As I was getting ready for church this morning I flipped on Good Morning America. They ran a segment called the "New God Squad", which included a Catholic priest and a Jewish rabbi commenting on issues in the day's news. This was supposed to reflect a faith perspective on pertinent news items.
One of the stories they chose to comment on was Governor Rick Perry's promotion of and participation in an all-day Christian prayer rally. The stories before this were fluff with politically correct, side-stepping responses. But when this story came up, both had the same strong opinion. The fact that this Governor would promote a Christian prayer event was catastrophic. Not only were fundamentalist Christians going to be there, but more importantly it was a clear crossing of the line between separation of church and state. The tone of their response was a sort of "shame on him", " how could he" tone. But if we look back at what the founding fathers meant with this language, we realize this game of telephone has gone too far.
In classrooms today kids are taught that the founding fathers were not Christians but in fact were atheists, agnostics, and deists. Looking at their own words we realize this isn't the case. The Wall Builders organization, founded by David Barton has a list of quotes from some of our founding fathers concerning religion. I will share a few of these but recommend going to the website http://www.wallbuilders.com/ABTbioDB.asp for more information.
Samuel Adams
"I recommend my soul to that Almighty Being who gave it, and my body I commit to the dust relying upon the merits of Jesus Christ for a pardon of all my sins."
John Jay - First Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court
"Unto Him who is the author and giver of all good, I render sincere and humble thanks for His manifold and unmerited blessings, and especially for our redemption and salvation by His beloved son."
John Langdon - Signer of the Constitution
"I commend my soul to the infinite mercies of God in Christ Jesus, the beloved Son of the Father, who died and rose again that He might be the Lord of the dead and of the living...professing to believe and hope in the joyful Scripture doctrine of a resurrection to eternal life..."
Benjamin Rush - Signer of the Declaration of Independence
"My only hope of salvation is in the infinite, transcendent love of God manifested to the world by the death of His Son upon the cross. Nothing but His blood will wash away my sins. I rely exclusively upon it. Come, Lord Jesus! Come quickly!"
Roger Sherman- Signer of the Declaration of Independence
I believe that there is only one living and true God, existing in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost...that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are a revelation from God...that God did send His own Son to become man, die in the room and stead of sinners, and thus lay a foundation for the offer of pardon and salvation to all mankind so as all may be saved who are willing to accept the Gospel offer."
John Witherspoon - Signer of the Declaration of Independence
I entreat you in the most earnest manner, to believe in Jesus Christ, for there is no salvation in any other (Acts 4:12)...If you are not reconciled to God through Jesus Christ, if you are not clothed with the spotless robe of His righteousness, you must forever perish."
As I mentioned, this is just a handful. The list goes on. I wonder what the "New God Squad's" panel would say to these founding "Christian Fundamentalist" fathers about the separation of church and state.
The phrase, "separation of church and state" is derived from a letter from Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptists Association in 1802. "I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people, which declared their legislature should make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, thus building a wall of separation between church and state." In other words, the church and religion should be protected from Government. Government cannot prohibit us from practicing a certain religion, and government can't make a law regarding religion. Well what about the first amendment? Same story. "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."
Is Governor Perry prohibiting the free exercise of religion? No. Is he establishing a law regarding religion? No. He's simply practicing his right to freely exercise religion. He's not mandating that all Texans become Christian, he's inviting people to a prayer event that believes the same things some of the founding fathers believed. We've gone from protecting religion to squelching religion. Isn't that what the founding fathers wanted to stay away from? Somehow this separation phrase has come to mean the opposite of what it intended. The first amendment gives the "New God Squad" the right to say what they think. But this talk about separation of Church and State should not be argued as a constitutional viewpoint, or something the founding fathers intended. It's a viewpoint that arose out of the courts in a culture that is at extreme odds to true Christianity.
My wife Liesl brought up a good point as we were talking about this earlier today. She said the President closed his speech about the debt ceiling as the President normally closes his speeches, "Thank you, God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America." We ask for God to bless our country, while we continue to try and separate Him from any decisions our country makes. I believe this is a grave mistake that God will not reward with blessings.
