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The Word's Eye View is a newspaper column written by
One Nation Under God Multitudes gathered in person or observed on television the various services that were held to give tribute to Senator Edward Kennedy. A variety of Scripture references were quoted, and numerous prayers were offered to encourage the hearers to ponder the possibilities of heaven. Death transcends the political correctness of legislative life with a stamp of finality that is difficult to ignore. In the plainest words possible—why is it deemed entirely appropriate to magically mutate to a “religious” environment when the Grim Reaper appears, but when critical decisions are being made that will affect the lives of millions, God is considered an unwelcome intruder? It is not always necessary to destroy a country with a flood of armies when a deluge of debt can accomplish the same thing. The bipartisan Congressional Budget Office has just projected a 10 year budget deficit of approximately $9 trillion dollars. In the not very distant past the Democrats were screaming about a deficit that would place an unbearable burden upon our grandchildren, but now that it has grown exponentially, they seem fine with the sea of red ink. The reality of the funeral is that all of the Scripture, prayers and songs provide no relief for the departed for their destiny was determined in this life. The formalities are intended to bring comfort to the survivors. It’s time to gain a spiritual perspective before the body politic draws its last breath. Our forefathers understood this principle which is under attack as never before. During a ten year study, Professors Donald Lutz and Charles Hyneman reviewed 15,000 items and 2200 books and materials of our founding period. They documented the sources cited by our founding statesmen. In the 1770’s 44% of all citations were from the Bible. In contrast 18% of the writers cited were from the Enlightenment (most of whom were themselves Christians) and only 11% were from the classical period of Greece and Rome. The true story of the Declaration of Independence reveals that it was not a radical document based upon pagan antiquity or French libertines but rather a culmination of a long line of Christian resistance documents against tyrannical government. The first great document of liberty, after the Bible, was the Magna Carta of 1215 A.D. Penned by a minister, Stephen Langdon, it limited the power of the king over the rights of the people. It took an army of nobles to force King John to sign the articles or die. Unfortunately, the limitation of the king’s power was not enforceable in a nation built upon a class system where the king could break his own laws if he had a large enough army. With a majority he could control the financial and automotive industries and socialize anything he desired regardless of the populous protest. That is why William Wallace, the brave Scottish leader, died a martyr’s death fighting for the liberties of his people later in the 13th century. (For the historically challenged, check out the movie “Braveheart.”) As the Bible was translated into the language of the common man, its distribution convinced a growing population of the principles of liberty. By the time of our founding, the colonists knew that their only hope of lasting liberty with property was a nation “under God” with rights given by the Creator, not the government. Of the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence, 29 were seminary graduates. Their attitude toward the Bible and the necessity of prayer is well summarized by Samuel Adams who prophetically declared, “We have this day restored the Sovereign to whom men alone ought to be obedient. He reigns in heaven…from the rising to the setting sun, His kingdom come.” The idea of God-centered rights has been self-evident right up to the middle of the 20th century---even to our presidents. Calvin Coolidge stated in 1924,” It seems perfectly plain that the right to equality has for its foundation reverence for God. If we could imagine that swept away our American government could not long survive.” Harry Truman said, “The fundamental basis of this nation’s laws was given to Moses on the Mount….if we don’t have a proper fundamental moral background, we will end up with a totalitarian government which does not believe in rights for anybody except the State.” Eisenhower knew America faced tremendous challenges with the prospect of a cold war. In the face of these he commented, “If each of us in his own mind would dwell more upon those simple virtues—integrity, courage, self-confidence and unshakeable belief in his Bible—would not some of these problems tend to simplify themselves?” In his inaugural address John Kennedy remarked, “The rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God.” Ronald Reagan summed it up as only he could on August 23, 1984: “Without God democracy will not and cannot long endure…if we ever forget that we are ‘One nation under God,’ then we will be a nation gone under.” How refreshing it would be if Washington would grab a clue from some of our great predecessors, spit in the eye of the ACLU, and seek some spiritual remedies for a patient that is about to flatline. Does the Bible address the subject of debt? To quote Sarah Palin—“You betcha!” More on that next week.
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