SECOND EDITION -- A good friend of mine taught at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky and every year he considered his purpose in life was to “point out the obvious” to those young minds who came to college and sat in his classes. This philosophy of pedagogy was a practice in the three decades of his teaching career. This is the same predicament I find myself in regard to the self-deluding intelligentsia who would have us believe there is no evidence in our history that the Founding Fathers were influenced by the Bible or their beliefs in God and therefore no such contents are to be considered a part in theory or practice of government. I cannot help but consider this extremely biased propaganda anything less than an attempt to destroy any Judeo-Christian influence and even further erode morality into a mere situational ethics concept.

This second essay is a continuation to ferret out yet more quotes to establish the Founding Fathers were of the opinion that God was an essential part in the founding and governing of our nation.

Consider:

"[H]onesty will be found on every experiment, to be the best and
only true policy; let us then as a Nation be just."
-- George Washington (Circular letter to the States, 14 June 1783)

"It is too probable that no plan we propose will be adopted.
Perhaps another dreadful conflict is to be sustained. If, to
please the people, we offer what we ourselves disprove, how can we
afterwards defend our work? Let us raise a standard to which the
wise and the honest can repair. The event is in the hand of God. "
-- George Washington (as quoted by Gouverneur Morris in Farrand's
Records of the Federal Convention of 1787, 25 March 1787)

"I consider the government of the U.S. as interdicted by the
Constitution from intermeddling with religious institutions,
their doctrines, discipline, or exercises."
-- Thomas Jefferson (letter to Samuel Miller, 23 January 1809)
Reference: Jefferson Writings, Peterson, ed., 1186.

"The great object of my fear is the federal judiciary. That body,
like gravity, ever acting, with noiseless foot, and unalarming
advance, gaining ground step by step, and holding what it gains,
is ingulfing insidiously the special governments into the jaws
of that which feeds them." ---Thomas Jefferson

There is probably no quote mined but that another quote will either refute the first quote or no less than desensitize it to a degree that would appear similar in substance to wet wood when dried wood is needed. Whatever worth can be found in the above quote by Jefferson in regard to his fear of the federal judiciary, there is still the uncertainty of confidence, trust and integrity of any group of humans. One cannot help but wonder if the reservations or concern about the lack of trust in others in any way reveals the very weakness of the individual who is doing the questioning.

In my seminary days this very thesis came to light in a homiletic class. The “young preacher boy” (as we all were) had prepared his sermon in a “hell-fire and brimstone” style condemning all kinds of sin, enforcing his points with occasional pulpit pounding. When he was finished no one had any doubt that “to sin” was to separate us from God and put oneself in a position of needing forgiveness for any transgression. As Satan has his way with believers who are unaware of his devices, several months later this same fellow who warned, condemned and laid low anyone who succumbed to temptations of the flesh was put in a position where he could do nothing except drop out of school (his fiancé had somehow became pregnant). Most I knew had nothing but pity for the young man but I cannot help but think the biggest job of forgiveness was within his own mind. One has to be extremely careful what words of condemnation come from our mouths; the words of Genesis should be a constant alert: “sin is crouching at your door”. (Genesis 4:7)

If Jefferson was fearful of such, we can only hope he was as concerned about his own “lawyering” ways. Was he always the voice of integrity? Whatever the answer, the truth of what he says remains, even if he might have flaws himself, and the word “if” can be withdrawn from this phrase because we are all made of clay: “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)

Truth must be recognized regardless of its origin. Truth can be found in both sides of an argument but the utter disregard of truth is something that needs repaired in our lives and integrity must prevail even if it means we may lose an argument.

My self assigned task of uncovering decades of dust to “point out the obvious” to the God-less partisan tribe who insists on assuming that Christians, and Jews alike, are stupid illiterates who they think can be fooled or wowed by titles or by much talking. In 1987 Charles Colson dared Americans to face the reality of facts supporting the principle that state and the church can and should co-exist. Will Durant’s quote was part of the fuel Colson used: “The greatest question of our time is not communism versus individualism, not Europe versus America, not even the East versus the West; it is whether men can live without God.”

Apparently, even though almost two decades have passed since Will Durant wrote those words, the problem has never really been solved or the facts in question reconciled. Out nation has been sold a bill of goods that morals are not important. Many college professors in the very schools that were originally preacher-training schools have taught situational ethics. Why should we be surprised that decades later prayer was taken out of our schools? The very presence of the Ten Commandments has been denied all because of a God-less partisan philosophy is being espoused by the American Civil Liberties Union.

Some of the intelligentsia is still hard at the job of un-writing history and inserting their own versions of our Founding Fathers. I cannot ignore that even the very interesting cable network program, The History Channel, has joined hands with such partisan gibberish by toying with the kind of copy you see in the National Enquirer. I remember one such ad which was full of innuendo about three Founding Fathers. They attempted to minimize the integrity of men such as Benjamin Franklin, rehashing his moral flaws while unashamedly publishing partial bits of gossipy text copy. As mentioned in the Edition One of this series, no one has ever tried to claim the Founding Fathers were angels and I dare add: Neither do we find either aisle of our nation’s capital occupied with people wearing halos!.

As Thomas Jefferson feared the federal judiciary and what they might do, it bothers this writer terribly when I hear either party boldly craving to be “the party in control”! Control? Are not our nation’s leaders capable of doing good without having to be at the wheel and not trusting their “Distinguished Senators or Congressmen (men and women)” – or are they being two-faced liars when they stand in their expensive suits addressing each other with untarnished titles as though hand-appointed by God..

The whole business of government and God is an endless (well, in this world it appears endless) mystery as to why or how man even exists. I have written in more than one place, “All of our problems are theological problems.” Whether we believe in God doesn’t matter. Facts are facts and disputations, arguments; theories are all a part of humanity. As the preacher of our fellowship of believers said recently, “It’s all about God, isn’t it?” He was saying the same thing I mentioned a sentence or two back. Man has had trouble recognizing orders, places of authority since the very beginning. But if there are those “out there” who cannot accept the existence of God, so be it; but I find it rather difficult to imagine or conceive of “something” being in existence without the need of a Creator. Cars, dishwashers, televisions, computers and 147,893 other “things” have all come to us because or as a result of being designed, invented, manufactured or processed by “someone”. Just where or how that “someone” or “some thing” came to be seems a rather simple evidence to decipher whether a creator was needed. Man creates ideas, theories, plans – and cars, dishwashers, televisions, computers (and the list goes on) but some people just cannot conceive of anyone (even God) being cleverer that they are.

As a Christian, I believe that God created all that is here (and out there in space). I may have chosen the simple way out, belief, but that faith has enabled me to sort out life and its problems a bit more thoroughly and in this series of government essays it is just one more step to accept what the Bible says, that government was even one more creation of God, take a look at Romans 13:1-5. As believers, our task is really quite uninvolved and thus simple: “What does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy and walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8) No long list of details, just live a life of integrity, treating others as we would like to be treated and thus demonstrate lives different from the mold of the world.

THE WORDWRIGHT