Tony Perkins Washington Update
There is no dissonance in these declarations. There is a universal language pervading them all having one meaning; they affirm and reaffirm that this is a religious nation. These are not individual sayings declaration of private persons: they are organic utterances; they speak the voice of the entire people... that this is a Christian nation.
(U.S. Supreme Court Church of the Holy Trinity v. U.S. 1892)
In the shadow of Americas most recognizable military stronghold Rev. Franklin Graham stood on the sidewalk this morning and prayed. It was a poignant reminder that the world can lock its doors to faith--but it cannot keep God out. Despite the Pentagons best security the prayers of the people can still permeate those walls--and every wall of government in this capital city. Never retreat Franklin said yesterday. The waves of attack keep coming even as the armies of secularism hammer away at Americas gates. Many of these battles go far deeper than the National Day of Prayer--to the very essence of our Christian heritage.
Just this morning splashed in big letters across todays New York Times is a full-page condemnation of religion in society. God & Government: A Dangerous Mix the ad proclaims. Lifting quotes out of their rightful context these atheizers maintain that ours is a secular nation. At the bottom of the page is an image of Thomas Jefferson next to his statement Question with boldness even the existence of God. In its cherry-picking the group conveniently ignores that Jefferson had written this advice in a letter to a young man encouraging him--not to deny God--but to exercise reason in his acknowledgement of Him.
For years the Left has tried to whitewash our third Presidents faith but it cannot scrub the words etched in his own Memorial. There Jefferson leaves no doubt as to how deeply reliant he was on Gods principles as the foundation of government. God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just that his justice cannot sleep forever.
As more Americans are seduced by secularism maybe they too will wonder about the famous words of John F. Kennedy Jr. featured on the top of the ad. I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute. That sentence was spoken by the former President in 1960 at the Greater Houston Ministerial Association. It was meant to reassure a largely Protestant America that this Catholic would not impose the Popes guidance on America.
But even JFK some 140 years after Jefferson understood the importance of faith in government. The world is very different now he said during his inaugural address. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe--the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God... Let us go forth to lead the land we love asking His blessing and His help but knowing that here on earth Gods work must truly be our own.
As generations can testify the freedoms won by the fathers must be maintained by the sons. Nowhere is that more obvious than today in this great nation. More than four centuries after the Pilgrims ...having undertaken for the Glory of God and advancement of the Christian Faith... a Voyage to plant the First Colony Americas Christian inheritance is ours to preserve.
Although we live in a world where the rooster still crows--some 2000 years after His resurrection--this is still one nation under God. And until we give in it is still one people who refuse to deny Him.
