"I have long been convinced that our enemies have made it an Object, to eradicate from the Minds of the People in general a Sense of true Religion (Christianity) & Virtue, in hopes thereby the more easily to carry their Point of enslaving them. Indeed my Friend, this is a Subject so important in my mind, that I know not how to leave it. Revelation assures us that 'Righteousness exalteth a Nation'-Communities are dealt with in this World by the wise and just Ruler of the Universe. He rewards them or punishes them according to their general Character. The diminution (diminishing) of publick Virtue is usually attended with that of publick Happiness and the publick Liberty will not long survive the total Extinction of Morals."

- Samuel Adams, April 30, 1776
The Father of America's Independence

When our forefathers mentioned the word religion they were referring to Christianity not other religions. The real object of the First Amendment was not to approve or tolerate, much less to advance rival religions like Mohammedanism, Buddhism, Environmentalism, Humanism, ect. or infidelity by prostrating Christianity, but to exclude all rivalry among Christian sects and to prevent any national church establishment which should give to a hierarchy [a denominational council] the exclusive patronage of the national government. I mention this because revisionists have exploited true history by distorting the meaning of words and our Founders original intent. I should like to think that rational people would prefer the truth and then decide what they agree with or not and not perpetuate lies instead of facts.

Additionally our Founders recognized the threat that some religions can be destructive to our nation. For example at that time the Church of England and the Roman Catholics posed a threat because they were loyal to the Pope instead of their country. Similar to what we have today with Muslims their loyalty is only to Mohamed and Sharia Law the sacred Laws of Islam which they put above the Laws and customs of our nation which poses a dangerous threat to our freedom and way of life.

America's First Governments

The original colonies created a charter that provided adequate civil government. However, as population increased, so did the need for more elaborate governments. It was this need which resulted in the "fundamental Orders of Connecticut" - not only the first constitution written in the United States but also the direct antecedent of our current federal Constitution. The "Fundamental Orders" explained why that document had been created.

[W]ell knowing when a people are gathered together, the word of God requires that to maintain the peace and union of such a people, there should be an orderly and decent government established according to God.

That constitution next declared the colonists' desire to:

Enter into combination and confederation together to maintain and preserve the liberty and purity of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus which we now profess . . . which, according to the truth of the said Gospel, is now practiced amongst us.

Later that year (1639), when the colonists of Exeter, New Hampshire, established a government, that document similarly declared:

Considering with ourselves the holy will of God, and our own necessity that we should not live without wholesome laws and civil government among us, of which we are altogether destitute; do in the name of Christ and In the sight of God combine ourselves together to erect and set up among us such government as shall be to our best discerning agreeable to the will of God.

In 1643, the colonies of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Plymouth, and New Haven joined together to form the New England Confederation-America's first government. These colonies banded together because, as that document explained, each had similar goals:

We all came into these parts of America with one and the same end and aim, namely to advance the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In 1669, John Locke assisted in the drafting of the Carolina constitution under which no man could be a citizen unless he acknowledged God, was a member of a church and used no "reproachful, reviling, or abusive language" against any religion.

When Quaker minister William Penn established the 1682 "Frame of Government of Pennsylvania," he prefaced the document with a lengthy exegesis of the spiritual and Biblical nature of civil government, chronicling its general progress and referring to numerous Scripture references.

These, and numerous similar documents, establish that Christianity was the basis for civil government in the New World.

The Founding of Education in America

Many settlers that had come to America had suffered persecution for their Christian beliefs at the hands of other "Christians" (many of the civil abuses of Europe inexcusably occurred under the banner of Christianity - the Inquisition, the Crusades, etc.). When Europe finally began to move away from such abuses, it did so because of the efforts of leaders like Martin Luther, John Wycliffe, John Huss, William Tyndale, and others. These individuals believed that it was the Biblical illiteracy of the people which had permitted so many civil abuses to occur; that is, since the common man was not permitted to read the Scriptures for himself, his knowledge of rights and wrongs was limited to what his civil leaders told him. This is always the case with power mad tyrants they do not want people thinking independently for themselves.

The American settlers, having been exposed to the Reformation teachings believe that the proper protection from civil abuses in America could be achieved by eliminating Biblical illiteracy. In this way, the citizens themselves (rather than just their leaders) could measure the acts of their civil government compared to the teachings of the Bible. Consequently, one of the first laws providing public education for all children (the "Old Deluder Satan Law," passed in Massachusetts in 1642 and in Connecticut in 1647) was a calculated attempt to prevent the abuse of power which can be imposed on a Biblically-illiterate people. That public school law explained not only why students needed an education but also how it was to be accomplished:

"It being one chief project of that old deluder, Satan, to keep men from the knowledge of the Scriptures, as in former time. . . . It is therefore ordered . . .[that] after the Lord hath increased [the settlement] to the number of fifty householders, [they] shall then forthwith appoint one within their town, to teach all such children as shall resort to him, to write and read. . . . And it is further ordered, that where any town shall increase to the number of one hundred families or householders, they shall set up a grammar school . . . to instruct youths, so far as they may be fitted for the university."

It was not uncommon for subsequent American literacy laws to stress the need to know the Scriptures. For example, the 1690 Connecticut law declared:

Let every student be plainly instructed and earnestly pressed to consider well the main end of his life and studies is to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternal life (JOHN 17:3) and therefore to lay Christ in the bottom as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and learning. And seeing the Lord only giveth wisdom let every one seriously set himself by prayer in secret to seek it of Him (PROVERBS 2:3). Every one shall so exercise himself in reading the Scriptures twice a day that he shall be ready to give such an account of his proficiency therein.

Harvard had similar requirements that changed little over subsequent years. For example, the 1790 rules required:

All persons of what degree forever residing at the College, and undergraduates . . . shall constantly and seasonably attend the worship of God in the chapel, morning and evening. . . All the scholars shall, at sunset in the evening preceding the Lord's Day, lay aside all their diversions and. . . .it is enjoined upon every scholar carefully to apply himself to the duties of religion on said day.

So firmly was Harvard dedicated to this goal that its two mottos were "For the Glory of Christ" and "For Christ and the Church" This school and its philosophy produced signers John Adams, John Hancock, Elbridge Gerry, John Pickering, William Williams, Rufus King, William Hooper, William Ellery, Samuel Adams, Robert Treat Paine, and numerous other illustrious Founders.

Then in 1743, and again in 1755, Yale instructed its students:

Above all have an eye to the great end of all your studies, which is to obtain the clearest conceptions of Divine things and to lead you to a saving knowledge of God in his Son Jesus Christ.

Its 1787 rules declared:

All the scholars are required to live a religious and blameless life according to the rules of God's Word, diligently reading the holy Scriptures, that fountain of Divine light and truth, and constantly attending all the duties of religion . . . . . All the scholars are obliged to attend Divine worship in the College Chapel on the Lord's Day and on Days of Fasting and Thanksgiving appointed by public Authority.

It was this school and its philosophy which produced signers Oliver Wolcott, William Livingston, Lyman Hall, Lewis Morris, Jared Ingersoll, Philip Livingston, William Samuel Johnson, and numerous other distinguished Founders.

In 1746 Princeton was founded by the Presbyterians with the Rev. Jonathan Dickinson as its first president. He was followed by a long line of illustrious ministers who served as presidents, including Aaron Burr, Sr., Jonathan Edwards, Samuel Davies, and Samuel Finley (all of whom were involved in America's greatest revival-the Great Awakening). Its president immediately preceding the Revolution was the Rev. Dr. John Witherspoon, later a signer of the Declaration of Independence and a venerated leader among the patriots. Notice some of Princeton's requirements while John Witherspoon was president:

Every student shall attend worship in the college hall morning and evening at the hours appointed and shall behave with gravity and reverence during the whole service. Every student shall attend public worship on the Sabbath. . . . Besides the public exercises of religious worship on the Sabbath, there shall be assigned to each class certain exercises for their religious instructions suited to the age and standing of the pupils . . . and no student belonging to any class shall neglect them.

Signers James Madison, Richard Stockton, Benjamin Rush, Gunning Bedford, Jonathan Dayton, and numerous other prominent Founders, graduated from Princeton (a seminary for the training of ministers).

Perhaps George Washington, "The Father of the Country," provided the most succinct description of America's educational philosophy when Chiefs from the Delaware Indian tribe brought him three Indian youths to be trained in American schools. Washington first assured the Chiefs that "Congress . . . will look upon them as their own children," and then commended the Chiefs for their decision, telling them that:

"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 that you are. Congress will do everything they can to assist you in this wise intention."

By George Washington's own words, what youths learned in America's schools "above all" "the religion of Jesus Christ."

Early statesmen understood that if we "went to sleep," our government would become corrupt and tyrannical, resulting in political slavery of its citizens. Only if citizens remained alert and active stewards could this condition be avoided. Perhaps President James A Garfield, himself a Christian minister, most succinctly articulated this truth when he reminded Americans:

Now, more than ever before, the people are responsible for the character of their Congress. If that body be ignorant, reckless, and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness, and corruption. If it be intelligent, brave and pure, it is because the people demand these high qualities to represent them in the national legislature. . . . If the next centennial does not find us a great nation. . . . it will be because those who represent the enterprise, the culture, and the morality of the nation do not aid in controlling the political forces.

People must learn to think independently using principals based on truth as our forefathers did. Benjamin Rush serves as a good roll model for thinking independently. He not only signed the Declaration of Independence, he also served in the Presidential administrations of John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison - each of whom came from a different political party. How could Benjamin Rush serve for Presidents from three different parties, and what was his own party affiliation? He once proclaimed:

I have been alternately called an aristocrat and a democrat. I am now neither. I am a Christocrat. I believe all power . . . will always fail of producing order and happiness in the hands of man. He alone who created and redeemed man is qualified to govern him.

Benjamin Rush made his choice of candidates based on which one better stood for Godly principles, no matter his party affiliation. As Proverbs 29:2 accurately states: "When the righteous" - not the Republicans, the Democrats, or any other party - but "When the righteous rule, the people rejoice, when the wicked rule, the people groan." The love of correct principles - not the love of a party-I the key to effective political involvement; the government of this nation will be blessed only to the extent that God-fearing and moral individuals are placed in office. Of course today it seems the only choice we often have is the lesser of 2 evils but the principals still apply.

Each generation has a great responsibility to maintain and pass on principals and freedom but in my generation we have continued thus far to subvert the Constitution and rights of the individuals and it makes me wonder what legacy will we leave the next generation? Obviously, the choice is ours; but having this choice, we should heed the warning delivered to citizens in 1803 when the Reverend Matthias Burnet charged:

Finally, ye. . . whose high prerogatives it is to . . . invest with office and authority or to withhold them and in whose power it is to save or destroy your country, consider well the important trust

. . . which God. . . . has put into your hands. To God and posterity you are accountable for them. . . Let not children have reason to curse you for giving up those rights and prostrating those institutions which your fathers delivered to you.

For the sake of this generation, as well as future ones, we must be active. As John Hancock urged:

I conjure you, by all that is dear, by all that is honorable, by all that is sacred, not only that ye pray but that ye act.

The responsibilities facing God-fearing citizens are somber, and the potential repercussions from our actions - or lack thereof - are both far-reaching and long lasting. Remember that where citizen complacency rules, wrong principles and policies will abound; and when it comes to sound government, the enemy is seldom "them"; it is generally citizen apathy. Hopefully we will have a wake up call reflected in our next election.

What I have presented was not meant to confuse you about whether we were or should be a Christian Nation for we never have been. Our Fore Fathers were careful by restricting in our Constitution in the First Amendment the Federal Government from mandating any religion and the states in there constitutions followed suit, leaving it to individuals to choose. A Christian Nation means Christianity would be mandated by the government which would create tyranny. It is correct to say we were a nation created under God with Christian principles which is the source of the great freedoms we enjoyed in the past and should continue to be perpetuated. True Christianity as practiced by our forefathers is all about freedom which in itself guarantees there will be Christians and non Christians as long as we have freedom in our country. Our forefathers knew that the Bible provides certain principles and mandates designed not just for Christians but some were also pertinent to the whole human race if they were to live free and not exterminate itself. Some of these laws and principles common to everyone are morality, Ten Commandments and establishment principles which promote self determination (freedom of choice), marriage, family and government which are essential to perpetuate and maintain the freedom our country enjoyed in the past. These things are the responsibility of parents to teach and should be reinforced in our schools and churches instead of undermined or not taught as we see today.

HOOAH!

Dave

Excerpts came from:
Samuel Adams: A Life by Ira Stoll and
Original Intent by David Barton
http://www.wallbuilders.com/

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The Word of Truth

By Rev G.J. Rako

LTC (Ret)

IN USAR

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