The U.S. Government Has Become
Patently Anti-Christian
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
By Pastor Chuck Baldwin
NewsWithViews.com
From
the writings of Columbus to the Mayflower Compact, to the Declaration
of Independence, America's founders clearly and articulately enshrined
bedrock Christian principles in the foundation of this country.
For
example, in explaining the purpose of his journey that led to the discovery
of the new world, Christopher Columbus said, "It was the Lord who
put into my mind--I could feel His hand upon me--the fact that it would
be possible to sail from here to the Indies . . . All who heard of my
project rejected it with laughter, ridiculing me . . . There is no question
that the inspiration was from the Holy Spirit, because he comforted
me with rays of marvelous illumination from the Holy Scriptures . .
. For the execution of the journey to the Indies I did not make use
of intelligence, mathematics, or maps. It is simply the fulfillment
of what Isaiah had prophesied . . . No one should fear to undertake
any task in the name of our Savior, if it is just and if the intention
is purely for His Holy service . . . the fact that the Gospel must still
be preached to so many lands in such a short time--this is what convinces
me." (Source: Columbus' Book of Prophecies)
Our
pilgrim fathers wrote in the Mayflower Compact, "In the name of
God, Amen. We whose names are underwritten . . . Having undertaken,
for the glory of God and the advancement of the Christian faith . .
. a voyage to plant the first colony in the Northern parts of Virginia."
In
the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson invokes our Creator-God
no less than four times. In fact, Jefferson predicates the Declaration
on "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God" and concludes
the Declaration with an appeal to the "Supreme Judge of the world
for the rectitude of our intentions" and with "a firm reliance
on the protection of divine Providence."
Attorney
and author, John Whitehead, in his book, The Separation Illusion
The Separation Illusion, rightly
noted, "In 1892, the United States Supreme Court made an exhaustive
study of the supposed connection between Christianity and the government
of the United States. After reviewing hundreds of volumes of historical
documents, the Court asserted, 'These references . . . add a volume
of unofficial declarations to the mass of organic utterances that this
is a religious people . . . a Christian nation.' Likewise, in 1931,
Supreme Court Justice George Sutherland reviewed the 1892 decision in
reference to another case and reiterated that Americans are a 'Christian
people.' And in 1952, Justice William O. Douglas affirmed that 'we are
a religious people and our institutions presuppose a Supreme Being.'"
Accordingly,
our U. S. Constitution is dated: (1) from the birth of Christ, and (2)
from the birth of our independence (Article. VII.). Secondly, the Constitution
requires the President and Congress to respect "the Christian Sabbath"
(Sunday) as a day "excepted" from governmental business (Article.
I. Section. 7.). Thirdly, the First Amendment prohibits the U.S. Congress
from making any law "respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof." In other words, the federal
government has no right to interfere with the free expression of religion
(by individuals or States) in any shape, manner, or form. Fourthly,
Article. VI. of the Constitution prohibits any religious test as a qualification
for public office.
The
intent of the Constitution's framers was, therefore, in the matter of
religion (especially the Christian religion, whose adherents birthed
America), that the federal government would maintain a healthy respect
for it, and keep its hands off. For the last several years, however,
instead of respecting religion--especially the Christian religion--the
leaders of our federal government have increasingly demonstrated animosity,
and even hostility, toward both the Christian faith and Christian people.
While
claiming to be "tolerant" and "pluralistic," our
federal government, in practice, shows little tolerance or pluralism
regarding Christianity. Time and again, Christian practices and people
are singled out for humiliation, persecution, or retribution. This situation
follows an eerily similar pattern to that of the old Holy Roman Empire.
The
Roman Empire loved to tout its tolerance for any and all faith systems.
One common adage at the time was that "there are as many gods in
Rome as people." So tolerant was Rome for myriad religious beliefs
that it even constructed an altar to the "UNKNOWN GOD," for
fear that it may have neglected to honor someone's obscure god.
Why
was it, then, that the Roman Empire took delight in publicly persecuting,
torturing, and executing Christians? What happened to tolerance? What
happened to pluralism? In direct contravention of its own laws and policies,
Rome singled out Christianity for public repudiation. And that is exactly
what the U.S. government is currently doing. I'll say it outright: the
U.S. government has become patently anti-Christian.
In
spite of Constitutional requirements to keep its hands off religious
liberty, the U.S. government routinely singles out Christian practices
for public repudiation. For years now, federal judges have demanded
that local schools (under the jurisdiction of local and state governments)
prohibit prayers or Bible reading.
Does
anyone find it a little interesting that all over America, while Christian
students are denied the right to pray or read the Bible in public schools,
Muslim students are not only allowed to pray in public schools, but
are also often provided special prayer rooms within the schools so that
those students may leave their classrooms and pray? In fact, in some
school districts, if the Muslim prayer time interferes with a student's
tests, the student is many times free to make up the test in order that
he or she may be faithful to the prayer meeting. Of course, the reading
of the Koran is also included in the Muslim's prayer time. All of this
is done with the full knowledge and blessing of the U.S. government
(and the ACLU, by the way), including the myriad federal courts--courts
that are always "fast on the draw" to squash any and all attempts
by Christians to pray or read their Bibles in public schools.
And
it is not just the Muslim religion that meets with the approval of the
U.S. government. Federal courts find no fault in public school students
observing Kwanzaa, celebrating the pagan holiday of Halloween, or engaging
in various eastern religious practices such as Hindu meditation. At
least one school district in Utah has allowed Tibetan monks to conduct
Tantric Buddhist devotionals in its public schools. At least two schools
in California have even introduced New Age curricula honoring Lucifer
to their students. Basically, any and all religious beliefs are condoned
and tolerated by the U.S. government--every belief system except Christianity,
that is.
In
addition, how many local or State courts have been ordered by federal
judges to remove any and all copies of the Ten Commandments or other
scriptural references from their buildings? How many local governments
have been ordered by federal judges to remove any and all Nativity or
Manger scenes from their properties? How many chaplains have been ordered
to remove Bibles from soldiers, sailors, or Marines? How many Bibles
have been destroyed by orders from military commanders? How many prisoners
or detainees have been denied Bibles (even when requested) by order
of military brass? How many military officers have been overlooked for
promotion (and thus drubbed out of military service) for not being willing
to surrender their Christian convictions to "sensitivity"
or "diversity" training (a euphemism for homosexual brainwashing)?
How many times has the U.S. government quietly looked the other way
when Christian people have been slaughtered en masse? (Can anyone say,
"Sudan"?) How many Christian chaplains in the armed forces
have been ordered to not pray in Jesus' name? How many pro-life Christians
have been targeted by federal police agencies for special scrutiny?
How many sheriffs' offices (run and managed by Christian law enforcement
officers) have been denied federal funds for not submitting to a variety
of repulsive policies mandated by the federal government?
Then
there is this AP story: "Iraq has lost more than half the Christians
who once called it home, mostly since the war began, and few who fled
have plans to return." The report continued, saying, "The
number of Arab Christians has plummeted across the Mideast in recent
years as increasing numbers seek to move to the West, saying they feel
increasingly unwelcome in the Middle East and want a better life abroad.
"But
the exodus has been particularly stark in Iraq--where sectarian violence
since the U.S.-led 2003 invasion has often targeted Christians.
"The
AP found that hundreds of thousands of Christians have fled." (Source:
The Associated Press, Thursday, May 14, 2009)
To
highlight the AP report, in 1987, there were 1.4 million Christians
in Iraq. Now there are fewer than 400,000. For all of Saddam Hussein's
sins, persecution of Christians was not one of them. Under Hussein's
regime, Christians, for the most part, led a persecution-free existence--something
extremely rare in Muslim countries. In fact, Saddam Hussein even had
Christians serving in his administrative cabinet.
Enter
the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
Since
removing Saddam Hussein, the U.S. government has installed an Islamic
puppet government, which has resulted in the persecution of hundreds
of thousands of Iraqi Christians.
I
hope all the evangelical Christians who continue to support George W.
Bush and his unconstitutional, preemptive invasion of Iraq are paying
attention. I hope all my Christian friends who kept trumpeting the unconstitutional
policies of President Bush, "because he is a Christian," are
paying attention. I really wish that James Dobson and his ilk would
have been as outraged at the unconstitutional (not to mention unchristian)
policies of the former Republican President as they are the current
Democratic President, because, for all intents and purposes, the federal
government is functioning in exactly the same way under one as it did
under the other.
Whether
domestically or internationally, the U.S. government is obviously committed
to an anti-Christian agenda. Where the federal government once respected
Christianity and vowed to not interfere with the faith and practices
of Christian people, it has now become an archenemy of religious liberty.
With virtually every constitutional safeguard being violated by the
modern federal government, about all that is left is for the constitutional
prohibition of government business being conducted on Sundays to be
expunged. Don't be surprised, therefore, when federal courts begin mandating
that public schools require students to attend class on the Lord's Day.
If
we are to restore the principles of religious liberty, it will be necessary
for State governments--and for Christian people in particular--to stand
united against an ever-growing, ever-menacing federal leviathan that
is intent on destroying the safeguards and foundations of a once-proud
constitutional republic, which was, after all, rooted and founded upon
Christian principles.
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Chuck Baldwin is Founder-Pastor of Crossroads Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida. In 1985 the church was recognized by President Ronald Reagan for its unusual growth and influence.
Dr. Baldwin is the host of a lively, hard-hitting syndicated radio talk show on the Genesis Communications Network called, “Chuck Baldwin Live” This is a daily, one hour long call-in show in which Dr. Baldwin addresses current event topics from a conservative Christian point of view. Pastor Baldwin writes weekly articles on the internet http://www.ChuckBaldwinLive.com and newspapers.
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