Congratulations to the United States on its 250th anniversary! Many nations and governments have risen and fallen during that span of two-and-a-half centuries, and here’s hoping the “American way” continues to survive and thrive for many years to come.
Is our nation perfect? Of course not. However, in the history of humankind there’s never been a perfect nation. But it’s fair to say the United States is unique and exceptional in numerous ways. As I noted in my last post, many foreign visitors to the U.S. for the World Cup can attest to that.
Determining what makes our nation distinctive is fodder for endless debate, but much credit goes to two documents that have spanned the 250 years and continue serving as guideposts for our society. These, of course, are the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. It would do us all good to read both in entirety at least once in our lives.
The second paragraph of the Declaration, after declaring the 13 colonies’ intent to separate from mother England, starts with these words: “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….” There is considerable disagreement about what was meant by “Creator,” but it’s clear the Founding Fathers recognized a divine hand in creating “all men,” as well as in beginning and establishing the infant nation.
In fact, in the Constitution’s Bill of Rights, ratified on Dec. 15, 1791, the First Amendment declares, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof….” Recognizing the importance of religious belief and practice, it was number one on the list of guaranteed rights.
Over the years this became known as the “Establishment Clause.” It’s the basis for what is commonly known as the “separation of church and state,” although I believe its meaning has been misconstrued with the passage of time. Many have come to understand it as prohibiting any intersection of faith and government – an “East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet” divide.
Countless articles and books have been written about whether religious practice and governance are necessarily incompatible, but being an Independence Day baby myself, I offer some thoughts.
Roger Williams, founder of Rhode Island, is credited with coining the concept in 1644, describing a "hedge or wall of separation" between the government and religion. However, his hope was to protect the church from state and governmental corruption, keeping “the wilderness of the world” separate from “the garden of the church.”
Then there was Thomas Jefferson, a Founding Father, primary author of the Declaration of Independence, and third President of the United States. His famous use of the phrase stems from an 1802 letter to the Danbury Baptist Association in which he referred to the First Amendment as building a "wall of separation between Church & State." He explained in the letter the amendment prevented the establishment of a national church, and that the Baptists need not fear government interference in their expressions of religious conscience.
What seems significant is the First Amendment’s wording prohibits government from establishing a national church or religion, as had been the case in England, but does not say one’s faith or religious convictions should be excluded from civic deliberations and responsibilities. Kind of like a One-Way sign on a street. It prohibits traffic going one way, but the other direction is completely permissible. There are many reasons for concluding our leaders through the years have believed that while government should not mandate religious practices, faith and religion can and should have an influential role in governance.
Some might argue the Constitution clearly separates the two. Not necessarily. As author Thomas Sowell, a noted economist, historian and social theorist has observed, “Some things are believed because they are demonstrably true – but many other things are believed simply because they have been asserted repeatedly and repetition has been accepted as a substitute for evidence.”
An objective review of history shows from its founding, many American leaders have not only respected the Bible but also considered its teachings invaluable for building and preserving our nation. Benjamin Rush, a signer of the Declaration, stated, “The Bible contains more knowledge necessary to man in his present state than any other book in the world…. It is the only correct map of the human heart that ever has been published.”
John Jay, who served as President of the Continental Congress and was appointed the first Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court by George Washington, said, “The Bible is the best of all books, for it is the Word of God and teaches us the way to be happy in this world and in the next.”
Noah Webster, known as the “father of American scholarship and education” and publisher of the first distinctly American dictionary, expressed, “All of the miseries and evil when men suffer from vice, crime, ambition, injustice, oppression, slavery and war, proceed from them despising or neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible.”
President Andrew Jackson said, “It [the Bible] is the rock on which our Republic rests.” President Abraham Lincoln commented, “The Bible is the best gift God has given to men. All the good the Savior gave to the world was communicated through this book. But for it, we could not know right from wrong.”
William Douglas, who served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1939 to 1975, asserted, “We are truthfully one nation under God and our institutions presupposed a divine being.” And President Theodore Roosevelt declared, “The teachings of the Bible are so interwoven and entwined with our whole civic and social life that it would be literally…impossible for us to figure to ourselves what that life would be if these teachings were removed….”
In 1864 Congress began legislation that ultimately led to “In God We Trust” being placed on all coins, and that became the official U.S. motto after World War II. The words “under God” were added to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954 at the direction of former World War II general and President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
The list goes on and on. I highly recommend The Founders’ Bible, which contains not only the entirety of the Scriptures but hundreds of well-researched and documented articles, commentaries and notes about what American statesmen and leaders through the past two centuries-plus have thought about the Bible and its importance for every level of society.
Our nation has become increasingly diverse in its citizens’ faith and religious practices. However, many of the values and principles upon which our land was established were uniquely drawn from the Scriptures, including the Ten Commandments, the Golden Rule, the Sermon on the Mount, and its other timeless teachings.
These, according to John Adams, the second President of the United States, are indispensable: “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” And in a letter to his brother, William, in 1816, John Jay stated, “Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest, of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their leaders.”
Such statements are likely to evoke cries of protest and outrage today, but in the words of Psalm 33:11-12, “The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of His heart from generation to generation. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance.”
As we pause to celebrate 250 years as a sovereign nation, amid all the chaos, conflict and strife, it might be good to ponder the wisdom of our Founding Fathers – and the Word of God. Perhaps the answer to our greatly divided society is striving once again to become “one nation, under God, indivisible….”
