Which Way America?

We read in Psalm 33:12, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD.” Some 220 years ago, when the United States was founded as a sovereign state, our forefathers were not afraid or bashful about their belief in God’s Holy Word, the Bible. Judges and legislators who, in our day, exhibit confusion about the constitutionality of acknowledgments of God in (and on) public buildings should get out of their stuffy chambers and go visit some of our national treasures. Just one day spent traversing the National Mall in Washington, D.C., would expose them to an undeniable fact of American history: Biblical and religious quotations, including the Ten Commandments, adorn nearly every significant building and monument in our nations capital, inscribed and enshrined there as the natural public conversation of American leaders in every generation.1

National buildings

The Capitol Building has been inscribed with the words of Psalm 16:1 as a prayer for the new nation, “Preserve me, O God: for in Thee do I put my trust.” The Washington Monument has the words “Laus Deo” or “Praise be to God” inscribed on its walls, etc.

In our day, when there is so much discussion about the “separation of church and state,” when our courts have all too often ruled in favor of those who would strike down any references to God’s Word in our society, and when those who cling to the faith of our forefathers are considered old-fashioned and out of touch, it would be beneficial to observe the references to the Ten Commandments and biblical passages on the United States Supreme Court Building. Outside, at the top of the building, we see a row of the world’s lawgivers. Each is facing the one in the middle who is Moses, holding the Ten Commandments. Each door to the Supreme Court courtroom has the Ten Commandments engraved on the lower portion of it. There is actually a display of the Ten Commandments on the wall right above the area where the Supreme Court judges sit.

James Madison, the fourth president, known as the Father of our Constitution, made the following statement: “We have staked the whole 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 of God.”

Presidents

The history of the United States is also replete with examples of famous and not so famous leaders, for example, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln who were known for their piety and who were not ashamed to publicly call upon the Lord. Their prayers were not marked by political correctness but were remarkable for the trust they placed in Almighty God.

Thomas Jefferson, who wrote a bill which was passed in 1786 establishing religious freedom, expressed this prophetic concern, that our courts would overstep their authority and, instead of interpreting the law, would begin making law an oligarchy (the rule of few over many).

To eliminate the causeway of the history of our nation would require more than the intellectual dishonesty of judges and legislators. It would require the wielding of chisels and jackhammers against granite. To blot out the acknowledgement of God in our public life is to change the meaning of America.2 These are powerful and stirring words. For these words to continue to have meaning and relevance in our day, we would hope and pray for a change in the direction our country has taken.

Fifteen percent

It has been stated that 85% of the people in the United States still believe in God. We will not comment on the depth or the sincerity of the religious convictions of this large majority of the population. Of one thing we can be sure, however, that they have allowed the remaining 15% of the population to take the helm of the ship of state and permitted this small vocal group to sail us into waters where God’s Word and His Commandments are despised, man is considered the master of his own fate, and the past is no longer the compass for our future.

— E.R.N.

1Donovan, Charles A. and Christina Darnell.
“Washington’s Monuments to Family,
Faith and Freedom.” Washington Times 3 October 1997.

2Ibid.

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