The Bill of Rights- The first of the First Amendment

“ God governs in the affairs of man. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured in the Sacred Writings that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this. I also believe that, without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel”
Benjamin Franklin, Constitutional Convention of 1787

If the posted copies of the Ten Commandments are to have any effect at all it will be to induce the school children to read, meditate upon and to perhaps to venerate and obey, the Commandments; this is not a permissible objective. Stone v. Gramm, 1980, challenging the right of students to "see" the 10 Commandments on the wall of a school. The Court defined the posting of the document as a "passive" display, meaning someone would have to stop and look on their own volition.
Stone v. Gramm, 1980.


"I sought for the greatness of the United States in her commodious harbors, her ample rivers, her fertile fields, and boundless forests--and it was not there. I sought for it in her rich mines, her vast world commerce, her public school system, and in her institutions of higher learning--and it was not there. I looked for it in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution--and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great!"
Alexis de Tocqueville.

In the past 5 parts of this series, we've learned a little about the foundation of America, the men who fought and formed the new country's government and law. Although most revisionist histories tell of a group of white men who formed the government, were deists at the most, who believed in separation of church and state. They tell us that the pursuit of happiness as described in the Declaration of Independence means that government shall provide for people's happiness. Now, that may seem like a stretch, but given many people's perspective of government these days, whether they were taught this way or not, shows it's what a large percentage of the population believes.

Over the last century, mainly in the last 50 or so years, we've seen decisions and actions by all three legislative bodies which have drastically moved our society away from the Founder's intents and arguably away from the core idealogies of the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

In the mythical belief in a wall of separation between church and state, we have now, no one allowed to preach, pray or name the name of Christ if a person is percieved to be a part of a government institution. People who do not believe in the Christian faith have been duped into believing that America has never been or will be a Christian nation. Many people beleive that the "separation" idea is in fact a part of the 1st amendment of the Bill of Rights, even many Christians have heard it so much that they believe it too.

Where did it come from? The phrase, "wall of separation between Church & State" was not mentioned in the 1st Amendment to the Constitution as some would believe. It was a phrase by Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptists, wanting to assure them that the government would have no direct influence on religious practices. Jefferson's letter stated, "The First Amendment has erected a wall of separation between church and state, but that wall is a one directional wall; it keeps the government from running the church, but it makes sure that Christian principles will always stay in government."

People who knew how religion had been tied to the British Monarchy, and therefore, were forced to pay taxes for church affairs, even if one were not Anglican. The people did not want the government to meddle in the pulpit or in the affairs of the church. Thomas Jefferson, while supporting a separation of church and state, clearly by his actions showed that he meant this separation was for the benefit of the church, not the government. Jefferson authorized the government to provide money to evangelize Indian tribes with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In addition, as president, Jefferson was also head of the Department of Education for the Washington DC public school system. He ordered the government to provide monies to publish and distribute Bibles and hymn books to the public school children of Washington DC to further the students’ education.

The 1st Amendment states, Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...
From the founders own beliefs,words and actions, we know that they meant that there would be no State run church. This did not mean that no government official could not pray, ask others to pray, or talk about Jesus Christ. We have seen by the written and recorded documents of the founding of this country that the sole purpose of settling the colonies, and later, in forming a separate Country, that Biblical Judeo/Christian beleifs were and were to remain the foundation of our society.

The removal of prayer in public schools by three seperate suits, including the most famous, Madalyn Murray O'Hair, and the twisted logic of the Supreme Court to agree with the decision was all it took to do what the 1st amendment explicitly states. They ordered the government to establish an secular religion. Because of the slow and steady erosion of the Founder's intents, America has lost her Biblical roots, and has been replaced by a secular church.

For those who believe that America would become a theocracy if we allowed Christian prayers and other Christian ideals and symbols reinstated, I have to ask- Was America a theocracy under the Founding Fathers? No. America and the majority of her people believed in Jesus Christ, and yes, Christian morals and values were even tought in public schools, our early Government officials prayed out loud- in the Name of Jesus, and even held Christian services in Congress. Did this mean other faith groups felt left out or uncomfortable? Maybe, but it did not stop them from immigrating here, to a known Christian nation. In Patrick Henry's own words, “It cannot be emphasized too clearly and too often that this nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religion, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason, peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship here.” [May 1765 Speech to the House of Burgesses]

Only in America, because of her faith and foundation on Christianity, can others be welcome here to express their own beliefs or non beleifs. It would behoove anyone who doesn't agree, to look at any other country with a majority religious belief, and see how welcoming or charitable those of differing beliefs are treated.

I'm not only picking on the Muslim religion here, but because of some major things happening in our country today, I am going to point out that in Muslim nations, Christianity and Judaism are either illegal to practice, or they are quietly tolerated unless one attempts to spread their belief through church outreach, missions or church planting. In Saudi Arabia, it is illegal to even own a Bible. If you arrive in that country with a Bible, it will be confiscated. In all Middle Eastern Muslim countries, there are no synagogues, and no new churches allowed to be built.
I bring this up for my last point. Not only has America become a government of secularism, but any and most references to religion is an all inclusive one. What is fine for all, where all can be included. So much so, that now, we have a group wanting to build an Islamic Mosque at Ground Zero in New York City.

I've heard the main argument, citing the 1st Amendment, for the case to allow this mosque to be built. Personally, I have no problem if someone wished to build a place of worship to something other than to Christ. I will pray for them to know the Truth of Jesus, and hope for their salvation in Christ. However, make no mistake. This mosque is nothing more than a sign of conquest of Islam in America. The only reason they have picked this hallowed place is because it is the place where thier jihad was successful in killing over 3000 people. They are using the very amendment against us, citing America's great liberty of the freedom of religion. The fact that this same amendment has been used against Christians for the past 50 years, twisting it to mean freedom from religion, is not lost on me or many others.

If Islam is such a peaceful, tolerant religion, tell me, can we build a church in Mecca?
It shows how far removed we are from the Foundation of America, when in places such as Deerborn, Michigan, Christians are arrested for speaking about Christ, government officials, teachers, principals are being fired, fined or face jail time for professing Christ, but yet, Islam is afforded, among athiests, wiccans, agnostics and other religions, the freedom of religion, spreading and preaching their religion. On the false sense of what tolerance is, America is no longer allowed to be a Christian Nation, unless it is practiced in church on Sundays only. A far way away from the ideals of our Founders.

“What students would learn in American schools above all is the religion of Jesus Christ.” George Washington[speech to the Delaware Indian Chiefs May 12, 1779]

“ 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.” Source: October 12, 1816. The Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay, (furture SCOTUS)

“God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are a gift from God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, and that His justice cannot sleep forever.”
Thomas Jefferson

“We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We’ve staked the future of all our political institutions upon our capacity…to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God.” James Madison [1778 to the General Assembly of the State of Virginia]

“ I verily believe Christianity necessary to the support of civil society. One 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 its foundations.”
Joseph Story (SCOTUS)[Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States p. 593]


Next, the other freedoms given in the 1st amendment- that of the press, and of the people to gather, to redress government. Until then, Read the Preambles of the States of America. Count how many refer to God or Jesus Christ. You may be surprised.