July 2005 – Why is it important that Americans have an understanding and appreciation of our nation's Judeo-Christian heritage? AFA Journal asked a select group of notable Americans to answer, each drawing on his own life experiences and unique perspective.
Liberty, democracy, religious tolerance: the republic depends on it
Jeff Jacoby, columnist, Boston Globe
Have you heard about the Virginia politician who wanted references to God injected into the Declaration of independence? Or about the activist from Massachusetts who urged making the Fourth of July a quasi-religious holiday?
These proposals were made 220 years ago. Today they would be swiftly denounced by the Anti-Defamation League, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and a slew of editorial pages.
The politician who wanted to stick God into the Declaration of Independence was its author, Thomas Jefferson. Indeed, the document adopted unanimously by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, refers to God not once but four times.
It was Jefferson's great colleague and rival, John Adams of Massachusetts, who thought the Fourth of July should be an occasion of joy and worship. "It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty," he wrote to his wife Abigail from Philadelphia.
In linking religion to American liberty, John Adams and Jefferson were not bowing to the political correctness of their time. They were articulating a core principle of American nationhood: Religious faith and the civic virtues it gives rise to is as indispensable to a democratic republic as freedom of speech or the right to own property.
Religion can survive in the absence of freedom. But freedom without religion is dangerous and unstable. "Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity," George Washington reminded the country in his Farewell Address, "religion and morality are indispensable supports."
Liberty with faith, a secular state nourished by a religious society that was the formula the founders devised. They sought to combine the Enlightenment's emphasis on reason, learning, and pluralism with the Judeo-Christian ethic of responsibility, justice, and morality.
What resulted was a nation that is, on the whole, more diverse, more free, more tolerant, more prosperous, and more religious than any before or since.
It would have astonished Jefferson, Adams, and their colleagues to witness the hostility to religion that pervades modern liberalism and the domains where it holds sway Hollywood, the public schools, contemporary art, the elite colleges.
On Independence Day, we should remind ourselves of another truth the men and women of 1776 held to be self-evident: American liberty and democracy do more than tolerate religion. They depend upon it.
Jeff Jacoby is a columnist for The Boston Globe. The preceding was excerpted with permission from a column first published in 1996.
Skewing of separation definition creates 'one nation without God'
Jeremiah Denton, retired RAdm. U.S. Navy, former senator and founder of the National Forum Foundation
Adolph Hitler once said he who controls the writing of a nation's history controls the nation.
He revised German history and thus changed the original principles of Germany to a set of principles which permitted him to embark on a course of world domination and to employ genocide and other satanic policies in pursuit of that objective of world domination. Lenin and Stalin did the same for Russia.
Now atheists have rewritten American history, and deceitful court decisions have amazingly and effectively replaced our Founding concept "One Nation under God" with a new concept and new principles effectively making this country by governmental dictate into "One Nation Without God."
The rewriting of history is based on a total inversion of the meaning of a phrase Thomas Jefferson used in a letter: "a wall of separation between Church and State."
In that letter Jefferson was replying to a group of Baptists in Connecticut who had complained that Congregationalists of that State were trying to use their Christian denomination as the official religion for the state of Connecticut and persecute and discriminate against Baptists.
In this letter, Jefferson's "Wall of Separation" referred to what was a worrisome topic of those days: Would the United States adopt a single Christian denomination as the official religion of the U.S.? He was saying only that the Congregationalists could not install themselves as an official religion in that state.
The answer was no. And Jefferson had previously intervened in the writing of the Commonwealth of Virginia's Constitution, before our National Constitution was written (mostly by him), to preclude that future state from installing the High Episcopal religion as its official religion. But there was no question in the founders' minds that this nation was being established as a Judeo-Christian nation with laws to be based on the Ten Commandments.
Adm. Jeremiah Denton served 34 years in the U.S. Navy. He was held seven years as a POW in the Vietnam War, and received many commendations for his service. He served as a U.S. senator from 1980-86 before returning to Alabama to focus on the non-profit organization he founded in 1977, the Coalition for Decency, which later became the National Forum Foundation.
Many of the freedoms we enjoy were born from Christianity
Alvin Schmidt, author
America has profoundly been shaped by Christian values. Moreover, Americans have lived so long under the influence of these values that they are largely unaware of how these values have become a part of their country's social fabric. Here are some brief examples.
When Christianity entered the Greco-Roman world 2,000 years ago, human life was cheap and expendable. Infanticide, child abandonment, abortion, and suicide were widespread and fully legal. Contrary to that pagan culture, Christianity, honoring its Judaic background, proclaimed: "You shall not kill [murder]." All human life was a gift of God and therefore sacred, regardless of a person's status. In time, that Christian posture took hold in the West. Thus the sanctity of human life, still largely enshrined in American law, is part of America's Christian heritage.
Sexual life among the Greco-Romans was highly licentious and without shame. Adultery, fornication and other sexual immoralities were common. The Romans even depicted sexual acts on household items. Homosexual sex, which was mostly man/boy sex, was widespread and legal. It threatened most every adolescent boy. The early Christians opposed all immoral sex, in conformity with what St. Paul advocated in I Corinthians 6:9, where adultery, fornication, and homosexuality are condemned. Many of our American laws, for instance, the crime of child molestation, are the result of Christianity's high sexual mores.
Woman in the ancient Greco-Roman culture had virtually no rights, freedom, or dignity. She was the property of a husband or father, and she had no choice as to whom she married. Christianity, on the other hand, did not see woman as a man's property; she was free to reject a male suitor; she had equality of church membership, and other rights. The freedom and dignity women today have in our society are largely the result of Christianity's impact. One need only note the pronounced lack of freedom women have today in most Middle East countries (where Christianity has little or no presence) to see the difference Christianity has made in the life of women.
Regarding the Greco-Romans again, we find they were devoid of charity and compassion. Many of its philosophers argued against such behavior. Ancient writers say that even relatives deserted each other in plagues. Whereas, the early Christians charitably and compassionately cared for all, including pagans. They built the world's first hospitals. Many American hospitals still bear the name of Christian saints or denominations.
Contrary to the Greek and Roman culture, Christianity gave dignity to manual labor and economics. It also underscored property rights, economic freedom, and individual freedom, all highly valued by most Americans.
The American principle that no person is above the law stems from Christianity when Bishop Ambrose in A.D. 390 held Emperor Theodosius I accountable for killing innocent people. The Magna Carta (1215), written with the counsel of "reverend [church] fathers," and a document that influenced our country's Constitution, gave further support to this principle.
Universal education for both sexes, all classes, and races originated with the early church. Similarly, universities arose out of the church's monasteries. Later, most American colleges and universities began as church schools.
America's three branches of government stem from the Christian thinking of Montesquieu and James Madison. Both recognized the sinful nature of man, so prone to dishonesty, required others to keep a watchful eye on those in another branch of government.
Indeed, it was Jesus Christ, his apostles, and their followers whose teachings and values transformed civilization. Much of that transformation is a vital part of America's heritage.
Alvin J. Schmidt, M.Div., Ph.D., is a former professor, Concordia Theological Seminary and professor emeritus of sociology at Illinois College. He is the author of numerous articles and several books, including a new title, Under the Influence: How Christianity Transformed Civilization, from Zondervan Publishing.
No amount of historical revision can change God's steadfastness
Janet Parshall, syndicated radio host
There's one absolutely, very profound reason that Americans need to understand and appreciate our religious heritage: The God of the 1700s is the same God of the 21st Century.
We need to see how He's protected us in the past and continues to protect us in the present. He still holds the heart of the king in His hand.
When we study the founders of this country, we learn that their faith in Almighty God was the foundation of their commitment to a document that could have been their death warrant. If we forget that, we begin to flirt with the dangerous concept that our founding documents were nothing more than a reflection of the prevalent scholarly beliefs of the time."
Janet Parshall is the host of a nationally syndicated radio program, Janet Parshall's America. Since 1999 she has served as chief spokesperson for Family Research Council, a Washington, D.C.-based pro-family organization.
Our nation's future rests in our faith in God
Edward H. Curtis, Colonel, USAF Retired
The close association that exists between loyalty to country and loyalty to God in our American way of life is the result of neither accident nor coincidence. Rather, it is a pattern that was closely woven throughout the cornerstone documents upon which our nation is founded. For example, when we pledge allegiance, it is to "one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." In that light, when we pledge allegiance, let us remember that we are pledging our priceless heritage of yesterday and our hope for tomorrow.
Patriotism or love of country is not a way of life that exists only for adults. Our youth of today are not the first generation who have gone through an age of trauma and distrust of their elders. Their attitude will change as they take on the responsibilities of adulthood and based on past history, they will be glad they have changed. For every irrational and irresponsible young person in our society today there are hundreds of patriotic, responsible, committed youth who are working for a better America.
What more fitting legacy can we pass to our youth than the motivation to love God, and to love America? We all want to maintain a society in which men govern themselves and are free to progress as far as their ability and initiative can carry them.
The future of America rests with our faith in God and a new dedication to the principles which have preserved us as a nation with all our faults and errors. No other nation has built on so noble a foundation or followed so faithfully such splendid ideals. God help us to keep it that way.
Ed Curtis of Arlington, Texas, served in the U. S. Army in World War II in combat zones in France, Belgium, and Germany. His duty included participation in the famed Battle of the Bulge. In 1950 he was commissioned in the U. S. Air Force and served 23 years, including service in combat zones during the Korean Conflict and Vietnam War. He and his wife, Nadine, have been married for 58 years. They have three children and eight grandchildren.
We should know and preserve the truth, but do it for the glory of God
Jody McCloud, principal, Roane County High School, Kingston, Tennessee
We must preserve our nation's Christian heritage and never diminish the significance of it. However, in pursuit of such, we must strive to act in the Spirit and not in the flesh. William Barclay, a great Bible scholar, once wrote, "Christ's strategy is not to blast the lost out of existence, rather, it is to woo them into His Kingdom with a sacrificial love." Our strategy should be the same.
Is it important to understand and promote the truth of our nation's Christian heritage? Yes. Should we de-emphasize that truth to be politically correct? No. At the same time we Christians must test ourselves and ask, "Are we acting in the flesh or in the Spirit?"
If pursuing truth causes us to develop hatred or malice, to fall in love with our own righteousness, to foster pride and vanity, or to give undue credit to any man instead of God, we are acting in the flesh.
However if the truth drives us to hate sin, especially our own, to maintain an authentic Christ-like love for our fellow man, to strengthen our love for God, then we are acting in the Spirit. All the while we must be careful of prideful humility. C.S. Lewis once said, "A man can be at his proudest when he strikes a pose of humility."
At times when we know we should stand up and speak for Jesus, we refrain, because we don't want to appear to be self-righteous and thereby damage our appearance of humility of which we are so proud. At other times, when we know that we should remain silent, we speak up to defend our intellect of which we are also proud. That is why it is imperative that we take the test often and allow God to grade it.
Jody McCloud gained notoriety for his address at a football game in 2000 decrying laws forbidding prayer at such events.
America's lifeblood since its founding has been Christianity
Stephen McDowell, president Providence Foundation
In 1980 the Supreme Court ruled in Stone v. Graham that the public schools of Kentucky could not display the Ten Commandments. The Court said: "If the posted copies of the Ten Commandments are to have any effect at all, it will be to induce the schoolchildren to read, meditate upon, perhaps to venerate and obey, the Commandments.''
While some think the principles of living contained in the Bible as summarized by the Ten Commandments are a threat to the liberties of America, the exact opposite is true. It has been these standards of right and wrong that have formed the foundation of liberty and prosperity in our nation.
Why then has such an assault developed in recent years against these principles? The root of the conflict that we are witnessing is a war of worldviews, between one that is Christian and one that is humanistic.
Humanists argue that there are no absolutes. Right and wrong are based upon what a majority says or what a minority in power says, hence, law is evolving.
In great contrast is the Christian world-view in which God is the source of what is right and wrong and reveals this in the Bible. This was the view of law in America for most of our history.
Some would ask, "What difference does it make if we have a Christian or humanistic foundation, just as long as I have my freedoms?" We must understand that ideas have consequences. The fruit we get is determined by the seeds we plant. The fruit of America has been liberty and prosperity beyond that of any nation in history. If we change seeds, we will get different results.
Toward the end of his life, Benjamin Franklin (who was not orthodox in his beliefs) wrote a reply to Thomas Paine seeking to dissuade him from publishing a work of an irreligious tendency which spoke against Christian fundamentals. He told Paine that no good would come from publishing his ideas, writing that "he that spits against the wind, spits in his own face.'' Franklin told Paine that "perhaps you are indebted to your religious education, for the habits of virtue upon which you now justly value yourself. Among us it is not necessary, as among the Hottentots, that a youth, to be raised into the company of men, should prove his manhood by beating his mother.'' Only evil would result if Paine's ideas succeeded, for, as Franklin wrote, "If men are so wicked with religion, what would they be if without it.''
Many today in America are "beating their mother'' when they seek to remove Christianity from our public life. Christianity is what has produced the liberty and prosperity that has allowed people to pursue such unwise action.
Christianity has been the lifeblood of America. If the Christian worldview prevails, it will once again nourish every aspect of the life of this nation producing freedom, justice, opportunity, and life for all.
Stephen McDowell is president of the Providence Foundation, a Christian educational organization, educating individuals on a biblical worldview.
Students are shortchanged when not taught of our Judeo-Christian founding
Phyllis Schlafly, founder, Eagle Forum
It is more important than ever before that young American citizens have an understanding of our nation's Judeo-Christian heritage. They probably missed out on this part of history in public schools, and their parents probably missed out on it, too. The schools that boast of tolerance, diversity, and multiculturalism do not apply these same standards to Christians.
Indeed, the prevailing dogmas of political correctness decree that the entire Judeo-Christian heritage be excluded from the teaching of history. Third-rate feminist and minority writers have been substituted for the DWEMs (Dead White European Males), such as Aristotle, Shakespeare, and Dante, as the core curriculum at many of America's colleges and universities. Someone needs to teach our young people the history and the literature of the western tradition if we are to preserve our freedom, because freedom only flourishes in Judeo-Christian countries.
Someone should teach our young people that the Declaration of Independence is America's great religious document, the official and unequivocal affirmation by the American people of their belief and faith in God. The Declaration affirms God's existence as a "self-evident" truth that requires no further discussion or debate. The nation created by the great Declaration is God's country. The rights it defines are God-given. The actions of its signers were God-inspired. Many of the men who signed the Declaration paid for their courage with their lives and fortunes, and that's why we are able to enjoy our freedom and independence today.
The Declaration contains five references to God God as supreme Lawmaker, God as Creator of all men, God as the Source of all rights, God as the world's supreme Judge, and God as our Protector on whom we can rely.
The Declaration declares that each of us is created. If we were created, we must have had a Creator. The Declaration declares that each of us is created equal, which means equally endowed with unalienable rights. It does not mean that all of us are born with equal capabilities, as obviously we are not. Nor does it mean that all of us can be made equal, as Communist theory alleges.
It is dishonest for the schools to de-emphasize our nation's Judeo-Christian heritage. History should teach students what really happened, not what the schools wish had happened. It is historical fact that our founding fathers who wrote our Declaration of Independence and Constitution were men of faith who took their Christian religion seriously. They were well-schooled in the Bible and they believed that religion and morality are the foundation of the American government.
Our schools should teach that George Washington said: "It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor." And our students should learn that our second president, John Adams, wrote, "Statesmen may plan and speculate for liberty, but it is religion and morality alone which can establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand."
Phyllis Schlafly is founder of Eagle Forum, a national conservative and pro-family organization, and was named one of the 100 most important women of the 20th century by Ladies Home Journal. 
