The Establishment of Religion Clause

I have just a quick note as it has come to my intention again the debate in our nation as to its Christian origins. When we study the Bible a primary rule of interpretation is what did it mean to those it was written to. Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and some Supreme Court Justices such as James Wilson (who was one of only six men to sign both the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence) encouraged that in order to interpret our nation's founding documents it was imperative to discover the meaning of those who wrote them.

Taking that principle of interpretation into consideration let's look at the First amendment regarding the establishment of religion clause. George Mason (a member of the Constitutinal Convention and referred to as "The Father of the Bill of Rights") said, (quote from the book"Original Intent") "[A]ll men have an equal, natural and unalienable right to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience; and that no particular sect or society of Christians ought to be favored or established by law in preference to others."

If you will note the first amendment was not established to give every religion, as we know them today, equal influence or expression in our form of government. It was established to keep any one expression of Christianity (as in denomination) from being established, by the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, as the national expression of Christianity. State governments at the time of the founding of our nation could support a denomination (some states even gave money to denominations). The amendment was to keep the federal government out of the religious affairs of each state. Many State constitutions at the time of the Constitutional Convention had spiritual requirements for elected officials. You were not to be elected if you didn't believe in the inspiration of the scriptures, eternal rewards and punishments and one state required you to be protestant. (Since I'm writing this off the top of my head I can't remember which state but can get that information for any inquirer.) The constitutional convention convened with prayer (Christian Prayer). And the most irreligious, as in Benjamin Franklin, acknowledged the Providence of God in the establishment of the constitution, even quoting scripture as a part of his declaration. I've often said, our problem today is we don't have spiritual enough atheists or Deists like we did in those days.

My heart is really on the need for Christians to arise in these days. Not so much politically, but this kind of misinformation or lack of scholarship in the discussion of the history of our nation always seems to ruffle my feathers. Reference to the Treaty of Tripoli in which John Adams said our nation is not founded on the religion of Christianity is the one saving reference people who oppose the wealth of information about our Christian heritage and foundation rely on. Now they can add Obama's statement in Turkey to their references. Technically the federal government was not founded on the the religion of Christianity, especially as it was being expressed in Europe at the time, with its hatred toward the Muslims. But to say that it was not established on Christian principles or the foundation of the Bible is to neglect the enormous evidence in the statements of the founder's themselves. Even John Adams acknowledged that in other statements he made. The first chief justice of the supreme court John Jay declared we were a Christian nation and Congress approved the printing of the Bible for use in schools. That kind of knowledge needs to be considered when one examines the original intent of our founding documents.

Given all the Harvard graduates we have in positions of authority in our nation, our nation could be changed if those graduates simply held fast to the early mottos from Harvard itself, such as "For the Glory of Christ" and "For Christ and the Church." Christianity is woven through the framework of the foundation of this nation. If the abnegation of such heritage is the object of the present "Change" in this country then let it be said so, BUT it is a change. It is not our heritage as a nation!!