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America: Graduating from God? Part 2
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by Chuck Norris
Posted: June 14, 2010
© 2010
Last week in America: Graduating from God? Part 1, I discussed a series of evidences about how God is being omitted from American life, culture and politics. In Part 2, I will detail the No. 1 advocate for a godless society: our president.
I believe there is no greater proponent of disposing deity and godly influence over government and society than President Barack Obama, who is right now spearheading a purely secular progressive agenda unlike any leader since America's inception.
First, even during his campaign for the presidency, Obama sarcastically belittled America's Judeo-Christian heritage and degraded its adherents with trite remarks typical of any atheistic antagonist: "Whatever we were, we are no longer a Christian nation"; "The dangers of sectarianism are greater than ever"; "Religion doesn't allow for compromise"; "The Sermon on the Mount [is] a passage that is so radical that our own defense department wouldn't survive its application"; and "To base our policy making upon such commitments [as moral absolutes] would be a dangerous thing." (See the YouTube video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=df6vXLytoWg: "Barack Obama on the importance of a secular progressivism.")
And gone but not forgotten is Obama's religiously belittling statement on the campaign trail in April of 2008 about many residents in small-town America. You might recall, at a private California fundraiser, when he addressed the economic hardships of those in Pennsylvania, he quipped: "You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them. … And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion … as a way to explain their frustrations."
Second, Obama has already denied America's rich Judeo-Christian heritage before the eyes and ears of other countries, as he publicly declared in Turkey on April 6, 2009, for the whole world to hear: "We do not consider ourselves a Christian nation." (Who are the "we" to whom he refers? Would our former presidents agree with his "we"?)
Overseas, Obama avoided both America's Christian heritage and his own alleged Christian faith. He was proud to share, "I have Muslim members of my family," but avoided any declaration like, "But I am a Christian"? My primary problem with his choice of words is that, while building up himself and his leadership before the Arab world, he repeatedly belittled the country he led, and that is unbecoming for any president.
By saying America was not a religious nation of any type, Obama implied that America is a secular nation with a secular heritage, which is also an incorrect notion of our people and our history. Any of a number of statements would have been more accurate: "America is a religiously free nation – both people and government." "America is a nation in which we welcome religious diversity." "We are a religiously diverse people, in which the majority still profess Christianity." "We have a religiously free government in which its citizens are encouraged to practice their own religious convictions freely without federal coercion." But Obama used none of these or similar statements.
For Obama to convey that "we are not a Christian nation" intentionally overlooks both our religious heritage and the Christian majority still in America. He could have even said, "America is no longer a Christian nation," but he didn't say that – and even that would have been incorrect. How is it he could speak to largely Arab nations and refer to them all as Muslim, but he can't call America a Christian nation, even though Christianity is the religion to which the majority have always adhered since our founders started it?
By contrast, Thomas Jefferson, hailed as the great separatist who fought against the tyranny of denominational sectarianism in the state (and vice versa), nevertheless endorsed the use of government buildings (like the Capitol) for church services, signed a treaty with the Kaskaskia Indians that allotted federal money to support the building of a Catholic church and to pay the salary of the church's priests and repeatedly renewed legislation that gave land to the United Brethren to help their missionary activities among the Indians.
Third, quite contrary to Obama's negative tone and sentiments about Judeo-Christian belief, in countless speeches over the past year he has sympathized and supported pro-Islamic theology and practice. The New York Times recently published a multiple-page report on how the "White House quietly courts Muslims in the U.S." Obama even refused to say anything when the Muslim jihadist and president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, publicly accused the U.S. of actively planning and plotting to stop mankind's real savior: i.e., the Mahdi, the imam that Muslims believe will be the ultimate savior of mankind.
Fourth, Obama advocates his secular agenda like other progressives because (so they naively believe) if God can be disposed, government is no longer accountable to a deity. In fact, in so doing, government vies for omnipotence and usurps the position of God. As Obama emphatically declared early in his presidency, "only government" is our savior. That is what's so disheartening about America's present political environment: The majority in Washington is truly convinced that more and bigger government is America's primary solution for recovery, future growth and security.
A clear example of this came out just last month through Obama's Faith-Based Initiative Committee recommendations. Not only is the federal government seeking to minimize the language preachers use through politically correct hate-crime laws, but now the feds are seeking to alter the message they preach as well – from saving souls to saving the earth. Obama's Faith-Based Council specifically recommends, "Bringing the power of 370,000 houses of worship across the country to the fight of climate change by greening buildings and promoting environmental stewardship in their congregations."
As Jews and Christians, we are called to be good stewards of this earth. But that is only one message among thousands of commands in the Bible. And who are the feds to tell churches, clergy and denominations which message to proclaim or emphasize? For Washington to "bring the power of 370,000 houses of worship" to "promote environmental stewardship in their congregations" not only usurps the power of God, Scripture and church governments but is a clear violation and overreaching of federal power, which the First Amendment prohibits. As Jerry Falwell Jr. concluded on Glenn Beck's television show, Obama's faith-based-initiative report reads more like "a church takeover." At very least, it is a slap in the face to the Christian community, which Obama has devalued and disrespected.
The fact is, every time Obama has had an opportunity to stand for Judeo-Christianity in any way, he has not only denied it but dodged it. One of the president's most outrageous duck-'n'-dodge examples happened under the radar last Christmas when he was visiting some children at the Boys and Girls Club in Washington, D.C. In an informal verbal exchange, two distinct times the children unexpectedly brought up to the president the real reason for the season (the birth of Jesus Christ). And both times, when he could have elaborated, explained or encouraged the heart and soul of the Christian message, he awkwardly turned the conversation to a religious-neutered subject. He even left the children with the non-Christmas admonition that "the most important message I can leave is, is that you guys have so much potential – one of you could end up being president some day!"
Lastly, Obama turned a blind eye and deaf ear to anti-Judeo-Christian issues like the Army's rescinding of Franklin Graham's invitation to the Pentagon's National Day of Prayer event, atheists' lawsuits to remove the National Motto ("In God We Trust") off of the walls of the new Capitol Visitors Center in Washington, D.C., the building of a Muslim mosque right next to Ground Zero in New York or the ACLU's disposal of veteran memorial crosses in the Mojave Desert and at Mount Soledad.
I ask again, do others not see the major movement to whitewash God from our culture? Do our governing officials really think eliminating the Almighty is any answer to our problems? Don't they see omissions of God are also avoidances of the very being who can help us out of or through our troubles? Or do we believe that our country can experience true recovery or success without God's intervention or blessing? Does America believe it can graduate without or from God?
Ben Franklin could have been speaking before the president and Congress today when he gave these words at the Constitutional Convention:
In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for the divine protection. Our prayers, Sir, were heard; and they were graciously answered. All of us, who were engaged in the struggle, must have observed frequent instances of a superintending Providence in our favor. To that kind Providence we owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the means of establishing our future national felicity. And have we now forgotten that powerful friend? Or do we imagine we no longer need its assistance? I have lived, Sir, a long time; and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth, That God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid?
These are three questions every Washington politician in particular needs to answer: "And have we now forgotten that powerful friend? Or do we imagine we no longer need [His] assistance? And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise [again] without his aid?"
God was a passionate part of our founders' plan for America. And God, not government as Obama declared early in his presidency, is still our only hope of getting our lives and country back on track. And I believe that reawakening and restoration can happen – but it's going to take focusing upon one soul at a time to get it done.
Right now, needing our patriot assistance is Rep. Randy Forbes, whose congressional address on America's Judeo-Christian heritage has received 3 million views on YouTube. Forbes, along with the members of the bipartisan Congressional Prayer Caucus, has reintroduced H.R. 397, "America's Spiritual Heritage Resolution." The resolution recognizes our nation's spiritual heritage milestones, rejects current attempts to erase all religious history from public buildings and educational resources and establishes a week for Americans to remember and reflect on spiritual principles upon which our nation was founded. The resolution has gained bipartisan support with 79 co-sponsors. Have your representatives sponsored or supported the resolution? If not, please contact them today to ask they do so.
Glenn Beck put it well in one of his radio broadcasts earlier this year: "I beg of you to help me get this message out … faith is the answer. Get on your knees. Don't let it take a Sept. 11. Please, get on your knees. I don't care what church you go to … just turn to Him."
If Psalm 33:12 says, "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord," how would the verse read for the nation who has given God the boot?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
by Chuck Norris
Posted: June 14, 2010
© 2010
Last week in America: Graduating from God? Part 1, I discussed a series of evidences about how God is being omitted from American life, culture and politics. In Part 2, I will detail the No. 1 advocate for a godless society: our president.
I believe there is no greater proponent of disposing deity and godly influence over government and society than President Barack Obama, who is right now spearheading a purely secular progressive agenda unlike any leader since America's inception.
First, even during his campaign for the presidency, Obama sarcastically belittled America's Judeo-Christian heritage and degraded its adherents with trite remarks typical of any atheistic antagonist: "Whatever we were, we are no longer a Christian nation"; "The dangers of sectarianism are greater than ever"; "Religion doesn't allow for compromise"; "The Sermon on the Mount [is] a passage that is so radical that our own defense department wouldn't survive its application"; and "To base our policy making upon such commitments [as moral absolutes] would be a dangerous thing." (See the YouTube video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=df6vXLytoWg: "Barack Obama on the importance of a secular progressivism.")
And gone but not forgotten is Obama's religiously belittling statement on the campaign trail in April of 2008 about many residents in small-town America. You might recall, at a private California fundraiser, when he addressed the economic hardships of those in Pennsylvania, he quipped: "You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them. … And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion … as a way to explain their frustrations."
Second, Obama has already denied America's rich Judeo-Christian heritage before the eyes and ears of other countries, as he publicly declared in Turkey on April 6, 2009, for the whole world to hear: "We do not consider ourselves a Christian nation." (Who are the "we" to whom he refers? Would our former presidents agree with his "we"?)
Overseas, Obama avoided both America's Christian heritage and his own alleged Christian faith. He was proud to share, "I have Muslim members of my family," but avoided any declaration like, "But I am a Christian"? My primary problem with his choice of words is that, while building up himself and his leadership before the Arab world, he repeatedly belittled the country he led, and that is unbecoming for any president.
By saying America was not a religious nation of any type, Obama implied that America is a secular nation with a secular heritage, which is also an incorrect notion of our people and our history. Any of a number of statements would have been more accurate: "America is a religiously free nation – both people and government." "America is a nation in which we welcome religious diversity." "We are a religiously diverse people, in which the majority still profess Christianity." "We have a religiously free government in which its citizens are encouraged to practice their own religious convictions freely without federal coercion." But Obama used none of these or similar statements.
For Obama to convey that "we are not a Christian nation" intentionally overlooks both our religious heritage and the Christian majority still in America. He could have even said, "America is no longer a Christian nation," but he didn't say that – and even that would have been incorrect. How is it he could speak to largely Arab nations and refer to them all as Muslim, but he can't call America a Christian nation, even though Christianity is the religion to which the majority have always adhered since our founders started it?
By contrast, Thomas Jefferson, hailed as the great separatist who fought against the tyranny of denominational sectarianism in the state (and vice versa), nevertheless endorsed the use of government buildings (like the Capitol) for church services, signed a treaty with the Kaskaskia Indians that allotted federal money to support the building of a Catholic church and to pay the salary of the church's priests and repeatedly renewed legislation that gave land to the United Brethren to help their missionary activities among the Indians.
Third, quite contrary to Obama's negative tone and sentiments about Judeo-Christian belief, in countless speeches over the past year he has sympathized and supported pro-Islamic theology and practice. The New York Times recently published a multiple-page report on how the "White House quietly courts Muslims in the U.S." Obama even refused to say anything when the Muslim jihadist and president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, publicly accused the U.S. of actively planning and plotting to stop mankind's real savior: i.e., the Mahdi, the imam that Muslims believe will be the ultimate savior of mankind.
Fourth, Obama advocates his secular agenda like other progressives because (so they naively believe) if God can be disposed, government is no longer accountable to a deity. In fact, in so doing, government vies for omnipotence and usurps the position of God. As Obama emphatically declared early in his presidency, "only government" is our savior. That is what's so disheartening about America's present political environment: The majority in Washington is truly convinced that more and bigger government is America's primary solution for recovery, future growth and security.
A clear example of this came out just last month through Obama's Faith-Based Initiative Committee recommendations. Not only is the federal government seeking to minimize the language preachers use through politically correct hate-crime laws, but now the feds are seeking to alter the message they preach as well – from saving souls to saving the earth. Obama's Faith-Based Council specifically recommends, "Bringing the power of 370,000 houses of worship across the country to the fight of climate change by greening buildings and promoting environmental stewardship in their congregations."
As Jews and Christians, we are called to be good stewards of this earth. But that is only one message among thousands of commands in the Bible. And who are the feds to tell churches, clergy and denominations which message to proclaim or emphasize? For Washington to "bring the power of 370,000 houses of worship" to "promote environmental stewardship in their congregations" not only usurps the power of God, Scripture and church governments but is a clear violation and overreaching of federal power, which the First Amendment prohibits. As Jerry Falwell Jr. concluded on Glenn Beck's television show, Obama's faith-based-initiative report reads more like "a church takeover." At very least, it is a slap in the face to the Christian community, which Obama has devalued and disrespected.
The fact is, every time Obama has had an opportunity to stand for Judeo-Christianity in any way, he has not only denied it but dodged it. One of the president's most outrageous duck-'n'-dodge examples happened under the radar last Christmas when he was visiting some children at the Boys and Girls Club in Washington, D.C. In an informal verbal exchange, two distinct times the children unexpectedly brought up to the president the real reason for the season (the birth of Jesus Christ). And both times, when he could have elaborated, explained or encouraged the heart and soul of the Christian message, he awkwardly turned the conversation to a religious-neutered subject. He even left the children with the non-Christmas admonition that "the most important message I can leave is, is that you guys have so much potential – one of you could end up being president some day!"
Lastly, Obama turned a blind eye and deaf ear to anti-Judeo-Christian issues like the Army's rescinding of Franklin Graham's invitation to the Pentagon's National Day of Prayer event, atheists' lawsuits to remove the National Motto ("In God We Trust") off of the walls of the new Capitol Visitors Center in Washington, D.C., the building of a Muslim mosque right next to Ground Zero in New York or the ACLU's disposal of veteran memorial crosses in the Mojave Desert and at Mount Soledad.
I ask again, do others not see the major movement to whitewash God from our culture? Do our governing officials really think eliminating the Almighty is any answer to our problems? Don't they see omissions of God are also avoidances of the very being who can help us out of or through our troubles? Or do we believe that our country can experience true recovery or success without God's intervention or blessing? Does America believe it can graduate without or from God?
Ben Franklin could have been speaking before the president and Congress today when he gave these words at the Constitutional Convention:
In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for the divine protection. Our prayers, Sir, were heard; and they were graciously answered. All of us, who were engaged in the struggle, must have observed frequent instances of a superintending Providence in our favor. To that kind Providence we owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the means of establishing our future national felicity. And have we now forgotten that powerful friend? Or do we imagine we no longer need its assistance? I have lived, Sir, a long time; and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth, That God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid?
These are three questions every Washington politician in particular needs to answer: "And have we now forgotten that powerful friend? Or do we imagine we no longer need [His] assistance? And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise [again] without his aid?"
God was a passionate part of our founders' plan for America. And God, not government as Obama declared early in his presidency, is still our only hope of getting our lives and country back on track. And I believe that reawakening and restoration can happen – but it's going to take focusing upon one soul at a time to get it done.
Right now, needing our patriot assistance is Rep. Randy Forbes, whose congressional address on America's Judeo-Christian heritage has received 3 million views on YouTube. Forbes, along with the members of the bipartisan Congressional Prayer Caucus, has reintroduced H.R. 397, "America's Spiritual Heritage Resolution." The resolution recognizes our nation's spiritual heritage milestones, rejects current attempts to erase all religious history from public buildings and educational resources and establishes a week for Americans to remember and reflect on spiritual principles upon which our nation was founded. The resolution has gained bipartisan support with 79 co-sponsors. Have your representatives sponsored or supported the resolution? If not, please contact them today to ask they do so.
Glenn Beck put it well in one of his radio broadcasts earlier this year: "I beg of you to help me get this message out … faith is the answer. Get on your knees. Don't let it take a Sept. 11. Please, get on your knees. I don't care what church you go to … just turn to Him."
If Psalm 33:12 says, "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord," how would the verse read for the nation who has given God the boot?
leasantry:
