Charter of Virginia, 1606: Mission Is to Propagate Christian Religion

Texas recently had to undergo a long debate about including more of the religious history of our country in the history books their public schools would use. To some extent I suspect this was "push back" because many of our textbooks are leaving out some of that very important aspect of our founding and history. No matter what you think about "separation of church and state" or public prayer or influence of religious leaders in politics, surely there is no harm in teaching our children about the nature of our founding. Consider the following, which is part of the founding document of one of our earliest colonies:

The First Charter of Virginia; April 10, 1606

"We, greatly commending, and graciously accepting of, their Desires for the Furtherance of so noble a Work, which may, by the Providence of Almighty God, hereafter tend to the Glory of his Divine Majesty, in propagating of Christian Religion to such People, as yet live in Darkness and miserable Ignorance of the true Knowledge and Worship of God, and may in time bring the Infidels and Savages, living in those parts, to human Civility, and to a settled and quiet Government: DO, by these our Letters Patents, graciously accept of, and agree to, their humble and well-intended Desires..."



Read the entire document on the Yale Law site:

http://avalon.law.yale.edu/17th_century/va01.asp

Thomas Jefferson: The True Meaning of the First Amendment

Thomas Jefferson is often quoted today when we hear "separation of church and state," a phrase from a private letter he wrote while President of the U.S.  Various activist groups have used that phrase to indicate that Jefferson would not approve of any government recognition of religion, as have the courts in recent years. But what did Jefferson mean by that phrase? His own practice was to use the phrase "freedom of religion" when discussing the First Amendment. And it seems clear to me that his main concern was about some kind of official government control over religion, or some limit on free expression of religion. Consider these words of Jefferson:

"I consider the government of the United States as interdicted by the Constitution from intermeddling with religious institutions, their doctrines, discipline, or exercises. This results not only from the provision that no law shall be made respecting the establishment or free exercise of religion, but from that also which reserves to the states the powers not delegated to the United States. Certainly, no power to prescribe any religious exercise or to assume authority in religious discipline has been delegated to the General Government. It must then rest with the states, as far as it can be in any human authority." --Thomas Jefferson to Samuel Miller, 1808. ME 11:428

That quote and many others can be found within the University of Virginia's collection of Jefferson papers:

http://etext.virginia.edu/jefferson/quotations/jeff1650.htm

Maryland's Indian River School District Allowed to Open Meetings With Prayer

The Indian River (Delaware) School Board has been one of several organizations in our country that have been taken to court (or labor under the threat of a suit) for opening meetings with a prayer. In the case of the Indian River board, a federal judge has said that may keep opening with prayer - it is Constitutional.

The issue is not usually debated along the lines of whether there can be prayer. It gets down to the content of the prayer. We usually concentrate on whether the Founders would have wanted prayer (and it's easy enough to demonstrate that they had no problem with prayer). But let's ask a different question. WHO would the Founders have wanted to determine what the prayer should be, the Federal government (via the courts) or the members of the board? That's a pretty easy question to answer if you know their history.

Read about the Indian River case below:

http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/20100224/NEWS01/2240403

Harry Truman: Basis of Our Laws Is The Ten Commandments

While some politicians and history books are resistant to saying anything about our country's Christian roots, such shyness is a relatively new phenomenon. Several of our Founders have said that our laws are based on the Ten Commandments of God, and others have said it is important to our nation's success that we follow those Commandments.

Even in 1950 at an Attorney General's Conference, President Harry Truman said,

"The fundamental basis of this nation's laws was given to Moses on the Mount. The fundamental basis of our Bill of Rights comes from the teachings we get from Exodus and St. Matthew, from Isaiah and St. Paul. I don't think we emphasize that enough these days. If we don't have a proper fundamental moral background, we will finally end up with a totalitarian government which does not believe in rights for anyone except the State."

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

Woodrow Wilson: America Is a Christian Nation

The phrase "Christian nation" can mean different things, depending on the context. Readers of this blog know that I often say our nation has Christian roots, or perhaps Judeo-Christian roots. Readers also know that I say we were not founded with an official religion, Christian or otherwise. There are Supreme Court cases saying we are a Christian nation. There are founders who have said it. Presidents have said it. I'm sure none of those statement meant to say that our citizens are compelled to worship as Christians, much less compelled to worship as any particular Christian denomination.

Today many shun the phrase "Christian nation" and may even claim we don't have Christian roots. But when Woodrow Wilson was campaigning in 1917 he made a statement about the U.S. being a Christian nation. But he didn't stop there; he want on the amplify that statement and explain at least part of his meaning:

"A nation which does not remember what it was yesterday, does not know what it is today, nor what it is trying to do. We are trying to do a futile thing if we do not know where we came from or what we have been about.... America was born a Christian nation. America was born to exemplify that devotion to the tenets of righteousness which are derived from the revelations of Holy Scripture."

(The above quote is found in several articles, including this one: "Is America a Christian Nation?" by Carl Pearlston)