Bringing America Back To Her Religious Roots - Part II by Pastor, Roger Anghis

 

 

We are continuing to look at America’s heritage in the area of its Christian heritage. Last week we began to look at the roots of our religious heritage and read some of the quotes from our Founding Fathers and caught a brief glimpse of the importance of religion in their lives and not just religion in general but Christianity in particular.

 

Today’s historians are more revisionists that true historians and they claim that most of the Founding Fathers were atheists, agnostics, and deists.  None were Christians.  None of our Founding Documents had any religious references.  One Supreme Court justice has even stated that Thomas Jefferson wrote the First Amendment to keep religion out of government.  The biggest problem with that statement is Thomas Jefferson was in France when the First Amendment was written and he never even saw it until after it was ratified.  Fisher Ames was the author of the First Amendment.  Congressional records show that on September 17, 1787, the wording for the First Amendment was agreed upon and that Ames was the author. 

 

Another problem with that statement is it was not written to keep religion out of government but to keep government out of religion.  If Jefferson really did believe that religion and government required an ‘impregnable’ wall of separation, as the Supreme Court stated, then why, when he was President, were ALL government buildings in Washington open for the purpose of hold church services in them and the military band was made available for praise and worship?  One has to wonder when the 10 Commandments are carved into the stone walls of the Supreme Court that same Court has declared that displays of the 10 Commandments are unconstitutional in courthouses.

 

The history of American that has been taught to the last 2-3 generations is more lie than truth.  The history that they are teaching did NOT occur and the real history is not allowed to be told.  I want to establish with you the true beliefs of our Founding Fathers and not my opinion or someone else’s opinion, but their own words concerning what they believed.

 

Zephaniah Swift, an American jurist in Connecticut and served in the House of Representatives.  He was also the first Chief Justice of Connecticut’s Supreme Court declared that Christianity was THE guiding influence on everyday living in his day:  “Indeed moral virtue is substantially and essentially enforced by the precepts of Christianity and may be considered the basis of it.  But in addition to moral principles the Christian doctrines inculcate a purity of heart and holiness of life that constitutes its chief glory.  When we contemplate it in this light, we have a most striking evidence of its superiority over all the systems of pagan philosophy, which were promulgated by the wisest men of ancient times.” 

 

When looking at the reasons for the establishment of each of our colonies it becomes very clear that the establishing of Christianity, to evangelize the region teaching the natives about Christianity.  All 13 colonies were established for this purpose.  In 1606 the charter for the colony of Virginia stated, “To make habitations and to deduce a colony of sundry of our people into that part of American commonly called Virginia in propagating the Christian religion to such people as yet live in darkness.”

 

William Bradford who helped compose the Mayflower Compact, stated the purpose of why the Pilgrims had come to the New World: “ . . . a great hope and inward zeal they had of laying some good foundation, or at least to make some way thereunto, for the propagating and advancing the Gospel of the kingdom of Christ in those remote parts of the world.”

 

A decade later the Puritans began to arrive and one of their great leaders John Winthrop, warned them of the consequences of forgetting their goal:  “We are a company professing ourselves felloe-members of Christ . . . knit together by this bond of love . . .  We are entered into a covenant with Him for this work. . . For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill, the eyes of all people are upon us; so that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken and so cause Him to withdraw is present help from us, well shall be made a story and a byword through the world.”  Does this sound like the policy of a secularist nation?

 

The 1629 charter of Massachusetts states: “Our said people be so religiously, peaceably, and civilly governed that their good life and orderly conversation may win and incite the natives of that country to the knowledge and obedience of the one true God and savior of mankind, and the Christian faith, which is the principle end of this colony.”

 

The 1662 charter for North Carolina stated that they were: “Excited with a laudable and pious zeal for the propagation of the Christian faith in the parts of American not yet cultivated or planted and only inhabited by people who have no knowledge of Almighty God.”  This, again, is not the policy of a secular nation.

 

In 1663 the charter for Rhode Island explained the colonist’s intent: “Pursuing with Peace and loyal minds, their sober, serious and religious intentions of Godly edifying themselves and one another in the holy Christian faith, a most flourishing civil state may stand and best be maintained with a full liberty in religious concernments.”  Does this sound like the policy of a secular nation?

 

William Penn wrote the charter for Pennsylvania stating: “Out of a commendable desire to convert the savage natives by gentle and just manners to the love of civil society and Christian religion, hath humbly besought leave of us to transport an ample colony unto a certain country in the parts of America not yet cultivated or planted. ” 

 

The charter of Connecticut, New Hampshire, New Jersey and others were a virtual restatement of the Christian goals stated by these states.

 

Connecticut had the first constitution and in 1639 and it stated: “Well knowing when a people are gathered together, the Word of God requires that to maintain the peace and union of such people there should be an orderly and decent government established according to God.”  Secular people do NOT establish government according to God.  Their constitution went on to declare the colonists desire to: “Enter into combination and confederation together to maintain and preserve the liberty and purity of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus which we now profess which, according to the truth of the said Gospel, is now practiced amongst us.”  If they were not Christians, why would they put in writing that they were?

 

To ignore what our Founding Fathers wrote and to declare that our Founding Fathers were not Christian is nothing less than foolish not to mention deceptive.  We all know that our enemy is a master at deception. He’s a liar, a thief and a murderer.  Jesus stated in John 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.  How do we know if the devil is lying?  His lips are moving.  Our enemy does not want this younger generation to know that it was Christianity that made America the great nation that it is today.  If they find out that Christianity is what made this nation great, there is a good chance that many will pursue Christianity and he will not make the progress that he wants to make.

 

We have allowed liberal Presidents, members of Congress and judges to redefine our Constitution and Bill of rights to fit their socialist agenda.  There are members of congress that are doing everything they can to shut the church up and take it out of the influence of government.

 

In 1954 Lyndon Johnson was able to partially shut the church up.  Ted Kennedy and others are trying to silence the church even more with the so-called ‘hate crimes’ bill where it will be illegal to even read the biblical point of view about homosexuality.  Some preachers are now getting liability insurance in case the hate crimes law is passed so they can have a buffer against any possible litigation. When our leaders ignore the Word of God the laws of this nation will reflect that.  Even legislators that are professed Christians demand abortion upon demand, support same-sex marriage, and support the hate crimes bill. 

 

Here are some statistics about the apathy in the church today.  Of our population today 83% claim to be Christian.  Of that figure 46% are protestant and attend weekly with 56% in the south.  In 2006 a poll was taken and out of this group of ‘Christian’ only 11% felt that abortion should be banned. 35% want it legal on in rare instances.  Abortion has always been available when the life of the mother is at stake. 

 

Planned Parenthood says that abortion is a health issue.  Over 90% of abortions are done for convenience, not health.  When asked if there should be state laws that would allow terminally ill patients end their lives 52% said yes.  58% stated that it wouldn’t be a problem if their child’s elementary teacher was a homosexual.  100% of the male teachers that attack male students are homosexual.  45% would allow their child to read a book about a same-sex couples.  42% of adults between the ages of 18 and 44 approve of homosexual rights.  Over all American are split 42% to 42% as to whether they approve of homosexual rights.  70% of Americans do not believe that the military should have the right to discharge someone who lives the gay lifestyle. 

 

Who wants to be on the battlefield with someone who might have AIDS and could contaminate others if they get shot?  62% feel that homosexuals should have the same rights that racial minorities and women have.  50% of Americans support some form of legal status for same-sex couples. 

 

Would we see these kinds of statistics in the colonies?  I don’t think so.  They would spend on average 4 hours a day in the Word.  Most Christians today don’t spend 4 hours a month in the Word.

 

In 1643 Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Plymouth and New Haven joined together to form the New England Confederation which was Americas first united government.  They banded together because they all had the same goal: “We all came into these parts of America with one and the same end and aim, namely to advance the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 

 

In 1669, John Locke assisted in the drafting of the Carolina constitution under which no man could be a citizen unless he acknowledged God, was a member of a church, and used no reproachful, reviling, or abusive language against any religion.  Can you imagine if that was still a requirement in any state constitution today?  If you were not a believer in the state of Connecticut was not allowed to even camp in that state.  They didn’t even want you there.

 

These documents are proof that Christianity was the prominent influence in the early growth and development of our civil government.

 

We have to go back in the lives of those who came to this country to understand why they came to America.  What was their motivation to leave everything in Europe or England and risk it all to come to America?  When you see what caused these people to come here and you see what they brought with them. Most came with very little in possessions.  Most had to sell all they had to make the trip.  But all came with one thing in common, a Bible.  It was usually the Geneva Bible.  This Bible was not popular in England because there were commentaries in it by people that were referred to as dissenters, Calvin, Martin Luther. 

 

You also have to keep in mind that this was the first time in history were the common person had a copy of the Bible.  In the late 1600’s and early 1700’s in Europe only clergy were permitted to even read the Bible.  It was illegal for the common person to read the Bible.  A lot of the religious persecution in those days were because the common people would read the Bible as see where the king was not following the Word of God and they would complain.  The biggest area of friction was when the common person found out that God didn’t want Israel to have an earthly king.  The people decided that they wanted a government as God declared, kingless.  This didn’t set well with royalty.

 

This is where we see why Thomas Jefferson called for the separation of church and state.  Again that was to keep government out of religion.  In England, there was only one authorized version of scripture that was allowed.  All other versions were illegal.  The king declared what you teach and how you teach it.   This is why Jefferson stated the wall was to keep government out of religion, not religion out of government.  Remember Jefferson did not write the First Amendment, Fisher Ames did.  This concern was the reason for the letter from the Danbury Baptist association to Thomas Jefferson.  They were concerned that what had happened in England with the Church of England would happen in America.

 

As the common person began to read the Bible they began to see the not everything that the church was teaching was in the Bible.  We can even see this today in the church with some denominations teaching the homosexuality is OK, abortion is OK, and the church is not to be involved in the political arena.  According to IRS regulations we are not allowed to endorse a political party or candidate nor are we allowed to speak against a political party or candidate.  Those are IRS regulations, not God’s.  The church is more afraid of the IRS than God. 

 

The most prominent sermon throughout America’s history was the one given around elections talking about the importance of the church’s role in the political arena, specifically the presidential election.  Today’s laws over the church restrict what I can and cannot say about candidates and their party.  This is a violation of my First Amendment right to freedom of speech and freedom of religion and the free exercise thereof.  As pastor I am mandated to inform you of ungodly men and women who are running for office.  Oddly enough, there is a legal way around that restriction that most churches ignore.  They just find it easier to not get involved at all.

 

I believe that what is just as bad as the ignorance of the pastors is the ignorance of the people themselves concerning what our rights are.  Almost everyone that I have asked the question concerning the separation of the church and state tell me that it is in our Constitution.  It is not in ANY of our Founding Documents and the First Amendment has been grossly misinterpreted since the 1940’s by liberal judges that were allowed to redefine its meaning and purpose. 

 

Our history refutes any notion that the church is supposed to be removed from the political arena.  In the 1947 Supreme Court decision the letter to Jefferson from the Danbury Baptist Association was quoted but only the nine words “thus building a wall of separation between church and state.”  This is the first time the Supreme Court used only those nine words.  This letter had been used is several other cases before the Supreme Court but the entire contents were used, not just those nine words.  When taken out of context, the true meaning is lost, which is why the Supreme Court did it in that manner. 

 

To understand this let’s look at a larger portion of that 1802 letter that gives a better understanding of its contents and meaning: “Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God; that he owes account to none for his faith and his worship; that the legislative powers of government reach actions only and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should “make no law respecting an establishment of religion of prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” thus building a wall of separation between church and state.”  This clearly indicates that the government is to stay out of religion and gives no indication that religion is to stay out of government. 

 

Today there are organizations that are ignorant of scripture and the history of the United States.  There is even one organization, Americans United for the Separation Between Church and State, which is headed by a so-called reverend.  He is grossly misinformed as to what the church is supposed to be doing in the political arena not to mention his ignorance of the history of the church in this nation.

 

One of the things that the people began to realize when they started to read the Bible is how to apply the Word of God in everyday lives.  Morals, righteousness, forgiveness, all that God has called the church to be.  We were to be self governed, not ruled over by an earthly king.  They also realized that the church is supposed to evangelize that is why we see in virtually every charter of every colony a provision that calls for that colony to reach out to the native population with the knowledge of Jesus Christ.  It started with the Mayflower Compact, a call to evangelize.  This was something that the king did not allow.  It was even illegal to print a Bible in the colonies until after the Revolutionary War.  We could only us the ‘approved’ version supplied by England.  They discovered in the Word of God that we were supposed to own our own property. 

 

The pilgrims began to buy land from the Indians and divide it up amongst the families.  This didn’t set well with the king.  He felt that he owned the land and we were to use it and he would take all the profits and let us keep almost enough to get by on and then he would tax you on that.  Kind of sounds like the IRS today doesn’t it?  They discovered in the Word of God that we were to take care of our own. They also discovered that if you won’t work you don’t eat.  When Jamestown was founded they operated on what would be called today a socialistic form of government.  But when looked at real close it was a Biblical system where everybody’s needs were addressed by the people NOT a forced redistribution of your goods by the government as we see our government trying to do today.

 

When it came to education, Europe had a high percentage of illiteracy and the people in America began to see that the atrocities that had happened in the world was because of ignorance of the Word of God.  In America they began to teach children how to read and write so that everyone would be able to know when government was attempting to do something that was contrary to the Word of God.  Their textbook was the Bible.  The first schools were run by the church.  The first laws providing public education for all children was passed in 1642 in Massachusetts and in 1647 in Connecticut and it was called the “Old Deluder Satan Law”.  These colonists believed that the proper protection from civil abuses could only be achieved by eliminating Bible illiteracy.  This way the people themselves, as opposed to only the leaders, could measure the acts of civil government compared to the teachings of scripture. 

 

By 1690 Connecticut had a law that required that children be educated and if the children were not being educated, the family would be fines $25.00.  Their reasoning here was if a person can’t read then they will not be aware of what God’s laws are and they would not be able to know when the government was trying to do something that was contrary to the Word of God.  This shows that it wasn’t important to just be able to read, but to read and understand the Word of God.   If only our education system was like this today.  Today a teacher can’t even have a Bible IN their desk.  You can’t post the Ten Commandments in a classroom because someone might read them and obey them.  God forbid that a student obey the Ten Commandments. 

 

How many teen pregnancies would we have if the children obeyed the Ten Commandments?  How many school shootings would we have if the students obeyed the Ten Commandments?  How many students would be on drugs and alcohol if they obeyed the Ten Commandments?  The church in the days of our Founding fathers was not a social club like it is today.  They understood the importance of living a Christian life.  Too man of our preachers today do not teach that importance.  Their Christianity was a way of life and they expected those that governed them to live the same way. 

 

There were a couple of states that would not allow you to run for political office unless you attended a church and had confessed Jesus Christ as Lord.  Try that today and you’ll end up in court with five different organizations suing you.  Say a prayer in school and the same thing will happen.  Our rights and privileges as Christians have been taken away from us little by little.  I believe that it is the fault of the pastors refusing to stand for what is right.  Refusing to stand for what our Founding Fathers fought and died for, risked all for.  Will we just sit back and do nothing or will we stand together and say ‘No more’?  As for me and my house we will serve the Lord.

 

Pastor Anghis is the President of RestorefreeSpeech.org - Organization designed to help reverse the 1954 Johnson gag order and restore free speech back to the pulpit. He is also the President of TheDamascusProject.org - Organization designed to re-educate pastors and lay people on the churches true role in the political arena.

 

© Pastor Roger Anghis

 

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