God Has No Grandchildren

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves,
and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I
hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their
land. 2 Chronicles 7:14

In our current culture, people have lined up on each side of the issue
of city and state seals and symbols that include Christian references.
People of faith feel that society is trying to remove God from our
civic landscape and the opposition seem to want to remove all references to
God in all parts of our society. Both sides reference the " wall of
separation" between church and state phrase written by Thomas
Jefferson. Jefferson Wrote included his reference to this foundational American
belief as part of a letter he wrote to the Danbury (CT) Baptist Association
assuring them that the government would never interfere with their right of religious expression. For the next 150 years our courts upheld this premise until 1947 when the Supreme Court (Everson v Board of Education) reversed itself and began applying the phrase to the Establishment Clause (Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof) instead. This caused the federal courts to remove rather than to preserve and protect public religious expressions. In 1962 (Engel v Vitale) the court outlawed prayer in public school.

Those that wish to keep the religious symbols claim that the United States was founded as a Christian nation to begin with and all references to God must remain. The opposition claims that the founders were really interested in protecting us from God. They did this through our so-called inherited religious freedoms, and that all references to God should be removed from our societal landscape. In the 1700's Christ was a big part of every day American life and over 96% of its citizens identified themselves as Christian. In fact, one of the most popular slogans of the Revolutionary war was "No King but Jesus. As a matter of fact, two historians from the University of Houston did a ten-year study of the ideas that shaped our republic and after sifting through 15,000 documents from the Colonial era they came down to 3,154 essential statements and found that 94% of the founding fathers quotes were based on the bible. 34% were direct quotes and 60% from men who had used the bible to arrive at their conclusions.

The truth seems to be that the founding fathers were believers in God, generally speaking, but only a portion of them were professed Christians. The basis for our laws and social structure followed Judeo Christian guidelines, not specifically the Christian faith. A case could be made that this was done less from the standpoint of honoring God and more from a practical sense designed to build and maintain societal order.

Most current surveys state that anywhere from 75% to 86% of Americans, self identify themselves as Christians. A large part of this identity may in fact come from the perception that we are a Christian country. The population at large may think that they somehow inherit their faith or are able to acquire it through some method of spiritual osmosis. If America truly had a population of Christians that large, it would be a different and better place than it is now.

When Christopher Columbus arrived, he represented Spain who was identified as a Christian country. As his name Christopher translates into English as "Christ Bearer", this famous explorer and sailor claimed his new discoveries in the name of God and the king of Spain. The first landfall made by him was called San Salvador or "Holy Savior". When the Puritans left England, they questioned the religious authority of the Church of England and were inclined to put no hierarchy between themselves and Jesus Christ. One of their main goals in coming to the new land was a strong desire to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. In the Mayflower Compact, the first set of formal laws, were written for the new world and God is prominently featured in that document. Their faith was kept intact despite half of their colony failing to survive their first winter in the new land.

In regards to our founding fathers, it appears that while many of them were Christian, the majority seem to believe in a God as the Creator and had respect for the name of Jesus and at least part of His teachings. In one of several dissertations on the life of Jesus, Thomas Jefferson described his view of our Lord in The Jefferson Bible: The Life and Morals of Jesus. Jefferson wrote in a Syllabus that was appended to his bible, that the teachings of Jesus were similar to the earlier Greek and Roman philosophers and to the religion of the Jews in Jesus's time. Jefferson wrote frequently about his belief in doing good works to counterbalance the sinfulness in one's own life. Jefferson admired many of the words of Jesus but felt the need to separate them as some being worthy to follow and some not. He further wrote that he had a low opinion of the apostles and particularly disdained the efforts of Paul the apostle.

The exact words of Jefferson in this regard are as follows:

"Of this band of dupes and impostors, Paul was the great Coryphaeus, and first corruptor of the doctrines of Jesus. These palpable interpolations and falsifications of His doctrines, led me to try to sift them apart. I found the work obvious and easy, and that His past composed the most beautiful morsel of morality which has been given to us by man. The syllabus is therefore of His doctrines, not all of mine. I read them as I do those of other ancient and modern moralists, with a mixture of approbation and dissent..."

Since the meaning of the word Coryphaeus means leader of a party or school of thought or the leader of a chorus. Jefferson appears to be saying that while Jesus got some things right and some things wrong, the apostles were a bunch of knuckleheads and Paul really messed things up as the messenger of Jesus's word. Jefferson was truly ahead of his time in this thinking and very much in tune with the American Church, as it exists today. Because of the culture of freedom in this country today, we extend that freedom to pick and choose which of God's laws that we want to follow and not follow.

There were five dominant and influential men behind the American Constitution. They were Washington, Franklin, Randolph, Jefferson and John Adams. Of these men, the first three were active followers of Freemasonry who fervently subscribed to its ideals. To be accurate, by my research, it is confirmed that Washington and Franklin were official Masons and that Jefferson may not have been a member in a formal sense but did study and agree with the principals of Freemasonry. Edmond Randolph held the position of Grand Master in Virginia and was an important participant in the Constitutional Convention who did not sign the document but did indeed fight for its ratification. In regards to John Adams, he is not identified as an official member but more as a philosophical follower who as president, appointed John Marshall, a Freemason, to be the first Chief Justice to the Supreme Court. While many historians have studied the founding history of Freemasonry, there are several theories apply to its origin. Stories passed on within the organization date it's founding back to the 17th and 18th century by the Knights Templar, a religious secret society whose members were persecuted by the Roman Catholic Church. What later became known as the Freemason's, embraced a philosophy of separation of church and state, certainly a unique concept for that period.

Another foundational concept to Freemasonry was the belief in a Supreme Being. Membership did not depend on any particular Supreme Being, thereby allowing a Muslim, Christian, Jew, Buddhist, Theist or Deist of any sort to join. The official reference to the Supreme Being in Freemasonry is designated as "The Great Architect of the Universe" and does not identify with any particular religion. This belief seems to coincide with the "intelligent design" theory that is promoted today as an alternative to the theory of evolution.

The Freemason beliefs are very evident in the actions and thoughts of these founding fathers and while they did not fear individual religious beliefs, they did fear the repression of state religious organizations that were interwoven into European society. Freemasonry values seemed to give strength and passion to their beliefs. These men and others like them used the bible for quotations to be part of their speeches and seemed to view organized religion as a glue that could hold a society together and as long as a state sponsored church wasn't established, they felt that any religious beliefs were fine on an individual basis.

To say that those who signed the Declaration of Independence were very brave is a gross understatement. When I read this document, I get a true sense that the signers were fed up with the king of England and the actions of his army. The kidnapping of Americans to England to stand trial on false charges, unfair taxation, the stationing of troops in a time of peace and the lack of punishment that those occupational forces faced for the crimes of murder, rape and thievery caused a great sense of urgency for the signers. If they failed in their task, they would have been hung as traitors. The declaration that God has given man unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness recognizes a God of nature and man. The declaration did not include any reference to Christ as the Son of God or that the bible was the true word of God or that Jesus paid man's sinful ransom on the cross of Calvary. Reference to The Great Architect of the Universe is evident in this great document not the foundational roots of a Christian country.

Those who do not understand the fundamentals of Christianity may think that we as Christians are unhappy that our founding fathers did not establish a Christian Theocracy. The truth is that belief in Christ is a personal matter and is strongest when cleaved to the word of God, not men. I know of no Christian leader who calls for a Christian government in America. We cannot be born into and assimilate to a Christian society and inherit salvation based on the foundational efforts and beliefs of others. In every other religion you can be born into a government and culture that reflects the values of that religion and in effect inherit that religion with no personal choice required. Those men who signed the Declaration of Independence had a long and current history of seeing
the results of a state endorsed religion and they were wise enough to break from that notion in the formation of this new republic.

Those in our society who wish to eliminate God from the societal fabric
of American culture are at odds with the founding fathers. We see
historical evidence of this from a prayer that John Adams had carved
into a marble mantle over a fireplace in the White House, a
representation of the Ten Commandments carved into the wall of the
Supreme Court or the name of God written into our founding documents.
It is curious to me how any one person or group can get so worked up over
something or someone who, by their own admission, does not exist.

This country was discovered and settled by people who knew God the
Father through His only Son, Jesus Christ. They believed in the Holy
Spirit and subscribed to the belief that they were to share the word of
God with their fellow man and that Christ must be evident in their
daily lives. Columbus discovered America with the support of an established
Christian church/state while the Puritan settlers came to America to
avoid that same Christian church/state.

As time went on, Judeo-Christian beliefs became a foundational aspect
of the American landscape and were integral to the laws written for the
new republic. The founding fathers were accepting of many different
descriptions of God and because of this, our country was and is built
on tolerant religious attitudes that still exist today. This tolerance is
in line with the freedom that God gives to each of us in the form of
individual free will. Christianity is an exercise of free will and each
believer makes the determination that the bible is the true word of God,
that Jesus Christ is God, that He was born of a virgin and lived the human
experience, died on the cross for our sins and rose from the dead.
The values related to Christ can be assimilated, but the faith in Him is a
result of personal determination, not laws or proclamations of men. There are many societies that are based on religious undertones and customs. You can
be born into those societies and be regarded as a member of that dominant
religion, going from birth to old age immersed in religious customs
without a personal acceptance and understanding of who God is.

Just because America is built on Judeo-Christian values does not make
it a Christian country. Crosses, as well as other religious symbols are
only worth saving if they give glory to God and symbolize a nations
commitment to Him. The enemies of God think that they are winning their
war of rebellion against Him by invoking the separation of church
and state argument as well as their assault on any Godly public
recognition or honor. The truth is that while these enemies are busy
poking their metaphysical finger in God's face, His glory is
manifested by His people. Those who care for the sick, feed the poor,
bring comfort to the forgotten and hope to those who have none are His
representatives and distributors of His love. The enemies of this
country, within and without, refuse to recognize that these same values
are represented in our government on a daily basis. We, as a country,
are the first one there when disaster strikes anywhere in the world.
Our systems of laws are based on those same values and are the envy of the
world because of their fairness and consistency. Our social programs
are designed to help those in our nation who are in need, and as imperfect
as they may be, they are consistent with the aforementioned Jude-Christian religious and moral values.

To defend symbols that do not give honor to God but are viewed as
cultural and historical in value causes confusion to potential and
current believers. Defenders of religious symbols in my area of
southern California take the position that the cross and images of the
California missions found in many official government seals are historic by nature
should remain. The enemies of God recognize those symbols for what
they truly are, Godly and religious symbols that glorify Him, and that
they must be eliminated. On the official seal for the city of Los
Angeles, all references to Christianity have been removed after the
ACLU threatened to sue. It should be recognized that the tiny cross was
offensive but the pagan Roman goddess Pomona, prominently
featured in the middle of the seal didn't offend, and could remain in the city
seal without further objection if the city chose to keep it. Why would the enemies of God be so earnest to remove Christ and not a pagan goddess? Their actions give witness to the fact that He is God and testimony that those same enemies do not fear the influence of a pagan idol.

Another recent example of the efforts to eliminate historical religious
symbols involves the chain of twenty-one missions founded in
California, starting with mission San Diego de Alcala established by Father
Junipero Serra in 1769. From the hillside location overlooking mission
valley, the missionaries moved northward and established the remaining
missions ending with the last and northernmost California mission
located in the city of Sonoma. This mission was founded by Father Jose
Altimira in July, 1823.

A self described watchdog group filed a lawsuit in December 2004
in an attempt to prevent the U.S. Interior Department from releasing
$10 million dollars Congress approved for the repair and upkeep of all of
these historical sites. This group stated that they had no objection to
the upkeep of the missions that were functioning as museums but does
object to the money being spent on those missions that still functioned
as houses of worship.

The truth is that Judeo-Christian principals are part of the foundation
of our country and remain a part of its social fabric. For now we have
In God We Trust on our currency, many cities retain their founding Christian names and Moses and the Ten Commandments still have a home in
our Supreme Court. It could all change tomorrow, but in the end God
will still be God and man will still be man and those that know Him will
continue to honor Him or rebel against Him.