In God We Trust Patriotic Flash Movie
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Posted on 02/22/2005 1:30:37 AM PST by goldstategop
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach wrote an article in the Jerusalem Post (February 10, 2005) charging that some well-known Jewish conservatives are doing incalculable harm to their people by affirming that America is a Christian nation.
In a rather kvetchy column about Jews who defend the public celebration of Christmas and Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of Christ,” the rabbi rhetorically inquires:
“Is it not highly misguided, not to mention erroneous, for Medved and Lapin to openly speak of America as a ‘Christian’ nation, something bound to make Jews feel like they are guests in someone else’s land.” The author here speaks of syndicated talk-show host Michael Medved and Rabbi Daniel Lapin of Toward Tradition.
Does Boteach also believe we shouldn’t speak of America’s Judeo-Christian heritage, because to do so will make Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus “feel like they are guests in someone else’s land”?
Does “one nation, under God,” in the Pledge of Allegiance (and “In God We Trust” on our currency) make atheists and agnostics feel like outsiders? Other than the ACLU, who cares?
Do Israel’s Christian and Muslim minorities feel alienated living in a Jewish state?
Individual comfort-levels aside, is it “erroneous” to say that America is a Christian nation? That depends on what you mean.
If it’s meant to signify a country whose people are overwhelmingly Christian, the characterization is correct. As a percentage, America’s population is more Christian than India’s is Hindu or Israel’s is Jewish.
If by “Christian America,” we mean that those who shaped our national consciousness subscribed to the tenets of Christianity, that too is true. From the earliest settlements on these shores until the last few decades, our leaders saw America as a reflection of a Christian worldview.
The Mayflower Compact (1620), precursor to the Declaration of Independence and US Constitution, proclaimed that the first permanent English-speaking settlement in the Americas was intended for the “advancement of the Christian faith.”
In a message to his troops (1778), George Washington observed: “To the distinguished character of Patriot, it should be our highest Glory to laud the more distinguished character of Christian.”
The first Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, John Jay, wrote in 1816 that it was in the interests of “our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.”
As late as 1931 (historical revisionism would set in a decade later), the Supreme Court observed in U.S. v. Macintosh, “We are a Christian people.”
Woodrow Wilson told a campaign rally in 1911, “America was born a Christian nation. America was born to exemplify that devotion to the elements of righteousness which are derived from the revelations of Holy Scripture.”
In a 1947 letter, President Harry Truman (who was instrumental in the establishment of the state of Israel) assured Pope Pius XII, “This is a Christian nation.”
Even William O. Douglas, that most liberal justice of the liberal Warren Court, was forced to admit that Americans are “a religious people whose institutions presuppose a Supreme Being.” By a religious people, Douglas did not mean Scientologists.
The foregoing is a very broad overview. Until the secular revolution of the 1960s, none of this was considered remarkable.
America has never had a state church. (Thank God.) At the federal level, there has never been a religious requirement for citizenship or test for public office. (Although the first Congress hired a chaplain and appropriated sums of money to support Christian missionaries to the Indian tribes. It was 1860 before a non-Christian clergyman opened a session of Congress.)
Clearly and manifestly, the American ethos is based on the moral code found in the Torah and New Testament.
Without Sinai there would have been no Philadelphia in 1776 and 1787. Absent Protestantism, there would have been no Pilgrims and Puritans. Without the evangelical Great Awakening of the 18th century, no Lexington and Concord and no “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.”
America was founded on the moral patrimony of the West -- that Bible-based code called the Judeo-Christian ethic. Whether they do so out of malice or ignorance, those who attack the idea of a Christian America are really attacking this.
Finally, we must ask if America is a Christian nation -- in the sense that our laws still are shaped by Christianity. Alas, no.
A Christian (or Judeo-Christian) America would not have legalized abortion. It would not be inching toward euthanasia. It would not be on the verge of homosexual marriage. It would not have no- fault divorce, rampant promiscuity, state-sponsored illegitimacy, government-condoned pornography or any of the other myriad delights of a post-Christian culture.
Everything must be something. As Harvard Professor Samuel P. Huntington pointed out in his seminal work, “Clash of Civilizations,” all great civilizations are intimately connected to a religion. Culture is derived from cult.
In his most recent work (“Who Are We: The Challenges to America’s National Identity”) Huntington writes: “Americans have been extremely religious and overwhelmingly Christian throughout their history.”
Huntington further observes that America’s national identity is based on Anglo-Protestant culture, including “the English language; Christianity; religious commitment; English concepts of the rule of law, the responsibility of rulers, the rights of the individual; and dissenting Protestant values of individualism, the work ethic, and the belief that humans have the ability and the duty to try to create heaven on earth, a ‘city on the hill.’”
Those who believe America can turn its back on our heritage and succeed as a secular civilization are sadly mistaken.
The choice isn’t Christian America or nothing, but Christian America or a neo-pagan, hedonistic, rights-without-responsibilities, anti-family, culture-of-death America.
As an American Jew, I never felt like a “guest in someone else’s land.” America is a product of a process that began when a Mesopotamian named Abram (Abraham) left his land at God’s behest.
That launched the Western world on a journey whose footfalls may still be heard. And here we are, almost 4,000 years later. We may worship the Master of the Universe differently, but I identify body and soul with my countrymen who share the lofty vision of Washington and Adams, Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge and Ronald Reagan.
And so, I feel very much at home here.
(Denny Crane: "There are two places to find the truth. First God and then Fox News.")
Ignorance and immaturity plagues our society today when it comes to the history of our nation and consequences of immorality. I hope I don't see the last days of our great God fearing nation.
It is time for the Major Oil Companies of the world to change their foreign policy in the Middle East, and to renew their support for Israel. It is time for the majors to repent and change their mind about Israel, and to recognize the ultimate source of their oil supply, Our Creator and Father in Heaven. The oil supply is provided by our creator, and not by the Islamic nations in the Middle East.
I have enclosed the Proclamation of Blessing for the support of Israel. If the Multinational Oil companies do not change their ways, Our Lord will remove his protection from this industry. He will remove the blessings, and the abundance of imported and domestic oil will be taken away. If he removes his hand of protection, the throne of this nations oil supply shall utterly perish. –“See enclosed Proclamation of Judgment” Our new Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice is on a collision course with God.
The Islamic Nations are headed towards the destruction of Israel. The current Palestinian leader is a terrorist and a former lieutenant of Yasser Arafat.
If Secretary Rice continues on this path, this war will escalate to the shores of America. Just in a few days since Secretary Rice’s visit to Israel to discuss Palestinian statehood with Ariel Sharon,
1. Iran has warned America of Great Terror 2. North Korea has announced it has nuclear weapons and has disengaged from the six nation talks.
God is swift to judge those who come against Israel. No nation has been able to stand against the God of Israel. Condoleezza Rice is a former colleague in the Oil Industry. Her overconfidence for creating a Palestinian state will lead to great judgment on the American and Multi-National Oil Industry. Millions will perish on the Texas Coastlines by Earthquakes, Tidal waves, Fire and Pestilence. The Oil Companies need to “Humble themselves” and change their ways.
The God-hating left will do anything to tear this all down into darkness. They've made a lot of progress so far.
Amen!
" A thorough understanding of the Bible is better than a college education "... Theodore Roosevelt
" It is impossible to rightly govern the world without GOD and the Bible "... George Washington
" Education is useless without the Bible "... Daniel Webster
God reveals his mysteries and secrets to the : Humble, Meek, Simple, and the Downtrodden.
Very good article. Worth bookmarking.
It's a protestant nation, not a Christian nation. Christianity existed way before Luthor, Zwillig, Calvin, and the various offshoots of their theologies...
Michael Medved is a brilliant man who happens to be Jewish. God has shown him how great the contributions of Christianity have been in building a Nation where liberty and freedom prevail for all. These great values didn't just appear Shmuley! You hear me Shmuley? :)
Medved doesn't buy into the stupid headed Jewish thinking that Jews must demean Christians in order to exalt themselves and to feel at home here. Shmuley feels oppressed by any elevating of Christianity's role. He protested dearly Mel Gibson's, The Passion, that it would foster anti-Semitism. It didn't. Not even close. Shmuley is plainly anti-Christian and that's his true motivation.
Sorry Shmuley, but in America Christianity rules!
Dear Lord, May it continue to be so. Amen.
And who are protestants?
CHRISTIANS!
Personally, I don't consider a Christian church that doesn't kiss snakes to be a real church at all.
No.. Christian thelogy is specific and well documented, and existed well before protestantism.
And the doctrines contradict protestanism.
The proper term is protestant, not Christian. To call it Christian is to redefine what Christianity is.
If anything, protestantism is a "daughter" of Christianity.
BTTT
Thanks for the PING. Great article!
ping
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