On June 19, 1963, the United States Supreme Court decided
to ban
the reading of the Bible from our public schools.
There have been many
changes in the last almost 40 years in our country.
I believe there is a
connection!
I decided to do some research as to what those who founded
this country had to say about the Bible and the God who wrote it. The following is the result of this research.
In 1620, the head of every family, every bachelor and most
of the hired menservants on the Mayflower signed a covenant called the Mayflower
Compact. In the first paragraph they set forth the reason for wanting to settle
in this new land: "... for the glory of God and the advancement of the
Christian faith...".
William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania,
wrote,
"if we
will not be governed by God, then we will be governed by tyrants" .
Patrick Henry is known for the statement, "Give me
liberty or give me death!", but earlier in the same
speech, he also said,
"There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations..."
Our Declaration of Independence signed by John Hancock and
others says, "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are
created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable
rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness".
George Washington, our first President, said on September 19, 1796 in his Farewell
Address, "Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political
prosperity, Religion and Morality are indispensable supports. ... And let us with caution
indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion."
It appears to me that that our founding fathers were not
"politically correct". It seems that these men, who helped shape our
country, could not speak or write without using the name of God.
We need to
remember the words of II Chronicles
7:14, "if My people who are called by My name
will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked
ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their
land. "
Let us pray that our land will be healed not of the body, but of the soul!
-- Don Treadway, 2001 --
