benefit of becoming a registered 501(c)(3) organization. By becoming 501(c)(3), a church does not have to pay income tax, they do have to file a return if grossing more than $25,000, and their property (buildings, land, vehicles and airplanes) are tax-exempt.
Church Owned Property
As previously stated, what a church or non-profit organization does with their donated money is solely the business of the contributors to the organization. What many proponents of church taxation want to see is property tax.
Even the loudest of the church taxers generally do not wish to impose income tax on an organization. It is the property tax which has had some people lobbying for church property taxation for 135 years.
In 2008, the Tampa Tribune did a series of articles on Without Walls International Church and their co-pastors, Randy White and Paula White. From their Bayshore home, to their plastic surgery, to their ensuing divorce, the newspaper outlined the ins and outs of the couple and the ministry. [4]
The report led to Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) doing an inquiry on the church’s finances as well as financials of other mega churches across the country. The exposé led to financial problems within the church and ultimately the church had to liquidate properties and their Gulfstream jet.
Churches do have to pay a tax on some property that may not be tax-exempt such as property not solely used for religious purposes. In this case, Without Walls is paying close to $3,000 a year to the Hillsborough County Tax Collector for their 52,000 square foot establishment. [5]
Comparably, their neighbor Jerry Ulm Dodge Chrysler Jeep of 2966 North Dale Mabry Highway in Tampa is paying the county nearly $100,000 a year for their 30,000+ square foot property. [6] They also pay taxes for separately registered addresses surrounding the main dealership.
To better organize an estimation of the amount of money counties lose on 501(c)(3) properties, we also took a sample of several other churches in Hillsborough County.
http://www.seolawfirm.com/2010/06/the-church-politics-and-the-irs/
| The Founding Fathers on Jesus, Christianity and the Bible |
| David Barton – 05/2008 |
|
A Few Declarations of Founding Fathers and Early Statesmen on Jesus, Christianity, and the Bible(This list is by no means exhaustive; many other Founders could be included, and even with those who appear below, additional quotes could have been used.) John Adams SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE; JUDGE; DIPLOMAT; ONE OF TWO SIGNERS OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS; SECOND PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATESThe general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity. I will avow that I then believed, and now believe, that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God.1 The Holy Ghost carries on the whole Christian system in this earth. Not a baptism, not a marriage, not a sacrament can be administered but by the Holy Ghost. . . . There is no authority, civil or religious – there can be no legitimate government but what is administered by this Holy Ghost. There can be no salvation without it. All without it is rebellion and perdition, or in more orthodox words damnation.2 Without religion, this world would be something not fit to be mentioned in polite company: I mean hell.3 The Christian religion is, above all the religions that ever prevailed or existed in ancient or modern times, the religion of wisdom, virtue, equity and humanity.4 Suppose a nation in some distant region should take the Bible for their only law book and every member should regulate his conduct by the precepts there exhibited. . . . What a Eutopia – what a Paradise would this region be!5 I have examined all religions, and the result is that the Bible is the best book in the world.6 John Quincy Adams SIXTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES; DIPLOMAT; SECRETARY OF STATE; U. S. SENATOR; U. S. REPRESENTATIVE; “OLD MAN ELOQUENT”; “HELL-HOUND OF ABOLITION”My hopes of a future life are all founded upon the Gospel of Christ and I cannot cavil or quibble away [evade or object to]. . . . the whole tenor of His conduct by which He sometimes positively asserted and at others countenances [permits] His disciples in asserting that He was God.7 The hope of a Christian is inseparable from his faith. Whoever believes in the Divine inspiration of the Holy Scriptures must hope that the religion of Jesus shall prevail throughout the earth. Never since the foundation of the world have the prospects of mankind been more encouraging to that hope than they appear to be at the present time. And may the associated distribution of the Bible proceed and prosper till the Lord shall have made “bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God” [Isaiah 52:10].8 In the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior. The Declaration of Independence laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity.9 Samuel Adams SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE; “FATHER OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION”; RATIFIER OF THE U. S. CONSTITUTION; GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTSI . . . [rely] upon the merits of Jesus Christ for a pardon of all my sins.10 The name of the Lord (says the Scripture) is a strong tower; thither the righteous flee and are safe [Proverbs 18:10]. Let us secure His favor and He will lead us through the journey of this life and at length receive us to a better.11 I conceive we cannot better express ourselves than by humbly supplicating the Supreme Ruler of the world . . . that the confusions that are and have been among the nations may be overruled by the promoting and speedily bringing in the holy and happy period when the kingdoms of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ may be everywhere established, and the people willingly bow to the scepter of Him who is the Prince of Peace.12 He also called on the State of Massachusetts to pray that . . .
Josiah Bartlett MILITARY OFFICER; SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE; JUDGE; GOVERNOR OF NEW HAMPSHIRECalled on the people of New Hampshire . . . to confess before God their aggravated transgressions and to implore His pardon and forgiveness through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ . . . [t]hat the knowledge of the Gospel of Jesus Christ may be made known to all nations, pure and undefiled religion universally prevail, and the earth be fill with the glory of the Lord.16 Gunning Bedford MILITARY OFFICER; MEMBER OF THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS; SIGNER OF THE CONSTITUTION; FEDERAL JUDGETo the triune God – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost – be ascribed all honor and dominion, forevermore – Amen.17 Elias Boudinot PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS; SIGNED THE PEACE TREATY TO END THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION; FIRST ATTORNEY ADMITTED TO THE U. S. SUPREME COURT BAR; FRAMER OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS; DIRECTOR OF THE U. S. MINTLet us enter on this important business under the idea that we are Christians on whom the eyes of the world are now turned… [L]et us earnestly call and beseech Him, for Christ’s sake, to preside in our councils. . . . We can only depend on the all powerful influence of the Spirit of God, Whose Divine aid and assistance it becomes us as a Christian people most devoutly to implore. Therefore I move that some minister of the Gospel be requested to attend this Congress every morning . . . in order to open the meeting with prayer.18 A letter to his daughter:
For nearly half a century have I anxiously and critically studied that invaluable treasure [the Bible]; and I still scarcely ever take it up that I do not find something new – that I do not receive some valuable addition to my stock of knowledge or perceive some instructive fact never observed before. In short, were you to ask me to recommend the most valuable book in the world, I should fix on the Bible as the most instructive both to the wise and ignorant. Were you to ask me for one affording the most rational and pleasing entertainment to the inquiring mind, I should repeat, it is the Bible; and should you renew the inquiry for the best philosophy or the most interesting history, I should still urge you to look into your Bible. I would make it, in short, the Alpha and Omega of knowledge.20 Jacob Broom LEGISLATOR; SIGNER OF THE CONSTITUTIONA letter to his son, James, attending Princeton University:
Charles Carroll SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE; SELECTED AS DELEGATE TO THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION; FRAMER OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS; U. S. SENATOROn the mercy of my Redeemer I rely for salvation and on His merits, not on the works I have done in obedience to His precepts.22 Grateful to Almighty God for the blessings which, through Jesus Christ Our Lord, He had conferred on my beloved country in her emancipation and on myself in permitting me, under circumstances of mercy, to live to the age of 89 years, and to survive the fiftieth year of independence, adopted by Congress on the 4th of July 1776, which I originally subscribed on the 2d day of August of the same year and of which I am now the last surviving signer.23 I, Charles Carroll. . . . give and bequeath my soul to God who gave it, my body to the earth, hoping that through and by the merits, sufferings, and mediation of my only Savior and Jesus Christ, I may be admitted into the Kingdom prepared by God for those who love, fear and truly serve Him.24 Congress, 1854The great, vital, and conservative element in our system is the belief of our people in the pure doctrines and the divine truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.25 Congress, U. S. House Judiciary Committee, 1854Had the people, during the Revolution, had a suspicion of any attempt to war against Christianity, that Revolution would have been strangled in its cradle… In this age, there can be no substitute for Christianity… That was the religion of the founders of the republic and they expected it to remain the religion of their descendants.26 John Dickinson SIGNER OF THE CONSTITUTION; GOVERNOR OF PENNSYLVANIA; GOVERNOR OF DELAWARE; GENERAL IN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTIONRendering thanks to my Creator for my existence and station among His works, for my birth in a country enlightened by the Gospel and enjoying freedom, and for all His other kindnesses, to Him I resign myself, humbly confiding in His goodness and in His mercy through Jesus Christ for the events of eternity.27 [Governments] caould not give the rights essential to happiness… We claim them from a higher source: from the King of kings, and Lord of all the earth.28 Gabriel Duvall SOLDIER; JUDGE; SELECTED AS DELEGATE TO THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION; COMPTROLLER OF THE U. S. TREASURY; U. S. SUPREME COURT JUSTICEI resign my soul into the hands of the Almighty Who gave it, in humble hopes of His mercy through our Savior Jesus Christ.29 Benjamin Franklin SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION; DIPLOMAT; PRINTER; SCIENTIST; SIGNER OF THE CONSTITUTION; GOVERNOR OF PENNSYLVANIAAs to Jesus of Nazareth, my opinion of whom you particularly desire, I think the system of morals and His religion as He left them to us, the best the world ever saw or is likely to see.30 The body of Benjamin Franklin, printer, like the cover of an old book, its contents torn out and stripped of its lettering and guilding, lies here, food for worms. Yet the work itself shall not be lost; for it will, as he believed, appear once more in a new and more beatiful edition, corrected and amended by the Author.31 (FRANKLIN’S EULOGY THAT HE WROTE FOR HIMSELF) Elbridge Gerry SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE; MEMBER OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION; FRAMER OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS, GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATESHe called on the State of Massachusetts to pray that . . .
Alexander Hamilton REVOLUTIONARY GENERAL; SIGNER OF THE CONSTITUTION; AUTHOR OF THE FEDERALIST PAPERS; SECRETARY OF THE TREASURYFollowing his duel with Aaron Burr, in those final twenty four hours while life still remained in him, Hamilton called for two ministers, the Rev. J. M. Mason and the Rev. Benjamin Moore, to pray with him and administer Communion to him. Each of those two ministers reported what transpired. The Rev. Mason recounted:
The Rev. Benjamin Moore reported:
One other consequence of Hamilton’s untimely death was that it permanently halted the forma¬tion of a religious society Hamilton had proposed. Hamilton suggested that it be named the Christian Constitutional Society, and listed two goals for its formation: first, the support of the Christian religion; and second, the support of the Constitution of the United States. This or¬ganization was to have numerous clubs throughout each state which would meet regularly and work to elect to office those who reflected the goals of the Christian Constitutional Society. 37 John Hancock SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE; PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS; REVOLUTIONARY GENERAL; GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTSSensible of the importance of Christian piety and virtue to the order and happiness of a state, I cannot but earnestly commend to you every measure for their support and encouragement.38 He called on the entire state to pray “that universal happiness may be established in the world [and] that all may bow to the scepter of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the whole earth be filled with His glory.”39 He also called on the State of Massachusetts to pray . . .
John Hart JUDGE; LEGISLATOR; SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION[T]hanks be given unto Almighty God therefore, and knowing that it is appointed for all men once to die and after that the judgment [Hebrews 9:27] . . . principally, I give and recommend my soul into the hands of Almighty God who gave it and my body to the earth to be buried in a decent and Christian like manner . . . to receive the same again at the general resurrection by the mighty power of God.48 Patrick Henry REVOLUTIONARY GENERAL; LEGISLATOR; “THE VOICE OF LIBERTY”; RATIFIER OF THE U. S. CONSTITUTION; GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIABeing a Christian… is a character which I prize far above all this world has or can boast.49 The Bible… is a book worth more than all the other books that were ever printed.50 Righteousness alone can exalt America as a nation. Whoever thou art, remember this; and in thy sphere practice virtue thyself, and encourage it in others.51 The great pillars of all government and of social life [are] virtue, morality, and religion. This is the armor, my friend, and this alone, that renders us invincible.52 This is all the inheritance I can give to my dear family. The religion of Christ can give them one which will make them rich indeed.53 Samuel Huntington SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE; PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS; JUDGE; GOVERNOR OF CONNECTICUTIt becomes a people publicly to acknowledge the over-ruling hand of Divine Providence and their dependence upon the Supreme Being as their Creator and Merciful Preserver . . . and with becoming humility and sincere repentance to supplicate the pardon that we may obtain forgiveness through the merits and mediation of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.54 James Iredell RATIFIER OF THE U. S. CONSTITUTION; ATTORNEY GENERAL OF NORTH CAROLINA; U. S. SUPREME COURT JUSTICE APPOINTED BY PRESIDENT GEORGE WASHINGTONFor my part, I am free and ready enough to declare that I think the Christian religion is a Divine institution; and I pray to God that I may never forget the precepts of His religion or suffer the appearance of an inconsistency in my principles and practice.55 John Jay PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS; DIPLOMAT; AUTHOR OF THE FEDERALIST PAPERS; ORIGINAL CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE U. S. SUPREME COURT; GOVERNOR OF NEW YORKCondescend, merciful Father! to grant as far as proper these imperfect petitions, to accept these inadequate thanksgivings, and to pardon whatever of sin hath mingled in them for the sake of Jesus Christ, our blessed Lord and Savior; unto Whom, with Thee, and the blessed Spirit, ever one God, be rendered all honor and glory, now and forever. 56 Unto Him who is the author and giver of all good, I render sincere and humble thanks for His manifold and unmerited blessings, and especially for our redemption and salvation by His beloved Son. . . . Blessed be His holy name.57 Mercy and grace and favor did come by Jesus Christ, and also that truth which verified the promises and predictions concerning Him and which exposed and corrected the various errors which had been imbibed respecting the Supreme Being, His attributes, laws, and dispensations.58 By conveying the Bible to people . . . we certainly do them a most interesting act of kindness. We thereby enable them to learn that man was originally created and placed in a state of happiness, but, becoming disobedient, was subjected to the degradation and evils which he and his posterity have since experienced. The Bible will also inform them that our gracious Creator has provided for us a Redeemer in whom all the nations of the earth should be blessed – that this Redeemer has made atonement “for the sins of the whole world,” and thereby reconciling the Divine justice with the Divine mercy, has opened a way for our redemption and salvation; and that these inestimable benefits are of the free gift and grace of God, not of our deserving, nor in our power to deserve. The Bible will also [encourage] them with many explicit and consoling assurances of the Divine mercy to our fallen race, and with repeated invitations to accept the offers of pardon and reconciliation. . . . They, therefore, who enlist in His service, have the highest encouragement to fulfill the du¬ties assigned to their respective stations; for most certain it is, that those of His followers who [participate in] His conquests will also participate in the tran¬scendent glories and blessings of His Triumph.59 I recommend a general and public return of praise and thanksgiving to Him from whose goodness these blessings descend. The most effectual means of securing the continuance of our civil and religious liberties is always to remember with reverence and gratitude the source from which they flow.60 The Bible is the best of all books, for it is the word of God and teaches us the way to be happy in this world and in the next. Continue therefore to read it and to regulate your life by its precepts.61 [T]he evidence of the truth of Christianity requires only to be carefully examined to produce conviction in candid minds… they who undertake that task will derive advantages.62 Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation, to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.63 Thomas Jefferson SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE; DIPLOMAT; GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA; SECRETARY OF STATE; THIRD PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATESThe doctrines of Jesus are simple, and tend all to the happiness of man.64 The practice of morality being necessary for the well being of society, He [God] has taken care to impress its precepts so indelibly on our hearts that they shall not be effaced by the subtleties of our brain. We all agree in the obligation of the moral principles of Jesus and nowhere will they be found delivered in greater purity than in His discourses.65 I am a Christian in the only sense in which He wished anyone to be: sincerely attached to His doctrines in preference to all others.66 I am a real Christian – that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus Christ.67 William Samuel Johnson JUDGE; MEMBER OF THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS; SIGNER OF THE CONSTITUTION; FRAMER OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS; PRESIDENT OF COLUMBIA COLLEGE; U. S. SENATOR[I] . . . am endeavoring . . . to attend to my own duty only as a Christian. . . . let us take care that our Christianity, though put to the test . . . be not shaken, and that our love for things really good wax not cold.68 In an address to graduates:
James Kent JUDGE; LAW PROFESSOR; “FATHER OF AMERICAN JURISPRUDENCE”My children, I wish to talk to you. During my early and middle life I was, perhaps, rather skeptical with regard to some of the truths of Christianity. Not that I did not have the utmost respect for religion and always read my Bible, but the doctrine of the atonement was one I never could understand, and I felt inclined to consider as impossible to be received in the way Divines taught it. I believe I was rather inclined to Unitarianism; but of late years my views have altered. I believe in the doctrines of the prayer books as I understand them, and hope to be saved through the merits of Jesus Christ. . . . My object in telling you this is that if anything happens to me, you might know, and perhaps it would console you to remember, that on this point my mind is clear: I rest my hopes of salvation on the Lord Jesus Christ.70 Francis Scott Key U. S. ATTORNEY FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA; AUTHOR OF THE “STAR SPANGLED BANNER”[M]ay I always hear that you are following the guidance of that blessed Spirit that will lead you into all truth, leaning on that Almighty arm that has been extended to deliver you, trusting only in the only Savior, and going on in your way to Him rejoicing.71 James Madison SIGNER OF THE CONSTITUTION; AUTHOR OF THE FEDERALIST PAPERS; FRAMER OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS; SECRETARY OF STATE; FOURTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATESA watchful eye must be kept on ourselves lest, while we are building ideal monuments of renown and bliss here, we neglect to have our names enrolled in the Annals of Heaven.72 I have sometimes thought there could not be a stronger testimony in favor of religion or against temporal enjoyments, even the most rational and manly, than for men who occupy the most honorable and gainful departments and [who] are rising in reputation and wealth, publicly to declare their unsatisfactoriness by becoming fervent advocates in the cause of Christ; and I wish you may give in your evidence in this way.73 James ManningMEMBER OF THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS; PRESIDENT OF BROWN UNIVERSITY I rejoice that the religion of Jesus prevails in your parts; I can tell you the same agreeable news from this quarter. Yesterday I returned from Piscataway in East Jersey, where was held a Baptist annual meeting (I think the largest I ever saw) but much more remarkable still for the Divine influences which God was pleased to grant. Fifteen were baptized; a number during the three days professed to experience a change of heart. Christians were remarkably quickened; multitudes appeared.74 Henry MarchantMEMBER OF THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS; ATTORNEY GENERAL OF RHODE ISLAND; RATIFIER OF THE U. S. CONSTITUTION; FEDERAL JUDGE APPOINTED BY PRESIDENT GEORGE WASHINGTON And may God grant that His grace may really affect your heart with suitable impressions of His goodness. Remember that God made you, that God keeps you alive and preserves you from all harm, and gives you all the powers and the capacity whereby you are able to read of Him and of Jesus Christ, your Savior and Redeemer, and to do every other needful business of life. And while you look around you and see the great privileges and advantages you have above what other children have (of learning to read and write, of being taught the meaning of the great truths of the Bible), you must remember not to be proud on that account but to bless God and be thankful and endeavor in your turn to assist others with the knowledge you may gain.75(to his daughter) George Mason DELEGATE AT THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION; “FATHER OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS”I give and bequeath my soul to Almighty God that gave it me, hoping that through the meritorious death and passion of our Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ to receive absolution and remission for all my sins.76 My soul I resign into the hands of my Almighty Creator, Whose tender mercies are all over His works. . humbly hoping from His unbounded mercy and benevolence, through the merits of my blessed Savior, a remission of my sins.77 James McHenry REVOLUTIONARY OFFICER; SIGNER OF THE CONSTITUTION; RATIFIER OF THE U. S. CONSTITUTION; SECRETARY OF WAR UNDER PRESIDENTS GEORGE WASHINGTON AND JOHN ADAMS[P]ublic utility pleads most forcibly for the general distribution of the Holy Scriptures. Without the Bible, in vain do we increase penal laws and draw entrenchments around our institutions.78 Bibles are strong protections. Where they abound, men cannot pursue wicked courses and at the same time enjoy quiet conscience.79 Thomas McKean SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE; PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS; RATIFIER OF THE U. S. CONSTITUTION; CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA; GOVERNOR OF PENNSYLVANIA; GOVERNOR OF DELAWAREIn the case Respublica v. John Roberts,80 John Roberts was sentenced to death after a jury found him guilty of treason. Chief Justice McKean then told him:
Gouverneur Morris REVOLUTIONARY OFFICER; MEMBER OF THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS; SIGNER OF THE CONSTITUTION; “PENMAN OF THE CONSTITUTION”; DIPLOMAT; U. S. SENATORThere must be religion. When that ligament is torn, society is disjointed and its members perish… [T]he most important of all lessons is the denunciation of ruin to every state that rejects the precepts of religion.82 Your good morals in the army give me sincere pleasure as it hath long been my fixed opinion that virtue and religion are the great sources of human happiness. More especially is it necessary in your profession firmly to rely upon the God of Battles for His guardianship and protection in the dreadful hour of trial. But of all these things you will and I hope in the merciful Lord.83 Jedidiah Morse HISTORIAN OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION; EDUCATOR; “FATHER OF AMERICAN GEOGRAPHY”; APPOINTED BY SECRETARY OF STATE TO DOCUMENT CONDITION OF INDIAN AFFAIRSTo the kindly influence of Christianity we owe that degree of civil freedom and political and social happiness which mankind now enjoys. All efforts made to destroy the foundations of our Holy Religion ultimately tend to the subversion also of our political freedom and happiness. In proportion as the genuine effects of Christianity are diminished in any nation… in the same proportion will the people of that nation recede from the blessings of genuine freedom… Whenever the pillars of Christianity shall be overthrown, our present republican forms of government – and all the blessings which flow from them – must fall with them. 84 John Morton LEGISLATOR; JUDGE; SIGNER OF THE DECLARATIONWith an awful reverence to the Great Almighty God, Creator of all mankind, being sick and weak in body but of sound mind and memory, thanks be given to Almighty God for the same.85 James Otis LEADER OF THE SONS OF LIBERTY; ATTORNEY & JURIST; MENTOR OF JOHN HANCOCK AND SAMUEL ADAMSHas [government] any solid foundation? Any chief cornerstone?… I think it has an everlasting foundation in the unchangeable will of God… The sum of my argument is that civil government is of God.86 Robert Treat Paine MILITARY CHAPLAIN; SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE; ATTORNEY GENERAL OF MASSACHUSETTS; JUDGEI desire to bless and praise the name of God most high for appointing me my birth in a land of Gospel Light where the glorious tidings of a Savior and of pardon and salvation through Him have been continually sounding in mine ears.87 I am constrained to express my adoration of the Supreme Being, the Author of my existence, in full belief of His Providential goodness and His forgiving mercy revealed to the world through Jesus Christ, through whom I hope for never ending happiness in a future state.88 I believe the Bible to be the written word of God and to contain in it the whole rule of faith and manners.89 William Paterson ATTORNEY GENERAL OF NEW JERSEY; SIGNER OF THE CONSTITUTION; U. S. SENATOR; GOVERNOR OF NEW JERSEY; U. S. SUPREME COURT JUSTICEWhen the righteous rule, the people rejoice; when the wicked rule, the people groan. [invoking Proverbs 29:2 to instruct a grand jury].90 Timothy Pickering REVOLUTIONARY GENERAL; JUDGE; RATIFIER OF THE U. S. CONSTITUTION; POSTMASTER GENERAL UNDER PRESIDENT GEORGE WASHINGTON; SECRETARY OF WAR UNDER PRESIDENTS GEORGE WASHINGTON AND JOHN ADAMS; SECRETARY OF STATE UNDER PRESIDENT JOHN ADAMSPardon, we beseech Thee, all our offences of omission and commission; and grant that in all our thoughts, words, and actions, we may conform to Thy known will manifested in our consciences and in the revelations of Jesus Christ, our Savior.91 [W]e do not grieve as those who have no… resurrection to a life immortal. Here the believers in Christianity manifest their superior advantages, for life and immortality were brought to light by the gospel of Jesus Christ [II Timothy 1:10]. Prior to that revelation even the wisest and best of mankind were involved in doubt and they hoped, rather than believed, that the soul was immortal.92 Charles Cotesworth Pinckney REVOLUTIONARY GENERAL; LEGISLATOR; SIGNER OF THE CONSTITUTION; DIPLOMATTo the eternal and only true God be all honor and glory, now and forever. Amen!93 John Randolph of Roanoke CONGRESSMAN UNDER PRESIDENTS JOHN ADAMS, THOMAS JEFFERSON, JAMES MADISON, JAMES MONROE, JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, ANDREW JACKSON; U. S. SENATOR; DIPLOMATI have thrown myself, reeking with sin, on the mercy of God, through Jesus Christ His blessed Son and our (yes, my friend, our) precious Redeemer; and I have assurances as strong as that I now owe nothing to your rank that the debt is paid and now I love God – and with reason. I once hated him – and with reason, too, for I knew not Christ. The only cause why I should love God is His goodness and mercy to me through Christ.94 I am at last reconciled to my God and have assurance of His pardon through faith in Christ, against which the very gates of hell cannot prevail. Fear hath been driven out by perfect love.95 [I] have looked to the Lord Jesus Christ, and hope I have obtained pardon.96 [I] still cling to the cross of my Redeemer, and with God’s aid firmly resolve to lead a life less unworthy of one who calls himself the humble follower of Jesus Christ.97 Benjamin Rush SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE; SURGEON GENERAL OF THE CONTINENTAL ARMY; RATIFIER OF THE U. S. CONSTITUTION; “FATHER OF AMERICAN MEDICINE”; TREASURER OF THE U. S. MINT; “FATHER OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS UNDER THE CONSTITUTION”The Gospel of Jesus Christ prescribes the wisest rules for just conduct in every situation of life. Happy they who are enabled to obey them in all situations! . . . My only hope of salvation is in the infinite tran¬scendent love of God manifested to the world by the death of His Son upon the Cross. Noth¬ing but His blood will wash away my sins [Acts 22:16]. I rely exclusively upon it. Come, Lord Jesus! Come quickly! [Revelation 22:20]98 I do not believe that the Constitution was the offspring of inspiration, but I am as satisfied that it is as much the work of a Divine Providence as any of the miracles recorded in the Old and New Testament.99 By renouncing the Bible, philosophers swing from their moorings upon all moral subjects… It is the only correct map of the human heart that ever has been published.100 [T]he greatest discoveries in science have been made by Christian philosophers and . . . there is the most knowledge in those countries where there is the most Christianity.101 [T]he only means of establishing and perpetuating our republican forms of government is the universal education of our youth in the principles of Christianity by means of the Bible.102 The great enemy of the salvation of man, in my opinion, never invented a more effective means of limiting Christianity from the world than by persuading mankind that it was improper to read the Bible at schools.103 [C]hristianity is the only true and perfect religion; and… in proportion as mankind adopt its principles and obey its precepts, they will be wise and happy.104 The Bible contains more knowledge necessary to man in his present state than any other book in the world.105 The Bible, when not read in schools, is seldom read in any subsequent period of life… [T]he Bible… should be read in our schools in preference to all other books because it contains the greatest portion of that kind of knowledge which is calculated to produce private and public happiness.106 Roger Sherman SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION; SIGNER OF THE CONSTITUTION; “MASTER BUILDER OF THE CONSTITUTION”; JUDGE; FRAMER OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS; U. S. SENATORI believe that there is one only liv¬ing and true God, existing in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, the same in substance, equal in power and glory. That the Scriptures of the Old and New Tes¬taments are a revelation from God, and a complete rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy Him. . . . That He made man at first perfectly holy; that the first man sinned, and as he was the public head of his posterity, they all became sinners in consequence of his first transgres¬sion, are wholly indisposed to that which is good and inclined to evil, and on account of sin are liable to all the miseries of this life, to death, and to the pains of hell forever. I believe that God . . . did send His own Son to become man, die in the room and stead of sinners, and thus to lay a foundation for the offer of pardon and salvation to all mankind, so as all may be saved who are willing to accept the Gospel offer. . . . I believe a visible church to be a congregation of those who make a credible profession of their faith in Christ, and obedi¬ence to Him, joined by the bond of the covenant. . . . I believe that the sacraments of the New Testament are baptism and the Lord’s Supper. . . . I believe that the souls of believers are at their death made perfectly holy, and immediately taken to glory: that at the end of this world there will be a resurrec¬tion of the dead, and a final judgment of all mankind, when the righteous shall be publicly acquitted by Christ the Judge and admitted to everlasting life and glory, and the wicked be sentenced to everlasting punishment.107 God commands all men everywhere to repent. He also commands them to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and has assured us that all who do repent and believe shall be saved… [G]od… has absolutely promised to bestow them on all these who are willing to accept them on the terms of the Gospel – that is, in a way of free grace through the atonement. “Ask and ye shall receive [John 16:24]. Whosoever will, let him come and take of the waters of life freely [Revelation 22:17]. Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out” [John 6:37].108 [I]t is the duty of all to acknowledge that the Divine Law which requires us to love God with all our heart and our neighbor as ourselves, on pain of eternal damnation, is Holy, just, and good. . . . The revealed law of God is the rule of our duty.109 True Christians are assured that no temptation (or trial) shall happen to them but what they shall be enabled to bear; and that the grace of Christ shall be sufficient for them.110 “The volume which he consulted more than any other was the Bible. It was his custom, at the commencement of every session of Congress, to purchase a copy of the Scriptures, to peruse it daily, and to present it to one of his children on his return.”111 Richard Stockton JUDGE; SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE[A]s my children will have frequent occasion of perusing this instrument, and may probably be particularly impressed with the last words of their father, I think it proper here not only to subscribe to the entire belief of the great and leading doctrines of the Christian religion, such as the being of God; the universal defection and depravity of human nature; the Divinity of the person and the completeness of the redemption purchased by the blessed Savior; the necessity of the opera¬tions of the Divine Spirit; of Divine faith accompanied with an habitual virtuous life; and the universality of the Divine Providence: but also, in the bowels of a father’s affection, to exhort and charge [my children] that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, that the way of life held up in the Christian system is calculated for the most complete happiness that can be enjoyed in this mortal state, [and] that all occasions of vice and immorality is injurious either im¬mediately or consequentially – even in this life.112 Thomas Stone SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE; SELECTED AS A DELEGATE TO THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTIONShun all giddy, loose, and wicked company; they will corrupt and lead you into vice and bring you to ruin. Seek the company of sober, virtuous and good people… which will lead [you] to solid happiness.113 Joseph Story U. S. CONGRESSMAN; “FATHER OF AMERICAN JURISPRUDENCE”; U. S. SUPREME COURT JUSTICE APPOINTED BY PRESIDENT JAMES MADISONOne of the beautiful boasts of our municipal jurisprudence is that Christianity is a part of the Common Law. There never has been a period in which the Common Law did not recognize Christianity as lying at its foundations.114 I verily believe that Christianity is necessary to support a civil society and shall ever attend to its institutions and acknowledge its precepts as the pure and natural sources of private and social happiness.115 Caleb Strong DELEGATE AT THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION TO FRAME THE U. S. CONSTITUTION; RATIFIER OF THE CONSTITUTION; U. S. SENATOR; GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTSHe called on the State of Massachusetts to pray that . . . all nations may know and be obedient to that grace and truth which came by Jesus Christ.116 Zephaniah Swift U. S. CONGRESSMAN; DIPLOMAT; JUDGE; AUTHOR OF AMERICA’S FIRST LEGAL TEXT (1795)Jesus Christ has in the clearest manner inculcated those duties which are productive of the highest moral felicity and consistent with all the innocent enjoyments, to which we are impelled by the dictates of nature. Religion, when fairly considered in its genuine simplicity and uncorrupted state, is the source of endless rapture and delight.117 Charles Thomson SECRETARY OF THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS; DESIGNER OF THE GREAT SEAL OF THE UNITED STATES; ALONG WITH JOHN HANCOCK, THOMSON WAS ONE OF ONLY TWO FOUNDERS TO SIGN THE INITIAL DRAFT OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE APPROVED BY CONGRESSI am a Christian. I believe only in the Scriptures, and in Jesus Christ my Savior.118 Jonathan Trumbull JUDGE; LEGISLATOR; GOVERNOR OF CONNECTICUT; CONFIDANT OF GEORGE WASHINGTON AND CALLED “BROTHER JONATHAN” BY HIMThe examples of holy men teach us that we should seek Him with fasting and prayer, with penitent confession of our sins, and hope in His mercy through Jesus Christ the Great Redeemer.119 Principally and first of all, I bequeath my soul to God the Creator and giver thereof, and my body to the earth to be buried in a decent Christian burial, in firm belief that I shall receive the same again at the general resurrection through the power of Almighty God, and hope of eternal life and happiness through the merits of my dear Redeemer Jesus Christ.120 He called on the State of Connecticut to pray that . . .
George Washington JUDGE; MEMBER OF THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS; COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE CONTINENTAL ARMY; PRESIDENT OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION; FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES; “FATHER OF HIS COUNTRY”You do well to wish to learn our arts and ways of life, and above all, the religion of Jesus Christ. These will make you a greater and happier people than you are.122 While we are zealously performing the duties of good citizens and soldiers, we certainly ought not to be inattentive to the higher duties of religion. To the distinguished character of Patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of Christian.123 The blessing and protection of Heaven are at all times necessary but especially so in times of public distress and danger. The General hopes and trusts that every officer and man will endeavor to live and act as becomes a Christian soldier, defending the dearest rights and liberties of his country.124 I now make it my earnest prayer that God would… most graciously be pleased to dispose us all to do justice, to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with that charity, humility, and pacific temper of the mind which were the characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed religion.125 Daniel Webster U. S. SENATOR; SECRETARY OF STATE; “DEFENDER OF THE CONSTITUTION”[T]he Christian religion – its general principles – must ever be regarded among us as the foundation of civil society.126 Whatever makes men good Christians, makes them good citizens.127 [T]o the free and universal reading of the Bible… men [are] much indebted for right views of civil liberty.128 The Bible is a book… which teaches man his own individual responsibility, his own dignity, and his equality with his fellow man.129 Noah Webster REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIER; JUDGE; LEGISLATOR; EDUCATOR; “SCHOOLMASTER TO AMERICA”[T]he religion which has introduced civil liberty is the religion of Christ and His apostles… This is genuine Christianity and to this we owe our free constitutions of government.130 The moral principles and precepts found in the Scriptures ought to form the basis of all our civil constitutions and laws.131 All the… evils which men suffer from vice, crime, ambition, injustice, oppression, slavery and war, proceed from their despising or neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible.132 [O]ur citizens should early understand that the genuine source of correct republican principles is the Bible, particularly the New Testament, or the Christian religion.133 [T]he Christian religion is the most important and one of the first things in which all children under a free government ought to be instructed. No truth is more evident than that the Christian religion must be the basis of any government intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people.134 The Bible is the chief moral cause of all that is good and the best corrector of all that is evil in human society – the best book for regulating the temporal concerns of men.135 [T]he Christian religion… is the basis, or rather the source, of all genuine freedom in government… I am persuaded that no civil government of a republican form can exist and be durable in which the principles of Christianity have not a controlling influence.136 John Witherspoon SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE; RATIFIER OF THE U. S. CONSTITUTION; PRESIDENT OF PRINCETON[C]hrist Jesus – the promise of old made unto the fathers, the hope of Israel [Acts 28:20], the light of the world [John 8:12], and the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth [Romans 10:4] – is the only Savior of sinners, in opposition to all false religions and every uninstituted rite; as He Himself says (John 14:6): “I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by Me.”137 [N]o man, whatever be his character or whatever be his hope, shall enter into rest unless he be reconciled to God though Jesus Christ.138 [T]here is no salvation in any other than in Jesus Christ of Nazareth.139 I shall now conclude my discourse by preaching this Savior to all who hear me, and entreating you in the most earnest manner to believe in Jesus Christ; for “there is no salvation in any other” [Acts 4:12].140 It is very evident that both the prophets in the Old Testament and the apostles in the New are at great pains to give us a view of the glory and dignity of the person of Christ. With what magnificent titles is He adorned! What glorious attributes are ascribed to him!… All these conspire to teach us that He is truly and properly God – God over all, blessed forever!141 [I]f you are not rec¬onciled to God through Jesus Christ – if you are not clothed with the spotless robe of His righteousness – you must forever perish.142 [H]e is the best friend to American liberty who is the most sincere and active in promoting true and undefiled religion, and who sets himself with the greatest firmness to bear down profanity and immorality of every kind. Whoever is an avowed enemy of God, I scruple not to call him an enemy to his country.143 Oliver WolcottSIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE; MILITARY GENERAL; GOVERNOR OF CONNECTICUT Through various scenes of life, God has sustained me. May He ever be my unfailing friend; may His love cherish my soul; may my heart with gratitude acknowledge His goodness; and may my desires be to Him and to the remembrance of His name….May we then turn our eyes to the bright objects above, and may God give us strength to travel the upward road. May the Divine Redeemer conduct us to that seat of bliss which He himself has prepared for His friends; at the approach of which every sorrow shall vanish from the human heart and endless scenes of glory open upon the enraptured eye. There our love to God and each other will grow stronger, and our pleasures never be dampened by the fear of future separation. How indifferent will it then be to us whether we obtained felicity by travailing the thorny or the agreeable paths of life – whether we arrived at our rest by passing through the envied and unfragrant road of greatness or sustained hardship and unmerited reproach in our journey. God’s Providence and support through the perilous perplexing labyrinths of human life will then forever excite our astonishment and love. May a happiness be granted to those I most tenderly love, which shall continue and increase through an endless existence. Your cares and burdens must be many and great, but put your trust in that God Who has hitherto supported you and me; He will not fail to take care of those who put their trust in Him….It is most evident that this land is under the protection of the Almighty, and that we shall be saved not by our wisdom nor by our might, but by the Lord of Host Who is wonderful in counsel and Almighty in all His operations.A NAME=”R144″>144 http://www.wallbuilders.com/LIBissuesArticles.asp?id=8755 |
HRES 397 IH
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 397
Affirming the rich spiritual and religious history of our Nation’s founding and subsequent history and expressing support for designation of the first week in May as ‘America’s Spiritual Heritage Week’ for the appreciation of and education on America’s history of religious faith.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 4, 2009
Mr. FORBES (for himself, Mr. MCINTYRE, Mr. LAMBORN, Mr. MCCOTTER, Mr. NEUGEBAUER, Mr. AKIN, Mr. LATTA, Mr. JORDAN of Ohio, Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Ms. FOXX, Mr. GINGREY of Georgia, Mr. JONES, Mr. WOLF, Mr. TURNER, Mr. ADERHOLT, Mr. CONAWAY, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. HOEKSTRA, Mr. YOUNG of Florida, Mr. WAMP, Mr. KLINE of Minnesota, Mr. DAVIS of Tennessee, and Mr. BISHOP of Utah) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
RESOLUTION
Affirming the rich spiritual and religious history of our Nation’s founding and subsequent history and expressing support for designation of the first week in May as ‘America’s Spiritual Heritage Week’ for the appreciation of and education on America’s history of religious faith.
Whereas religious faith was not only important in official American life during the periods of discovery, exploration, colonization, and growth but has also been acknowledged and incorporated into all 3 branches of the Federal Government from their very beginning;
Whereas the Supreme Court of the United States affirmed this self-evident fact in a unanimous ruling declaring ‘This is a religious people . . . From the discovery of this continent to the present hour, there is a single voice making this affirmation’;
Whereas political scientists have documented that the most frequently cited source in the political period known as The Founding Era was the Bible;
Whereas the first act of America’s first Congress in 1774 was to ask a minister to open with prayer and to lead Congress in the reading of 4 chapters of the Bible;
Whereas Congress regularly attended church and Divine service together en masse;
Whereas throughout the American Founding, Congress frequently appropriated money for missionaries and for religious instruction, a practice that Congress repeated for decades after the passage of the Constitution and the First Amendment;
Whereas in 1776, Congress approved the Declaration of Independence with its 4 direct religious acknowledgments referring to God as the Creator (‘All people are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’), the Lawgiver (‘the laws of nature and nature’s God’), the Judge (‘appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world’), and the Protector (‘with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence’);
Whereas upon approving the Declaration of Independence, John Adams declared that the Fourth of July ‘ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty’;
Whereas 4 days after approving the Declaration, the Liberty Bell was rung;
Whereas the Liberty Bell was named for the Biblical inscription from Leviticus 25:10 emblazoned around it: ‘Proclaim liberty throughout the land, to all the inhabitants thereof’;
Whereas in 1777, Congress, facing a National shortage of ‘Bibles for our schools, and families, and for the public worship of God in our churches,’ announced that they ‘desired to have a Bible printed under their care & by their encouragement’ and therefore ordered 20,000 copies of the Bible to be imported ‘into the different ports of the States of the Union’;
Whereas in 1782, Congress pursued a plan to print a Bible that would be ‘a neat edition of the Holy Scriptures for the use of schools’ and therefore approved the production of the first English language Bible printed in America that contained the congressional endorsement that ‘the United States in Congress assembled . . . recommend this edition of the Bible to the inhabitants of the United States’;
Whereas in 1782, Congress adopted (and has reaffirmed on numerous subsequent occasions) the National Seal with its Latin motto ‘Annuit Coeptis,’ meaning ‘God has favored our undertakings,’ along with the eye of Providence in a triangle over a pyramid, the eye and the motto ‘allude to the many signal interpositions of Providence in favor of the American cause’;
Whereas the 1783 Treaty of Paris that officially endied the Revolution and established America as an independent begins with the appellation ‘In the name of the most holy and undivided Trinity’;
Whereas in 1787, at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin declared, ‘God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? . . . Without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel’;
Whereas the delegates to the Constitutional Convention concluded their work by in effect placing a religious punctuation mark at the end of the Constitution in the Attestation Clause, noting not only that they had completed the work with ‘the unanimous consent of the States present’ but they had done so ‘in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty seven’;
Whereas James Madison declared that he saw the finished Constitution as a product of ‘the finger of that Almighty Hand which has been so frequently and signally extended to our relief in the critical stages of the Revolution,’ and George Washington viewed it as ‘little short of a miracle,’ and Benjamin Franklin believed that its writing had been ‘influenced, guided, and governed by that omnipotent, omnipresent, and beneficent Ruler, in Whom all inferior spirits live, and move, and have their being’;
Whereas, from 1787 to 1788, State conventions to ratify the United States Constitution not only began with prayer but even met in church buildings;
Whereas in 1795, during construction of the Capitol, a practice was instituted whereby ‘public worship is now regularly administered at the Capitol, every Sunday morning, at 11 o’clock’;
Whereas in 1789, the first Federal Congress, the Congress that framed the Bill of Rights, including the First Amendment, appropriated Federal funds to pay chaplains to pray at the opening of all sessions, a practice that has continued to this day, with Congress not only funding its congressional chaplains but also the salaries and operations of more than 4,500 military chaplains;
Whereas in 1789, Congress, in the midst of framing the Bill of Rights and the First Amendment, passed the first Federal law touching education, declaring that ‘Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged’;
Whereas in 1789, on the same day that Congress finished drafting the First Amendment, it requested President Washington to declare a National day of prayer and thanksgiving, resulting in the first Federal official Thanksgiving proclamation that 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’;
Whereas in 1800, Congress enacted naval regulations requiring that Divine service be performed twice every day aboard ‘all ships and vessels in the navy,’ with a sermon preached each Sunday;
Whereas in 1800, Congress approved the use of the just-completed Capitol structure as a church building, with Divine services to be held each Sunday in the Hall of the House, alternately administered by the House and Senate chaplains;
Whereas in 1853, Congress declared that congressional chaplains have a ‘duty . . . to conduct religious services weekly in the Hall of the House of Representatives’;
Whereas by 1867, the church at the Capitol was the largest church in Washington, DC, with up to 2,000 people a week attending Sunday service in the Hall of the House;
Whereas by 1815, over 2,000 official governmental calls to prayer had been issued at both the State and the Federal levels, with thousands more issued since 1815;
Whereas in 1853, the United States Senate declared that the Founding Fathers ‘had no fear or jealousy of religion itself, nor did they wish to see us an irreligious people . . . they did not intend to spread over all the public authorities and the whole public action of the nation the dead and revolting spectacle of atheistical apathy’;
Whereas in 1854, the United States House of Representatives declared ‘It [religion] must be considered as the foundation on which the whole structure rests . . . Christianity; in its general principles, is the great conservative element on which we must rely for the purity and permanence of free institutions’;
Whereas in 1864, by law Congress added ‘In God We Trust’ to American coinage;
Whereas in 1864, Congress passed an act authorizing each State to display statues of 2 of its heroes in the United States Capitol, resulting in numerous statues of noted Christian clergymen and leaders at the Capitol, including Gospel ministers such as the Revs. James A. Garfield, John Peter Muhlenberg, Jonathan Trumbull, Roger Williams, Jason Lee, Marcus Whitman, and Martin Luther King Jr., Gospel theologians such as Roger Sherman, Catholic priests such as Father Damien, Jacques Marquette, Eusebio Kino, and Junipero Serra, Catholic nuns such as Mother Joseph, and numerous other religious leaders;
Whereas in 1870, the Federal Government made Christmas (a recognition of the birth of Christ, an event described by the U.S. Supreme Court as ‘acknowledged in the Western World for 20 centuries, and in this country by the people, the Executive Branch, Congress, and the courts for 2 centuries’) and Thanksgiving as official holidays;
Whereas, beginning in 1904 and continuing for the next half-century, the Federal Gvernment printed and distributed The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth for the use of Members of Congress because of the important teachings it contained;
Whereas in 1931, Congress by law adopted the Star-Spangled Banner as the official National Anthem, with its phrases such as ‘may the Heav’n-rescued land Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation,’ and ‘this be our motto, ‘In God is our trust!’;
Whereas in 1954, Congress by law added the phrase ‘one nation under God’ to the Pledge of Allegiance;
Whereas in 1954, a special Congressional Prayer Room was added to the Capitol with a kneeling bench, an altar, an open Bible, an inspiring stained-glass window with George Washington kneeling in prayer, the declaration of Psalm 16:1: ‘Preserve me, O God, for in Thee do I put my trust,’ and the phrase ‘This Nation Under God’ displayed above the kneeling, prayerful Washington;
Whereas in 1956, Congress by law made ‘In God We Trust’ the National Motto, and added the phrase to American currency;
Whereas the constitutions of each of the 50 States, either in the preamble or body, explicitly recognize or express gratitude to God;
Whereas America’s first Presidential Inauguration incorporated 7 specific religious activities, including–
(1) the use of the Bible to administer the oath;
(2) affirming the religious nature of the oath by the adding the prayer ‘So help me God!’ to the oath;
(3) inaugural prayers offered by the President;
(4) religious content in the inaugural address;
(5) civil leaders calling the people to prayer or acknowledgment of God;
(6) inaugural worship services attended en masse by Congress as an official part of congressional activities; and
(7) clergy-led inaugural prayers, activities which have been replicated in whole or part by every subsequent President;
Whereas President George Washington declared ‘Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports’;
Whereas President John Adams, one of only 2 signers of the Bill of Rights and First Amendment, declared ‘As the safety and prosperity of nations ultimately and essentially depend on the protection and the blessing of Almighty God, and the national acknowledgment of this truth is not only an indispensable duty which the people owe to Him’;
Whereas President Jefferson not only attended Divine services at the Capitol throughout his presidency and had the Marine Band play at the services, but during his administration church services were also begun in the War Department and the Treasury Department, thus allowing worshippers on any given Sunday the choice to attend church at either the United States Capitol, the War Department, or the Treasury Department if they so desired;
Whereas Thomas Jefferson urged local governments to make land available specifically for Christian purposes, provided Federal funding for missionary work among Indian tribes, and declared that religious schools would receive ‘the patronage of the government’;
Whereas President Andrew Jackson declared that the Bible ‘is the rock on which our Republic rests’;
Whereas President Abraham Lincoln declared that the Bible ‘is the best gift God has given to men . . . But for it, we could not know right from wrong’
Whereas President William McKinley declared that ‘Our faith teaches us that there is no safer reliance than upon the God of our fathers, Who has so singularly favored the American people in every national trial and Who will not forsake us so long as we obey His commandments and walk humbly in His footsteps’;
Whereas President Teddy Roosevelt declared ‘The Decalogue and the Golden Rule must stand as the foundation of every successful effort to better either our social or our political life’;
Whereas President Woodrow Wilson declared that ‘America was born to exemplify that devotion to the elements of righteousness which are derived from the revelations of Holy Scripture’;
Whereas President Herbert Hoover declared that ‘American life is builded, and can alone survive, upon . . . [the] fundamental philosophy announced by the Savior nineteen centuries ago’;
Whereas President Franklin D. Roosevelt not only led the Nation in a 6 minute prayer during D-Day on June 6, 1944, but he also declared that ‘If we will not prepare to give all that we have and all that we are to preserve Christian civilization in our land, we shall go to destruction’;
Whereas President Harry S. Truman declared that ‘The fundamental basis of this Nation’s law was given to Moses on the Mount. The fundamental basis of our Bill of Rights comes from the teachings which we get from Exodus and St. Matthew, from Isaiah and St. Paul’;
Whereas President Harry S. Truman told a group touring Washington, DC, that ‘You will see, as you make your rounds, that this Nation was established by men who believed in God. . . . You will see the evidence of this deep religious faith on every hand’;
Whereas President Dwight D. Eisenhower declared that ‘Without God there could be no American form of government, nor an American way of life. Recognition of the Supreme Being is the first, the most basic, expression of Americanism. Thus, the founding fathers of America saw it, and thus with God’s help, it will continue to be’ in a declaration later repeated with approval by President Gerald Ford;
Whereas President John F. Kennedy declared that ‘The rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God’;
Whereas President Ronald Reagan, after noting ‘The Congress of the United States, in recognition of the unique contribution of the Bible in shaping the history and character of this Nation and so many of its citizens, has . . . requested the President to designate the year 1983 as the ‘Year of the Bible’, officially declared 1983 as ‘The Year of the Bible’;
Whereas every other President has similarly recognized the role of God and religious faith in the public life of America;
Whereas all sessions of the United States Supreme Court begin with the Court’s Marshal announcing, ‘God save the United States and this honorable court’;
Whereas a regular and integral part of official activities in the Federal courts, including the United States Supreme Court, was the inclusion of prayer by a minister of the Gospel;
Whereas the United States Supreme Court has declared throughout the course of our Nation’s history that the United States is ‘a Christian country’, ‘a Christian nation’, ‘a Christian people’, ‘a religious people whose institutions presuppose a Supreme Being’, and that ‘we cannot read into the Bill of Rights a philosophy of hostility to religion’;
Whereas Justice John Jay, an author of the Federalist Papers and original Justice of the United States Supreme Court, urged ‘The most effectual means of securing the continuance of our civil and religious liberties is always to remember with reverence and gratitude the Source from which they flow’;
Whereas Justice James Wilson, a signer of the Constitution, declared that ‘Human law must rest its authority ultimately upon the authority of that law which is Divine . . . Far from being rivals or enemies, religion and law are twin sisters, friends, and mutual assistants’;
Whereas Justice William Paterson, a signer of the Constitution, declared that ‘Religion and morality . . . [are] necessary to good government, good order, and good laws’;
Whereas President George Washington, who passed into law the first legal acts organizing the Federal judiciary, asked, ‘where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths in the courts of justice?’;
Whereas some of the most important monuments, buildings, and landmarks in Washington, DC, include religious words, symbols, and imagery;
Whereas in the United States Capitol the declaration ‘In God We Trust’ is prominently displayed in both the United States House and Senate Chambers;
Whereas around the top of the walls in the House Chamber appear images of 23 great lawgivers from across the centuries, but Moses (the lawgiver, who–according to the Bible–originally received the law from God,) is the only lawgiver honored with a full face view, looking down on the proceedings of the House;
Whereas religious artwork is found throughout the United States Capitol, including in the Rotunda where the prayer service of Christopher Columbus, the Baptism of Pocahontas, and the prayer and Bible study of the Pilgrims are all prominently displayed; in the Cox Corridor of the Capitol where the words ‘America! God shed His grace on thee’ are inscribed; at the east Senate entrance with the words ‘Annuit Coeptis’ which is Latin for ‘God has favored our undertakings’; and in numerous other locations;
Whereas images of the Ten Commandments are found in many Federal buildings across Washington, DC, including in bronze in the floor of the National Archives; in a bronze statue of Moses in the Main Reading Room of the Library of Congress; in numerous locations at the U.S. Supreme Court, including in the frieze above the Justices, the oak door at the rear of the Chamber, the gable apex, and in dozens of locations on the bronze latticework surrounding the Supreme Court Bar seating;
Whereas in the Washington Monument not only are numerous Bible verses and religious acknowledgments carved on memorial blocks in the walls, including the phrases: ‘Holiness to the Lord’ (Exodus 28:26, 30:30, Isaiah 23:18, Zechariah 14:20), ‘Search the Scriptures’ (John 5:39), ‘The memory of the just is blessed’ (Proverbs 10:7), ‘May Heaven to this Union continue its beneficence’, and ‘In God We Trust’, but the Latin inscription Laus Deo meaning ‘Praise be to God’ is engraved on the monument’s capstone;
Whereas of the 5 areas inside the Jefferson Memorial into which Jefferson’s words have been carved, 4 are God-centered, including Jefferson’s declaration that ‘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? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that His justice cannot sleep forever’;
Whereas the Lincoln Memorial contains numerous acknowledgments of God and citations of Bible verses, including the declarations that ‘we here highly resolve that . . . this nation under God . . . shall not perish from the earth’; ‘The Almighty has His own purposes. ‘Woe unto the world because of offenses; for it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh’ (Matthew 18:7), ‘as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said ‘the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether’ (Psalms 19:9), ‘one day every valley shall be exalted and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh see it together’ (Dr. Martin Luther King’s speech, based on Isaiah 40:4-5);
Whereas in the Library of Congress, The Giant Bible of Mainz, and The Gutenberg Bible are on prominent permanent display and etched on the walls are Bible verses, including: ‘The light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not’ (John 1:5), ‘Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore, get wisdom and with all thy getting, get understanding’ (Proverbs 4:7), ‘What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God’ (Micah 6:8), and ‘The heavens declare the Glory of God, and the firmament showeth His handiwork’ (Psalm 19:1);
Whereas numerous other of the most important American government leaders, institutions, monuments, buildings, and landmarks both openly acknowledge and incorporate religious words, symbols, and imagery into official venues;
Whereas such acknowledgments are even more frequent at the State and local level than at the Federal level, where thousands of such acknowledgments exist, and
Whereas the first week in May each year would be an appropriate week to designate as ‘America’s Spiritual Heritage Week’: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the United States House of Representatives–
(1) affirms the rich spiritual and diverse religious history of our Nation’s founding and subsequent history, including up to the current day;
(2) recognizes that the religious foundations of faith on which America was built are critical underpinnings of our Nation’s most valuable institutions and form the inseparable foundation for America’s representative processes, legal systems, and societal structures;
(3) rejects, in the strongest possible terms, any effort to remove, obscure, or purposely omit such history from our Nation’s public buildings and educational resources; and
(4) expresses support for designation of a ‘America’s Spiritual Heritage Week’ every year for the appreciation of and education on America’s history of religious faith.
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=hr111-397
The governors of Louisiana, Texas, Alabama, and Mississippi and the lieutenant governor of 
Florida, have proclaimed this Sunday, June 27 as a Day of Prayer for relief from all the problems related to the oil spill, especially for the people, animal life and economies of the affected states.
Below are the links to the proclamations.
Louisiana – http://www.gov.state.la.us/index.cfm?md=newsroom&tmp=detail&articleID=2259
Mississippi – http://nationaldayofprayer.org/wp-content/uploads/Day-of-Prayer.pdf
Alabama – http://governorpress.alabama.gov/pr/pr-2010-06-23-01-rileydeclaresdayofprayer.asp
U.S. Representative Louie Gohmert (TX-01) was recognized by the National Bible Association with the “2010 Capitol Hill Award.” The annual award, presented in cooperation with the Chaplains of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, recognizes one Member of the House and Senate for demonstrating an exemplary commitment to Bible reading. 
The Congressional recipient of the award was named at the bipartisan prayer breakfast held weekly on Capitol Hill. Senator Johnny Isakson of Georgia also received the award this year. The National Bible Association, a non-profit educational organization founded in 1940, strives to encourage Bible readership among Americans of all religious orientations, political distinctions, and creeds. The “Capitol Hill Award” was created in 2005 to recognize and honor national leaders who set an example for others by seeking first to govern themselves before working to govern others.
ADERHOLT RECEIVES NATIONAL CHRISTIAN STATESMANSHIP AWARD FOR COMMITMENT TO FAITH
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Robert Aderholt (R-Haleyville) was awarded the 2010 Distinguished Christian Statesman of the Year Award by the Center for Christian Statesmanship at a reception ceremony on Tuesday night in Washington D.C. This award is annually given to a national Christian political leader and is defined as an award for a public servant whose commitment to Jesus Christ and love of country compel him or her to stand for truth and righteousness in government.
The Center for Christian Statesmanship was created by Dr. D. James Kennedy in 1995, with the first Christian Statesmanship Award being first given in 1996. The late Dr. Kennedy was the founder and pastor of the Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Ft. Lauderdale, FL and the Evangelism Explosion International ministry. Dr. Kennedy died in September 2007.
“I am humbled and extremely honored to be the 2010 Christian Statesman of the Year,” said Congressman Aderholt (R-AL). “I am very thankful that I can serve in the government of a country that allows all Americans to discuss faith freely and boldly. This is an important right that our nation was founded on and it’s important for elected officials to remember that.”
Congressman Aderholt is the fifteenth recipient of this award. Past winners have included Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) in 2008, Rep. Mike McIntyre (D-NC) in 2006, former Majority Leader Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX) in 2002, Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) in 2000, former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore in 1997 and former Sen. John Ashcroft in 1996.
Aderholt continued, “I am also honored to be listed with a group of past recipients that share a common vision and purpose to take a stand for the Christian principles that our founding fathers thought were so important for this nation. The very first act of the first Congress was to bring in a minister and have Congress led in prayer to God. The moment that we forget our nation’s rich Judeo-Christian heritage will be the moment that we forget about our history as a country blessed by God.”
During his time in Congress, Aderholt has championed legislative issues such as preserving religious freedom in America and protecting our nation’s religious heritage history. Congressman Aderholt has also been the sponsor of the Congressional National Day of Prayer event at the U.S. Capitol for the past four years.
Source: CPC
Lord, help Your people to not shrink back, instead keep contending until there is victory!
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — An Idaho public charter school that unsuccessfully sued the state for barring use of the Bible as a historical text in the classroom will be shuttered because of financial troubles, officials said Thursday. 
The Idaho Public Charter School Commission voted to revoke Nampa Classical Academy’s charter, citing a lack of stability in the school’s finances, despite a school board member’s plea “for grace and mercy.”
While school administrators complain they’ve been unfairly targeted because of their differences with the state over use of the Bible, the commission insists the academy’s money troubles are to blame.
The charter school ended classes two weeks earlier than planned this year after federal funds that were budgeted for did not come through. The state also highlighted a $140,000 hole in the academy’s budget for this fiscal year, though school administrators say they’re working toward financial solvency and will balance their budget.
The financial dilemmas are not unlike those any other charter school would run into during its first year of operation, said Erik Makrush, who sits on Nampa Classical Academy’s governing board.
“We are aggressively appealing this decision to the state Board of Education,” Makrush told The Associated Press.
While other Idaho charter schools have been closed, this is the first to have its charter revoked by the state’s six-year-old charter school commission. The panel was created to give charter schools another route to approval, besides the local school district, and now governs about half of the charter schools in the state.
These schools are funded with public money but given more freedom in how they operate.
The Nampa academy opened with more than 550 students, making it one of the largest charter schools in the state. More than 500 kids are enrolled for next year.
School administrators plan to file an injunction in state court to keep Idaho officials from cutting off their state funding while they appeal the commission’s decision to revoke their charter, Makrush said.
The charter school is already challenging the state on another legal front, appealing the dismissal of a federal lawsuit against Idaho officials for banning the use of the Bible and other religious texts as classroom teaching tools.
The school opened last fall and wanted to use the Bible for its literary and historic qualities, as part of a secular education program. The plan, however, prompted the commission to review use of religious texts in the classroom.
The U.S. Supreme Court banned ceremonial school Bible readings in 1963 but said “the Bible is worthy of study for its literary and historic qualities” so long as material is “presented objectively as part of a secular program of education.”
But the commission concluded in August that the school could not use the Bible, adopting Idaho deputy attorney general’s opinion that found the state constitution “expressly” limits use of religious texts.
The school sued in September, saying the state had illegally barred use of the Bible as an instructional text.
U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge dismissed the case in May, saying the ban did not violate the school’s rights. The school is challenging that ruling in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CHARTER_SCHOOL_REVOCATION?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2010-06-24-17-05-08
NEW HAVEN — All it took was one complaint for the school district to make a small but significant change to diplomas that will be handed out at graduations this week.
For the first time in as long as anyone can remember, diplomas for New Haven high school students were printed without the phrase “in the year of our Lord.” 
It’s a small change that could easily go unnoticed, but Superintendent of Schools Reginald Mayo feels it was a necessary one.
“It’s a religious thing,” he said Tuesday. Then, regarding the deleted language: “I’m surprised it took this long for someone to notice it. We certainly don’t want to offend anyone.”
This will be the first year without the language. For example, diplomas from last year state that the diploma was awarded “this twenty-fifth day of June in the year of our Lord, Two Thousand Nine.”
Mayo said the original complaint was made last year by former Alderwoman Ina Silverman, D-25, who had a daughter at Wilbur Cross High School at the time.
Silverman could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Silverman also made the request to Mayor John DeStefano Jr., according to city spokeswoman Jessica Mayorga, and DeStefano in turn asked the Board of Education to make the change.
The reason for the request, Mayorga said, was “based on the fact that it was really an unnecessary descriptor for a public document being that none of our other public documents have such a descriptor.”
While the change to diplomas is relatively minor, school districts across the country are facing challenges to graduation traditions that include any form of or link to religion.
State Department of Education spokesman Thomas Murphy said he had not heard of other districts having similar issues with diplomas. However, he pointed to the Enfield school district’s attempts to have graduation at a large church. He said the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut filed a federal complaint claiming that holding public school graduation in a church would be a violation of the tenet of separation church and state.
“The ACLU prevailed so there was an injunction to keep the school district from going to the church facility for graduation,” Murphy said.
The school district decided not to appeal the decision, for now.
Another high-profile example is the case of a high school valedictorian at Greenwood High School in Indiana who filed a federal lawsuit to prevent prayer at graduation. The student, who was helped by the Indiana chapter of the ACLU, won the case, according to local newspapers. But the incident stirred much controversy among students and community members, many of whom thought the traditional graduation prayer should be allowed.
The phrase, “in the year of our Lord,” comes from the Latin “Anno Domini,” which was abbreviated A.D. and traditionally placed at the beginning of a year to indicate the number of years since the birth of Jesus, as in A.D. 2010.
While it is rarely used today, the phrase was commonly used many years ago. One notable instance is in Article VII of the U.S. Constitution, which is dated to “Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven,” or Sept. 17, 1787. It also appears in White House proclamations.
High school graduations for New Haven students are this Thursday.
Contact Abbe Smith at 203-789-5615.
http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2010/06/23/news/new_haven/aa1_nediploma062310.txt
ANN ARBOR, MI – In what some have described as police enforcement of Sharia law at the annual Dearborn Arab International Festival, last Friday night Dearborn Police Officers arrested four Christian missionaries and illegally confiscated their video cameras which were recording the events surrounding their arrests. The Thomas More Law Center, a public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, today announced it is representing all of the Christian missionaries.
Arrested on charges of Breach of the Peace are: Negeen Mayel, Dr. Nabeel Qureshi, Paul Rezkalla, and David Wood. Mayel, an eighteen year old female, whose parents emigrated from Afghanistan and a recent convert from Islam to Christianity, was also charged with failure to obey a police officer’s orders. She was approximately 100 feet away and videotaping a discussion with some Muslims when her camera was seized.
Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Law Center, commented, “These Christian missionaries were exercising their Constitutional rights to free speech and the free exercise of religion, but apparently the Constitution carries little weight in Dearborn, where the Muslim population seems to dominate the political apparatus. It’s apparent that these arrests were a retaliatory action over the embarrassing video of the strong arm tactics used last year by Festival Security Guards. This time, the first thing police officers did before making the arrests was to confiscate the video cameras in order to prevent a recording of what was actually happening.”
Thompson continued, “Contrary to the comments made by Police Chief Ron Haddad, our Constitution does not allow police to ban the right of free speech just because there are some hecklers. Not all police officers approve of the way their department treated these Christians.”
Robert Muise, Senior Trial Counsel with the Law Center in charge of the case, yesterday faxed a letter to Chief Haddad demanding that the three video cameras and tapes illegally seized from the missionaries be immediately returned.
http://www.thomasmore.org/default-sb_thomasmore.html?463847954
