Falwell: The Judeo-Christian Influence on Our Nation

[meegbear]

FALWELL CONFIDENTIAL
Insider weekly newsletter to The Moral Majority Coalition and
The Liberty Alliance http://www.moralmajority.com <http://www.moralmajority.com/>

From: Jerry Falwell
Date: March 16, 2007

The Judeo-Christian Influence on Our Nation

Thomas Jefferson, author of the “wall of separation” that is revered as gospel by secularists and civil libertarians who want to purge Christianity from the public square, was firmly in favor of prohibiting public religious expression.

Right?

Hardly. But that’s the message many in the so-called mainstream are preaching today.

I wonder how many Americans are familiar with the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom? Authored by Thomas Jefferson, it appears on the wall of the Jefferson Memorial.

Here’s an excerpt: “Almighty God hath created the mind free. All attempts to influence it by temporal punishments or burthens … are a departure from the plan of the Holy Author of our religion ….”

Mr. Jefferson clearly believed that America was a gift from God and that it was God Himself who granted us the ability to reason and properly live our lives.

While it was Mr. Jefferson who drafted the measure, James Madison piloted it through the Virginia Legislature in 1786. History shows that each of these men deemed the legislation to be among their most satisfying triumphs, with Mr. Jefferson even noting on his tombstone that he was the author not only of the Declaration of Independence but also of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom.

I have been reading Newt Gingrich’s latest book, “Rediscovering God in America: Reflections on the Role of Faith in Our Nation’s History and Future.” I believe every Christian in America should get a copy of this book in order to fully understand the rich Judeo-Christian influence on the burgeoning nation.

Mr. Gingrich takes readers on a journey through Washington, D.C., to observe a variety of monuments and relics, beginning with the National Archives. There, we see the undying words of the Declaration of Independence: we “are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights.”

Our nation’s capitol is full of these examples: from the striking statue of Moses holding the Ten Commandments looking over the rotunda of the Library of Congress, to the depiction of the Commandments in the floor of the National Archives, to the Adams Prayer Mantel in the White House (“I pray heaven to bestow the best of blessings on this house and all that shall hereafter inhabit it ….”).

Last week, David Barton, founder of WallBuilders, spoke at Liberty University. He debunked the modern movement to cast our Founders as “a bunch of atheist, agnostic deists,” calling it completely invalid. He detailed the history and writings of many of the signers of the Declaration of Independence and their obvious allegiance to Christianity. These men include:

* Dr. John Witherspoon, who wrote, “I entreat you in the most earnest manner to believe in Jesus Christ, for there is no salvation in any other ....”

* Dr. Benjamin Rush, an innovator of mass-produced Bible printing, initiator of the Sunday school movement in America and founder of the first Bible society in our nation.

* John Dickinson, also a signer of the U.S. Constitution, who wrote in his will: “Rendering thanks to my Creator for my existence and station among His works, for my birth in a country enlightened by the Gospel and enjoying freedom, and for all His other kindnesses, to Him I resign myself, humbly confiding in His goodness and in His mercy through Jesus Christ for the events of eternity.”

* John Hancock, first governor of Massachusetts, who issued at least 24 calls for public fasting and prayer and urged people to pray and fast about their fellow citizens becoming Christians.

This is not fallacy; it is our history. But it is a history that is being routinely rewritten, ignored and disrespected.

I believe it is imperative that Christians go back to the basics to learn about the Judeo-Christian foundations of our nation. Purchase books like Mr. Gingrich’s “Rediscovering God in America,” regularly visit the WallBuilders website ( www.WallBuilders.com <http://www.wallbuilders.com/> ) in order to become knowledgeable and conversant on our nation’s glorious history.

And to my pastor friends, I say that we must ensure that our congregations understand that America was founded on Christian principles and we must be proactive in defending them.

Let us work together to safeguard the chronicle of our nation’s founding from those who are shamefully and falsely preaching that we are a godless nation.

[genie_weenie]

1. Yeech. All it takes is time

and a constant stream of propaganda to alter history.

[Labors of Hercules]

2. DID YOU JUST RECOMMEND BUYING A BOOK BY NEWT GINGRICH???

TWICE EVEN!! :wtf:
Not even the glorious work to reclaim of our Nation's History is worth that, not by a long shot.
Make it stop PLEASE make it stop!

Go back to the shadow! :freak:

[meegbear]

5. I GUESS I DID RECOMMEND BUYING A BOOK BY NEWT GINGRICH!!!

TWICE EVEN!!

I post 'em as I get 'em sunshine.

[Labors of Hercules]

7. haha... okay, ya got me.

I've never been called sunshine before.

Not to dissuade anyone from reading what I'm sure is a highly objective review of the Christian Heritage interwoven into the fabric of our Nation's history, I just want to point out that there are many excellent primary sources available on the subject.

And for those of us who are not Christian apologists, they provide an interesting insight into the role that Religion played and continues to play in undermining our freedom and true democracy. :nuke:

[nebenaube]

3. If Lynchburg wants to believe this crap so be it...

But up in Charlottesville there are plenty of documents to refute every thing Herr Flawell says.

[madrchsod]

4. if america was founded on christian principals

what the hell happened?

[melody]

6. When will these cretins get that "God" doesn't equal "Christianity"?

During that period of time, the word "God" was used IN a deist, non-religious sense by most people.
Today we'd probably say "fate" or "the winds of change". They also wrote of "divine providence" in
a spiritual sense, also mentioning "religion" (which Adams in particular made quite clear did NOT
mean Christianity) while intending to mean "ethics" or "morals". And if that doesn't nail it perhaps
the literal words of one of our most important founding fathers, John Adams, will settle it:
"This nation of ours was not founded on Christian principles."

You can't get more specific than that.

[B3Nut]

10. Not to mention that Jefferson

specifically disbelieved in a divine Christ and the Judeo-Christian god, as Deists do.

Todd in CHeesecurdistan

[SutaUvaca]

8. Seems to me

that Falwell's own Jefferson quote would indicate that it wasn't some holy country god gave us, it was free minds that were given - in Jefferson's opinion.

“Almighty God hath created the mind free. All attempts to influence it by temporal punishments or burthens … are a departure from the plan of the Holy Author of our religion …."

I would have to suspect also that Falwell would not see religious idiocy and religious authoritarianism as a "temporal punishment" much less a departure from the plan of the holy author, etc.

I declare, Falwell is god's way of punishing America for not putting duct tape over the mouths of most preachers.

[Bill McBlueState]

9. "a bunch of atheist, agnostic deists"

I'm sure that some of the founders were atheists, some were agnostic, and many were deists. But I have a hard time understanding how any of them could be all three. :eyes:

[ProudDad]

11. Two words

Joe Leiberman...

[ComerPerro]

12. "God" in the writings of the founding fathers was just a device, a metaphor

to dumb down for "regular folk" the ideas of philosphers, especially the works of Locke, that man has inherant rights and privelages. No specific mention of a god of any kind, especially not the Judeo-Christian God. Just a means to an end to better communicate and explain an otherwise intangible idea.

But that's what happens when you try to reach out...