You hear that phrase often, be it from your rabid unneighborly ACLU lawyer, or sadly, from the current president of the United States. They'll tell you that America wasn't founded on Christianity, and that the Founding Fathers were all either deists or outright atheists. This view is touted in public schools and universities across the country.
Even some Christians, growing up in this environment, have to come to believe it. Others may not believe the founders were secular, but they certainly don't feel like they have enough evidence to refute the statement either. So, they remain silent, and the statement continues to ring out, unchallenged.
What I want to talk about today, is this: Is what they say really true? Is America indeed a godless Republic?
To answer this, I won't quote modern philosophers or verbose politicians. I'm going to go back to the beginning, when the harbinger of freedom first dawned on the shores of America. When such people as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson lived and gave their lives and their livelihoods to see America rise. What do they say have to say about America?
First of all, let's look at a sage and very well known document, namely, the Declaration of Independence. This document was written by the supposed deist, Thomas Jefferson. Well then, why did the Deist find it necessary to mention God 4 times in the relatively short document? He makes reference to a "Creator" in the famous line about human rights, and even before that, Jefferson mentions "Nature's God". In the latter statement, he elevates God above nature, or natural law! Even more damaging to the 'deist' cause, Jefferson appeals to the "Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions...". Now clearly, if Jefferson was in fact a deist, why would he be appealing to a God that he clearly calls a "Supreme Judge". Those aren't the words of deist or atheist by any stretch of the imagination. If that wasn't enough, later in the document, Jefferson makes this statement, "with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.
Divine Providence is defined as the "Activity of God in world affairs". If Jefferson was a deist, why would he use such language? The truth of the matter is that Jefferson mentions God pretty often! I was at the Jefferson Memorial a couple of weeks ago, and even there, most of his quotes mentioned God, in one form or another.
Now some might say, "How do you know he was talking about a Christian god"?
Who do you think he was talking about? Buddha??? Allah??? Thor??? I think not. The God almost universally believed in at that time in America was the Judeo-Christian God. To try to claim otherwise is downright silly, to say the least.
Now, what about the rest of the Founding Fathers? According to Adherents.com, ALL of the Founding Fathers professed to belong to one Christian church or another. The majority, 57.1%, belonged to the Anglican church, while 23.2% and 21.4% considered themselves Congregationalist and Presbyterian, respectively. Now, what about Ben Franklin? Many revisionist historians like to tout him as the man of reason, and as a deist.
The truth is far from that image. During the Constitutional convention, the delegates had reached a stalemate. There were deep and profound disagreements between the 2 sides, and it looked as if it would be impossible for them to reach agreement.
A man stood up, and requested that before the business proceedings of each day commenced, that it be opened in prayer to God. Not only that, he requested that a chaplain be appointed for the duration of the convention! The man who requested this was none other than Ben Franklin. The question begs asking, why would a deist recommend that the convention open its day praying to God to "enlighten our minds"?
Another argument revisionist historians and anti-God people use is to claim that there is no mentioned of God in the Constitution.
While it is true that God's name is rarely mentioned in the Constitution, the reasons behind that are far different from what leftists would have you believe.
The Founders believed that religion was a matter best left up to the individual, and to the states. Most state constitutions defined the role religion played in civil affairs, and as such, the Founders did not want the federal government to usurp that power. As Daniel Dreisbach puts it, "The Constitution, in short, can be fairly characterized as "godless" or secular only insofar as it deferred to the states on all matters regarding religion and devotion to God.
Imagine that. The lack of God in the Constitution, far from being the result of the anti-religious bias of the Founding Fathers, was simply an example of the Constitution's support of states rights. Take that, ACLU!
The truth is undeniable. The feverish attempt by radical leftists to revise and secularize our history cannot keep the truth from ringing out. They've tried to deny the devout religious beliefs of the founders. They've tried to explain away the Constitution and America's profound success as being simply the result of reason. To some extent, they've succeeded. They've offloaded their rhetoric and frenzied arguments to our children, via the public school system and the leftist media.
They've done all that, and yet, they've failed. The truth cannot be hidden anymore.
Now you know. They are the ones who are wrong.
Hot Links: Discover the truth regarding America through this website. David Barton has been a recent guest on the Glenn Beck program, and his website features loads of helpful information and articles regarding America's true, unadulterated history. http://www.wallbuilders.com/
Check out David Barton's books, Original Intent: The Courts, the Constitution, & Religion
and Setting the Record Straight: American History in Black & White
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