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ONE NATION UNDER GOD

To quote from an article, "Religion and the Founding of the American Republic," found in the Library of Congress, "a religious people rose in rebellion against Great Britain in 1776, and that most American statesmen, when they began to form new governments at the state and national levels, shared the convictions of most of their constituents that religion was, to quote Alexis de Tocqueville's observation, indispensable to the maintenance of republican institutions."

The very basis for the foundation of this magnificent country, called America, was so that people could practice religious freedom. The Early Northern Colonies were founded exclusively for religious reasons. Religion played a major role in the American Revolution, because our forefathers were fighting for the right to worship as they pleased, and not to be told by their government how they should worship.

And yet, in our feeble attempts to be "politically correct" and not "offend anyone," my child, a direct descendent of those who fought (and some died) in the Revolutionary War to defend these principles, isn't allowed to pray in school, or pledge allegiance to the flag of his country because it says, "under God," but at the same time has to sit beside someone in the classroom who is allowed to wear religious headwear.

If we're going to separate state and religion - if we're not going to allow prayer in schools, or a pledge that says "under God," because that is religious, then we must not allow religious headwear, or any other type of religious observances. Or, if we allow one, we must allow the other.

Separating state and church sounds really good to some, until a major disaster hits our nation, like it did on September 11, 2001. Then it's suddenly okay to combine state and religion. Then it's okay for our government leaders to gather as one body in a church and raise their voices in unison to pray for that "one nation under God." It's okay for them to raise their voices in unison to sing praises to that same God, and ask Him for protection, healing, and comfort for a nation that had just suffered a major blow. And it's okay for congressional leaders and around 200 members of Congress to gather on the steps of the Capitol building and sing, "God Bless America."

If we expect God to hear us when we cry out to him in a disaster, then we'd better keep Him in our lives, in our schools, and in our government on an every day basis. Only then will we remain "one nation under God."

Learn more about this author, Pat Ballard.
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