6/6/2005
Faith in the battlefield
This isn’t going to be a story that you will hear from the MSM, because frankly, it’s my own reflection upon what has happened through history with men who go into battle, and the corrolations between then and now. I’ll try to explain.
Recently, I came across a very amazing book called The Faith of the American Soldier. I purchased it as a book, but also as a cd, and have been listening to the various chapters in my car as I travel to and fro. Some of the most amazing stories are held within the chapters of that book; of chivalry and amazing courage, the history of the chaplaincy and what incredible challenges chaplains have in ministering to our soldiers while trying to maintain the “secular” environment the liberals have forced upon us. I was particularly drawn into the story of knighthood:
A man was never born to knighthood. It was something he had to prove himself to be. Knights were fashioned in battle, honed by mentors, and disciplined by hardships. Knights were molded in the holy fires of spiritual seeking. And when the time was right and a man was chosen for the call, he prepared himself for the moment of his ascendance with a ritual all knights underwent: the Vigil.
The Vigil was the final ceremony of cleansing, of meditation, and of sacrifice. It was a purifying and resolving of the hungers of the heart. It was the liturgy by which a man who was simply a warrior became a knight in the service of God.
The Vigil began early on the day before a man was to be knighted. He was first bathed, usually in rose water and usually in a wooden tub. This signified his baptism, his reenactment of the burial of Jesus Christ in the tomb, and His resurrection to life again. The knight to be understood from this that he was no longer his own, that his life had been bought by the death of the Lord he now followed. His sins were also cleansed. His heart made new. His affecitoins fixed to a new allegiance.
As a sign of shed vanity, the man’s hair was usually cut. In the Middle Ages, the sacrificing of one’s hair was seen as a sign of devotion to God. This meant that a knight often wore his hair in the same crudely cut manner as a monk, reminding him that he had entered a calling more than an army, a holy order more than just a soldier’s life.
The knight candidate was then given new clothes. He first received a red garment with long sleeves and a hood that was place over a white tunic. It was the symbol that this man was ready to shed his blood in the service of God and his king. Afterward, a tight-fitting black coat was placed over the white and the red to signify that the knight should never fear death, which for the man of god is but reward.
Now properly cleansed and clothed, the man was taken to a chapel and left alone with his weapons and his armor. He had already begun to fast. It was a means of purifying both sould and body, humbling himself into his humanity, and reminding him always to champion the weak and the poor. Now, as a man clean in body and spirit, the knight-to-be presented himself to God.
With his companions and sponsors waiting prayerfully outside, the man spread his weapons on the altar and stood watch. For no less than ten hours, he prayed the prayers of devotion and ran his heart over each tool of his trade; his sword, his mace, his lance, his gauntlet, perhaps even his saddle and the standard of his king. And he waited. For God to receive him. For the words that would form his call. For the grace to conquer his passions. For the boldness befitting his charge.
He also envisioned the next day. His companions would come for him and take him to the appointed place. A priest would say mass, and then the knight candidate would kneel. The priest would bless him, and then, while his companions held them aloft, the priest would bless his weapons.
There would be a sermon and charges form the older knights about the price of the call. Perhaps a pair of spurs would be put upon his feet, symbols of the nobility and rank he had attained. Certainly his mentors could attest to the other nobles that he was properly prepared, that his training was complete. And they would kiss him, in welcome to the fellowship of the sword.
The sword. Finally it would be time. The sword crafted uniquely for him would be brought forth and laid before him. He had dreamed of the moment all of his life. The priest would then take the word, and the others might place their hands upon it, as well. then would come the sacred words:
Bless this sword,
so that it may be a defense
for churches, widows, and orphans
and for all servants of God
against the fury of the heathen.Then the king or the highest noble in attendance would administer the collee, the ceremonial blow to the head and neck with the sword. Later generations would remember this as a “dubbing”, a tapping on the shoulder and head. In truth, it was more dramatic, more violent; it was a chopping motion meant to remind the knight the he was “under the sword”, that he had already surrendered his life to a cause.
“Lord, make me worthy,” he prays and then, in the concluding silence, “Deus vult.” God wills it.
Consider the history of honorable men in battle:
Though warrior codes have arisen in most every culture strong enough to sustain one, the Western code is drawn from the Christian heritage of chivalry and the knightly traditions that have left their mark even to this day. The salute, the epaulet, and even military chaplains themselves are vestiges of this heritage. Yet, if these are all that remain of this grand tradition, what has been lost, and at what cost?
But I don’t believe that those are all that remains of this grand tradition, when considering some of the other evidence. As you will see, in a second, it would seem not as much has been lost as some of us had feared…
Not long after the start of Iraqi Freedom on March 20, 2003, amid the reports of victory and death, tales of faith arose from the battlefields. Newspapers reported bible studies, prayer meetings, and standing-room-only worship services in the American camps. Magazines ran photos of Marines being baptized in the Euphrates River and fully armed soldiers kneeling in prayer before going on patrol. There were accounts of a worship service on the eve of the Battle for Fallujah with Christian rock music blaring and uniformed worshipers raising their hands in praise of their God. Some chaplains who had service in earlier conflicts reported that they had never before seen such spiritual hunger among troops at war. Clearly, the crucible of war was turning the American soldier to seek out his God.
Even more astounding:
During Operation Desert Shield, for example, some 18,474 soldiers from the XVIII Airborne Corps attended religious services. The U.S. Army Central Command (ARCENT) sponsored 7,946 religious meetings with an attendance of 341,344 soldiers. This evidence of a new religious fervor moved Major General Barry McCaffrey to remark that “we had the most religious Army since the Army of Northern Virginia during the Civil War.”
Here is a modern day example of this ceremony, (read the whole thing) which happened a month or so ago in Iraq:
LTC Tomahawk made quick work of my old rank with his blade, and by time the order had been read he was pinning the rank to my armored mantle and onto my collar. As he finished pinning the rank the LTC half whispered “take a knee”. Once I had dropped to one knee he pulled out his tomahawk and gently placed it on my left shoulder. Then he told everyone assembled “he kneeled a lieutenant, now he rises a Captain”and helped me to my feet.
There was no pageantry in that wretched field. Truth be told there were few witnesses – all eyes were scanning for contact. But I wouldn’t have traded the rugged midnight ceremony for any amount of pomp and circumstance. For an instant that wretched field was nobler then any parade ground - war be damned.
To me, the preparation he went through before he went outside and received his new rank, reminds me of that preparation for the knighthood ceremony from The Faith of the American Soldier, above.
The battlefields in Afghanistan and Iraq are shaping the hearts shaking the foundations of the faith of our men and women in uniform in amazing ways. It is no wonder that these extreme circumstances would force people to question what is in their hearts, and what their mission is, and that the cause be a righteous one…and how circumstances can turn an atheist to a believer, how bands of them pray together, how their faith is growing each day they face the enemy.
I see some similarities between the Jedi knights and the boys and girls who are serving our country in Iraq…
But I do worry about the future of these traditions when the ACLU and other organizations are so determined to wipe out all references to our rich Christian heritage and traditions which go back long before we even became a nation.
The Wide Awakes linked with Faith in the Battlefield
NIF linked with Ambassador of Everlasting Gobbstoppers
June 6th, 2005 at 9:21 am
Awesome job on this!
June 6th, 2005 at 10:41 pm
America has such a rich heritage of brave defenders, heroes stretching back to our own Revolution. All through our history you will find references to troops praying and reading the Bible and worshipping God.
How can any reasonable mind come to any other conclusion but we are and always have been a Christian nation..
Great post CAO
June 7th, 2005 at 9:25 am
I hope God comforts the parents and partners of those that he let die on the battlefield…
June 10th, 2005 at 7:31 am
“How can any reasonable mind come to any other conclusion but we are and always have been a Christian nation..”
I know the US was never a Christian Nation because I know US political history.
I assume you have never heard of the Treaty of Tripoli.
“Article 11 of the 1797 Treaty of Tripoli (which was drafted during George Washington’s second term and was unanimously approved by the Senate and signed by President John Adams) states ‘As the Government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquillity, of Musselmen; and as the said States never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mehomitan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.’”
Have always been a Christian nation my ***…
June 10th, 2005 at 7:55 am
here’s the proof….
As you walk up the steps to the building which houses the U.S. Supreme Court you can see near the top of the building a row of the world’s law givers and each one is facing one in the middle who is facing forward with a full frontal view … it is Moses and he is holding the Ten Commandments!
As you enter the Supreme Court courtroom, the two huge oak doors have the Ten Commandments engraved on each lower portion of each door.
As you sit inside the courtroom, you can see the wall, right above where the Supreme Court judges sit, a display of the Ten Commandments!
There are Bible verses etched in stone all over the Federal Buildings and Monuments in Washington, D.C.
James Madison, the fourth president, known as “The Father of Our Constitution” made the following statement:
“We have staked the whole of all our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government, upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God.”
Patrick Henry, that patriot and Founding Father of our country said:
“It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists but by Christians, not on religions but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ”.
Every session of Congress begins with a prayer by a paid preacher, whose salary has been paid by the taxpayer since 1777.
Fifty-two of the 55 founders of the Constitution were members of the established orthodox churches in the colonies.
Thomas Jefferson worried that the Courts would overstep their authority and instead of interpreting the law would begin making law . an oligarchy .
the rule of few over many.
The very first Supreme Court Justice, John Jay, said:
“Americans should select and prefer Christians as their rulers.”
How, then, have we gotten to the point that everything we have done for 220 years in this country is now suddenly wrong and unconstitutional?
Lets put it around the world and let the world see and remember what this great country was built on.
Even the supreme court said we are a Christian nation.
The US Supreme Court in 1892 in the case Church of the Holy Trinity vs. the U.S.: “Our law and our institutions must be necessarily based upon and embody the teachings of the Redeemer of mankind. It is impossible that it should be otherwise, and in this sense and to this extent our civilization and our institutions are emphatically Christian … This is a religious people. This is historically true. From the discovery of this continent to the present hour, there is a single voice making this affirmation … We find everywhere a clear recognition of the same truth … THIS IS A CHRISTIAN NATION.”
And your *** doesn’t know much more then your head does, apparently, lol!!! So you quote one document…I’ve got so much documentation on this it’s incredible. You’re obviously living in a make-believe world! For every one document you come up with, I can come up with so much more to refute your position on this matter.
If we weren’t a Christian nation, then how could it be acceptable for presidents (including George Washington who started the tradition) to declare a national day of Thanksgiving?
As far as the treaty of Tripoli is concerned, you bring up something that is under dispute as far as historians are concerned. There is considerable dispute about whether the Arabic version of the treaty read and signed by the representatives of Tripoli even had the famous words included (they are not present, as was discovered in about 1930, in the surviving Arabic version). No one knows why. The treaty remained in effect for only four years, replaced, after more war with Tripoli, with another treaty that does not have the famous words included. One or two later treaties even allude to the Trinity.
Nice try. You might consider researching this stuff before you come over here with your overinflated ego and your ******** spreader, expecting us all to suck it up like the libs do at Demoscummic Underpants…lol
June 10th, 2005 at 10:04 am
I provided a bill that was passed by the legislative branch and the executive. All you showed as “evidence” was a statue, engravings in a wall, and a supreme court ruling in which some jackass mentions the Redeemer. Find me a bill that was passed by the government that states we are a christian nation then come talk to me cao.
As usually your argument is flawed, just like your rationality.
June 10th, 2005 at 11:58 am
That was a bill that was replaced later without the verbiage you refer to. Get your facts straight before you come here pontificating like an ***. As usual, your “facts” are not “facts” at all. You think that all this evidence I’m producing is not proof–a law would be proof? A law proclaiming what? Our founders did not want to proclaim a state-mandated religion–they ran away from that kind of religious persecution. All you have to do is look around and you can see all kinds of evidence that we’re a Christian nation, and that our founding documents were written by Christian men, based on Christian principles. Even the ruling by the US Supreme Court that we are a Christian nation is not proof? Then you’re a pretty stupid person!
We taught the Bible in public schools until the 60’s. People who weren’t Christian had no objection to it because Christian principles are reasonable and good principles for anyone to learn. A person who lives by those principles is a sophisticate; the founders believed it was the only way toward behaving as a gentleman. (Take a look at George Washington’s Rules of Civility to see what that means–because obviously you don’t know.)
We don’t need it written as a law, it’s plastered all over our buildings, it’s in the founders’ personal papers, we have a national Holiday devoted to thanking God…
Nothing will be enough to prove it to you because if I said the sky was blue you’d say it was black. And frankly, I’m not interested in your opinion, anyway. This blog is for me to express mine, and my friends to express theirs.
While you want to tell me what history says without knowing anything about it, no knowledgeable historian of early American history can deny the fact that the concept of a Creator God who endowed His creation with “unalienable rights” was an essential underpinning of the American experiment. These rights were derived not from a government that was transitory, but from a Governor who was eternal. It was the role of government to defend these rights and not dilute or remove them.
I’d like you to explain to me if we’re not a Christian nation and our laws were not based on the Ten Commandments, then why are the Ten Commandments inscribed in the marble of the United States Supreme Court, why is there a beautiful stained glass window in the U.S. Capitol depicting President George Washington kneeling in prayer, and explain to me why there would be–at the top of the Washington Monument - the highest point in the nation’s capital–embedded in a plaque which boldly proclaims in Latin, “Praise Be Unto God.”
It’s certainly not because we’re a “secular” nation. We didn’t teach the Bible to our children until the 1960’s because we were a secular nation. The founding fathers thought the bible was the ideal schoolbook–because they were secular deists? I don’t think so.
June 10th, 2005 at 12:31 pm
It cracks me up that these posts are an irritant to you…all the more reason for me to put them up
If there are people who are in denial that are swallowing what you’re saying–your version of history–there should be voices out there to counter them and serve as explanations. Your version doesn’t explain squat. It actually raises a lot of questions.
If we were a secular nation, then why, for example, would George Washington and Congress decide it was necessary to proclaim a day of Thanksgiving? Congress passed a joint resolution in 1941 decreeing that Thanksgiving should fall on the fourth Thursday of November, nevermind all the times presidents proclaimed it a national holiday. Why would a secular group of people find it necessary to Thank God and reserve a day for reverence and prayer?
June 10th, 2005 at 1:10 pm
I don’t understand, and I pity those who have such vehement hatred towards religion as “The Disenfranchised Voter.” I can only guess that something happened in his youth that severely traumatized him/her.
Reading their blog shows that this person is just 21 years old and incredibly filled with massive amounts of hatred towards other people.
I can only hope and pray that one day he learns what life is about and he learns the love of Jesus to help empty out the incredible, vile hatred in his heart.
June 10th, 2005 at 2:05 pm
We Are NOT a Christian Nation!!!!!
The Left has the absolute patent on the TRUTH!!!!!
The right is going down in flames!!!!!
We Are NOT a Christian nation!!!!
Then why is it that Air One is growing like mad (70 stations right now) and air america is dropping fast (63 stations and sinking)and have already had problems staying on the air due to being too broke to pay their bills.
Must be all those non-christians checking into what they are missing.
June 10th, 2005 at 2:07 pm
“I provided a bill that was passed by the legislative branch and the executive…”
Yes…in 1811!
Your example is bogus for some of the reasons Cao has already alluded to and one she didn’t…tradition.
While not Christian, Madison and Hamilton (forget any others - they wrote the damn document) were great believers in tradition. And while we’ve been mostly welcoming of other creeds, the fact is that the Christian tradition in the United States was written into the constitution not in any religious sense but in a traditional understanding of Judeo-Christian values, i.e. the ten commandments. Given their experience, they could hardly have done anything else.
June 10th, 2005 at 2:08 pm
btw Cao…how did I miss this wonderful post!
Great job.
June 10th, 2005 at 2:39 pm
Ah, Ms. Cao, Rick is correct~you should amend what you said to Judaeo-Christian heritage. The 10 commandments are, after all, older even than Christ’s crucifixion.
What an incredible picture this post evokes in my mind! Thank you for sharing it.
June 10th, 2005 at 2:41 pm
Indeed, there are far-left-fringe groups such as the ACLU that would strip every last vestige of Christianity out of our society if they could. Despite the fact that there is, besides the Founding Father history noted above, Supreme Court precedent that supports the notion that this is arguably a Christian nation.
The Disenfranchised Voter is indeed a little lacking in historical knowledge - perhaps a product of public ed-you-kay-shun awash in a liberal elitist anti-Christian agenda?
June 10th, 2005 at 2:48 pm
Cao. I’m… speechless. PERFECT post - fifteen out of ten.
*sigh*
And now I’ve got another book to read… Didn’t I say I was moving, luv?
Oh, well, I know it’s going to be an uplifting read which will remain in my library for a long, long, long time.
Thanks, Cao - beautiful job!
[OK, so, I wasn’t so speechless… ;-)]
Hugzzz,
R’cat
June 10th, 2005 at 2:59 pm
Um. Ooops.
Cao, do you wanna fix my little HTML goof up there? The “strong” tag should end after “PERFECT”….
[blushing]
– R’cat
June 10th, 2005 at 4:32 pm
I wonder about Disenfranchised Voter, someone that cannot let another’s faith alone without an attempt at disparagement. He mentions the Tripolli treaty as though it were the end all be all. The purpose of that phrase was not to deny that this country was founded on Christian principles, but to establish that neither the Musslemen of Barbary States nor the United States were going to war based on any Religious/Theocratic principles.
Further, to state catagorically that the phrase noted removes the historical precidents of the founding of this country is blatent revisionism. We are not a Christian Nation or a Jewish Nation or a Muslim Nation or any Theocratic Nation. We were however, founded on Judeo-Christian principles, primarily the Christian intrepretation of Judeo-Christian. As noted by Rick Moran, the authors of our form of government experience was of a Judeo-Christian nature. If they had been Chinese, the traditions would be Taoist or Confucian. If they had been Japanese, the traditions would be Shinto. That ought to be obvious to Disenfranchised Voter. Of course, the tag of his “…Christian Nation my A**” sets his real agenda.
Oh, by the bye, since this post of Cao’s was about faith in the battlefield, I might mention another tradition: “There are no athesists in foxholes with bullets flying overhead and explosions nearby.”
Oh, one more thing, voters in this country are never “disenfranchised.” Either they are eligible to vote, or they are not. If they are not, it is either because of age, place of residency, or citizenship. If they are convicted felons, they removed the right to vote by their actions. Disenfranchisement would be for example all voters voting to raise the ballot age to 35. Then, those between the ages of 18 and 34 yrs, 364 days would in fact be disenfranchised. Didn’t happen though. So, his comment name also sets his agenda.
Sigh, it’s no fun having a battle of wits with someone only half armed.:lol:
June 10th, 2005 at 5:09 pm
GM, since the faith of over 85% of people in the nation is Christian, I still beg to differ on your presumption that we are not a Christian nation but our foundation was based upon Judeo-Christian principles. In fact, I think it’s both. We just don’t kill people to force them to believe what we do. The Bible and the whole Judeo-Christian ideology is based on freedom to chose what you believe, and that’s what makes this country so great…we still do have that freedom, thanks to the unbelievable genius of our founding documents.
June 10th, 2005 at 5:09 pm
Disenfranchised, since you studied this then why are you forgetting /President Washingtons general orders as well as his public speeches as president? Here are a couple of quoted to get you started…let me know if there are others that you forgot and I will gladly provide.
“The father of our nation was quiet about his Christian faith. But there can be no doubt his faith in our Lord Jesus Christ was deep and heartfelt. In his first general order to his troops, General George Washington called on …
Every officer and man…to live, and act, as becomes a Christian Soldier defending the dearest rights and liberties of his country.
On May 14, 1787, George Washington warned the delegates to the Constitutional Convention:
If to please the people, we offer what we ourselves disapprove, how can we afterward defend our work? Let us raise a standard to which the wise and the honest can repair; the event is in the Hand of God!”
June 10th, 2005 at 5:17 pm
Morg brings up a great point. But I think the discombobulated voter is long gone by now, because there is so much evidence that points to a conclusion other than that which he weakly attempts to draw…as GM said, by taking the words from a document that was later changed and twisting them to fit his agenda. Liberals did the same thing with Jefferson’s letter to the Danbury Baptists with the phrase “separation of church and state” which has no place in our founding documents. It’s a shame, really, when there is so much amazing history and so many eloquent papers and letters that have been written by amazing men like George Washington…
George Washington had incredible faith in God…on September 17th, 1796 “It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible”
His Prayer At Valley Forge “Almighty and eternal Lord God, the great Creator of heaven and earth, and the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; look down from heaven in pity and compassion upon me Thy servant, who humbly prostrates myself before Thee.”
“Bless O Lord the whole race of mankind, and let the world be filled with the knowledge of Thee and Thy Son, Jesus. ”
George Washington referred to religion’s profound and unsurpassed place in the heart of our nation quite directly in his Farewell Address in 1796:
“Of all dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens.”
“To the distinguished character of a Patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of a Christian.”
At the end of the Revolutionary War, when the announcement of official peace arrived in America, George Washington issued his final sentiments. In his circular letter to the States on June 8, 1783, even though Washington gratefully acknowledged that we had won the war, he urged them to recall something of much greater importance and to remember…
“dispose us all, to do Justice, to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with that Charity, humility and pacific temper of mind, which were the Characteristicks of the Divine Author of our blessed Religion, and without an humble imitation of whose example in these things, we can never hope to be a happy Nation.”
From George Washington’s first official order through his last, he displayed a Christian emphasis.
While encamped on the banks of a river, Washington was approached by Delaware Indian chiefs who desired that their youth be trained in American schools. In Washington’s response, he first told them that “Congress… will look on them as on their own children.” That is, we would train their children as if they were our own. He then commended the chiefs for their decision:
According to George Washington, what students would learn in American schools “above all” was “the religion of Jesus Christ.”
George Washington as he resigned his commission as general of the Continental Army on December 23, 1783. “I consider it an indispensable duty to close this last solemn act of my official life by commending the interests of our dearest country to the protection of Almighty God and those who have the superintendence of them into His holy keeping.”
Many more references to this and famous pictures of George Washington in prayer can be found here.
And even more, here:
# In 1782 the Continental Congress approved and recommended to the people the Holy Bible . . . for use in schools. America’s God and Country Encyclopedia of Quotations, William J. Federer, ed. (Coppell, Texas: FAME Publishing, Inc., 1994), p. 149.
# Christians believed as John Jay (the First Chief Justice of the Supreme Court) that, “Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of a Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.” The Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay, Henry P. Johnston, ed. (NY: Burt Franklin, 1970), Vol. IV, p. 393, October 12, 1816; America’s God and Country Encyclopedia of Quotations, William J. Federer, ed. (Coppell, Texas: FAME Publishing, Inc., 1994), p. 318.
# Students of Harvard lived by the Rules and Precepts and as of September 26, 1642 they provided in part: 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 exercise himself in reading the Scriptures twice a day, that he shall be ready to give such an account of his proficiency therein. . ”
America’s God and Country Encyclopedia of Quotations, William J. Federer, ed. (Coppell, Texas: FAME Publishing, Inc., 1994), p. 281.
# Educators such as Noah Webster taught that, “The moral principles and precepts contained in the Scriptures ought to form the basis of all our civil constitutions and laws.” America’s God and Country Encyclopedia of Quotations, William J. Federer, ed. (Coppell, Texas: FAME Publishing, Inc., 1994), p. 678.
# The “media” viewed us as French historian Alexis de Tocqueville did in the 1830’s: The religious atmosphere of the country was the first thing that struck me on arrival in the United States, for Americans, the ideas of Christianity and liberty are so completely mingled that it is almost impossible to get them to conceive of the one without the other. Religion, should therefore be considered as the first of their political institutions. From the start politics and religion agreed, and they have not since ceased to do so. America’s God and Country Encyclopedia of Quotations, William J. Federer, ed. (Coppell, Texas: FAME Publishing, Inc., 1994), p. 204.
# Patriotism is expressed as it was by George Washington, “To the distinguished character of a Patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of a Christian.” (Peter Marshall and David Manuel, The Light and the Glory (New Jersey: Fleming H. Revell Co., 1977)).
# America still sang the fourth verse of The Star Spangled Banner, as it was when adopted as the National Anthem (36 U.S.C. Sec.170) on March 3, 1931z;
O! thus be it ever when free men shall stand
Between their loved home and the war’s desolation;
Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the Heav’n-rescued land
Praise the Pow’r that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just;
And this be our motto, In God is our trust!
And the star spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
America’s God and Country Encyclopedia of Quotations, William J. Federer, ed. (Coppell, Texas: FAME Publishing, Inc., 1994), p. 173
June 10th, 2005 at 7:40 pm
Cao, I meant that we were not a Christian Nation in terms of being a Theocracy. You are absolutely correct in the remaining part. Also, you last comment # 20 was
very very goodAWESOME!!!June 10th, 2005 at 7:58 pm
Thanks, GM. You can even pull out your money…on the coins and the bills, it says “In God We Trust”.
The motto IN GOD WE TRUST was placed on United States coins largely because of the increased religious sentiment existing during the Civil War. Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase received many appeals from devout persons throughout the country, urging that the United States recognize the Deity on United States coins. From Treasury Department records, it appears that the first such appeal came in a letter dated November 13, 1861.
It was found that the Act of Congress dated January 18, 1837, prescribed the mottoes and devices that should be placed upon the coins of the United States. This meant that the mint could make no changes without the enactment of additional legislation by the Congress. In December 1863, the Director of the Mint submitted designs for new one-cent coin, two-cent coin, and three-cent coin to Secretary Chase for approval. He proposed that upon the designs either OUR COUNTRY; OUR GOD or GOD, OUR TRUST should appear as a motto on the coins.
A law passed by the 84th Congress (P.L. 84-140) and approved by the President on July 30, 1956, the President approved a Joint Resolution of the 84th Congress, declaring IN GOD WE TRUST the national motto of the United States. IN GOD WE TRUST was first used on paper money in 1957, when it appeared on the one-dollar silver certificate. The first paper currency bearing the motto entered circulation on October 1, 1957. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) was converting to the dry intaglio printing process. During this conversion, it gradually included IN GOD WE TRUST in the back design of all classes and denominations of currency.
There are so many examples of this, in so many facets of our lives, it’s amazing there are people like d-nincompoop voter who are stupid enough to deny it, or beligerent enough, I can’t figure out which.
maybe it’s both.
June 11th, 2005 at 1:37 am
Comment by The Disenfranchised Voter:
“Have always been a Christian nation my ***…”
I’d love to have the opportunity to stomp a mudhole in your *** for making such an ignorant statement like that … you must be one of those Twinkle-toed Communist Neo-Nazis.
Then, I’d turn around and stomp it so dry, the lights on the ambulance would beat you to the hospital; and you’d have to explain to people for the next few years why you have to take your shirt off each time you need to take a healthy dump!
June 11th, 2005 at 6:41 pm
The Disenfranchised Voter…
A page of history is worth a volume of logic. History shows the intent and purpose of our Founding Fathers. Woodrow Wilson, our 28th President elected for two terms, Governor of New Jersey and president of Princeton University, was quoted as saying “A nation which does not remember what it was yesterday, doesn’t know what it is today or what it is trying to do- we’re trying to do a futile thing if we don’t know where we’ve come from or what we’re about.” Contemporary logic is wrong whenever it contradicts the clear explanations of those men who wrote the Constitution. 97% of the Founding Fathers were practicing Christians and exercised their faith in public office, at work, at home, and had it taught to their children in their schools. 187 of the first 200 colleges in America were Christian, Bible teaching institutions (including Yale, Princeton, and Harvard). Entrance in Harvard required strong knowledge of the Bible. Noah Webster wrote the dictionary with Bible verses explained so children could understand the words of God and know the truth of Jesus Christ. Webster even wrote a translation of the Bible for the American speaking people. You could hardly find a school in America that wasn’t Christian based with the Bible as its main textbook until the 1830’s. …The men who wrote the Declaration of Independence declared within it their undying faith towards God for all generations to see and follow.
George Washington, 1st President of the United States, Commander in Chief of the US during the Revolutionary War, chairman of the Constitutional Convention “You do well to learn our arts and our ways of life, and above all the religion of Jesus Christ.” From “Address to the Delaware Indian Chiefs” , May 12, 1779 , America’s God and Country, William Federer, p.644
June 11th, 2005 at 6:43 pm
(continued)
Washington: “Let me live according to those holy rules which Thou hast this day prescribed in Thy Holy Word…direct me to the true object, Jesus Christ, the way, the truth, and the life. Bless, O Lord, all the people of this land.” Cited in W. Herbert Burk, ed., “Washington’s Papers”, pp.87-95.
Washington: “We ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which heaven itself ordained.” First Inaugural Address, April 30, 1789.
Washington: “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of Men and Citizens. The mere Politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity…let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason, and experience both forbid us to expect, that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.” …”It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible.”..Washington’s Farewell Address, Sept. 17, 1796
Washington: “To the distinguished character of patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of a Christian.”
Washington: “General Thanksgiving” speech Oct. 14, 1789…”Whereas 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; and whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me “to recommend to the people of the United States a Day Of Public Thanksgiving And Prayer, to be observed By acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God…”
Washington: “The hand of Providence has been so conspicuous in all this (the course of the war) that he must be worse than an infidel that lacks faith, and more wicked that has not gratitude to acknowledge his obligations; but it will be time enough for me to turn preacher when my present appointment ceases.” Letter to Thomas Nelson in Virginia, Jared Sparks, ed. The Writings of George Washington, America’s God and Country, William Federer, p.643
June 11th, 2005 at 6:44 pm
(continued)
Samuel Adams, member of the Continental Congress and signer of the Declaration: ” Let…statesmen and patriots unite in their endeavors to renovate the age by…educating their little boys and girls..and leading them in the study and practice of the exalted virtues of the Christian system.” letter to his cousin John Adams, Oct. 4, 1790, America’s God and Country, William Federer, p.23
Samuel Adams: “We have this day restored the Sovereign to whom all men ought to be obedient. He reigns in Heaven, and from the rising to the setting of the sun, let His Kingdom come.” America’s God and Country, William Federer, p.23
Samuel Adams: “It is therefore recommended to set apart Thursday the 18th day of December next, for solemn thanksgiving and praise, that with one heart and one voice, the good people may express the grateful feelings of their hearts and consecrate themselves to the service of their divine benefactor…” Nov. 1, 1877 first official Thanksgiving Proclamation.
Patrick Henry, Delegate to the 2nd Continental Congress, Congressman and five-time governor to Virginia; turned down nominations as Secretary of State and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court “Amongst other strange things said of me, I hear it is said by the deists that I am one of their number; and, indeed, that some good people think I am no Christian. This thought gives me much more pain than the appellation of Tory; because I think religion of infinitely higher importance than politics; and I find much cause to reproach myself that I have lived so long and have given no decided and public proofs of my being a Christian. But, indeed, my dear child, this is a character which I prize far above all this world has, or can boast.”,1796 letter to his daughter ,S. G. Arnold, The Life of Patrick Henry, 1854, p.250
Patrick Henry: “This is all the inheritance I can give my dear family. The religion of Christ can give them one which will make them rich indeed.”… Henry’s Last Will and Testament from Patrick Henry Memorial Foundation, Red Hill, Brookneal, VA
Patrick Henry: “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God!- I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!” speech at St. John’s Church 1775, Christianity and the Constitution, John Eidsmoe, p.303
John Adams, member of the Continental Congress, 2nd President of the United States, Vice President To the United States, Commissioner to France, US Ambassador to England: On March 6, 1789, President Adams called for a national day of fasting and prayer so that the nation might “call to mind the numerous offenses against the most high God, confess them before Him with the sincerest penitence, implore his pardoning mercy, through the Great Mediator and Redeemer, for our past transgression, and that through the grace of His Holy Spirit, we may be disposed and enabled to yield a more suitable obedience..”
June 11th, 2005 at 6:46 pm
(continued)
John Adams, member of the Continental Congress, 2nd President of the United States, Vice President To the United States, Commissioner to France, US Ambassador to England: “We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion…Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other.” Oct. 11, 1798, address to the officers of the First Brigade of the Third Division of the Militia of Mass., America’s God and Country, William Federer, p.10
John Adams letter to Benjamin Rush: “The Christian religion…is the brightness of the glory and the express portrait of the character of the eternal, self-existent, independent, benevolent, all powerful and all merciful creator, preserver, and Father of the universe, the first good, first perfect, and first fair. It will last as long as the world. Neither savage nor civilized man, without a revelation, could ever have discovered or invented it. Ask me not, then, whether I am a Catholic or Protestant, Calvinist or Arminian. As far as they are Christians, I wish to be a fellow disciple with them all.” Adam’s Dairy, July 26, 1796, Christianity and the Constitution, John Eidsmoe, p. 285
Benjamin Franklin in a letter to the President of the first Constitutional Congress, 1789: ” I have lived a long time, Sir, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth- that 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? We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings, that ” except the Lord build the House they labor in vain that build it.” I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without His concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better the Builders of Babel: We shall be divided by our little partial local interests; our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall become a reproach and bye word down to future ages. And what is worse, mankind may hereafter from this unfortunate instance, despair of establishing Governments by human wisdom and leave it to chance, war and conquest. I therefore beg leave to move- that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessings on our deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to business, and hat one or more Clergy of the city be requested to officiate in that service.” speech to Constitutional Convention, June 28, 1787 , America’s God and Country, William Federer, pp.247-248
As it turned out, after the convention, and nine days after the first Constitutional Congress convened with a quorum (April 9, 1789), the Congress implemented Franklin’s recommendation. Two chaplains of different denominations were appointed, one of the House and one to the Senate, with a salary of $500 apiece. This practice continues today, posing no threat to the first Amendment. How could it? The men who authorized the chaplains wrote the Amendment.
Benjamin Franklin, delegate to the Continental Congress, signer of the Declaration, US Minister to England and France, oldest Founding Father: “History will also afford frequent opportunities of showing the necessity of a public religion…and the excellency of the Christian religion above all others ancient or modern.” America’s God and Country, William Federer, p.251
Benjamin Franklin: “A Bible and a newspaper in every house, a good school in every district- all studied andappreciated as they merit- are the principle of virtue, morality, and civil liberty.” America’s God and Country, William Federer, p.246
James Madison, chief architect of the Constitution, signer of the Declaration, Secretary of State, President of the United States: “We have staked the future of all our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind to self-government, upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God.”, from “America’s God and Country” by William Federe
June 11th, 2005 at 6:48 pm
(continued)
James Madison: “…because the policy of the bill is adverse to the diffusion of the light of Christianity. The first wish of those who ought to enjoy this precious gift, ought to be, that it may be imparted to the whole race of mankind.” …A Memorial and Remonstrance, delivered to the General Assembly of Virginia, 1785, from “America’s God and Country” by William Federer
James Madison: “The belief in God All Powerful wise and good, is so essential to the moral order of the World and to the happiness of man, that arguments which enforce it cannot be drawn from too many sources nor adapted with too much solicitude to the different characters and capacities to be impressed with it.” In a letter to Frederick Beasley Nov. 20, from “America’s God and Country” by William Federer
James Madison: “While we assert for ourselves a freedom to embrace, to profess, and to observe, the Religion which we believe to be of divine origin, we cannot deny an equal freedom to them whose minds have not yielded to the evidence which has convinced us.” From “A Memorial and Remonstrance” 1785, delivered to the general Assembly of the State of Virginia, from “America’s God and Country” by William Federer
James Madison: “The real wonder is that so many difficulties should have been surmounted, and surmounted with a unanimity almost as unprecedented as it must have been unexpected. It is impossible for any man of candor to reflect on this circumstance without partaking of the astonishment. It is impossible for the man of pious reflection not to perceive in it a finger of that Almighty hand which has been so frequently and signally extended to our relief in the critical stages of the revolution.” January 11, 1788, Federalist Papers No. 37 And from Federalist Papers No. 43 “…The first question is answered at once by recurring to the absolute necessity of the case; to the great principle of self-preservation; to the transcendent law of nature and of nature’s God, which declares that the safety and happiness of society are the objects at which all political institutions aim, and to which all such institutions must be sacrificed.”
Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration, President of the United States: “God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure if we have removed their only firm basis; a conviction in the minds of men that these liberties are the gift of 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; that His justice cannot sleep forever.” from Query XVIII of his notes on the State of Virginia, America’s God and Country, William Federer, p.323
Thomas Jefferson. “No power over the freedom of religion…(is) delegated to the United States by theConstitution.” America’s God and Country, William Federer, p.323
Thomas Jefferson: “The precepts of philosophy and of the Hebrew code, laid hold of actions only. (Jesus) pushed his scrutinizes into the heart of man, erected His tribunal in the regions of his thoughts, and purified the waters at the fountain head.” April 21, 1803, in a letter to Benjamin Rush, America’s God and Country, William Federer, p.333
June 11th, 2005 at 6:50 pm
(continued)
Thomas Jefferson: March 4, 1805, offered A National Prayer for Peace: “Almighty God, Who has given us this good land for our heritage. We humbly beseech Thee that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of Thy favor and glad to do Thy will. Bless our land with honorable ministry, sound learning, and pure manners. Save us from violence, discord, and confusion, from pride and arrogance, and from every evil way. Defend our liberties, and fashion into one united people the multitude brought hither out of many kindreds and tongues. Endow with Thy spirit of wisdom those to whom in Thy Name we entrust the authority of government, that there may be justice and peace at home, and that through obedience to Thy law, we may show forth Thy praise among the nations of the earth. In time of prosperity fill our hearts with thankfulness, and in the day of trouble, suffer not our trust to fail; all of which we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.” America’s God and Country, William Federer, p.328
Fisher Ames, delegate to the Constitutional Convention and co-writer of the First Amendment wrote: … “the Bible should always remain the principle text book in America’s classrooms. Its morals are pure, its examples captivating and noble…the Bible will justly remain the standard of language as well as of faith.” America’s God and Country, William Federer, p.26
Gouverneur Morris, delegate to the Continental Congress and Constitutional Convention, head of the committee which created the final wording of the Constitution and the most active speaker, US Senator, Minister to France appointed by Washington advocated: “education should teach the precepts of religion and the duties of man towards God.” America’s God and Country, William Federer, p.455
John Jay, delegate to the Continental Congress, co-writer of the Federalist Papers along with Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, Governor of New York and original Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court: “Providence has given our people the choice of their rulers, and it is their duty, as well as privilege and interest, of a Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.” Oct. 12, 1816, in a statement, The Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay, Henry Johnston, America’s God and Country, William Federer, p.318
John Jay: “In forming and settling my belief relative to the doctrines of Christianity, I adopted no articles from creeds but such only as, on careful examination, I found to be confirmed in the Bible…At a party in Paris, once, the question fell on religious matters. In the course of it, one of them asked me if I believed in Christ? I answered that I did, and that I thanked God that I did.”…a letter to John Bristed, April 23, 1811, America’s God and Country, William Federer, p.318
John Jay: ” By conveying the Bible to people thus circumstanced, we certainly do them a most interesting 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 nations of the earth shall 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 of grace of God, not of our deserving nor in our power to deserve.” …May 13, 1824 in an address to The American Bible Society, America’s God and Country, William Federer, p.318
Benjamin Rush, signer of the Declaration, member of Continental Congress, founder of 5 universities, in a “Defense of the Use of The Bible in Schools”, 1791; “Surely future generations wouldn’t try to take the Bible out of schools. In contemplating the political institutions of the United States, if we were to remove the Bible from schools, I lament that we could be wasting so much time and money in punishing crime and would be taking so little pains to prevent them.”
Benjamin Rush: “The only foundation for…a republic is to be laid in religion. Without this there can be no virtue, and without virtue there can be no liberty, and liberty is the object and life of all republican governments.” America’s God and Country, William Federer, p.543
Charles Carroll, signer of the Declaration and member of Continental Congress: “Without morals a republic
June 11th, 2005 at 6:51 pm
(continued)
cannot subsist any length of time; they therefore who are decrying the Christian religion, whose morality is so sublime and pure, which insures to the good eternal happiness, are undermining the solid foundation of morals, the best security for the duration of free governments.” The Life and Correspondence of James McHenry by Bernard C. Steiner 1907, from a letter from Charles Carroll, Nov. 4, 1800.
Gabriel Duvall, US Supreme Court Justice, delegate to the Constitutional Convention: “I resign my soul into the hands of the Almighty who gave it in humble hopes of His mercy through our Savior Jesus Christ.”…from his Last Will and Testament.
Elias Boudinot, President of the Continental Congress: “You have been instructed from your childhood in the knowledge of your lost state by nature; the absolute necessity of a change of heart, and an entire renovation of soul to the image of Jesus Christ; of salvation through His meritorious only; and the indispensable necessity of personal holiness without which no man shall see the Lord.” …The Life, Public Services, Addresses, and Letters of Elias Boudinot, 1896, Vol. I, , p. 260, to his daughter.
James Iredell, US Supreme Court Justice under Washington: “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.”…The Papers of James Iredell, Dan Higginbotham editor, Vol 1, p.14.
Jacob Broom, signer of the Constitution: “Don’t forget to be a Christian. I have said much to you on this head and I hope an indelible impression is made.” letter to his son, 1794, America’s God and Country, William Federer, p.76
John Witherspoon, signer of The Declaration of Independence: “He is the best friend to American liberty, who is most sincere and active in promoting true and undefiled religion, and who set himself with the greatest firmness to bear down on profanity and immorality of every kind. Whoever is an avowed enemy of God, I scruple not to call him an enemy to his country.” speech at the College of New Jersey (Princeton) , May 17,1776, America’s God and Country, William Federer, pp. 703-704
Alexis de Tocqueville, French author and philosopher of renown who came on extended stay in America to find out the secret of the success of the American Independence : ” Upon my arrival in the United States, the religious aspect of the country was the first thing that struck my attention…The Americans combine the notions of Christianity and of liberty so intimately in their minds, that it is impossible to make them conceive the one without the other…Religion in America…must…be regarded as the foremost of the political institutions of that country…From the earliest settlement of the emigrants, politics and religion contracted an alliance which has never been dissolved.” from Democracy In America, 1835, de Tocqueville, America’s God and Country, William Federer, p.204
Alexis de Tocqueville: “Religion in America takes no direct part in the government of society, but it must be regarded as the first of their political institutions; for if it does not impart a taste for freedom, it facilitates the use of it. Indeed, it is in this same point of view that the inhabitants of the United States themselves look upon religious belief. I do not know whether all Americans have a sincere faith in their religion- or who can search the human heart?- but I am certain that they hold it to be indispensable to the maintenance of their political institutions.” from Democracy In America, 1835, de Tocqueville, America’s God and Country, William Federer, p.204
George Mason, Delegate from Virginia to the Constitutional Convention, called the “Father of the Bill of Rights”:
June 11th, 2005 at 6:53 pm
(continued)
“As nations cannot be rewarded or punished in the next world, so they must be in this, by an inevitable chain of causes and effects. Providence punishes national sins by national calamities.” debates of the Constitutional Convention, Aug. 22, 1787, America’s God and Country, William Federer, p.423
Daniel Webster: “Our ancestors established their system of government on morality and religious sentiment. Moral habits, they believed, cannot safely be entrusted on any other foundation than religious principle, not any government secure which is not supported by moral habits…Whatever makes men good Christians, makes them good citizens.” from speech at bicentennial celebration of the Pilgrims landing at Plymouth Rock, Dec. 22, 1820, America’s God and Country, William Federer, p.669
John Quincy Adams, President of the United States: “The highest glory of the American Revolution was this; it connected, in one indissoluble bond the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity… The United States of America were no longer colonies. They were an independent nation of Christians.” July 4, 1821 from The Pulpit of the American Revolution by John Wingate Thornton 1860, America’s God and Country, William Federer, p.18
John Quincy Adams: “The Declaration Of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer’s mission upon earth and laid the cornerstone of human government upon the precepts of Christianity.” July 4th, 1837, An Oration Delivered Before the Inhabitants of the Town of Newburyport, at the 61st Anniversary of The Declaration of independence, America’s God and Country, William Federer, p.204
John Quincy Adams: “Duty is ours; results are God’s. The first and almost the only Book deserving of universal attention is the Bible. I speak as a man of the world to men of the world; and I say to you, Search the Scriptures! The Bible is the book of all others, to be read at all ages, and in all conditions of human life; not to be read once or twice or thrice through, and then laid aside, but to be read in small portions of one or two chapters every day, and never to be intermitted, unless by some overruling necessity. In what light so ever we regard the Bible, whether with reference to revelation, to history, or to morality, it is an invaluable and inexhaustible mine of knowledge and virtue. It is no slight testimonial, both to the merit and worth of Christianity, that in all ages since its promulgation the great mass of those who have risen to eminence by their profound wisdom and integrity have recognized and reverenced Jesus of Nazareth as the Son of the living God.” “…Posterity- you will never know how much it has cost my generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it.” America’s God and Country, William Federer, p.19-20
On September 26, 1642 the guidelines that would govern Harvard University, our nation’s first college, were established. They read, in part, “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).” The motto of Harvard was “Christi Gloriam” (Christ be glorified) and the college was later dedicated Christo et Ecclesiae (for Christ and for the Church). The founders of Harvard believed that “All knowledge without Christ was vain.”…from The Presidential Prayer Team.org, March, 31, 2002.
In 1751, the Pennsylvania State Assembly called for the forging of a bell to commemorate William Penn’s original
June 11th, 2005 at 6:55 pm
(continued)
charter of the state. They included instructions requiring that a scripture verse be included on the bell. The verse is Leviticus 25:10, “Proclaim Liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.” Our founding fathers considered it important for all generations to know that God is the source of true freedom. The Liberty Bell is yet another example of our nation’s godly heritage.
Noah Webster, Founding Father, scholar, author of the first and still respected American Dictionary: “The religion which has introduced civil liberty, is the religion of Christ and His apostles, which enjoins humility, piety and benevolence; which acknowledges in every person a brother, or a sister, and a citizen with equal rights. This is genuine Christianity, and to this we owe our free constitutions of governments.” 1832, History of the United States, Noah Webster, America’s God and Country, William Federer, p.678
Noah Webster: “The command of God is ‘ He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in fear of God.’ 2 Sam. 23:3. This command prescribes the only effectual; remedy for public evils. It is an absurd and impious sentiment, that religious character is not necessary for public officers…But surely as there is a God in heaven who exercises a moral government over affairs of this world, so certainly will the neglect of the divine command, in the choice of rulers, be followed by bad laws, crimes, waste of public money, and a thousand other evils. Men devise and adopt new forms of government; they amend old forms, repair breaches, and punish violators of the constitution; but there is, there can be, no effectual remedy, but obedience to The Divine Law.” John Marshal argued, by some to be our greatest Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: “The American population is entirely Christian, and with us Christianity and religion are identified. It would be strange indeed, if such a people, our institutions did not presuppose Christianity, and did not often refer to it, and exhibit relations with it.”…letter to Jasper Adams, May 9, 1833.
Abraham Lincoln: “We have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand, which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.” March 30, 1863, Proclamation Appointing A National Fast Day, America’s God and Country, William Federer, p.383
Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States in 1911: “America was born a Christian nation. America was born to exemplify that devotion to the elements of righteousness, which are derived from the revelations of Holy Scriptures. Part of the destiny of Americans lies in their daily perusal of this great book of revelations. That if they would see America free and pure they will make their own spirits free and pure by this baptism of the Holy Spirit.” speech at a Denver rally, America’s God and Country, William Federer, p.697
Harry Truman, President of the United States: “the basis of our Bill of Rights comes from the teachings we get from Exodus and St. Matthew, from Isaiah and St. Paul. I don’t think we emphasize that enough these days. If we don’t have a proper fundamental moral background, we will finally end up with a…government which does not believe in rights for anybody except the state.” Feb. 15, 1950, address to the Attorney General’s Conference, America’s God and Country, William Federer, p.589
WE ARE A CHRISTIAN NATION! The fact that you don’t like it is just too bad!!
June 11th, 2005 at 7:06 pm
June 11th, 2005 at 7:08 pm
And a BIG thank You to ‘EternalVigilance and Tailgunnerjoe!
June 11th, 2005 at 7:15 pm
June 11th, 2005 at 7:33 pm
np Cao… figured that if you keep em reading, they won’t have time to make stupid remarks of how well they know our ‘political history’.
June 11th, 2005 at 7:39 pm
Well that one doesn’t know squat, lol. 21 years old and still wet behind the ears, and as Ogre said, full of hatred for people…and in total denial, lol!
1 Corinthians 13:13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
surprised to find out a lot of teaching goes on over here.
June 11th, 2005 at 11:26 pm
Lobo — thank you for posting all of that … maybe the “History Lesson” will shut that idiot up!
June 12th, 2005 at 12:10 am
The Disenfranchised Voter …
I know the US was never a Christian Nation because I know US political history.
I assume you have never heard of the Treaty of Tripoli.
I’ve already answered your first statement, now the second…
Today the terms “atheist,” “agnostic,” and “deist” have been used together so often that their meanings have almost become synonymous. In fact, many dictionaries list these words as synonym.4
Those who advance the notion that this was the belief system of the Founders often publish information attempting to prove that the Founders were irreligious.5 One of the quotes they set forth is the following:
The government of the United States is in no sense founded on the Christian religion.GEORGE WASHINGTON
The 1797 Treaty of Tripoli is the source of Washington’s supposed statement. Is this statement accurate? Did this prominent Founder truly repudiate religion? An answer will be found by an examination of its source.
That treaty, one of several with Tripoli, was negotiated during the “Barbary Powers Conflict,” which began shortly after the Revolutionary War and continued through the Presidencies of Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and Madison.6 The Muslim Barbary Powers (Tunis, Morocco, Algiers, Tripoli, and Turkey) were warring against what they claimed to be the “Christian” nations (England, France, Spain, Denmark, and the United States). In 1801, Tripoli even declared war against the United States,7 thus constituting America’s first official war as an established independent nation.
Throughout this long conflict, the five Barbary Powers regularly attacked undefended American merchant ships. Not only were their cargoes easy prey but the Barbary Powers were also capturing and enslaving “Christian” seamen8 in retaliation for what had been done to them by the “Christians” of previous centuries (e.g., the Crusades and Ferdinand and Isabella’s expulsion of Muslims from Granada9).
In an attempt to secure a release of captured seamen and a guarantee of unmolested shipping in the Mediterranean, President Washington dispatched envoys to negotiate treaties with the Barbary nations.10(Concurrently, he encouraged the construction of American naval warships11 to defend the shipping and confront the Barbary “pirates”—a plan not seriously pursued until President John Adams created a separate Department of the Navy in 1798.) The American envoys negotiated numerous treaties of “Peace and Amity” 12 with the Muslim Barbary nations to ensure “protection” of American commercial ships sailing in the Mediterranean.13 However, the terms of the treaty frequently were unfavorable to America, either requiring her to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars of “tribute” (i.e., official extortion) to each country to receive a “guarantee” of safety or to offer other “considerations” (e.g., providing a warship as a “gift” to Tripoli,14 a “gift” frigate to Algiers,15 paying $525,000 to ransom captured American seamen from Algiers,16 etc.).
The 1797 treaty with Tripoli was one of the many treaties in which each country officially recognized the religion of the other in an attempt to prevent further escalation of a “Holy War” between Christians and Muslims.17 Consequently, Article XI of that treaty stated:
June 12th, 2005 at 12:11 am
(continued)
As the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion as it has in itself no character of enmity [hatred] against the laws, religion or tranquility of Musselmen [Muslims] and as the said States [America] have never entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.18
This article may be read in two manners. It may, as its critics do, be concluded after the clause “Christian religion”; or it may be read in its entirety and concluded when the punctuation so indicates. But even if shortened and cut abruptly (”the government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion”), this is not an untrue statement since it is referring to the federal government.
Recall that while the Founders themselves openly described America as a Christian nation (demonstrated in chapter 2 of Original Intent), they did include a constitutional prohibition against a federal establishment; religion was a matter left solely to the individual States. Therefore, if the article is read as a declaration that the federal government of the United States was not in any sense founded on the Christian religion, such a statement is not a repudiation of the fact that America was considered a Christian nation.
Reading the clause of the treaty in its entirety also fails to weaken this fact. Article XI simply distinguished America from those historical strains of European Christianity which held an inherent hatred of Muslims; it simply assured the Muslims that the United States was not a Christian nation like those of previous centuries (with whose practices the Muslims were very familiar) and thus would not undertake a religious holy war against them.
This latter reading is, in fact, supported by the attitude prevalent among numerous American leaders. The Christianity practiced in America was described by John Jay as “wise and virtuous,” 19 by John Quincy Adams as “civilized,” 20 and by John Adams as “rational.” 21 A clear distinction was drawn between American Christianity and that of Europe in earlier centuries. As Noah Webster explained:
The ecclesiastical establishments of Europe which serve to support tyrannical governments are not the Christian religion but abuses and corruptions of it.22
Daniel Webster similarly explained that American Christianity was:
Christianity to which the sword and the fagot [burning stake or hot branding iron] are unknown—general tolerant Christianity is the law of the land!23
Those who attribute the Treaty of Tripoli quote to George Washington make two mistakes. The first is that no statement in it can be attributed to Washington (the treaty did not arrive in America until months after he left office); Washington never saw the treaty; it was not his work; no statement in it can be ascribed to him. The second mistake is to divorce a single clause of the treaty from the remainder which provides its context.
June 12th, 2005 at 12:13 am
(continued)
Treaty of Tripoli
by David Barton
The 1797 Treaty of Tripoli, specifically article XI, is commonly misused in editorial columns, articles, as well as in other areas of the media, both Christian and secular. We have received numerous questions from people who have been misled by the claims that are being made, namely, that America was not founded as a Christian nation. Advocates of this idea use the Treaty of Tripoli as the foundation of their entire argument, and we believe you deserve to know the truth regarding this often misused document.
The following is an excerpt from David’s book Original Intent:
To determine whether the “Founding Fathers” were generally atheists, agnostics, and deists, one must first define those terms. An “atheist” is one who professes to believe that there is no God;1 an “agnostic” is one who professes that nothing can be known beyond what is visible and tangible;2 and a “deist” is one who believes in an impersonal God who is no longer involved with mankind. (In other words, a “deist” embraces the “clockmaker theory” 3 that there was a God who made the universe and wound it up like a clock; however, it now runs of its own volition; the clockmaker is gone and therefore does not respond to man.)
Today the terms “atheist,” “agnostic,” and “deist” have been used together so often that their meanings have almost become synonymous. In fact, many dictionaries list these words as synonym.4
Those who advance the notion that this was the belief system of the Founders often publish information attempting to prove that the Founders were irreligious.5 One of the quotes they set forth is the following:
The government of the United States is in no sense founded on the Christian religion.GEORGE WASHINGTON
The 1797 Treaty of Tripoli is the source of Washington’s supposed statement. Is this statement accurate? Did this prominent Founder truly repudiate religion? An answer will be found by an examination of its source.
That treaty, one of several with Tripoli, was negotiated during the “Barbary Powers Conflict,” which began shortly after the Revolutionary War and continued through the Presidencies of Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and Madison.6 The Muslim Barbary Powers (Tunis, Morocco, Algiers, Tripoli, and Turkey) were warring against what they claimed to be the “Christian” nations (England, France, Spain, Denmark, and the United States). In 1801, Tripoli even declared war against the United States,7 thus constituting America’s first official war as an established independent nation.
Throughout this long conflict, the five Barbary Powers regularly attacked undefended American merchant ships. Not only were their cargoes easy prey but the Barbary Powers were also capturing and enslaving “Christian” seamen8 in retaliation for what had been done to them by the “Christians” of previous centuries (e.g., the Crusades and Ferdinand and Isabella’s expulsion of Muslims from Granada9).
In an attempt to secure a release of captured seamen and a guarantee of unmolested shipping in the Mediterranean, President Washington dispatched envoys to negotiate treaties with the Barbary nations.10(Concurrently, he encouraged the construction of American naval warships11 to defend the shipping and confront the Barbary “pirates”—a plan not seriously pursued until President John Adams created a separate Department of the Navy in 1798.) The American envoys negotiated numerous treaties of “Peace and Amity” 12 with the Muslim Barbary nations to ensure “protection” of American commercial ships sailing in the Mediterranean.13 However, the terms of the treaty frequently were unfavorable to America, either requiring her to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars of “tribute” (i.e., official extortion) to each country to receive a “guarantee” of safety or to offer other “considerations” (e.g., providing a warship as a “gift” to Tripoli,14 a “gift” frigate to Algiers,15 paying $525,000 to ransom captured American seamen from Algiers,16 etc.).
The 1797 treaty with Tripoli was one of the many treaties in which each country officially recognized the religion of the other in an attempt to prevent further escalation of a “Holy War” between Christians and Muslims.17 Consequently, Article XI of that treaty stated:
As the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion as it has in itself no character of enmity [hatred] against the laws, religion or tranquility of Musselmen [Muslims] and as the said States [America] have never entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.18
This article may be read in two manners. It may, as its critics do, be concluded after the clause “Christian religion”; or it may be read in its entirety and concluded when the punctuation so indicates. But even if shortened and cut abruptly (”the government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion”), this is not an untrue statement since it is referring to the federal government.
Recall that while the Founders themselves openly described America as a Christian nation (demonstrated in chapter 2 of Original Intent), they did include a constitutional prohibition against a federal establishment; religion was a matter left solely to the individual States. Therefore, if the article is read as a declaration that the federal government of the United States was not in any sense founded on the Christian religion, such a statement is not a repudiation of the fact that America was considered a Christian nation.
Reading the clause of the treaty in its entirety also fails to weaken this fact. Article XI simply distinguished America from those historical strains of European Christianity which held an inherent hatred of Muslims; it simply assured the Muslims that the United States was not a Christian nation like those of previous centuries (with whose practices the Muslims were very familiar) and thus would not undertake a religious holy war against them.
This latter reading is, in fact, supported by the attitude prevalent among numerous American leaders. The Christianity practiced in America was described by John Jay as “wise and virtuous,” 19 by John Quincy Adams as “civilized,” 20 and by John Adams as “rational.” 21 A clear distinction was drawn between American Christianity and that of Europe in earlier centuries. As Noah Webster explained:
The ecclesiastical establishments of Europe which serve to support tyrannical governments are not the Christian religion but abuses and corruptions of it.22
Daniel Webster similarly explained that American Christianity was:
Christianity to which the sword and the fagot [burning stake or hot branding iron] are unknown—general tolerant Christianity is the law of the land!23
Those who attribute the Treaty of Tripoli quote to George Washington make two mistakes. The first is that no statement in it can be attributed to Washington (the treaty did not arrive in America until months after he left office); Washington never saw the treaty; it was not his work; no statement in it can be ascribed to him. The second mistake is to divorce a single clause of the treaty from the remainder which provides its context.
It would also be absurd to suggest that President Adams (under whom the treaty was ratified in 1797) would have endorsed or assented to any provision which repudiated Christianity. In fact, while discussing the Barbary conflict with Jefferson, Adams declared:
The policy of Christendom has made cowards of all their sailors before the standard of Mahomet. It would be heroical and glorious in us to restore courage to ours. 24
Furthermore, it was Adams who declared:
The 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; and that those principles of liberty are as unalterable as human nature. 25
Adams’ own words confirm that he rejected any notion that America was less than a Christian nation.
Additionally, the writings of General William Eaton, a major figure in the Barbary Powers conflict, provide even more irrefutable testimony of how the conflict was viewed at that time. Eaton was first appointed by President John Adams as “Consul to Tunis,” and President Thomas Jefferson later advanced him to the position of “U. S. Naval Agent to the Barbary States,” authorizing him to lead a military expedition against Tripoli. Eaton’s official correspondence during his service confirms that the conflict was a Muslim war against a Christian America.
For example, when writing to Secretary of State Timothy Pickering, Eaton apprised him of why the Muslims would be such dedicated foes:
Taught by revelation that war with the Christians will guarantee the salvation of their souls, and finding so great secular advantages in the observance of this religious duty [the secular advantage of keeping captured cargoes], their [the Muslims’] inducements to desperate fighting are very powerful.26
Eaton later complained that after Jefferson had approved his plan for military action, he sent him the obsolete warship “Hero.” Eaton reported the impression of America made upon the Tunis Muslims when they saw the old warship and its few cannons:
[T]he weak, the crazy situation of the vessel and equipage [armaments] tended to confirm an opinion long since conceived and never fairly controverted among the Tunisians, that the Americans are a feeble sect of Christians.27
In a later letter to Pickering, Eaton reported how pleased one Barbary ruler had been when he received the extortion compensations from America which had been promised him in one of the treaties:
He said, “To speak truly and candidly . . . . we must acknowledge to you that we have never received articles of the kind of so excellent a quality from any Christian nation.” 28
When John Marshall became the new Secretary of State, Eaton informed him:
It is a maxim of the Barbary States, that “The Christians who would be on good terms with them must fight well or pay well.” 29
And when General Eaton finally commenced his military action against Tripoli, his personal journal noted:
April 8th. We find it almost impossible to inspire these wild bigots with confidence in us or to persuade them that, being Christians, we can be otherwise than enemies to Musselmen. We have a difficult undertaking!30
June 12th, 2005 at 12:15 am
(continued)
May 23rd. Hassien Bey, the commander in chief of the enemy’s forces, has offered by private insinuation for my head six thousand dollars and double the sum for me a prisoner; and $30 per head for Christians. Why don’t he come and take it?31
Shortly after the military excursion against Tripoli was successfully terminated, its account was written and published. Even the title of the book bears witness to the nature of the conflict:
The Life of the Late Gen. William Eaton . . . commander of the Christian and Other Forces . . . which Led to the Treaty of Peace Between The United States and The Regency of Tripoli32
The numerous documents surrounding the Barbary Powers Conflict confirm that historically it was always viewed as a conflict between Christian America and Muslim nations. Those documents completely disprove the notion that any founding President, especially Washington, ever declared that America was not a Christian nation or people. (Chapter 16 of Original Intent will provide numerous additional current examples of historical revisionism.)
June 12th, 2005 at 12:17 am
Sorry so long Cao but I dug these out of ’saved docs’ and these young people need history that hasn’t been ‘REVISED’!
June 12th, 2005 at 4:58 am
June 12th, 2005 at 9:11 am
All I can say is … “Go Lobo - Go Lobo”
June 21st, 2005 at 3:33 am
Time for some edumaction for the idiots here:
Anyone who actually reads the first amendment can see that there is a complete seperation of Church and State.
The first amendment reads…
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
Notice the FIRST WORDS on this amendment. It states : “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” That means there shouldn’t be ANY law that respects ANY establishment of religion. Some argue that this only means that there should not be any state religion, unfortunately for them, they are wrong.
If that were the case the founding fathers would have wrote “make no law respecting THE establishment of A religion.” It does not say that however, and thus clearly the word “establishment” is synonmous with the word “institution” here. Therefore, the amendment means: “Congress shall make no law respecting an institution of religion” That means not one single law that derives from a religious institution.
That is clearly a seperation of Church and State.
Game, Set, Match.
June 21st, 2005 at 5:06 am
Separation of church and state is not in any of the founding documents, dipshit voter. It IS in the constitution of the Soviet Union, however. We don’t mandate that anyone be a Christian, but we are a Christian nation, free to talk about our faith (at least until the hate crime laws are legalized). Notice it also says in the first amendment ” or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;”
Patrick Henry, wrote in 1776:
“It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great Nation was founded not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For that reason alone, people of other faiths have been afforded freedom of worship here.”
“It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible”President George Washington, September 17th, 1796
“We have staked the whole of all our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government, upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God.” President James Madison
“The 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.”Noah Webster
Checkmate.
June 21st, 2005 at 5:34 am
Hey DV, you can play your charming word tennis all you want. You can even call us names. Instead, we prefer to play word chess. And with our big juicy brains, you seem to be at a decided disadvantage, ol’ chap.
My suggestion: go back and read the whole thread again, then read the Declaration, and read the Federalist Papers, and the Constitution AGAIN, and then see what you can do with those fuzzy little balls of yours beyond thumping them against a brick wall, as you seem to be doing here.
June 21st, 2005 at 5:37 am
The founding generation intertwined faith and government-though never the institutional church and government-in a way that spins the minds of people like the discombobulated voter who seeks a radical separation of church and state today. I’m beginning to think that Liberalism is indeed a mental disorder when you consider all the documented evidence that he completely ignores in this thread.
Congress called for days of prayer and fasting, printed Bibles, funded Christian missionaries to the Indians, appointed congressional chaplains, and referenced faith in political debates, all without the slightest thought that this might be a violation of the law. Presidents wrote freely of religion, preached to churches, invoked God’s name in official proclamations, and knew they could not get elected unless they articulated their beliefs clearly. Even the federal buildings in Washington D.C. were used as churches on weekends, and no objection was ever raised.
As the country was beginning, the idea that the nation must be faithful to God prevailed. “It was natural, then, to want prayer, Scripture reading, religious teaching and personal ministry connected with most every endeavor, from the proceedings of the Congress to the Army in the field. The military chaplain continued as part of this order and preserved the tradition of the “fighting parson” in the armed forces.
Chaplains proved themselves in all of the wars that would follow, from the War of 1812 to the Mexican War, but it was the Civil War that would transform the chaplaincy the most. It was the national catastrophe that witnessed the advent of the first Jewish chaplains, the first black and Indian chaplains, and the rise of the military chaplaincy to new heights of honor.
It is not going too far to say that the work of chaplains may have changed the course of the war. After the first year of conflict, both Confederate and Union troops were mired in the depression and disillusionment that prolonged bloodshed brings. Chaplains began searching for a solution. Many of them considered resigning and returning home. In “Born Again in the Trenches: Revivals in the Army of Tennessee”, G. Clinton Prim Jr. relates that by the winter of 1863-63, chaplains in General Braxton Bragg’s command, for example, were so discouraged that they considered resigning en masse. But at a meeting to discuss a proposal, a Baptist minister, Reverend L.H. Millikan ordered three resolutions:
Taking these words as a covenant among them, the ministers gave themselves immediately to prayer and began scheduling religious meetings. Within weeks each chaplain reported revivials in his regiment.l As Prim reports in his article, one minister wrote in the Southern Presbyterian of April 1863:
Before long the biggest problem the ministers had was a lack of help. Crying out for more chaplains and missionaries, one minister wrote that with more preachers, “I think we would have a great revival. I never saw men so anxious to hear preaching. They crowd around the preaching place two or three hours before the preacher gets there.” When the Army of Tennessee moved to Chattanooga, Reverend R.H. Browning reported: “There is now a general spirit of rivival manifest in every part of the army.” The Army seemed tranformed. “Instead of oaths, jests and blackguard songs, one heard songs of Zion, prayer, and praises of God. Instead of a “school of vice” the Army became the place where God is adored, and where many learn to revere the name of Jesus.”
June 21st, 2005 at 6:06 am
I’ll share one story of faith in one company based at Camp Seitz just outside of Baghdad. The 1544th Transportation Company has endured some of the most ferocious fighting of the war. It is their job to protect some of the most contested roads in Iraq. Their losses have been heavy, but their fighting spirit is undimmed.
The soldiers in the 1544th are young. The commander of Camp Seitz, Lt. Col. Richard Rael, calls them “college kids”. But he says it with respect, and it’s a fitting description. Most of the soldiers in this company were sitting in college classrooms when their National Guard units were called up. They had only joined the Illinois National Guard to earn money for college, and now they’ve left their studies, some just months before graduation, and are enduring fierce fighting and the death of friends they once sat with at compus watering holes.
The 1544th is a unique example of faith because while their captain, Brandon Tackett, says he stays out of his soldier’s spiritual lives, many under his command are deeply religious. There is Jodi Rund, for example. Corporal Rund is blonde, fresh faced and not hard to imagine as a campus head-turner. Not long ago, she was a sociology major at the University of Illinois, she was called up when she had only one semester left and now finds herself in the thick of the Iraq war. One of her colleagues described her as “Osama bin Laden’s worst nightmare-a pretty woman who prays to Jesus and fights as well as any man.”
Jodi was raised Catholic and found a new interest in faith when she learned she was fighting for her country in the land of ancient Babylon. She yearned to know more about biblical history, and this brought her to websites that fed her spirit. She began to email Christian friends at home about her faith. Soon she met other Christians in her company. there was David Wetherell, for example, another U of I student who was working on a finance degree when he was called up. Wetherell had “fallen away” from his Christian fiath when he was first deployed, but the death of his sergeant on the first day he arrived, and his realization that he might die, moved him to “give my life to Jesus”. Now, Rund and Wetherell are part of a Christian group within the 1544th that studies books like Rick Warren’s The Purpose Driven Life, passes around sermons from ministers back home, and shares prayer lists together. When one of them is hurt, the rest pray for healing. There have been miracles, they say, and none of them could survive without each other, their deepening faith in Jesus Christ, and the strength they find in their Bibles.
They have done all this without the help of military chaplains. The rich illustrious history of our fighting forces carrying the torch of faith in the battlefield continues today in the Iraq war and the middle east.
June 21st, 2005 at 6:43 am
It was 1917 and America had just entered the first World War. Throughout the nation, soldiers were preparing for the voyage that would allow them to defend their nation’s honor across the seas in places like Belgium, Austria and France. Knowing that many of those American warriors would never return, and that all of them would need a guide for thir conduct in battle, the New York Bible Society determined to give each soldier a pocket New Testament. They also asked former President Theodore Roosevelt, himselv an outspoken Christian, to compose a message for the inside cover. His words framed a warrior code for the generations and have come to be known as the Micah Mandate.
In these words, Roosevelt both put the war in spiritual perspective and told America’s soldiers what it meant to conduct themselves with honor. He first assured them that they were fighting a system of evil, one demonically emplowered like the pagan empires of old. Then he gave them an ethical code, telling them how to treat women, their enemies, the weak, and the dying. And he called them to live humbly, to realize that success in battle, much like success in life, depends upon honoring the God who rules men’s destinies.
The concise charge became a creed and a warrior code for men in the field. They quoted it to each other in times of duress and took their New Testaments home to give them to the children they would one day have. The words captured the dream of a civilization distilled into the kind of code a warrior can live.
Eighty-eight years later, a battle-weary sergeant in Iraq was shown Roosevelt’s words on a reporter’s Palm Pilot. “God,” he said, the admiration obvious in his voice, “I wish we had such a thing for our war.”
They are working this out, as I’ve pointed out above, however. If we are a secular nation as DV tries in vain to point out, then none of these stories would exist, none of this history would exist.