Pre-Presidential James Garfield - God Reigns!

While he was a Congressman, James Garfield spoke in New York and needed to quiet an unruly mob that was fighting about Lincoln's assassination. Garfield said:

"Fellow citizens, Clouds and darkness are round about Him. His pavilion is dark waters and thick clouds of the skies. Justice and judgment are the establishment His throne. Mercy and truth shall go before His face! Fellow citizens, God reigns and the government at Washington still lives."

The closing phrase "God reigns and the government at Washington still lives" was inscribed on the galleries at Garfield's funeral.

Read more at time.com

President Coolidge: Religion's Importance to Our Liberty and Rights

Some today might wish to claim our government is entirely independent of religious thoughts. But many familiar with our history know that our Founders believed religious principles and faith are key to securing our freedoms. And later leaders knew this as well. Consider the words of President Calvin Coolidge:

"Equality, liberty, popular sovereignty, the rights, of man - these... have their source and their roots in the religious convictions... We can not continue to enjoy the result if we neglect and abandon the cause."
President Calvin Coolidge, July 5, 1926, 150th Anniversary Celebration of the Declaration of Independence.

From the book:
Three Secular Reasons Why America Should Be Under God
by William J. Federer, page 30.

Same Sex Marriage in Vermont

I am seeing a lot of discussion these days about Vermont's legalizing same-sex marriage. There are some good points to these debates, but my problem is that so many of the arguments rely on so-called "separation of church and state." Some claim that the "separation" disallows legislators from using any sense of morality based on their faith. The "separation of church and state" phrase is a metaphor Thomas Jefferson used to explain one part of the First Amendment. It was not intended to illustrate the whole amendment.

The University of Virginia has collected Jefferson's writings. In the section where Jefferson explains the need for the First Amendment you can find the phrase "freedom of religion" six times, but you will not find the phrase "separation of church and state" even once. (See this previous post.)

Our Founders did not intend to keep religious belief out of decision making. Our first Congress even opened their first official session with a 3-hour prayer. What was the point of praying if their faith would not have been appropriate as part of legislative discussion and process?

But back to Vermont. Consider the Vermont constitution, which drafted around the same time as the U.S. Constitution. It says in Section 9, "And each member [of the Legislature], before he takes his seat, shall make and subscribe the following declaration, viz: 'I do believe in one God, the Creator and Governor or the universe, the rewarder of the good and punisher of the wicked. And I do acknowledge the Scripture of the Old and New Testament to be given by divine inspiration, and own and profess the [Christian] religion. And no further or other religious test shall ever, hereafter, be required of any civil officer or magistrate in this State.'"

So shouldn't the arguments stay focused on some of the very logical points raised by both sides? And if a person is basing their opinion partly on their faith, why should that be inappropriate? The Constitution does not prohibit people from using their personal morality to make decisions. How else would they make many of the decisions we are faced with, which often involve moral issues?

Patrick Henry - More than Just a Few Words

On March 23, 1775, Patrick Henry gave a speech in favor of a revolution for freedom from England. We all know the words that end the speech: "...give me liberty or give me death!" But the whole speech is worth reading. A version can be found at the website Liberty Online.

What is generally not taught in school is the degree to which Henry appealed to and relied on God, and the way he encouraged his listeners to do so the same. Some selections from the speech are below:

"It is only in this way that we can hope to arrive at truth, and fulfill the great responsibility which we hold to God and our country. Should I keep back 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.
...
"Are we disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and, having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation?
...
"An appeal to arms and to the God of hosts is all that is left 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. The millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us.
...
"Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"

The full speech can be found in the book The Handbook of Oratory, by William Vincent Byars. And some of the words themselves were so effective that they were quoted by Dale Carnegie in Public Speaking and Influencing Men in Business.

Jefferson's Version of the Bible

We hear sometimes that President Thomas Jefferson sat up all night in the White House one night and used a razor blade to cut and paste an edited version of the New Testament. He removed the virgin birth, the miracles of Jesus, and the resurrection. One could infer from that a lack of religious faith on the part of Jefferson. We could assume he could not accept such miraculous events and focused instead on the teachings of a man even atheists admit was very wise.

But there was a different motive. According to this document on Colorado State University's website:

It turns out that the claim that Jefferson questioned Biblical integrity is controversial. Indeed, it has been pointed out that Jefferson was a Christian, and that “his intent for that book was not for it to be a ‘Bible,’ but rather for it to be a primer for the Indians on the teachings of Christ.”

And a further opinion from D. James Kennedy on World Net Daily:

It is not a Bible, but an abridgement of the Gospels created by Jefferson in 1804 for the benefit of the Indians. Jefferson's "Philosophy of Jesus of Nazareth Extracted From the New Testament for the Use of the Indians" was a tool to evangelize and educate American Indians. There is no evidence that it was an expression of his skepticism.
Jefferson, who gave his money to assist missionary work among the Indians, believed his "abridgement of the New Testament for the use of the Indians" would help civilize and educate America's aboriginal inhabitants. Nor did Jefferson cut all miracles from his work, as Beliles points out. While the original manuscript no longer exists, the Table of Texts that survives includes several accounts of Christ's healings.