Secularists believe that they have the right view of America. They are convinced that America should be a secular state or a godless state. They believe that religion was not a decisive factor in the formation of the Constitution of the United States and therefore, this proves that the framers of the Constitution did not want religion to influence public policy. Simply put, politics and religion don't mix. Government and religion should be kept as far apart as possible. There are several historical "facts" secularists use to support their views. Apparently, one of the most important historical facts is the absence of the word "God" in the U.S. Constitution. To secularists, the absence of the word "God" is extremely significant. Indeed, it has a deep, almost mystical significance to them. It suggests that the framers of the Constitution had little or no interest in religion. Secularists are convinced that the absence of the word "God" proves that there should be a strict separation of church and state in the United States.
The purpose of this article is to argue that the conclusions reached by the secularists goes far beyond what the historical evidence will allow and to offer some reasons for why the word "God" does not appear in the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution and the First Amendment.
The U.S. Constitution Before and After Charles Darwin
Most people would not consider Charles Darwin to be someone important in order to understand the U.S. Constitution. Most people would consider the writings of men like John Locke, Blackstone and James Madison as important in order to understand the Constitution. Obviously, these men had a great influence on the Constitution. But there is a sense in which Charles Darwin is more important than all of them. Charles Darwin, the author of The Origin of Species (1859) had a profound impact on the U.S. Constitution. In fact, a case could be made that he has had a greater or equal impact on the Constitution than the delegates at the constitutional convention! The reason is simple. Charles Darwin changed the way we see the Constitution. For better or for worse, the way many Americans see the Constitution today is very different from the time before Darwin. The dominant legal philosophy in the United States today is secularism. The U.S. Constitution is seen today as a "secular" document. This is what Charles Darwin gave us. Charles Darwin gave us secularism. Secularism as a philosophy is based on the principle that there is an alternative explanation for the existence of the Universe. Secularists believe that only scientific evolution is valid. They are not atheists as often claimed. Many secularists believe in God. However, secularists believe that in terms of the government, it does not matter whether God exists or not. The impact of secularism on the Constitution was revolutionary. Secularists read the Constitution in a way that is totally foreign to its framers. In a nutshell, secularists think that religion was not important to the framers of the Constitution. As one of their writers said concerning the majority of the delegates at Philadelphia: ". . . most were men who could take their religion or leave it alone." Note 1.
To the framers of the Constitution, the idea of having a government not based on God would have been unthinkable. It is important to remember that when the Constitution was written, the only possible explanation for the existence of the Universe was special creation. Therefore, all of the delegates at the Philadelphia convention were creationist. This is the reason the framers did not create a "secular" state in the modern sense of the term. Indeed, the concept of "secularism" as it is used today didn't even exist in 1787. It is largely a twentieth century concept. Since the framers of our Constitution predated Darwin and the theory of evolution, the desire to have a "secular" state would have made as much sense to them as Egyptian hieroglyphics. It is only with the advent of Darwin and an alternative explanation for the existence of the Universe that a secular state becomes desirable. There were atheists in 1787 to be sure but they lacked a coherent scientific explanation for the existence of the Universe.
At the same time, the framers of our Constitution did not want America to become a theocracy. They did not believe in a theocratic state. The framers of our Constitution did not want clergymen to pick the Presidents and set government policy. However, this is not to say that they saw no role for religion in government. The framers most certainly did believe that religion and religious values should influence the government and its policies. George Washington's first Proclamation as President made this abundantly clear. On the day that Congress finished its work on the First Amendment, it called on President George Washington to issue a Proclamation to the people of the United States to thank God for the freedoms we enjoy. A week and a day later the President's opening paragraph in his Proclamation said: "Whereas 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 . . ." Note 2. The words "to obey His will" are fatal to any suggestion that George Washington and the framers of our Constitution believed in "secularism." In America, religious values influence government policy through the vote of the people.
The rise of modern secularism made the debate about the word "God" in the Constitution very intense. It was not until the legal community in the United States adopted secularism that the absence of the word "God" took on the kind of significance it has today. It is true that before the rise of modern secularism some Americans objected to the fact that the word "God" was not in the Constitution. There were suggestions to amend the Constitution to add it. There were efforts to add "Almighty God" and "Jesus Christ" to the Preamble for example. Some members of Congress suggested that "In the Name of God" should be inserted before the Preamble. As early as the time of the Civil War, Americans have been trying to amend the Constitution to add some sort of reference to God. These efforts did not get very far with the public. Thankfully, Americans were content with the Constitution the way it was. However, in all of these early debates about whether the word "God" should be added to the Constitution, the debate was between one group of creationist verses another. Almost no believed that the United States was a godless country just because the word "God" was not in the Constitution. Today, this is no longer true. Today the fight is between creationist and evolutionist. Secularists insist that the absence of the word "God" means that the Constitution created a godless government in America.
Secularists are very quick to point out that the word "God" does not appear in the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution. They claim that this is highly significant. It proves that the United States should not be 'under God' in their opinion. Of course, they are correct in one point. The word "God" does not appear in the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution or anywhere else. However, it is doubtful that this fact has the kind of significance they claim it has. Generally, the word "God" will appear in two places in most constitutions. The first place is in the preamble to the constitution. The second place is in the religion clauses in the bill of rights. For example, the word "God" appears in the preamble in eight state constitutions. In four states, the "Supreme Ruler of the Universe" is used instead. By far, the most popular divine reference in a preamble is "Almighty God." This appears in the preamble of 30 state constitutions. In some states, the state constitution does not have a preamble. However, a divine reference can be found in the religion clauses in the bill of rights in each instance. There is only one state constitution which has a preamble that does not have a divine reference of any kind. This is the Constitution of Oregon. But here the words "Almighty God" appear in the state religion clauses. In the case of the U.S. Constitution however, no divine reference appears in either the Preamble or in the religion clauses in the First Amendment. Why is this true?
The most likely reason why the word "God" does not appear in the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution is textual. The Preamble to the U.S. Constitution is modeled after the Preamble in the Articles of Confederation. Since the Articles of Confederation did not use the word "God" in the Preamble, this is the most likely reason it does not appear in the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution. The Preamble in the Articles of Confederation began by listing all 13 states. It began as follows: "Articles of Confederation and perpetual union between New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, etc. . . . and Georgia." When the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution was first drafted, this was the model that was used. Later, as the constitutional convention was coming to a close, a short form was agreed to. The 13 states were dropped in favor of the much simpler form We the People.Thus, rather than trying to establish a radical godless state, the most likely reason the word "God" does not appear in the Preamble was because the Articles of Confederation did not have it. It is doubtful that anyone in 1787 could have foreseen the development of radical secularists groups like the ACLU and their 'spin' on the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution.
The most likely reason why the word "God" does not appear in the First Amendment is textual as well. Here however the textual reason is due to the subject matter of the First Amendment. The religion clauses in the First Amendment are very different from the religion clauses in most state constitutions. The subject of the religion clauses in the First Amendment is the government or "Congress." This is not the case with most state constitutions. In most state constitutions the subject is the individual. This difference in the subject matter is the reason the word "God" does not appear in the First Amendment's religion clauses. Let's compare the religion clauses in the First Amendment with the most popular religion clause used in the United States. Most states copy from the religion clauses found in the Pennsylvania Constitution. In particular, the first sentence appears in many state constitutions which says: "All men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences . . . " The subject of the clause is clear. It is "All men." The New Hampshire Constitution which copied from Pennsylvania uses' better wording. It says "Every individual . . ." In either case, the individual is the subject of the clause. Thus, a major difference between the religion clauses in the First Amendment and most state constitutions are their points of view. The First Amendment was written from the point of view of the government. Most state constitutions were written from the point of view of the individual. In addition, the religion clause in the Pennsylvania Constitution protects a "natural right" of an individual to worship "Almighty God" according to conscience. Since the focus of the religion clause is on the "right" of an individual, the word "God" naturally appears. This is not the case with the First Amendment. Here the focus is on the role of the government. There are two religion clauses in the First Amendment. They consist of 16 words as follows: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . . " The first clause is known as the Establishment Clause. The second clause is known as the Free Exercise Clause. The subject of the First Amendment is clearly the "Congress." The purpose of the First Amendment is to bar the Federal Government from interfering with the freedom of religion in the United States. Congress may not establish a religion or prohibit the free exercise of religion in America. Since the purpose of the First Amendment is to stop any abuse by the Federal Government against religion, this explains why the words "God" "natural right" "worship" or "conscience" do not appear. Rather than trying to promote a radical secularist philosophy, the most likely reason the framers did not use the word "God" in the First Amendment is because the subject is Congress.
The mistake modern secularists make is obvious. They take a twentieth century concept like "secularism" and read it back into the Constitution. They take a concept that didn't even exist in the eighteenth century and attribute it to the framers of the Constitution. Unfortunately, this is a very common mistake. The fact that the word "God" does not appear in the Constitution means little. It is actually a rather shallow observation. The reality is "God" is in every word of the Constitution, including the punctuation. Below the surface of the words in the Constitution, there are a mountain of ideas that made its formation possible. The belief that God exists and that all nations of the world are subject to Him sits on the summit of that mountain. As the Supreme Court of Florida said in 1950: "Different species of democracy have existed for more than 2,000 years, but democracy as we know it has never existed among the unchurched. A people unschooled about the sovereignty of God, the ten commandments and the ethics of Jesus, could never have evolved the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. There is not one solitary fundamental principle of our democratic policy that did not stem directly from the basic moral concepts as embodied in the Decalog and the ethics of Jesus . . . No one knew this better than the Founding Fathers." Note 3.
Special Note: Even if the word "God" was in the Constitution it probably would not make any difference. Secularist groups like the ACLU would probably dismiss it as a mere formality. There are 50 reasons to believe that this is true. Since secularists dismiss all references to God in the state constitutions, there is no reason to believe that they would behave any differently with the federal Constitution. Their commitment to secularism will not allow for the possibility that they might be wrong. Interestingly, in 1915 there was one state supreme court which said that the reference to "in the year of our Lord" in the U.S. Constitution was a reference to Jesus Christ! Note 4.
For a more in-depth discussion of how monotheism and the Ten Commandments influenced the U.S. Constitution read new my booklet: "The Ten Commandments For Beginners." Visit: www.mytencommandments.us for ordering information.
Notes.
1. Clinton Rossiter, 1787, The Grand Convention, pg. 126 (1966).
2. Vol 1. Messages and Papers of the Presidents, p. 64 (1896).
3. State v. City of Tampa, 48 So. 2d 78 (1950).
4. Herold v Parish Board of School Directors, 136 L.R. 1034 at 1044 (1915).
You ask in this thread where is GOD in the Constitution. Here is my answer, it is not based on any actual writings or lofty words. HE is in every thought,letter,word, syllable in that document. HIS essence is everywhere we look for HIM. Is this country from HIS ideas...........
YOU BET YOUR SOUL ON IT!
What follows is
only a partial list of religious references in places and events that have defined American history.
Christopher Columbus set sail `by the Grace of God' with the `hope[] that by God's assistance some of the continents and islands in the oceans will be discovered.' Rector v. Holy Trinity Church, 143 U.S. 457, 465-66 (1892).
Virginia's first charter granted by King James I commenced with the words: `We, greatly commending, and graciously accepting of, their Desires for the Furtherance of so noble a Work, which may, by the Providence of Almighty God, hereafter tend to the Glory of his Divine Majesty, in propagating of Christian Religion to such People, as yet live in Darkness and miserable Ignorance of the true knowledge and Worship of God, and may in time bring . . . a settled and quiet Government. . . .' Rector v. Holy Trinity Church, 143 U.S. 457, 466 (1892).
On November 11, 1620, prior to embarking for the shores of America, the Pilgrims signed the Mayflower Compact that declared: `Having undertaken, for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honour of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the first Colony in the northern Parts of Virginia; Do by these Presents, solemnly and mutually, in the Presence of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick, for our better Ordering and Preservation, and Furtherance of the Ends aforesaid.' Rector v. Holy Trinity Church, 143 U.S. 457, 466 (1892).
The Massachusetts 1629 charter declared, `[O]ur said people . . . be so religiously, peaceably, and civilly governed as their good life and orderly conversation may win and incite the natives . . . to the knowledge and obedience of the only true God and Savior of mankind, and the Christian faith, which . . . is the principal end of this plantation.' Documents of American History 18 (Henry Steele Commager ed., Meredith Publishing Co. 7th ed. 1963).
In the charter of privileges granted William Penn to Pennsylvania in 1701, it is recited, `Because no People can be truly happy, though under the greatest Enjoyment of Civil Liberties, if abridged of the Freedom of their Consciences, as to their Religious Profession and Worship; And Almighty God being the only Lord of Conscience, Father of Lights and Spirits; and the Author as well as Object of all divine Knowledge, Faith, and Worship, who only doth enlighten the Minds, and persuade and convince the Understandings of People, I do hereby grant and declare. . . .' Rector v. Holy Trinity Church, 143 U.S. 457, 467 (1892).
The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut explained that the document had been created, `[W]ell knowing where a people are gathered together the word of God requires that to maintain the peace and union of such a people, there should be an orderly and decent government established according to God.' Rector v. Holy Trinity Church, 143 U.S. 457, 467 (1892); John Fiske, The Beginnings of New England 127-28 (Boston, Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1898).
Alexander Hamilton stated, `No human laws are of any validity if contrary to [the law dictated by God Himself].' Alexander Hamilton, Signer of the Constitution, Papers of Alexander Hamilton, Vol. I, at 87 (Harold C. Syrett ed., Columbia Univ. Press 1961) (quoting William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England, Vol I, at 41).
Alexander Hamilton also explained, `Natural liberty is a gift of the beneficent Creator to the whole human race, and that civil liberty is founded in that, and cannot be wrested from any people without the most manifest violation of justice.' Alexander Hamilton, The Farmer Refuted (February 23, 1775), in 1 The Papers of Alexander Hamilton 104 (H. Syrett ed. 1961).
In our Declaration of Independence, the Founders based their right to `dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another' on the `Laws of Nature and of Nature's God.' They then declared, `We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.' They ended, `We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America, . . . appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World . . . do, . . . with a firm Reliance on the Protection of divine Providence, . . . pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.' The Declaration of Independence (1776).
John Witherspoon, who signed the Declaration of Independence, stated, `God grant that in America true religion and civil liberty may be inseparable and that the unjust attempts to destroy the one may in the issue tend to the support and establishment of both.' John Witherspoon, Signer of the Declaration, The Works of John Witherspoon, Vol. IX, at 231 (Edinburgh, J. Ogle) (1815).
The Manifesto of the Continental Congress appealed, `to the God who searcheth the hearts of men for the rectitude of our intentions; and in His holy presence declare that, as we are not moved by any light or hasty suggestions of anger or revenge . . . adhere to this our determination.' 4 Samuel Adams, The Writings of Samuel Adams 86 (Harry Alonzo Cushing ed., G.P. Putnam's Sons 1904).
George Washington used the phrase `under God' in several of his orders to the Continental Army. On one occasion he wrote that `The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and conduct of this army.' See American Center Law and Justice Position Paper on the Pledge of Allegiance, available at http://www.aclj.org/resources/pledge/pledge--postition--paper.pdf. On another occasion, Washington encouraged his army, declaring that `the peace and safety of this country depends, under God, solely on the success of our arms.' 3 The Writings of George Washington 301 (John C. Fitzpatrick ed., 1931-1944).
In 1781, Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence and later the Nation's third President, in his work titled `Notes on the State of Virginia' wrote, `God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the Gift of God. That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot sleep forever.' Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, Query XVIII 169 (Penguin Books 1999) (1785).
The formal peace treaty with Great Britain, signed by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and John Jay on September 3, 1783, in its opening line invoked God with the words, `In the Name of the most Holy and undivided Trinity.' 2 Treaties and Other International Acts of the United States of America 151 (Hunter Miller ed., Gov't Printing Office 1931).
James Madison's Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments: `It is the duty of every man to render to the Creator such homage, and such only, as he believes to be acceptable to him. This duty is precedent both in order of time and degree of obligation, to the claims of Civil Society. Before any man can be considered as a member of Civil Society, he must be considered as a subject of the Governor of the Universe[.]' James Madison, Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments Sec. 1 (1785).
On May 14, 1787, George Washington, as President of the Constitutional Convention, rose to admonish and exhort the delegates and declared, `If to please the people we offer what we ourselves disapprove, how can we afterward 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!' 4 U.S.C.A. Sec. 4 (West Supp. 2003) (historical notes). Five weeks later, on June 28, with Convention delegates `groping . . . in the dark to find political truth,' Benjamin Franklin pondered `applying to the Father of lights to illuminate our understandings,' famously recalling that, during the Revolutionary War, God had `heard, and . . . graciously answered' the `daily prayer in this room for the divine protection.' 1 Max Farrand, The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787, at 451 (rev. ed. 1966).
Benjamin Rush said at the ratifying convention, `Where there is no religion, there will be no morals.' Benjamin Rush, Speech in Pennsylvania Ratifying Convention (Dec. 12, 1787), reprinted in Merrill Jensen, ed., 2 Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution 595 (1976).
Benjamin Franklin wrote, `Freedom is not a gift bestowed upon us by other men, but a right that belongs to us by the laws of God.' Benjamin Franklin, Maxims and Morals (1789).
Rufus King, who signed the Constitution, stated, `The . . . law established by the Creator, which has existed from the beginning, extends over the whole globe, is everywhere and at all times binding upon mankind . . . [This] law is the law of God by which he makes his way known to man and is paramount to all human control.' Rufus King, Signer of the Constitution, The Life and Correspondence of Rufus King, Vol. VI, at 276 (Charles King ed., G.P. Putnam's Sons 1900).
James Wilson, another signer of the Constitution, stated `God . . . is the promulgator as well as the author of natural law.' James Wilson, signer of the Constitution, U.S. Supreme Court Justice, The Works of the Honourable James Wilson, Vol I, at 64 (Bird Wilson ed., Philadelphia, Lorenzo Press 1804). He also stated `All [laws], however, may be arranged in two different classes: (1) Divine. (2) Human . . . But it should always be remembered that this law, natural and revealed, made for men or for nations, flows from the same Divine source: it is the law of God . . . Human law must rest its authority ultimately upon the authority of that law which is Divine.' Id. at 103-05.
And Gouvernor Morris stated, `I believe that religion is the only solid base of morals and that morals are the only possible support of free governments.' Gouvernor Morris, Penman and Signer of the Constitution, A Diary of the French Revolution, Vol II, at 452 (Boston, Houghton Mifflin 1939).
Article VII in the U.S. Constitution refers to `the Year of Our Lord,' 1787. U.S. Const. art. VII.
On July 21, 1789, on the same day that it approved the Establishment Clause concerning religion, the First Congress of the United States also passed the Northwest Ordinance, providing for a territorial government for lands northwest of the Ohio River, which declared, `Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.' The Northwest Ordinance, 1 Stat. 51 (1789).
The Father of the Country, George Washington, acknowledged on many occasions the role of Divine Providence in the Nation's affairs. His first inaugural address is replete with references to God, including thanksgivings and supplications: `Such being the impressions under which I have, in obedience to the public summons, repaired to the present station, it would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official act my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the universe, who presides in the councils of nations, and whose providential aids can supply every human defect, that His benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the people of the United States a government instituted by themselves for these essential purposes, and may enable every instrument employed in its administration to execute with success the functions allotted to his charge. In tendering this homage to the Great Author of every public and private good, I assure myself that it expresses your sentiments not less than my own, nor those of my fellow-citizens at large less than either. No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than those of the United States.' Speeches of the American Presidents 3 (Steven Anzovin & Janet Podell eds., The H.W. Wilson Co. 1988).
President Washington noted in his Farewell Address that `reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.' Speeches of the American Presidents 18 (Steven Anzovin & Janet Podell eds., The H.W. Wilson Co. 1988).
John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, stated, `The . . . natural law was given by the Sovereign of the Universe to all mankind.' John Jay, First Chief Justice, The Life of John Jay, Vol II, at 385, William Jay, editor (New York., J & J Harper, 1833).
The Virginia Act for Religious Freedom provides `Whereas, Almighty God hath created the mind free.' Va. Code Ann. Sec. 57-1 (West 2003). The Act continues by stating that any attempt by the government to influence the mind through coercion is `a departure from the plan of the Holy Author of our religion, who, being Lord both of body and mind, yet chose not to propagate it by coercions on either, as was in his Almighty power to do . . .' Va. Code Ann. 57-1 (West 2003).
Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story stated, `The promulgation of the great doctrines of religion; the being and attributes and providence of one Almighty God; the responsibility to Him for all actions; founded upon moral freedom and accountability; a future state of rewards and punishments; the cultivation of personal, social, and benevolent virtues;--these can never be a matter of indifference in any well-ordered community. It is, indeed, difficult to conceive how any civilized society can well exist without them.' Joseph Story, U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States, Vol. III, at 722-23 (Boston, Hillard, Gray & Co.) (1833). `It yet remains a problem to be solved in human affairs whether any free government can be permanent where no public worship of God and the support of religion constitute no part of the policy or duty of the state in any assignable shape.' Id. at 727.
As John Quincy Adams, the fifth President of the United States, explained in his famous oration, `The Jubilee of the Constitution': `[T]he virtue which had been infused into the Constitution of the United States . . . was no other than the concretion of those abstract principles which had been first proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence--namely, the self-evident truths of the natural and unalienable rights of man . . . always subordinate to the rule of right and wrong, and always responsible to the Supreme Ruler of the universe for the rightful exercise of that . . . power . . . This was the platform upon which the Constitution of the United States had been erected.' John Quincy Adams, The Jubilee of the Constitution 54. He continued that `The laws of nature and of nature's God' . . . of course presupposes the existence of God, the moral ruler of the universe, and a rule of right and wrong, of just and unjust, binding upon man, preceding all institutions of human society and of government.' Id. at 3-14.
Robert Winthrop, U.S. Speaker of the House in 1849, stated: `All societies of men must be governed in some way or other . . . Men, in a word, must necessarily be controlled, either by a power within them, or a power without them; either by the word of God, or by the strong arm of man; either by the Bible, or by the bayonet.' Gary North & Gary DeMar, Christian Reconstruction: What It Is, What It Isn't 188 (1991).
On November 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln delivered his Gettysburg Address on the site of the battle and declared, `It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us--that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion--that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain--that this Nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom--and that Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.' Speeches of the American Presidents 193 (Steven Anzovin & Janet Podell eds., The H.W. Wilson Co. 1988). (There are 14 references to God in the 669 words comprising the Gettysburg Address.)
President Franklin D. Roosevelt said, `In teaching this democratic faith to American children, we need the sustaining, buttressing aid of those great ethical religious teachings which are the heritage of our modern civilization. For `not upon strength nor upon power, but upon the spirit of God' shall our democracy be founded.' Public Papers of the Presidents, F.D. Roosevelt, 1940, Item 149, Office of Fed. Reg. (2003).
On April 28, 1952, in the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in Zorach v. Clauson, 343 U.S. 306 (1952), in which school children were allowed to be excused from public schools for religious observances and education, Justice William O. Douglas, in writing for the Court, stated:
The First Amendment, however, does not say that in every and all respects there shall be a separation of Church and State. Rather, it studiously defines the manner, the specific ways, in which there shall be no concert or union or dependency one on the other. That is the common sense of the matter. Otherwise the state and religion would be aliens to each other--hostile, suspicious, and even unfriendly. Churches could not be required to pay even property taxes. Municipalities would not be permitted to render police or fire protection to religious groups. Policemen who helped parishioners into their places of worship would violate the Constitution. Prayers in our legislative halls; the appeals to the Almighty in the messages of the Chief Executive; the proclamations making Thanksgiving Day a holiday; `so help me God' in our courtroom oaths--these and all other references to the Almighty that run through our laws, our public rituals, our ceremonies would be flouting the First Amendment. A fastidious atheist or agnostic could even object to the supplication with which the Court opens each session: `God save the United States and this Honorable Court.'Zorach
v. Clauson, 343 U.S. 306, 312-13 (1952).
President Kennedy exhorted, `The world is very different now . . . And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe--the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God. With good conscience as our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God's work must truly be our own.' Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421, 448 (1962) (dissenting opinion) (discussing quotes from Presidents Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Lincoln, Cleveland, Wilson, Roosevelt, Eisenhower and Kennedy).
In the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in Abington School District v. Schempp, 374 U.S. 203 (1963), in which compulsory school prayer was held unConstitutional, Justices Goldberg and Harlan, concurring in the decision, stated:
But untutored devotion to the concept of neutrality can lead to invocation or approval of results which partake not simply of that noninterference and noninvolvement with the religious which the Constitution commands, but of a brooding and pervasive devotion to the secular and a passive, or even active, hostility to the religious. Such results are not only not compelled by the Constitution, but, it seems to me, are prohibited by it. Neither government nor this Court can or should ignore the significance of the fact that a vast portion of our people believe in and worship God and that many of our legal, political, and personal values derive historically from religious teachings. Government must inevitably take cognizance of the existence of religion and, indeed, under certain circumstances the First Amendment may require that it do so.
Abington School District
v.
Schempp, 374 U.S. 203, 306 (1963) (Goldberg, J.,
concurring).
Justice Brennan, in Abington School District v. Schempp, 374 U.S. 203, 304 (1963), offered, `The reference to divinity in the revised pledge of allegiance, for example, may merely recognize the historical fact that our Nation was believed to have been founded `under God.' Thus reciting the pledge may be no more of a religious exercise than the reading aloud of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, which contains an allusion to the same historical fact.'
On March 5, 1984, in the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in Lynch v. Donnelly, 465 U.S. 668, 674-77 (1984), in which a city government's display of a nativity scene was held to be Constitutional, Chief Justice Burger, writing for the Court, stated:
There is an unbroken history of official acknowledgment by all three branches of government of the role of religion in American life from at least 1789 . . . [E]xamples of reference to our religious heritage are found in the statutorily prescribed national motto `In God We Trust,' which Congress and the President mandated for our currency, [see 31 U.S.C. Sec. 5112(d)(1) (1982),] and in the language `One Nation under God,' as part of the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag. That pledge is recited by thousands of public school children--and adults--every year . . . Art galleries supported by public revenues display religious paintings of the 15th and 16th centuries, predominantly inspired by one religious faith. The National Gallery in Washington, maintained with Government support, for example, has long exhibited masterpieces with religious messages, notably the Last Supper, and paintings depicting the Birth of Christ, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection, among many others with explicit Christian themes and messages. The very chamber in which oral arguments on this case were heard is decorated with a notable and permanent--not seasonal--symbol of religion: Moses with Ten Commandments. Congress has long provided chapels in the Capitol for religious worship and meditation.
On June 4, 1985, in the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in Wallace v. Jaffree, 472 U.S. 38 (1985), in which a mandatory moment of silence to be used for meditation or voluntary prayer was held unConstitutional, Justice O'Connor, concurring in the judgment and addressing the contention that the Court's holding would render the Pledge of Allegiance unConstitutional because Congress amended it in 1954 to add the words `under God,' stated, `In my view, the words `under God' in the Pledge, as codified at 36 U.S.C. Sec. 172, serve as an acknowledgment of religion with `the legitimate secular purposes of solemnizing public occasions, [and] expressing confidence in the future.' Wallace v. Jaffree, 472 U.S. 38, 78 n.5 (1985) (O'Connor, J., concurring).
On November 20, 1992, the United States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, in Sherman v. Community Consolidated School District 21, 980 F.2d 437 (7th Cir. 1992), held that a school district's policy for voluntary recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance including the words `under God' was Constitutional.
In President Bush's 2003 State of the Union address, he ended with these words: `Americans are a free people, who know that freedom is the right of every person and the future of every nation. The liberty we prize is not America's gift to the world; it is God's gift to humanity. We Americans have faith in ourselves, but not in ourselves alone. . . . We do not claim to know all the ways of Providence, yet we can trust in them, placing our confidence in the loving God behind all of life and all of history. May He guide us now, and may God continue to bless the United States of America.' Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, Vol. 39, No. 5, at 116 (Office of the Federal Register, February 3, 2003).
God is Recognized in Our Highest Federal Offices and National Monuments
The First Congress not only acknowledged a proper role for religion in public life, but it did so at the very time it drafted the Establishment Clause. Just 3 days before Congress sent the text of the First Amendment to the states for ratification, it authorized the appointment of legislative chaplains. Marsh v. Chambers, 463 U.S. 783, 788 (1983).
Both Houses of Congress open their daily sessions with prayer and, in recent years, recitation of the Pledge. See Senate Rule IV.1, Standing Rules of the Senate, S. Doc. No. 107-1, at 4 (2002); House Rule XIV.1, Constitution, Jefferson's Manual, and Rules of the House of Representatives, H.R. Doc. No. 106-320, at 620 (2001).
Manifestations of the religious faith of our forebears appear throughout the Nation's Capital. The Senate Chamber is inscribed with the words `In God We Trust' and the Latin phrase `Annuit Coeptis' or `God has favored our undertakings.' S. Doc. No. 82-20, at 27 (1951); 4 U.S.C.A. Sec. 4 (West Supp. 2003) (historical notes). The Main Reading Room of the Library of Congress prominently displays the Biblical quotation: `The heavens declare the Glory of God, and the firmament showeth His handiwork' (Psalms 19:1). John Y. Cole, On These Walls 35 (1995). Friezes on the North and South walls of the Supreme Court chamber depict a procession of historical lawgivers including Moses and Confucius. See County of Allegheny v. ACLU, 492 U.S. 573, 652-53 (1989) (Stevens, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part).
In the Rotunda of the Capitol Building, there are paintings with religious themes, such as the Apotheosis of Washington, depicting the ascent of George Washington into Heaven, and the Baptism of Pocahontas, portraying Pocahontas being baptized by an Anglican minister. A wall in the Cox Corridor of the Capitol is inscribed with this line from Katharyn Lee Bates's Hymn, America the Beautiful, `America! God shed his grace on Thee, and crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea.' In the prayer room of the House chamber, is inscribed the following prayer `preserve me, O God--for in thee do I put my trust.'
On July 20, 1956, Congress proclaimed that the national motto of the United States is `In God We Trust,' and that motto is inscribed above the main door of the Senate, behind the Chair of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and on the currency of the United St ates. 4 U.S.C. Sec. 4 (1998) (historical notes) (Congressional finding (10)).
Virtually every President in the past thirty years has closed his speeches to the nation with the words `God bless America.'
The Supreme Court opens each session with `God save the United States and this Honorable Court.' See Zorach v. Clauson, 343 U.S. 306, 313 (1952).
The very chamber in which oral arguments are heard before the Supreme Court `is decorated with a notable and permanent--not seasonal--symbol of religion: Moses with Ten Commandments.' Lynch v. Donnelly, 465 U.S. 668, 677 (1984).
Our courtrooms include the oath, `so help me God.' Zorach v. Clauson, 343 U.S. 306, 313 (1952).
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is engraved with the words: `Here rests in honored glory an American soldier known but to God.' See Lieutenant Colonel H. Wayne Elliott, The Third Priority: The Battlefield Dead, 1996 Army Law. 3, 20.
Arlington National Cemetery maintains thousands of religious inscriptions on state-owned property.
Our National holidays (`holy days') include Christmas (Christ Mass), Thanksgiving and the National Day of Prayer. Lynch v. Donnelly, 465 U.S. 668, 676 (1952). Our children celebrate St. Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day in school. St. Valentine was a Christian martyr. St. Patrick was a Catholic bishop. St. Patrick, Encarta Encyclopedia (2003). The three leaf clover represents the Holy Trinity. Id. `Santa Claus' is derived from St. Nicholas (`Santa' means `saint' and `Claus' is short for `Nicolaus'), the archbishop of Myra, known for distributing his inherited wealth to the needy by anonymously throwing bags of gold coins through windows. Santa Claus, Encarta Encyclopedia (2003).
Our cities bear religious names, such as St. Petersburg, San Francisco, Los Angeles, St. Paul, St. Augustine, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, San Diego, Santa Fe (`Holy Faith').
Some of our most patriotic songs, such as `God Bless America' affirm a belief in God. The fourth stanza of the statutorily prescribed National Anthem includes in part the following, `Blest with victory and peace, may the heaven-rescued land, Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation. Then conquer we must, when our cause is just, And this be our motto: `in God is our trust.' See 36 U.S.C. Sec. 301(a).
Art galleries subsidized by public revenues display religious paintings. Lynch v. Donnelly, 465 U.S. 668, 676 (1952).
Our churches and clergymen enjoy tax exemptions. Walz v. Tax Comm'n of the City of New York, 397 U.S. 664, 679-80 (1970).
RECOGNITION OF GOD IN STATE CONSTITUTIONS
In addition, several of the States explicitly provided for religious education in their State Constitutions.
The Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776, for example, provided that `all religious societies or bodies of men heretofore united or incorporated for the advancement of religion or learning . . . shall be encouraged and protected.' Pa. Const. of 1776, Sec. 45.
The Vermont Constitution provides that `all religious societies or bodies of men that have or may be hereafter united and incorporated, for the advancement of religion and learning, shall be encouraged and protected.' Vt. Const. of 1777, Ch. II Sec. XLI.
The Massachusetts Constitution provides: `The people of this Commonwealth have the right to invest their legislature with power to authorize and require . . . the several towns . . . or religious societies to make suitable provision at their own expense . . . for the support and maintenance of public protestant teachers of piety, religion and morality.' Mass. Const. of 1780, Pt. I Sec. 3.
New Hampshire's Constitution authorized the legislature to `make adequate provision at their own expense for the support and maintenance of public protestant teachers of piety, religion and morality' because `morality and piety . . . will give the best and security to government . . .' N.H. Const. of 1784, Pt. I Sec. 5.
The Nebraska Constitution provides that `Religion, morality, and knowledge, however, being essential to good government, it shall be the duty of the Legislature . . . to encourage schools and the means of instruction.' Nebr. Const. Art. 1, Sec. 4.
Further, every one of the original States, and nearly every one of the current fifty, continues to acknowledge God in its Constitution.
The preamble to California's Constitution is typical: `We, the people of California, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, in order to secure and perpetuate its blessings, do establish this Constitution.' Cal. Const. of 1879, Preamble, reprinted in Francis Newton Thorpe, 1 The Federal and State Constitutions 412 (William S. Hein & Co. 1993) (1909).
The Massachusetts Constitution of 1780 provided for `public instructions in piety, religion and morality' because `the happiness of a people, and the good order and preservation of civil government, essentially depend upon . . . the public worship of God.' Mass. Const. of 1780, Pt. 1, Art. 3, reprinted in 1 Thorpe 1888, 1889-90. Although Massachusetts eliminated its established church in 1833, its Constitution continues to recognize that `the public worship of GOD and instructions in piety, religion and morality, promote the happiness and prosperity of a people and the security of a republican government.' Mass. Const., Amend. XI (ratified Nov. 11, 1833), reprinted in 3 Thorpe 1888, 1914, 1922.
Many of the state Constitutions recognize that the public worship of God is a duty of mankind, even while they expressly protect against formal sectarian establishments and provide for the free exercise of religion. See, e.g., Del. Const. of 1897, Art. I, Sec. 1, reprinted in 1 Thorpe 600, 601 (`Although it is the duty of all men frequently to assemble together for the public worship of Almighty God; . . . yet no man shall or ought to be compelled to attend any religious worship') (Virtually identical language first appeared in the Delaware Constitution of 1792, Art. 1, Sec. 1, reprinted in 1 Thorpe 568.); Md. Const. of 1970, Art. 36 (`That as it is the duty of every man to worship God in such manner as he thinks most acceptable to Him, all persons are equally entitled to protection in their religious liberty'); Mass. Const. of 1780, Pt. I, Art. II, reprinted in 3 Thorpe 1888, 1889 (`It is the right as well as the Duty of all men in society, publickly, and at stated seasons, to worship the Supreme Being, the great Creator and Preserver of the universe.').
Because of the mechanism by which new states are added to the national union, see U.S. Const., Art. IV, sec. 3, we can assess whether Congress viewed state Constitutional provisions that invoked God or encouraged public worship as contrary to the First Amendment.
The first Congress, comprised of the same elected officials who drafted the First Amendment, admitted Vermont as a new State, with a Constitution that provided: `every sect or denomination of Christians ought to observe the Sabbath or Lord's day, and keep up some sort of religious worship, which to them shall seem most agreeable to the revealed will of God.' Vt. Const. of 1786, Ch. 1, Art. 3, reprinted in 6 Thorpe 3749, 3752.
If one looks instead to the time period of the adoption of the 14th Amendment (which is the more relevant time period, given that the 14th Amendment, via the Incorporation Doctrine, is the means by which the Supreme Court made the Establishment Clause applicable to the states), the same holds true.
Nebraska's Constitution of 1866 contains the following preamble: `We, the people of Nebraska, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, do establish this Constitution.' Nebr. Const. of 1866, Preamble, reprinted in 4 Thorpe 2349. Even more significantly, the Nebraska Bill of Rights, after recognizing freedom of conscience, contains the following passage, modeled after the Northwest Ordinance: `Religion, morality, and knowledge, however, being essential to good government, it shall be the duty of the legislature to pass suitable laws to protect every religious denomination in the peaceable enjoyment of its own mode of public worship and to encourage schools and the means of instruction.' Nebr. Const. of 1866, Art. I, sec. 16, reprinted in 4 Thorpe 2350. The language was repeated verbatim in the 1875 Constitution, after adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment. See Nebr. Const. of 1875, Art. 1, sec. 4, reprinted in 4 Thorpe 2361, 2362. These passages are particularly significant because the enabling act for Nebraska specifically required that the state's Constitution `shall not be repugnant to the Constitution of the United States and the principles of the Declaration of Independence,' and `that perfect toleration of religious sentiment shall be secured.' Enabling Act for Nebraska, 38th Cong., 1st Sess., sec. 4, reprinted in 4 Thorpe 2343, 2344.
Explicit religious invocations are also found in the `reconstruction' Constitutions of the southern states, adopted after passage of the Fourteenth Amendment by Congress as those states were petitioning the same Congress for readmission to the Union. Georgia's 1868 Constitution, for example, `acknowledg[es] and invok[es] the guidance of Almighty God, the author of all good government,' in its preamble, even while protecting `perfect freedom of religious sentiment.' Ga. Const. of 1868, Preamble; Art. I, sec. 6, reprinted in 2 Thorpe 822. The preamble to North Carolina's 1868 Constitution reads like a prayer: `[G]rateful to Almighty God, the sovereign ruler of nations, for the preservation of the American Union and the existence of our civil, political, and religious liberties, and acknowledging our dependence upon Him for the continuance of those blessings to us and our posterity.' N.C. Const. of 1868, Preamble, reprinted in 5 Thorpe 2800. See also, e.g., Va. Const. of 1870, Preamble, reprinted in 7 Thorpe 3871, 3873 (`invoking the favor and guidance of Almighty God'); Ala. Const. of 1867, Preamble, reprinted in 1 Thorpe 132 (same).
Thus Congress--the very Congress that adopted the Fourteenth Amendment--saw no Establishment Clause problem with state Constitutions that acknowledged God, gave thanks to God, and even encouraged the public worship of God, nor did it see such acknowledgments as inconsistent with the Free Exercise and Establishment clauses of the U.S. Constitution or with comparable clauses in the states' own Constitutions. Nor have subsequent Congresses or Presidents.
All of the states created out of the Dakota Territory in 1889 were admitted with Constitutions containing similar acknowledgments of God and similar prohibitions of establishment. The people of Idaho, for example, announced in their first Constitution that they were `grateful to Almighty God for [their] freedom,' even though the Constitution also provided that `no person shall be required to attend or support any ministry or place of worship, religious sect or denomination, or pay tithes against his consent.' Const. of 1889, Preamble; Art. 1, sec. 4, reprinted in 2 Thorpe 913, 918. Congress admitted Idaho to statehood on July 3, 1990, after finding that the proposed Constitution was `republican in form and . . . in conformity with the Constitution of the United States'--a Constitution that had included the Fourteenth Amendment for more than twenty years. See An Act to provide for the admission of the State of Idaho into the Union (July 3, 1890), reprinted in 2 Thorpe 913, 918. Wyoming's Constitution announced that its people were `grateful to God' for their `civil, political, and religious liberties,' even while it declared that `the free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship without discrimination or preference shall be forever guaranteed in this State.' Wy. Const. of 1889, Preamble; Art. 1, sec. 18, reprinted in 7 Thorpe 4118. Congress admitted Wyoming to statehood after finding that its Constitution was `in conformity with the Constitution of the United States.' Act of July 10, 1890, reprinted in 7 Thorpe 4111, 4112. Montana, South Dakota, and Washington were all admitted to statehood in 1889 by Presidential proclamation rather than directly by act of Congress. Before the President was authorized to issue the proclamation of statehood, however, he had to find that their Constitutions were `not repugnant to the Constitution of the United States and the principles of the Declaration of Independence.' See Act of Feb. 22, 1889, 25 Stat. 676. Montana's preamble expressed gratitude `to Almighty God for the blessings of liberty' even while the Constitution elsewhere barred `preference . . . to any religious denomination or mode of worship.' Mt. Const. of 1889, Preamble; Art. III, sec. 4, reprinted in 4 Thorpe 2300, 2301. President Benjamin Harrison found the Constitution consistent with the United States Constitution and proclaimed Montana a state on November 8, 1889. See Proclamation of Nov. 8, 1889, reprinted in 4 Thorpe 2299-2300. Similar provisions are found in the first Constitutions of South Dakota and Washington. S.D. Const. of 1889, Preamble and Art. VI, sec. 3, reprinted in 6 Thorpe 3357, 3370; Wash. Const. of 1889, Preamble and Art. I, sec. 11, reprinted in 7 Thorpe 3973, 3974. Both received Presidential approval. Proclamation of Nov. 2, 1889, reprinted in 6 Thorpe 3355-57 (admitting South Dakota to statehood); Proclamation of Nov. 11, 1889, reprinted in 7 Thorpe 3971-73 (admitting Washington to statehood).
The Utah Constitution of 1895 contained one of the most strongly-worded anti-establishment provisions: `The rights of conscience shall never be infringed. The State shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, . . . There shall be no union of church and state, nor shall any church dominate the State or interfere with its functions.' Utah Const. of 1895, Art. I, sec. 4, reprinted in 6 Thorpe 3702. Despite this strong anti-establishment language, the preamble of the same Constitution acknowledges that the people of Utah were `grateful to Almighty God for life and liberty.' Utah Const. of 1895, Preamble, reprinted in 6 Thorpe 3702. President Grover Cleveland accepted Utah to statehood after finding that `said Constitution is not repugnant to the Constitution of the United States and the Declaration of Independence.' Proclamation of January 4, 1896, reprinted in 6 Thorpe 3700. Neither the President nor Congress found such public acknowledgments of God to be contrary to the Establishment Clause, well after adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment.
THANKSGIVING PROCLAMATIONS HAVE RECOGNIZED GOD
On September 25, 1789, the First Congress unanimously approved a resolution calling on President George Washington to proclaim a National Day of Thanksgiving for the people of the United States by declaring, `a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging, with grateful hearts, the many favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a Constitution of government for their safety and happiness.' See Wallace v. Jaffree, 472 U.S. 38, 101 (1985) (Rehnquist, J., dissenting).
In Washington's Proclamation of a Day of National Thanksgiving, he wrote that 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. . . .' 30 The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources 1745-1799, at 427 (John C. Fitzpatrick ed., Gov't Printing Office 1939). His proclamation of a day of thanksgiving, which we still celebrate, is an elegant national prayer, requested by the very Congress that drafted the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment:
Whereas 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 Whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me `to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanks-giving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceable to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.' Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be. That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks, for his kind care and protection of the People of this country previous to their becoming a Nation, for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his providence, which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late ware, for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed, for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enabled to establish Constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted, for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us. And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions, to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually, to render our national government a blessing to all the People, by constantly being a government of wise, just and Constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed, to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shown kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord. To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease of science among them and us, and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.
30 The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources 1745-1799, at 427-28 (John C. Fitzpatrick ed., Gov't Printing Office 1939).
John Adams declared in 1799, `As no truth is more clearly taught in the Volume of Inspiration, nor any more fully demonstrated by the experience of all ages, than that a deep sense and due acknowledgment of the governing providence of a Supreme Being and of the Accountableness of men to Him as the searcher of heart and righteous distributor of rewards and punishments are conducive equally to the happiness and rectitude of individuals and to the well-being of communities . . . I do hereby recommend . . . to be observed throughout the United States as a day of solemn humiliation, fasting, and prayer. . . .' 9 The Works of John Adams 172 (Charles F. Adams ed., 1850-56) (reprint by Books for Librarians Press, 1969).
President James Madison, on July 9, 1812, proclaimed that the third Thursday in August `be set apart for the devout purposes of rendering the Sovereign of the Universe and the Benefactor of Mankind the public homage due to His holy attributes . . .' 2 James D. Richardson, A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents 498 (Bureau of National Literature, Inc.).
President James Madison, on March 4, 1815 declared `a day of thanksgiving and of devout acknowledgments to Almighty God for His great goodness manifested in restoring to them the blessing of peace. No people ought to feel greater obligations to celebrate the goodness of the Great Disposer of Events and of the Destiny of Nations than the people of the United States.' 2 James D. Richardson, A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents 546 (Bureau of National Literature, Inc.).
Andrew Johnson proclaimed `on the occasion of the obsequies of Abraham Lincoln, late President of the United States' that `a special period be assigned for again humbling ourselves before Almighty God. . . .' 8 James D. Richardson, A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents 3504 (Bureau of National Literature, Inc.) (Proclamation of April 25, 1865).
President Woodrow Wilson, on October 19, 1917, proclaimed that `Whereas, the Congress of the United States, . . . requested me to set apart by official proclamation a day upon which our people should be called upon to offer concerted prayer to Almighty God for His divine aid . . . And, Whereas, it behooves a great free people, nurtured as we have been in eternal principles of justice and of right, a nation which has sought from the earliest days of its existence to be obedient to the divine teachings which have inspired it in the exercise of its liberties, to turn always to the supreme Master and cast themselves in faith at His feet, praying for His aid and succor . . .' 17 James D. Richardson, A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents 8377 (Bureau of National Literature, Inc.) (Proclamation of Oct. 19, 1917).
President Roosevelt's 1944 Thanksgiving Proclamation declared: `[I]t is fitting that we give thanks with special fervor to our Heavenly Father for the mercies we have received individually and as a nation and for the blessings He has restored, through the victories of our arms and those of our Allies, to His children in other land . . . To the end that we may bear more earnest witness to our gratitude to Almighty God, I suggest a nationwide reading of the Holy Scriptures during the period from Thanksgiving to Christmas.' Lynch v. Donnelly, 465 U.S. 668, 675 n.3 (1984) (citing Proclamation No. 2629, 9 Fed. Reg. 13,099 (1944)).
Official announcements proclaiming Christmas, Thanksgiving, and other national holidays are, to this day, made in religious terms. President Bush, in his 2002 Thanksgiving Day Proclamation, stated, `We also thank God for the blessings of freedom and prosperity; and, with gratitude and humility, we acknowledge the importance of faith in our lives.' Weekly Compilation of Presidential Papers, Vol. 38, No. 47, at 2072 (November 25, 2002).
Recognition of God in the Presidential Oath of Office and Inaugural Addresses
Every President of the United States, since Washington, has taken the Oath of Office with his hand placed upon the Bible. See Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421, 436 (1962). Every President has ended his Oath with, `So help me, God.' Id. at 436.
Every President, without exception, has acknowledged God upon entering office:
George Washington, 1st, `that Almighty Being who rules over the universe . . .' Speeches of the American Presidents 3 (Steven Anzovin & Janet Podell eds., The H.W. Wilson Co. 1988).
John Adams, 2nd, `that Being who is supreme over all, the Patron of Order, the Fountain of Justice . . .' Speeches of the American Presidents 28 (Steven Anzovin & Janet Podell eds., The H.W. Wilson Co. 1988).
Thomas Jefferson, 3rd, `And may that Infinite Power which rules the destinies of the universe lead our councils to what is best, and give them a favorable issue for your peace and prosperity.' Speeches of the American Presidents 40 (Steven Anzovin & Janet Podell eds., The H.W. Wilson Co. 1988).
James Madison, 4th, `that Almighty Being whose power regulates the destiny of nations, whose blessings have been so conspicuously dispensed to this rising republic, and to whom we are bound to address our devout gratitude for the past, as well as our fervent supplications and best hopes for the future.' Speeches of the American Presidents 51 (Steven Anzovin & Janet Podell eds., The H.W. Wilson Co. 1988).
James Monroe, 5th, `with a firm reliance on the protection of Almighty God . . .' Speeches of the American Presidents 69 (Steven Anzovin & Janet Podell eds., The H.W. Wilson Co. 1988).
John Quincy Adams, 6th, `knowing that `except the Lord keep the city the watchman waketh but in vain' with fervent supplications for His favor. . . .' Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States, S. Doc. No. 101-10, at 60 (1989).
Andrew Jackson, 7th, `my most fervent prayer to that Almighty Being before whom I now stand . . .' Speeches of the American Presidents 95 (Steven Anzovin & Janet Podell eds., The H.W. Wilson Co. 1988).
Martin Van Buren, 8th, `the Divine Being whose strengthening support I humbly solicit, and whom I fervently pray to look down upon us all.' Speeches of the American Presidents 108 (Steven Anzovin & Janet Podell eds., The H.W. Wilson Co. 1988).
William Henry Harrison, 9th, `the Beneficent Creator has made no distinction amongst men . . .' Speeches of the American Presidents 116 (Steven Anzovin & Janet Podell eds., The H.W. Wilson Co. 1988).
John Tyler, 10th, `the all-wise and all-powerful Being who made me . . .' 4 James D. Richardson, A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents 1890 (Bureau of National Literature, Inc.).
James Polk, 11th, `I fervently invoke the aid of that Almighty Ruler of the Universe in whose hands are the destinies of nations and of men . . .' Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States, S. Doc. No. 101-10, at 100 (1989).
Zachary Taylor, 12th, `to which the goodness of Divine Providence has conducted our common country.' Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States, S. Doc. No. 101-10, at 114 (1989).
Millard Fillmore, 13th, `I have to perform the melancholy duty of announcing to you that it has pleased Almighty God to remove from this life Zachary Taylor . . .' Philip Kunhardt, Jr., The American President 218-223 (Riverhead Books 1999); `I rely upon Him who holds in His hands the destinies of nations . . .' 6 James D. Richardson, A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents 2600 (Bureau of National Literature, Inc.) (Special Message, July 10, 1850).
Franklin Pierce, 14th, `there is no national security but in the nation's humble, acknowledged dependence upon God and His overruling providence . . .' Speeches of the American Presidents 153 (Steven Anzovin & Janet Podell eds., The H.W. Wilson Co. 1988).
James Buchanan, 15th, `In entering upon this great office I must humbly invoke the God of our fathers . . .' Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States, S. Doc. No. 101-10, at 125 (1989).
Abraham Lincoln, 16th, `Intelligence, patriotism, Christianity, and a firm reliance on Him who has never yet forsaken this favored land, are still competent to adjust in the best way all our present difficulty.' Speeches of the American Presidents 181 (Steven Anzovin & Janet Podell eds., The H.W. Wilson Co. 1988).
Andrew Johnson, 17th, `Duties have been mine; consequences are God's.' 8 James D. Richardson, A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents 3504 (Bureau of National Literature, Inc.).
Ulysses S. Grant, 18th, `I ask the prayers of the nation to Almighty God in behalf of this consummation.' Speeches of the American Presidents 225 (Steven Anzovin & Janet Podell eds., The H.W. Wilson Co. 1988).
Rutherford B. Hayes, 19th, `Looking for the guidance of that Divine Hand by which the destinies of nations and individuals are shaped . . .' Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States, S. Doc. No. 101-10, at 159 (1989).
James Garfield, 20th, `They will surely bless their fathers and their fathers' God that the Union was preserved, that slavery was overthrown . . .' Speeches of the American Presidents 251 (Steven Anzovin & Janet Podell eds., The H.W. Wilson Co. 1988).
Chester Arthur, 21st, `I assume the trust imposed by the Constitution, relying for aid on divine guidance . . .' 10 James D. Richardson, A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents 4621 (Bureau of National Literature, Inc.).
Grover Cleveland, 22nd, `And let us not trust to human effort alone, but humbly acknowledging the power and goodness of Almighty God, who presides over the destiny of nations. . . ..' Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States, S. Doc. No. 101-10, at 173 (1989).
Benjamin Harrison, 23rd, `invoke and confidently expect the favor and help of Almighty God, that He will give to me wisdom . . .' Speeches of the American Presidents 277 (Steven Anzovin & Janet Podell eds., The H.W. Wilson Co. 1988).
Grover Cleveland, 24th, `I know there is a Supreme Being who rules the affairs of men and whose goodness and mercy have always followed the American people, and I know He will not turn from us now if we humbly and reverently seek His powerful aid.' Speeches of the American Presidents 274 (Steven Anzovin & Janet Podell eds., The H.W. Wilson Co. 1988).
William McKinley, 25th, `Our faith teaches that there is no safer reliance than upon the God of our fathers . . .' Speeches of the American Presidents 291 (Steven Anzovin & Janet Podell eds., The H.W. Wilson Co. 1988).
Theodore Roosevelt, 26th, `with gratitude to the Giver of Good who has blessed us with the conditions which have enabled us . . .' Speeches of the American Presidents 324 (Steven Anzovin & Janet Podell eds., The H.W. Wilson Co. 1988).
Howard Taft, 27th, `. . . support of my fellow citizens and the aid of the Almighty God in the discharge of my responsible duties.' Speeches of the American Presidents 362 (Steven Anzovin & Janet Podell eds., The H.W. Wilson Co. 1988).
Woodrow Wilson, 28th, `I summon all honest men, all patriotic, all forward-looking men, to my side. God helping me, I will not fail them, if they will but counsel and sustain me!' Speeches of the American Presidents 380 (Steven Anzovin & Janet Podell eds., The H.W. Wilson Co. 1988).
Warren G. Harding, 29th, `that passage of Holy Writ wherein it is asked: `What doth the Lord require of thee . . .' Speeches of the American Presidents 420 (Steven Anzovin & Janet Podell eds., The H.W. Wilson Co. 1988).
Calvin Coolidge, 30th, `[America] cherishes no purpose save to merit the favor of Almighty God . . .' Speeches of the American Presidents 433 (Steven Anzovin & Janet Podell eds., The H.W. Wilson Co. 1988). Calvin Coolidge also stated, `Our government rests upon religion. It is from that source that we derive our reverence for truth and justice, for equality and liberty, and for the rights of mankind. Unless the people believe in these principles, they cannot believe in our Government.' `Coolidge Declares Religion Our Basis,' N.Y. Times, Oct. 16, 1924 (October 15, 1924, address in connection with the unveiling of an equestrian statue of Francis Asbury.)
Herbert Hoover, 31st, `I ask the help of Almighty God in this service to my country to which you have called me.' Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States, S. Doc. No. 101-10, at 267 (1989). Also according to President Hoover, `Our Founding Fathers did not invent the priceless boon of individual freedom and respect for the dignity of men. That great gift to mankind sprang from the Creator and not from governments.' `The Protection of Freedom,' Address by Herbert Hoover, West Branch, Iowa, Aug. 10, 1954.
Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd, `In this dedication of a nation we humbly ask the blessing of God.' Speeches of the American Presidents 489 (Steven Anzovin & Janet Podell eds., The H.W. Wilson Co. 1988).
Harry S. Truman, 33rd, `all men are created equal because they are created in the image of God.' Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States, S. Doc. No. 101-10, at 286 (1989).
Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th, `At such a time in history, we, who are free, must proclaim anew our faith. This faith is the abiding creed of our fathers. It is our faith in the deathless dignity of man, governed by eternal moral and natural laws. This faith defines our full view of life. It establishes, beyond debate, those gifts of the Creator that are man's inalienable rights, and that make all men equal in His sight! . . . The enemies of this faith know no god but force, no devotion but its use. . . . Whatever defies them, they torture, especially the truth. Here, then, is joined no pallid argument between slightly differing philosophies. This conflict strikes directly at the faith of our fathers and the lives of our sons. . . . This is the work that awaits us all, to be done with bravery, with charity--and with prayer to Almighty God.' Speeches of the American Presidents 566, 568 (Steven Anzovin & Janet Podell eds., The H.W. Wilson Co. 1988).
John F. Kennedy, 35th, `the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God.' Speeches of the American Presidents 604 (Steven Anzovin & Janet Podell eds., The H.W. Wilson Co. 1988).
Lyndon B. Johnson, 36th, `We have been allowed by Him to seek greatness with the sweat of our hands and the strength of our spirit. . . . [W]e learned in hardship . . . that the judgment of God is harshest on those who are most favored.' Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States, S. Doc. No. 101-10, at 313 (1989).
Richard M. Nixon, 37th, `as all are born equal in dignity before God, all are born equal in dignity before man.' Speeches of the American Presidents 662 (Steven Anzovin & Janet Podell eds., The H.W. Wilson Co. 1988).
Gerald Ford, 38th, `to uphold the Constitution, to do what is right as God gives me to see the right . . .' Speeches of the American Presidents 698 (Steven Anzovin & Janet Podell eds., The H.W. Wilson Co. 1988).
Jimmy Carter, 39th, `what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.' Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States, S. Doc. No. 101-10, at 328 (1989).
Ronald Reagan, 40th, `We are a nation under God, and I believe God intended for us to be free.' Speeches of the American Presidents 749 (Steven Anzovin & Janet Podell eds., The H.W. Wilson Co. 1988). 133
[Footnote]
[Footnote 133: When awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, President Reagan stated, `History comes and goes, but principles endure and ensure future generations to defend liberty--not a gift of government, but a blessing from our Creator.' `For the Record,' The Washington Post (January 15, 1993) at A22.]
George Bush, 41st, `Heavenly Father, we bow our heads and thank You for Your love.' Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States, S. Doc. No. 101-10, at 346 (1989).
Bill Clinton, 42nd, `with God's help, we must answer the call.' Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, William J. Clinton, 1993, Book 1, at 3 (Gov't Printing Office 1994).
George W. Bush, 43rd, `We are not this story's Author, who fills time and eternity with his purpose. . . . God bless you all, and God bless America.' Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, George W. Bush, 2001, Book 1, at 3 (Gov't Printing Office 2003).
very true observation - I agree with you that our modern secularist trials are but another page in the timeless struggle within mankind's heart to decide for God or - by replacing Him with the-Man-that-can-perfect-himself - decide against Him.
