Tom's Journal.
http://tomschuckmanjournal.blogspot.com/
tschuckman@aol.com
Remember: You hear it here first. And my 'mantra' is still: "You ain't seen nothin' yet !"
No matter what the source is, TRUTH IS TRUTH no matter where you hear it. Besides that-- we always have the Bible to rely on to set things straight, according to prophecy. When you measure issue with the reliable Bible, and 'God cannot lie' -- you just might be surprised at how far away from RIGHT and TRUTH we have become in America.
Tom Schuckman
Jesus is Lord.
The U.S. Government Has Become Patently Anti-Christian
By Chuck Baldwin
May 19, 2009
This column is archived at
http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/c2009/cbarchive_20090519.htmlFrom the writings of Columbus to the Mayflower Compact, to the Declaration
of Independence, America's founders clearly and articulately enshrined
bedrock Christian principles in the foundation of this country.
For example, in explaining the purpose of his journey that led to the
discovery of the new world, Christopher Columbus said, "It was the Lord who
put into my mind--I could feel His hand upon me--the fact that it would be
possible to sail from here to the Indies . . . All who heard of my project
rejected it with laughter, ridiculing me . . . There is no question that the
inspiration was from the Holy Spirit, because he comforted me with rays of
marvelous illumination from the Holy Scriptures . . . For the execution of
the journey to the Indies I did not make use of intelligence, mathematics,
or maps. It is simply the fulfillment of what Isaiah had prophesied . . . No
one should fear to undertake any task in the name of our Savior, if it is
just and if the intention is purely for His Holy service . . . the fact that
the Gospel must still be preached to so many lands in such a short
time--this is what convinces me." (Source: Columbus' Book of Prophecies)
Our pilgrim fathers wrote in the Mayflower Compact, "In the name of God,
Amen. We whose names are underwritten . . . Having undertaken, for the glory
of God and the advancement of the Christian faith . . . a voyage to plant
the first colony in the Northern parts of Virginia."
In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson invokes our Creator-God
no less than four times. In fact, Jefferson predicates the Declaration on
"the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God" and concludes the Declaration with
an appeal to the "Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our
intentions" and with "a firm reliance on the protection of divine
Providence."
Attorney and author, John Whitehead, in his book, The Separation Illusion,
rightly noted, "In 1892, the United States Supreme Court made an exhaustive
study of the supposed connection between Christianity and the government of
the United States. After reviewing hundreds of volumes of historical
documents, the Court asserted, 'These references . . . add a volume of
unofficial declarations to the mass of organic utterances that this is a
religious people . . . a Christian nation.' Likewise, in 1931, Supreme Court
Justice George Sutherland reviewed the 1892 decision in reference to another
case and reiterated that Americans are a 'Christian people.' And in 1952,
Justice William O. Douglas affirmed that 'we are a religious people and our
institutions presuppose a Supreme Being.'"
Accordingly, our U. S. Constitution is dated: (1) from the birth of Christ,
and (2) from the birth of our independence (Article. VII.). Secondly, the
Constitution requires the President and Congress to respect "the Christian
Sabbath" (Sunday) as a day "excepted" from governmental business (Article.
I. Section. 7.). Thirdly, the First Amendment prohibits the U.S. Congress
from making any law "respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting
the free exercise thereof." In other words, the federal government has no
right to interfere with the free expression of religion (by individuals or
States) in any shape, manner, or form. Fourthly, Article. VI. of the
Constitution prohibits any religious test as a qualification for public
office.
The intent of the Constitution's framers was, therefore, in the matter of
religion (especially the Christian religion, whose adherents birthed
America), that the federal government would maintain a healthy respect for
it, and keep its hands off. For the last several years, however, instead of
respecting religion--especially the Christian religion--the leaders of our
federal government have increasingly demonstrated animosity, and even
hostility, toward both the Christian faith and Christian people.
While claiming to be "tolerant" and "pluralistic," our federal government,
in practice, shows little tolerance or pluralism regarding Christianity.
Time and again, Christian practices and people are singled out for
humiliation, persecution, or retribution. This situation follows an eerily
similar pattern to that of the old Holy Roman Empire.
The Roman Empire loved to tout its tolerance for any and all faith systems.
One common adage at the time was that "there are as many gods in Rome as
people." So tolerant was Rome for myriad religious beliefs that it even
constructed an altar to the "UNKNOWN GOD," for fear that it may have
neglected to honor
someone's obscure god.
Why was it, then, that the Roman Empire took delight in publicly
persecuting, torturing, and executing Christians? What happened to
tolerance? What happened to pluralism? In direct contravention of its own
laws and policies, Rome singled out Christianity for public repudiation. And
that is exactly what the U.S. government is currently doing. I'll say it
outright: the U.S. government has become patently anti-Christian.
In spite of Constitutional requirements to keep its hands off religious
liberty, the U.S. government routinely singles out Christian practices for
public repudiation. For years now, federal judges have demanded that local
schools (under the jurisdiction of local and state governments) prohibit
prayers or Bible reading.
Does anyone find it a little interesting that all over America, while
Christian students are denied the right to pray or read the Bible in public
schools, Muslim students are not only allowed to pray in public schools, but
are also often provided special prayer rooms within the schools so that
those students may leave their classrooms and pray? In fact, in some school
districts, if the Muslim prayer time interferes with a student's tests, the
student is many times free to make up the test in order that he or she may
be faithful to the prayer meeting. Of course, the reading of the Koran is
also included in the Muslim's prayer time. All of this is done with the full
knowledge and blessing of the U.S. government (and the ACLU, by the way),
including the myriad federal courts--courts that are always "fast on the
draw" to squash any and all attempts by Christians to pray or read their
Bibles in public schools.
And it is not just the Muslim religion that meets with the approval of the
U.S. government. Federal courts find no fault in public school students
observing Kwanzaa, celebrating the pagan holiday of Halloween, or engaging
in various eastern religious practices such as Hindu meditation. At least
one school district in Utah has allowed Tibetan monks to conduct
TantricBuddhist devotionals in its public schools. At least two schools in
California have even introduced New Age curricula honoring Lucifer to their
students. Basically, any and all religious beliefs are condoned and
tolerated by the U.S. government--every belief system except Christianity,
that is.
In addition, how many local or State courts have been ordered by federal
judges to remove any and all copies of the Ten Commandments or other
scriptural references from their buildings? How many local governments have
been ordered by federal judges to remove any and all Nativity or Manger
scenes from their properties? How many chaplains have been ordered to remove
Bibles from soldiers, sailors, or Marines? How many Bibles have been
destroyed by orders from military commanders? How many prisoners or
detainees have been denied Bibles (even when requested) by order of military
brass? How many military officers have been overlooked for promotion (and
thus drubbed out of military service) for not being willing to surrender
their Christian convictions to "sensitivity" or "diversity" training (a
euphemism for homosexual brainwashing)? How many times has the U.S.
government quietly looked the other way when Christian people have been
slaughtered en
masse? (Can anyone say, "Sudan"?) How many Christian
chaplains in the armed forces have been ordered to not pray in Jesus' name?
How many pro-life Christians have been targeted by federal police agencies
for special scrutiny? How many sheriffs' offices (run and managed by
Christian law enforcement officers) have been denied federal funds for not
submitting to a variety of repulsive policies mandated by the federal
government?
Then there is this AP story: "Iraq has lost more than half the Christians
who once called it home, mostly since the war began, and few who fled have
plans to return." The report continued, saying, "The number of Arab
Christians has plummeted across the Mideast in recent years as increasing
numbers seek to move to the West, saying they feel increasingly unwelcome in
the Middle East and want a better life abroad.
"But the exodus has been particularly stark in Iraq--where sectarian
violence since the U.S.-led 2003 invasion has often targeted Christians.
"The AP found that hundreds of thousands of Christians have fled." (Source:
The Associated Press, Thursday, May 14, 2009)
To highlight the AP report, in 1987, there were 1.4 million Christians in
Iraq. Now there are fewer than 400,000. For all of Saddam Hussein's sins,
persecution of Christians was not one of them. Under Hussein's regime,
Christians, for the most part, led a persecution-free existence--something
extremely rare in Muslim countries. In fact, Saddam Hussein even had
Christians serving in his administrative cabinet.
Enter the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
Since removing Saddam Hussein, the U.S. government has installed an Islamic
puppet government, which has resulted in the persecution of hundreds of
thousands of Iraqi Christians.
I hope all the evangelical Christians who continue to support George W. Bush
and his unconstitutional, preemptive invasion of Iraq are paying attention.
I hope all my Christian friends who kept trumpeting the unconstitutional
policies of President Bush, "because he is a Christian," are paying
attention. I really wish that James
Dobson and his ilk would have been as
outraged at the unconstitutional (not to mention unchristian) policies of
the former Republican President as they are the current Democratic
President, because, for all intents and purposes, the federal government is
functioning in exactly the same way under one as it did under the other.
Whether domestically or internationally, the U.S. government is obviously
committed to an anti-Christian agenda. Where the federal government once
respected Christianity and vowed to not interfere with the faith and
practices of Christian people, it has now become an archenemy of religious
liberty. With virtually every constitutional safeguard being violated by the
modern federal government, about all that is left is for the constitutional
prohibition of government business being conducted on Sundays to be
expunged. Don't be surprised, therefore, when federal courts begin mandating
that public schools require students to attend class on the Lord's Day.
If we are to restore the principles of religious liberty, it will be
necessary for State governments--and for Christian people in particular--to
stand united against an ever-growing, ever-menacing federal leviathan that
is intent on destroying the safeguards and foundations of a once-proud
constitutional republic, which was, after all, rooted and founded upon
Christian principles.
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THOMAS G. SCHUCKMAN
THOMAS G. SCHUCKMAN
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