​On July 4th, two hundred thirty-six years ago, as a result of a resolution proposed by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia to the Continental Congress, that “these Colonies of right and ought to be free and independent States,”  a document penned principally by the 33 year old Thomas Jefferson was adopted at Independence Hall in Philadelphia.  The forceful words of this great document known as the Declaration of Independence have continued to reverberate throughout the succeeding generations….



          “When in the course of human events, it becomes  

          necessary for one people to dissolve the political
          bands which have connected them with another,

          and to assume among the powers of the earth, the
          separate and equal station which the laws of    

          nature and nature’s God entitle them, a decent

          respect to the opinions of mankind requires that

          they should declare the causes which impel them

          to the separation…we hold these truths to be self -

          evident that all men are created equal, that they

          are endowed by their Creator with certain    

          unalienable rights…and for the support of this

          Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection

          of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each

          other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred

          honor.”

 
When President Kennedy held a dinner in the White House for a group of the Brightest Minds in the nation at the time, he made this statement, “This is perhaps the assembly of the most intelligent minds gathered at one time in the White House with the exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined here alone.”

Thomas Jefferson died in 1826 at the age of 83 on the 50th Anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.  This Declaration was more than just a political event.  It was an act of faith.  The 56 signers of the Declaration realized that if they failed in their quest for freedom, that each would be found guilty of treason and hanged.  It was Ben Franklin who stated to John Hancock that “we must hang together or hang separately.”
 
The Founders and Developers of our Great Nation were God honoring men and women.  The very foundation upon which this Republic was founded was on the underlying faith in the Providence of God.  The 56 men who signed the Declaration by their own statements and writings, reveal that they asked for God’s guidance in their deliberations.  Many of these same men returned to Philadelphia in 1787 to draft the Constitution of the United States of America constructing it in such a manner where there was a separation of Church and State, making it possible for man to worship according to the dictates of their own conscience, an innate desire of man so strong that freedom of religion was one of the motivating factors which drove the early settlers of this country to face death to achieve this privilege which we so often take for granted today.
 
This inscription on Plymouth Rock is a fitting epitaph to our Founding Fathers’ convictions:

     “This spot marks the final resting place of the Pilgrims
     of the Mayflower, who in weariness and hunger and in
     cold, fighting the wilderness and burying their dead in
    common graves that the Indians should not know how

     many perished, they have laid the foundations of a
     State in which all men for countless ages should have
     the liberty of worshiping God in their own way.”

Our leaders today could well benefit from the example of faith and conviction which was so vital in the lives of our Founding Fathers.  During the Constitutional Convention which convened in Philadelphia on May 25th, 1787, there was a fierce debate which lasted some three and one half months.  At times it appeared that the convention and all hopes of a unified country would be dissolved and the states go their separate, independent way, until Ben Franklin, who was 81 at the time, made the following statement:
 
     “Mr. Chairman, if a sparrow cannot fall to the earth
     without God’s notice how can a Nation arise without
     His guidance?  I move that these proceedings begin
     and end with a prayer.”

By today’s standards, the framers of the Constitution were not a highly educated group, but each was well educated in another sense, they were deeply endued with moral values, their minds drew a clear distinction between principle and expediency, they were not uncertain of the values their believed in and were determined to uphold – and they realized the power of prayer.
 
In George Washington’s first inaugural address, he stated:

     “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 seems to have been
     distinguished by some token of providential agency.”

In every inaugural address since Washington, every President has taken note of the Almighty.  There is every proof for us to see that  America’s greatness was built on faith.  “In God We Trust” is our motto, to the wonderful influence we owe that degree of civil freedom and much of our political and social happiness that we today enjoy in this great land of ours.  Our nation, which has been an experiment in self government, a nation which constitutes only six per cent of the world’s population, but enjoys thirty-six percent of the world’s material blessings.
 
The great seal of the United States which was adopted by the Continental Congress in 1782, displays on the reverse side of the seal a pyramid of 13 courses of stone, representing the union being watched over by the eye of Divine Providence.  The upper motto, Annuit Coeptis, means “God has favored our undertaking.”  The Liberty Bell in Philadelphia was named because it was rung on July 8th 1776, to call citizens together to announce the Declaration of Independence was adopted.  Its inscription, “Proclaim Liberty Throughout All The Land Unto The Inhabitants Thereof” is from Leviticus 25:10.  The bell was rung at every anniversary of the Declaration until it was broken during the funeral service of Chief Justice John Marshall in 1835.
 
I’m sure that all of us cherish many childhood memories, some memories which remain indelibly imprinted on my mind are the songs we sang in elementary school.  They were patriotic in nature, such as “God Bless America,” “America the Beautiful,” “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” and even in this decade Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA.”  But today, we cannot have prayer in public schools or school functions because a small group of non-believers have convinced our courts that this was threatening individual rights, it would offend the non-Christian and non-believers.
 
Take a look in your telephone directory.  Look at the number of churches which are listed, different denominations, but all Christian churches, not Muslin, not Buddhist, or a list of Atheist organizations.   If I attended a soccer match in Bagdad, I would expect to hear a Muslim prayer, in China if I attended a ping-pong tournament, I would expect to hear a prayer to Buddah, it would not offend me – it is their country.  What about the atheists who oppose signs of the cross, Nativity Scenes?  The answer is we are not trying to convert them with a 30 second prayer, let them go to the restroom, or stick their fingers in their ears.  Christians are tired of the courts stripping us of our rights.  The Silent Majority has been silent long enough.  It’s time to tell them you do not have to pray or recite the Pledge of Allegiance, but by golly, you are no longer taking away our rights.
 
I believe that you and I have rights also.  I believe that we have the right and duty to organize support for our school teachers, return to them the authority to dispense discipline when necessary without fear of reprisal or being hauled into court because they have violated someone’s individual liberty.  We have the right and duty to support our law enforcement agencies  and our court system and return to them the authority needed to administer justice.
 
Last Monday, I read an article which disturbed me greatly.  You recall the incident at Ft Hood in 2009, where Maj. Midal Hassan, a Muslim, killed 13 fellow soldiers and wounded some 24 others.  A military judge who was presiding in this case has been removed from the case as a Court of Appeals has found that his treatment of the suspect, including an order to have the man forcibly shaved, indicated a lack of impartiality.  Something is wrong with our system.
 
History repeats itself.  There is no reason to repeat bad history.  If we have learned anything from past history, it is that in proportion as the genuine effects of Christianity are diminished in any nation, either through unbelief or neglect, in the same proportion will the people of that nation recede from the blessings of genuine freedom.
 
The foundation which supports the interest of Christianity is also necessary to support a free and equal government like our own.  In all those countries where there is little or no religion, there you will find with scarcely a single exception arbitrary, tyrannical governments.  It was William Penn who observed, “A people will either be governed by God or ruled by a tyrant.”   America’s past is a halo of glory, America’s present is the wonder of the rest of the world, freedom under God is the priceless gift that has come to us as part of our heritage and is destined through us to the future.  This heritage has made the US the land of opportunity for the aspirations of the individuals.
 
We are today living in one of the most critical periods in our history.  Scandals have rocked our government.  Immorality is running rampant.  In some cities in our country, individual safety is being threatened, our very foundation of freedom is being threatened.  The words of Thomas Paine in his book, “The Crises,” which was published during the critical time while Washington and his troops were at Valley Forge are apropos for us today.  “These are times that try men’s souls.  The sunshine patriot will in the crisis shrink from the services of his country, but he that stands, now deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.”
 
Freedom is not free.  Since the foundation of our nation, forty-five million Americans have served proudly in the Armed Forces.  Over one million have given their lives in the defense of our country and an unknown number have been wounded.  American warriors have never lost faith in their mission.  They face danger daily that we as protected citizens cannot imagine.  Yet, in all the wars in which we have fought, the only territory we as a people have ever asked from any nation we have fought alongside of or against, is a few hundred acres of land for 24 cemeteries around the world.  We owe apologies to no one!
 
In 1940 the undermanned British Air Force fought a desperate battle against the superior German Lufwaffe Air Force for control of British air space to prevent a Nazi invasion.  After many days and nights of continuous bombing, the Lufwaffe was repulsed, saving Great Britain from invasion.  Sir Winston Churchill in a radio address to the nation stated, “Never in the history of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few.”  I find this statement to be just as appropriate today when referring to the young men and women who serve proudly in our armed forces as it was in 1940.
 
It is my hope and prayer that in this coming year, that through a rekindling of the American spirit, we can echo Lincoln’s affirmation in the concluding words of his Gettysburg Address, “That we here do highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain and that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the earth.”

May God Bless America – and to our Marines, Semper Fidelis.