Has Your Faith and Freedoms Been Revised by Judicial Opinions?
For the past 50 years, Americans have been progressively compartmentalized, trained and pushed by our court systems to only practice our faith in private, segregated from any public expressions. There have now been recent legal cases where a grade school kid can’t privately read a bible at school. Really? Or teachers who aren’t allowed explain meanings of ancient proverbs like “The first shall be last and the last shall be first.” Really? Faith and the expression of faith in America is absolutely under attack. But this hasn’t been the entire historical trend of our nation.
“…Our nation’s Founding Fathers were united by their deep spiritual beliefs that shaped the foundation of America. But when our nation’s Founding Fathers established freedom of religion, was it their intent to ban acts of faith in the civil arena, and should our religious freedom be reserved to the privacy of our homes and churches? Did our Founding Fathers establish these freedoms to protect public policy from biblical values or to endorse them? How has America’s religious freedoms changed in the past 200 years?” –David Barton, The American Heritage Series, Session 6, quote from the Introduction, (www.wallbuilders.com, 2007).
Author and historian David Barton asserts that the preservation of our national liberties will only be upheld by the conviction upon which the liberties are founded. In other words, the true source of our liberties (ie. mankind’s unalienable rights as being human), should only be said to have been given by God and definitely not re-defined and restricted by our courts.
As a reminder, the First Amendment states, “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.” How can this be inferred that the government can restrict or limit any faith expression, whether it’s private or public? Of course, most people I know would agree that any free expression of speech or faith should be always be respectful and civil to others. But are we now fearful and unwilling to mention any specific form of faith or biblical theology because of unwarranted legal recourse?
The October 17, 1789 proclamation for the first national day of Thanksgiving was offered by George Washington. This proclamation came almost immediately after the First Amendment for free speech and religious expression was voted upon. Washington proclaimed,“…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…”
In our nation’s past, it was not unusual for even prayers to even be made in courts by sitting judges and prayers offered over grand juries before they debated over a verdict! Our forefathers never envisioned that there would ever be such hostility toward a person’s faith and the practice of public prayer. Or maybe they did. Maybe our current hyper-political correctness was imagined by our Framers which led to their specific wording in our nation’s original documents, in hopes to protect our country from becoming what we have now become!
It is apparent in today’s society and court opinions, that courts are now legislating and defining what our “unalienable rights” should be, denying that they are bestowed by the infinite Divine Creator. Now, any public acknowledgment of God is being viewed with more and more religious bigotry. This is a 180-degree turn from the original intent of our Founding Fathers, our Constitution, and more importantly, by God. Our country needs elected legislators and judges who rule with the same perspective and opinion of our nation’s founding fathers.
American Exceptionalism (ie. being exceptional among the other global nations) is based upon the acknowledgement and recognition upon God’s hand upon the establishment of America’s governance and its affairs. If you want to see America return to its prominence, I feel that it will require a return to its original ideals. Please support your local, state and federal representatives and encourage them to action. Call them to immediately return our country’s laws to the original intent of our nation’s foundations which were set upon respect of faith, virtue and liberty. Let’s reverse this trend!
- Chaplain Evans
Reference: David Barton, The American Heritage Series, http://www.wallbuilders.com, 2007. Barton is a prolific writer, using historical document to reveal the impact of religion and faith upon the establishment of the United States of America.
Chaplain Evans 