Republican Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad had issued a proclamation declaring his support for an historic bible reading marathon across the great state of Iowa and it has atheist groups like the ACLU and the Freedom from Religion Foundation going full on nuts.
“The governor’s endorsement of the Bible violates our nation’s founding principle of the separation of religion and government,” Roy Speckhardt, executive director of the American Humanist Association, said in a statement. “In exalting Christianity above all other religious and nonreligious worldviews, the governor is discriminating against non-Christian citizens and infringing upon their right to be free from religious coercion by the state.”
But as usual the godless either fail to know American history or just want to ignore it and rewrite it.
The founders were often blatant in their views that the United States was intentionally founded as a Christian nation and should be run that way too without apology.
John Jay, the first Supreme Court Chief Justice and co-writer of the Federalist Papers was known for reading his bible aloud at lunchtime so that people would gather to listen outside his window. He would also have court begin with prayer and communion.
He made this statement that would offend atheist groups today:
“The convention by whom that constitution was formed were of opinion that the gospel of Christ, like the ark of God, would not fall, though unsupported by the arm of flesh”
John Jay also served as president of the American Bible Society and it should be noted that the first act of the American congress was to buy bibles for the American Bible Society to distribute throughout the nation to those who could not afford a bible.
The Founding Fathers had godly requirements for those who served in public office. Noah Webster based those qualifications on Exodus 18:21, to “rule in the fear of God.” Chief Justice John Jay declared, “It is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation, to select and prefer Christian for their rulers.”
The governor of Iowa is issuing a challenge the founders would have smiled at hearing. Branstad in April signed the proclamation “in the name and by the authority of the state of Iowa,” calling the event historic. The proclamation encourages Iowans to participate in the events and “to read through the Bible on a daily basis each year until the Lord comes.”
Yet, Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of Freedom From Religion Foundation believes, “The government is supposed to be neutral toward religion,”
She is, of course, wrong. The only thing the constitution prohibits is the establishment of state religion. Governors, many governors have made declarations and even executive orders to close businesses and call on the people to pray and fast for the state or the nation. Thanksgiving was first a governor’s proclamation and later a presidential one before congress made it recurring national holiday.
We must not allow these atheist groups to intimidate and silence leaders that are acting in a Godly or Christian way. These groups will attempt to use the courts to take away state’s rights and the rights of the individual to choose the Lord and His ways.
It is important to encourage governors and other lawmakers to be bold for God and also push for the removal of godless liberal judges who would deny liberty and silence the American tradition of calling the people to seek the Lord and His righteousness.
