PREFACE

   Two hundred, twenty-eight years ago a group of men came together at a particular time and in a particular place; men who would change the course of human history.  They would establish a nation, the likes of which had never before been known on the earth, or imagined in the minds of men.  It would be a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.  It would preserve and promote freedom and liberty through a system of equal justice under law which would provide every person equal treatment.  Furthermore, it would place the ultimate power, not in the government, but in the hands of the people.

   We call these men our founding fathers and the nation they founded the United States of America.  They have been described as "enlightened geniuses touched by divine intervention."  I cannot imagine a better description, and I am convinced that only God could have brought together such men, at such a time, in such a place, and with such a purpose.

   It is interesting to note that upon assembling to deliberate the birth of a nation, they began the session with a prayer.  They understood the importance of seeking the guidance and blessing of God as they undertook that awesome task.  What, with God’s help, they were able to achieve is unequaled in the annuals of human history. 

   These men have long since departed the earth and gone to reconcile with their Creator, but the nation they established has risen to become the most powerful and successful in the history of mankind.  Eighty-seven years later Abraham Lincoln reaffirmed their purpose when he said:

"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.  Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure....we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth." [Emphases added]

Gettysburg Address

November 19, 1863

   Lincoln was, of course, referring to the Civil War that threatened to destroy our nation.  His words, however, are as applicable today as they were in eighteen hundred and sixty-three.  As we enter the 229^th year of our national existence, a minority group composed of various liberal factions led by the A.C.L.U., People for the American Way and Americans United for Separation of Church and State are a greater threat to our national existence than all the battles of the Civil War combined.  As a result of their efforts, our families, our churches and our very way of life are under attack as never before in our history.  The battle being waged within our borders is for nothing less than the very heart and soul of America.

   These organizations and their followers support the right to abortion, the right for same sex  marriage, and the freedom to display every form of pornography and ungodliness before us and our children.  Members of this group advocate the silencing of morality and religious principles in our schools, in our halls of Justice, in our chambers of Congress, and in every other place they choose to describe as the public square.  By their definition, the marketplace of free expression is limited to those who refrain from bringing anything advocated by God into the discussion.  In the name of tolerance and multi-culturalism  they seek to introduce upon these shores every form of licentiousness and ungodliness ever conceived in the hearts of men.  Left unrestricted they will turn our nation into a Godless jungle of unrighteousness, licentiousness, and moral decadence, unparalleled since the fall of the Roman Empire.

   Those of us who must stand in opposition to this distortion of our national identity believe in the principle that governments are indeed instituted for the benefit of and with the consent of the governed.  We believe that there is a Divine Being who oversees and judges the actions of both men and nations.  We believe that the principles set forth in the Holy Scriptures should determine the decisions to be made and the course to be followed by those who would seek to lead this nation.  We believe that obedience to the commandments of God is the best and greatest hope for our continuation as a Divinely blessed and protected people. We understand  that to accomplish this, we must return to those principles of national morality advocated by the founding fathers and practiced in America for the past two hundred and twenty-eight years. 

   Yes, the nation those men established so long ago was indeed an experiment in government unique from all others.  It was a nation which looked to God for its right to exist, for its protection, and for His guidance in the affairs of state.  What is more, it gave us, as citizens and voters, the ability to demand a government which will uphold those ideals which have made us great.  The decision now lies with us.  Either we will remain one nation, under God, or descend into the abyss of immorality that has claimed so many nations before us.

   Our response to this challenge will not only determine the quality of our lives but the lives of our children and grandchildren for generations to come.  The battle must be won and the key to victory is the appointment of judges who both respect The God of Heaven and correctly understand the intent of our founders when they penned the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States of America.  Our President has promised to appoint such men as federal judges.  We the People must now demand that these men be confirmed by our Senators to the various courts of this land. 

   The destiny of our nation is in our hands and it is my prayer that We the People will rise up as never before in history to demand that our nation remain One Nation Under God, both now and until He returns.

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SEPARATE CHURCH AND STATE

NOT GOD AND STATE

A Message From the Founding Fathers

 

   The first of our national founding documents declares:

We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are Created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights Governments are established among men...”          [Emphasis  added]

Declaration of Independence

United States of America

July 4, 1776

   Another of our founding documents declares:

Congress shall make no laws respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...”...[Emphasis added]

Article One

Bill of Rights 

December 15, 1791

   Both of these documents were written and adopted by the same group of men; men we now refer to as our founding fathers. In their minds, there were obviously no contradictions between these two statements.  Since our entire legal system is based on the Constitution, we must correctly understand how these two statements were reconciled in the minds of the founders if we are to correctly understand how they intended the Constitution to be interpreted.

   If the purpose of Government is to secure rights bestowed by the Creator there must be a connection between God ( the Creator) and government (the securer).  Exactly what rights are the government  to secure?  In a broad sense we could say that they were the rights to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.  But they must have had some specific way in mind to determine which rights would fall into these broad categories. In other words, what areas of life should be controlled by the government and what areas were to be denied to the government and, thereby, reserved for the individual and the church?

   The answer is that, while they believed that there should be a separation between the church or religion and the state, they did not believe that there should be a separation between God and the state. In order to understand their intent, we must understand how they drew the line between God and religion.

   That these men believed in God is beyond question as evidenced by the following statements:

To assume....and equal station which the Laws of Nature and Nature’s God entitle them .” [Emphasis added]

appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World For the Rectitude of our   intentions...” [Emphasis added]

with a firm Reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.” [Emphasis added]

Declaration of Independence

United States of America

July 4, 1776

I consider it an indispensable duty to close this last solemn act of my official life by commending the interest of our dearest country to the protection of the Almighty  God and those who have the superintendence of them into His Holy keeping.”  [Emphasis added]

George Washington

Resigning his Commission as

General of the Continental Army

December 28, 1783

Well aware that Almighty God has created the mind free…. [Emphasis Added]

Thomas Jefferson

Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom

1786

Should I keep my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offense, I should consider myself as guilty of treason towards my country, and of an act of disloyalty toward the Majesty of Heaven, which I revere above all earthly kings...An appeal to arms and to the God of Host is all that is left to us...Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power...Besides sir we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations...Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God!” [Emphasis added]

Patrick Henry

Richmond Virginia

March 23, 1773

   The founding fathers of this nation had a deep belief in, and a profound reverence for, the God of Heaven.  Furthermore, it is evident from their identity with their various religious faiths, that the Creator which they worshiped, and to whom they appealed, was Jehovah, the God of the Bible.  Thus, it is also evident that our nation was founded by men who believed in God, publicly professed that belief, and relied on His assistance in establishing this nation. As their writings prove, America was established by men who worshiped the Christian God.

   Furthermore, they believed that, while a person’s religion was strictly a matter between the person and God, national morality could not be maintained in the absence of religion and the public expression of it. Concerning this George Washington said:

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 pillows of human happiness, these finest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked: Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation deserts the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice? And let us with caution indulge in the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on the minds of particular structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in the exclusion of religious principle.” [Emphasis added]

George Washington

Farewell Address to the Nation

September 17, 1796

   They rightly understood that while it is necessary to a free society to separate religion and the state, it is a fatal mistake to separate God and the state.  This is because they understood the difference between the inalienable laws of God the Creator and the personal laws of conscience or as Martin Luther described them, God’s Laws of Redemption.

   This difference was addressed in the writings of Martin Luther; writings which were among the classical writings studied by the founders  which, along with the writings of others such as Blackstone, Hume, and Locke, molded their thinking as they conspired to create a new nation.

   In the book, Never Before In History (America’s Inspired Birth), published by the Foundation for Thought and Ethics, Richardson, Texas, P.7-8, The writers provide this definition of Luther’s position concerning the difference between the Laws of Creation, and the Laws of Redemption.

Luther argued that a person’s life is divided into two spheres. One sphere deals with a person’s physical life in society as he or she interacts with other human beings and the world at large. This part of a person’s life relates to God as creator, who has made universal laws for ordering the world and our place in it. The other sphere deals with a person’s spiritual life as someone made in God’s image and needing redemption. This part of a person’s life relates to God as redeemer, who through Christ brings salvation from sin.

God governs both spheres differently. God governs one sphere through the law of creation, the other through the law of redemption. The law of creation, or what is sometimes called the law of nature or natural law, denotes how God created the universe and intends it to operate. It includes not only physical laws (like the laws of physics and chemistry) but also moral laws. For instance, within politics God’s law of creation requires rulers to protect the people and not exploit them. The law of redemption, on the other hand, specifies how people come to salvation. It is sometimes called the ordo salutis (the order of salvation).

Since all people are creatures of God, all people must govern their daily lives in society in obedience to God’s moral law. But since Christians also embrace God as redeemer, they are additionally called to follow God’s law of redemption. Redemption is outside the state’s jurisdiction.

Luther described the creator-redeemer distinction this way: God has ordained two governments: the spiritual which by the Holy Spirit under Christ makes Christians and pious people; and the secular, which restrains the unchristian and wicked so that they are obliged to keep the peace . . .

   The framers of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution recognized the importance of God’s creative law as the foundation for our nation while at the same time understood that the state had no jurisdiction over God’s laws of redemption or laws of the conscience.  They wisely forbade the government from establishing a “national religion” while at the same time recognized the necessity of the government maintaining a high level of national morality in accordance with God’s creation laws.

   Laws which deal with the relationships between people are the legitimate function of Government, while that same government has no right to dictate any particular relationship between a man and his God.  Thus, while our government is prohibited by our constitution from establishing a state religion, it is in no way prohibited from proclaiming and teaching that we are a created people answerable for our conduct to the God who created us or from making those laws which are necessary to control the relationships between individuals, thereby securing life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all of our citizens.

   Sir William Blackstone (1723-80) taught law at Oxford and quickly gained the reputation of being the greatest living expert on the British Common Law.  In 1765 he published the four-volume Commentaries on the Laws of England. Blackstone’s Commentaries won instant acclaim throughout England. In the colonies they were not only a sensation - they became a weapon.

   The founders of the United States cited Blackstone twice as often as they cited Locke. Throughout the colonies people began citing Blackstone as an authority on law, rights, and liberties.  In the ten years before the Revolution, more copies of Blackstone’s Commentaries were sold in the colonies than in England itself.  Seeing government’s purpose as the protection of the people, Blackstone echoed Locke’s view on the foundation of government:

 

For the principal aim of society is to protect individuals in the enjoyment of those absolute rights, which were invested in them by the immutable laws of nature.... Hence it follows, that the first and primary end of human law is to maintain and regulate these absolute rights of individuals.

Every element of the Founder’s understanding of legal rights had already been stated in Blackstone’s Commentaries.  Blackstone showed how the English Common Law affirmed the principal of inalienable rights. Blackstone called them natural rights and absolute rights. But they were identical to what Jefferson would call inalienable rights. (Never Before in History P 68.)

   Our founders understood that natural law, which the state should protect, concerned itself with relationships between individuals. Virtually every law which can be rightfully enacted by a government must in one way or another deal with conduct between individuals.

   It has been stated that you cannot legislate morality. Yet we do so by every law we pass with regard to protection of the individual. What are our laws against murder, theft, assault, adultery, rape, slander, and false testimony, as well as many others, if not the legislation of morality?

   The state has the right to legislate morality in every case where the rights of one individual need to be protected from the abuse of another.  Indeed this is the primary purpose of government. Since our government is a government of We the People, it is We the People who have the right to demand that our government uphold our Constitution.

   Since the phrase, “Separation of Church and State” is not found in our Constitution, where does the concept of a wall of separation of between church and state come from?  The term actually comes from a letter written to the Danbury Baptist Association in the State of Connecticut dated January 1, 1802, in which Jefferson assures them that there will be a Wall of Separation between the church, or religion, and the state.

   Jefferson’s letter was written in response to the concern expressed in a letter they wrote October 7, 1801. In that letter they expressly stated:

Our Sentiments are uniformly on the side of Religious Liberty - That religion is at all times and places a matter between God and the Individuals - That no man ought to suffer in Name, person or effects on account of his religious opinions - That the legitimate Power of Civil Government extends no further than to punish the man who works ill to his neighbor.

   Jefferson’s assurance of a wall between the church and the state referred to a separation religion and the state. It was never intended to be construed as a separation between God and the State.  Jefferson assured them that those Laws of Conscience, or Laws of Redemption, would never be infringed upon by the government. A person’s relationship with God is a personal matter and by law cannot be mandated by the state.  In other words, there would be no official state church as in the case of the Church of England. In America it would be the individual, not the government, who would decide how best to worship and serve his God.

Samuel Adams gives us the founders’ perspective on these laws:

As neither reason requires nor religion permits the contrary, every man living in or out of a state of civil society has a right to peaceably and quietly worship God according to the dictates of his conscience.

Just and true liberty, equal and impartial liberty, in matters spiritual and temporal, is a thing that all men are entitled to by the eternal and immutable laws of God and nature, as well as by the law of nations and well-grounded municipal laws, which must have their foundation in the former.

In regards to religion, mutual toleration in the different professions thereof is what good and candid minds in all ages have practiced... And it is generally agreed among Christians that this spirit of toleration, in the fullest extent consistent with the being of civil society, is the chief characteristical mark of the church. Inasmuch that Mr. Locke has asserted and proved ...that such toleration ought to be extended to all whose doctrines are not subversive of society.

Samuel Adams

Committee of Correspondence

Declares the Rights of the Colonist

November 1772

   The state has the right to acknowledge the existence of a Creator and to call upon that Creator for guidance.  Furthermore, the state has the right to teach that man is a created being and as such is subject to the laws of the Creator.  It is for this very reason that one of the first textbooks in the schools of America, both before and after the writings of our founding documents, was the King James Bible.

   Our founders understood the value of a high standard of national morality.  They further understood that government, in order to maintain public morality and preserve a civilized society could, and should, codify relations to be allowed and to be prohibited between two or more people. Furthermore, they understood that the state has every right to acknowledge the existence of God and to make “Under God” a part of our Pledge of Allegiance, as well as placing the motto, “In God we Trust” on our money.

   The God recognized by the vast majority of Americans is the God of the Bible.  That God has inspired the establishment of two nations. 

   The first was the nation of Israel under the leadership of Moses and Joshua.  Israel was established as a Theocracy which means that the state and the church were one and the same.  To govern the state of Israel, God set forth what we today call the Ten Commandments.  It is interesting to note that the first five of these commandments concerned what Luther referred to as laws of redemption.  The second five concerned  what Luther described as laws of creation.

   The second nation was established by men who understood the difference between God’s Laws of Creation and God’s Laws of Redemption.   Unlike Israel, America was established as a Republic.  So, while recognizing the necessity of a strict moral code of conduct to govern the affairs of men, and believing that the Ten Commandments was the best basis for this code of conduct, they also understood that certain of the Ten Commandments related only to the relationship of individuals with their God. 

Therefore, they wisely chose to separate the two.

  In our Constitution they separated those commandments which relate to the relationship between two or more individuals from those which dealt with the relationship between a man and his God.  They empowered the state to enforce those commandments which dealt with relations between individuals, but forbade the state from enacting any laws concerning the relationship between man and God.

   Thus they separated Church and State, but not God and State.

  At the time of the founding of this nation our founders believed that children should be taught, both in the home and in the schools, those commandments of God which govern a free society and protect the rights of citizens.  Chief among these laws being:In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)(NKJ)

Then God said “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” (Genesis 1:26)(NKJ)

And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. (Genesis 2:7)(NKJ)

And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him. (Genesis 2:18) (NKJ)

So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him. (Genesis 2:20)(NKJ)

And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and he brought her to the man.

And Adam said:

This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of man.” Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.  (Genesis 2:21-24)(NKJ)

  These are not laws contrived by men, but laws which Jefferson in penning the Declaration of Independence referred to as the Laws of Nature, and of Nature’s God. They predated any organized religion and they were then, and are now, inalienable. Jefferson stated very clearly in the Declaration of Independence that the purpose of our government was to secure these inalienable rights.

  The concept of separating church and state, not God and state, explains the rationale behind our founding documents and shows the intent of the founders as to how the Constitution was to be interpreted.

  It is not necessary to be a Christian in order to be an American, but it is essential to realize that the foundation of the American dream, and the protection of all that we hold dear, is the right to freedom of religion and the public profession thereof.  Our founders considered this right to be so essential to our freedom and future as a nation that they encoded it as the first right in the first article of our Bill of Rights. 

  We the People have the ability, confirmed by our constitution, to change or abolish it, or any part of it, at our collective will.  But until such time as We the People decide to do so, our judges, from the Justice of the Peace to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, have the obligation to interpret our Constitution in the manner in which the writers intended and to apply only the intention of the founders to every decision reached.

  We the People, therefore, can and must have the right to determine the acceptable level of national morality to be maintained and protected by our governing authorities. We have the right to insist that Jehovah, the God of the Bible, be publicly recognized and proclaimed as the grantor of our freedom and the primary source of the laws that govern our nation. We understand the necessity for tolerance toward those who might feel otherwise, but we have no obligation to submit our right to acknowledge the God of the universe to the approval of a vocal minority.

  We the People have every right to expect that the men and women appointed to administer the judicial system of this nation be required to base their judgments on the Constitution of the United States of America, and nothing else. They must and will be required to interpret our Constitution in the light of the intent of the founders and not read into it any public or private rights not specifically enumerated therein.  Our Declaration of Independence proclaims it, our Constitution guarantees it, and our national existence demands it.

  We the People have the right to determine the definition of marriage within our society as that being proclaimed by Jehovah God from the beginning of creation.  We have the right to demand that the sanctity of human life be respected and protected at every stage of it’s development.  We have the right to demand that “In God We Trust” be our national motto as well as being inscribed on our money. We have the right to include “under God” as a part of our Pledge of Allegiance, the right to demand that the influence of God on the history of this nation be taught in our public schools and that His name be respected by both teachers and administrators. Because this is America, those who wish to acknowledge other gods have every right to do so, but not to demand that our God be silenced in the public square or that His name be banned from our public schools.

   We the People have elected a President who subscribes to the will of the people and has promised to nominate judges who are strict constructionists of the Constitution.  We the People have every right to expect,  and if necessary demand, that our Senators approve those judicial nominations sent to them by the President we have elected to lead this nation and to represent not only our interest, but the interest of our children and grandchildren for generations to come.

   When he took the oath of office our President placed his hand on the Bible and stated:

 

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.

 

   It is only by his doing so that we may expect to be continually blessed by our Creator and we have no obligation to accept anything less from our President, our other elected representatives, or those who have been appointed to federal judicial positions.

 

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 THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

 

I      Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

II      Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven images.

III     Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord  thy God in vain.

IV      Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

V       Honor thy father and thy mother.

VI      Thou shalt not kill.

VII     Thou shalt not commit adultery.

VIII    Thou shalt not steal.

IX      Thou shalt not bear false witness.

X       Thou shalt not covet thy neighbors house.

 

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We have staked the whole future of American civilization not upon the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future 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.

James Madison

Attributed