Religion, government not as separate as first thought

As we celebrate this 4th of July weekend, I want to point out some connections between government and religion.

Many of our founding mothers and fathers came to this country to obtain religious freedom. In Europe, the rule of law was that the religion of the king was the religion of the people. The writers of the Bill of Rights guaranteed that everyone is free to practice the religion of their choice and that the government could not establish a national religion.

The First Amendment of the Bill of Rights clearly states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

Most of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were committed Christians. They all believed in God. Congress also formed the American Bible Society and voted to purchase and import 20,000 copies of the scripture for the people of this nation.

We remember Patrick Henry’s words, “Give me liberty or give me death.” However, what he actually said was, “An appeal to arms and the God of hosts is all that is left us. But we shall not fight our battle alone. There is a just God that presides over the destinies of nations. The battle sir, is not to the strong alone. Is life so dear and peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death.”

Editors have erased the religious context from our textbooks.

Thomas Jefferson wrote in the front of his well-worn Bible, “I am a real Christian, that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus. I have little doubt that our whole country will soon be rallied to the unity of our Creator.” Notice, he does not say that everyone should be a Christian, but should rally around “the unity of our Creator.”

On July 4, 1821, President John Adams said, “The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: it connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of government with the principles of Christianity.” “The principles of Christianity” of which he spoke do not mean accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. It meant accepting his teachings of love and forgiveness.

Calvin Coolidge, our 30th U.S. president, reaffirmed this truth when he wrote, “The foundations of our society and our government rest so much on the teachings of the Bible that it would be difficult to support them if faith in these teachings would cease to be practical in our country.”

In 1782, the U.S. Congress resolved: “The Congress of the United States recommends and approves the Holy Bible for use in all schools.” They did not see a conflict between the use of the Bible as a historical book of spirituality.

Of the first 108 universities founded in America, 106 were distinctly Christian, including the first, Harvard University, chartered in 1636. In the original Harvard Student Handbook, the first rule required students seeking entrance to know Latin and Greek so they could study the scriptures. “Let every student be plainly instructed and earnestly pressed to consider well, the main end of his life and studies is, to know God and Jesus Christ, which is eternal life.” (John 17:3)

A fine line exists between the government establishing a religion and the recognition that religion is part of our heritage and culture. While we do want freedom of religion for everyone, we also want to recognize that we are a society that believes in God.

I hope you have a great 4th of July weekend!