More Organic Utterances

In my separation of church and state post, I stopped typing after I thought I'd made my point, but Mark over at 4 Rows Back in the Bleacher Seats took pity on my laziness and sent me more quotes to totally demolish the claim that our forefathers wanted a religion-free government. * * * * * The belief in God All Powerful, wise and good, is essential to the moral order of the world and to the happiness of man." James Madison, fourth president of the U.S.

"If we and our posterity neglect religious instruction and authority, violate the rules of eternal justice, trifle with the injunctions of morality.... no man can tell how sudden a catastrophe may overwhelm us that shall bury all our glory in profound obscurity." statesman Daniel Webster

"The moral principles and precepts contained in the Scriptures ought to form the basis of all our civil Constitutions and laws....All the miseries and evil which men suffer from vice, crime, ambitions, injustice, oppression, slavery, and war, proceed from their despising or neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible." Noah Webster

" We have this day restored the Sovereign to whom alone men ought to be obedient. From the rising to the setting of the sun, may His Kingdom come." Samuel Adams

"We have all been encouraged to feel the guardianship and guidance of the Almighty Being whose power regulates the destiny of Nations, whose blessings have been so conspicuously dispensed to this rising Republic, and to whom we are bound to address our devout gratitude for the past, as well as our fervent supplications and best hopes for the future." James Madison, in his first inaugural address

" God grant that in America true religion and civil liberty may be inseparable..... He is the best friend to American liberty, who is most sincere and active in promoting true and undefiled religion." John Witherspoon, signer of the Declaration of Independence and member of Continental Congress

Supreme Court Justice, Joseph Story (appointed by Pres. James Madison) called America a "Christian country" and slammed deism: " Christianity... is not to be maliciously and openly reviled and blasphemed against. It is unnecessary... for us ...to consider the establishment of a school or college for the propagation of Deism or any other form of infidelity. Such a case is not presumed to exist in a Christian country."

" That book , Sir, is the rock on which our republic stands." Andrew Jackson, 7th President of U.S.

" It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible." George Washington

" ...a book worth more than all other books that were ever printed." Patrick Henry, on the bible

" I have always said, and always say, that the studious perusal of the sacred volume will make us better citizens." Thomas Jefferson

" In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for Divine protection. Our prayers, Sir, were heard and they were graciously answered... Have we now forgotten this powerful Friend? Or do we imagine that we no longer need His assistance? I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this proof: that God governs the affairs of man. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the Sacred Writings, that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this. I therefore beg leave to move that , henceforth, prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven and its blessing upon our deliberation be held in this assembly every morning before we proceed with business." Benjamin Franklin, June 28, 1787

" We shall not fight alone. God presides over the destinies of nations. The battle is not to the strong alone. Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! Give me liberty, of give me death." Patrick Henry

"Let my heart gracious God, be so affected with Your glory and majesty that I may.... discharge those weighty duties which thou requirest of me.... again, I have called on thee for pardon and forgiveness of sins... for the sacrifice of Jesus Christ offered on the cross for me. Thou gavest Thy Son to die for me; and has given me assurance of salvation."

George Washington's diary

" God gave us life and gave us liberty. Can the liberty of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that those liberties are the gift of God? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just and His justice cannot sleep forever." Thomas Jefferson, (the Jefferson Memorial)

" He who shall introduce into public affairs the principles of Christianity will change the face of the world." Benjamin Franklin, Ambassador to France

" It would be improper to omit, in this first official act, my fervent supplication to that Almighty Being.... No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand which conducts the affairs of man more than the people of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seemed to have been distinguished by some providential agency...We ought to be no less persuaded the propitious smiles of Heaven cannot be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which Heaven itself has ordained." George Washington's first inaugural address

"The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were...the general principles of Christianity....I will avow that I then believed, and now believe, that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God; and that those principles of liberty are as unalterable as human nature." John Adams to Thomas Jefferson

"The highest glory of the American Revolution was this; it connected, in one indissoluble bond, the principles of civil government and the principles of Christianity." John Quincy Adams

" The religion which has introduced civil liberty is the religion of Christ and his apostles, which enjoins humility, piety, and benevolence; which acknowledges in every person a brother, or a sister, and a citizen with equal rights. This is the genuine Christianity, and to this ( Christianity) we owe our free Constitution of government." Noah Webster

" By our form of government, the Christian religion is the established religion and all sects and denominations of Christians are placed upon the same equal footing and are equally entitled to protection in their liberty." the Supreme Court of Maryland, Runkle vs. Winemiller 1796

" whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly implore His protection and favor" U.S. Congress approving a national day of prayer and thanksgiving

" The Congress of the United States approves and recommends to the people, the Holy Bible...for use in schools" U.S. Congress 1782

" Why not the Bible, and especially the New Testament, be read and taught as a divine revelation in the schools? Where can the purest principles of morality be learned so clearly or so perfectly as from the New Testament?" U.S. Supreme Court - Vidal vs Girar, 1844

" The right to hold office was to be extended to persons of any Christian denomination." Roger Sherman, the only founding father to sign all four of America's major documents

"We are a Christian people, according to one another, the equal right of religious freedom, and acknowledging with reverence the duty of obedience to the will of God," U.S. Supreme Court / U.S. vs. Macintosh, 1931

Why do 67% of Americans believe that," the separation of church and state" is part of the first amendment?

" We are a religious people, and our institutions presuppose a Supreme Being." Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, 1993

" I believe no one can read the history of our country without realizing the Good Book and the good Spirit of the Savior have from the beginning been our guiding geniuses.... Whether we look to the First Charter of Virginia, or to the Charter of New England, or to the Charter of Massachusetts Bay, or to the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut. The same object is present; a Christian land governed be Christian principles. I believe the entire Bill of Rights came into being because of the knowledge our forefathers had of the Bible and their belief in it; freedom of belief, of expression, of assembly, of petition, the dignity of the individual, the sanctity of the home, equal justice of the law, and the reservation of powers to the people. I like to believe we are living today in the spirit of the Christian religion. I like also to believe that as long as we do so, no great harm can come to our country." Chief Justice Earl Warren, to Time magazine, 1954

The NEA's selections for inspiring American students in 1944: the Lord's prayer; the poem," Father in Heaven, We Thank Thee"; another poem that introduced the concept of daily prayers; a Thanksgiving poem that admonished kids to "thank the One who gave all the good things that we have". The "Wall of separation of Church and State" was a myth in 1944.

" But for the Bible, we would not know right from wrong." Abraham Lincoln

Contrast this with :

In 1985, Wallace vs. Jaffree, the Supreme Court declared that any bill (even those which are Constitutionally acceptable) is uncontitutional if the author of the bill had a religious activity in mind when the bill was written.

" We are under a Constitution, but the Constitution is what the judges say it is." Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes, 1920

" It is arrogant to use the Constitution as the founding fathers intended, it must be interpreted in light of current problems and current needs." Supreme Court Justice Brennan, March 1993