December 2, 2008 – Greenville, S.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) made the following statement on the opening of the new Capitol Visitor Center (CVC) in Washington, D.C. He recently fought to include prominent displays of our national motto, “In God We Trust,” and the Pledge of Allegiance within the CVC. The Architect of the Capitol has also been instructed to consider the rich faith heritage of our Nation when selecting the content of any future display.
“The Capitol Visitor Center is designed to tell the history and purpose of our nation’s Capitol, but it fails to appropriately honor our religious heritage that has been critical to America’s success,” said Senator DeMint. “While the Architect of the Capitol has pledged to include some references to faith, more needs to be done. You cannot accurately tell the history of America or its Capitol by ignoring the religious heritage of our Founders and the generations since who relied on their faith for strength and guidance. The millions of visitors that will visit the CVC each year should get a true portrayal of the motivations and inspirations of those who have served in Congress since its establishment.
“The current CVC displays are left-leaning and in some cases distort our true history. Exhibits portray the federal government as the fulfillment of human ambition and the answer to all of society’s problems. This is a clear departure from acknowledging that Americans’ rights ‘are endowed by their Creator’ and stem from ‘a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence.’ Instead, the CVC’s most prominent display proclaims faith not in God, but in government. Visitors will enter reading a large engraving that states, ‘We have built no temple but the Capitol. We consult no common oracle but the Constitution.’ This is an intentional misrepresentation of our nation’s real history, and an offensive refusal to honor America’s God-given blessings. As George Washington stated clearly in his first inaugural address:
‘…[I]t would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official Act, my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the Universe, who presides in the Councils of Nations, and whose providential aids can supply every human defect, that his benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the People of the United States, a Government instituted by themselves for these essential purposes: and may enable every instrument employed in its administration to execute with success, the functions allotted to his charge.’
“The fundamental principles of the freedom we enjoy in this country stem from our Founding Fathers’ beliefs in a higher power, beliefs put forth in the Declaration of Independence and manifest throughout our Constitution,” said Senator DeMint. “If we cease to acknowledge this fact, we may cease to enjoy some of the freedoms we take for granted. We must not censor historical references to God for the sake of political correctness. And we must truthfully represent the limited form of government the Constitution lays out so that our ‘government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth.’ So help us God.”
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December 3, 2008 at 7:32 pm
The United States of America is not a Christian country, and it is not appropriate to link government buildings, organizations or policies with a belief in God.
Very few of the founding fathers expressed religious beliefs. Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Allen, and Franklin all spoke out against Christianity, and some explicitly denied that Jesus was God.
It is you that has your history wrong.
December 3, 2008 at 9:14 pm
Ryan,
You are so off base that it’s hard to believe you’re not joking, but alas, you are serious.
From the Pilgrims who came to America “for the Glory of God and advancement of the Christian Faith“, to John Hancock and the Massachusetts Congress who called for May 17, 1776 to
to the Continental Congress national Thanksgiving Day Proclamation on November 1, 1777 which said:
to George Washington’s October 3, 1789 national Thanksgiving Proclamation which said:
(Of course, this great Lord and Ruler of Nations is Jesus Christ.)
to Benjamin Franklin at the Constitutional Convention, holding together the squabbling group with the following:
to the first Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, who said:
to President John Adams’ March 23, 1798 national Fasting and Prayer proclamation which said:
(The Redeemer of the world is Jesus Christ)
to the Supreme Court in 1892 which said:
Ryan, you are sadly mistaken in your view of our founders. Do yourself a favor and read the posts I have placed in the “Christian Nation” category.
December 3, 2008 at 10:50 pm
“This would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it!”
– John Adams
During Adam’s administration that the Senate ratified the Treaty of Peace and Friendship, which states in Article XI that “the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion.”
Thomas Jefferson referred to the Revelation of St. John as “the ravings of a maniac”
“Religious bondage shackles and debilitates the mind and unfits it for every noble enterprise.”
-James Madison
Many of the founding fathers were deists, but very few were Christian. That they believed in a “god” was normal for the time. The belief in god is certainly part of our cherished history, and I have no problem acknowledging that. But don’t pretend that they were Christians.
December 3, 2008 at 10:59 pm
Ryan,
First, you provide no links to back up your assertions.
Second, the treaty to which you refer is the Treaty of Tripoli. Read what I wrote there.
There is no need to “pretend” our founders were Christians. It’s clear from what I have written in my last comment and in the previous posts in the Christian Nation category.
December 3, 2008 at 11:54 pm
I don’t need to supply you with links – these quotes are all in the public record, and can easily be found online.
You are truly blinded by your faith – but I guess that’s the whole idea of faith. Why can’t you just be a Christian in a great nation, instead of imposing your religion on others who do not share an interest in the supernatural.
December 4, 2008 at 12:29 am
Ryan,
I’m not “imposing my religion on others”. I’m working to prevent others from removing the very foundation on which this Constitutional Republic stands. If you remove the foundation, the Republic falls.
December 4, 2008 at 2:15 am
Your argument simply does not hold true. What particular foundation(s), if removed, would cause the republic to fall. And please, it better be a “foundation” that is exclusive to a religious society.
December 4, 2008 at 8:27 am
The quote from Thomas Jefferson is from a letter in which he recalls a conversation between a Parson and a Schoolteacher:
“…The Parson and the Pedagogue lived much together, but were eternally disputing about government and religion. One day, when the Schoolmaster had been more that commonly fanatical and declared if he were a Monarch, He would have but one Religion in his Dominion. The Parson cooly replied ‘Cleverly! You would be the best man in the world, if you had no religion.’
Twenty times, in the course of my late reading, have I been upon the point of breaking out, ‘This would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it!!!’ But in this exclamatic I should have been as fanatical as Bryant or Cleverly. Without religion this world would be something not fit to be mentioned in polite company, I mean Hell…”
As you see, Thomas Jefferson made the point that without religion, this world would be hell on earth (see those living under communist rule in Soviet Russia)
James Madison’s quotes (as well as most of the others) are referring specifically to religion AS ESTABLISHED BY THE STATE (i.e. Anglican Church). They were nearly all Christians (of one stripe or another) and saw the universal promotion and protection of religion and religious freedoms by the government as vital to the perseverance of our nation. To assume that they were against any mention of God in the public square is beyond absurd and completely revisionist.
December 4, 2008 at 8:40 am
Circi,
Thank you very much for your comment. I appreciate your putting the quote from Thomas Jefferson in its proper context.
A point echoed by President Ronald Reagan.
December 4, 2008 at 11:30 am
I agree with Circi, I have encountered many people on the internet and in RL that use certain quotes from the Founding Fathers to prove their point that the US was not founded on Christian principles.
What has to be remembered is many times these quotes are taken out of context, as with the Jefferson quote, or simply misunderstood. It also must be remembered that in some cases when the Founders are speaking against religion it is not the Christian faith they are speaking against, but the institution of the church.
There is a difference between the two that some do not seem to understand. It is possible to be against the church as a institution, but remain loyal to the faith.
In the case of many of the original Thirteen States the founding colonists were Christians but fled from the institution of the church in their home countries. For example, the Anglican Church in England drove many to the New World because with the backing of the Stuart Monarchy they did not brook dissenting takes on the faith.
In the case of the Founding Fathers of the American Republic it is similar. While freedom of worship may not have been one of the primary causes of their choice to rebel against the British Empire they did chafe under the Anglican Church. As a result when they founded the American Republic they made sure that something like what they, and their ancestors, endured under the Anglicans never happened again.
The result is this: The United States of America was founded on a mixture of Christian principle, Republican Rome, and a conservative interpretation of the Enlightenment (with the possible exception of Jefferson). They forbade the official adoption of a state religion not to create a state with out religion, but to create a state with no “official” religion so as to not repeat the mistake of the British.
To suggest that the Founding Fathers would not have wanted us, their heirs, to remember the part the Christian Faith has played in the creation of the Republic is foolhardy and contrary to reason.
December 4, 2008 at 12:34 pm
My question remains unanswered. Which Christian value(s), unique to Christianity, helped form the nation? Can you name one?
December 4, 2008 at 2:23 pm
Our Constitution is unique, and uniquely founded on Biblical principles. Our three branches of goverment (articles I, II, and III of our Constitution) were inspired by the following Bible verse:
Our founders chose to call the head of the Executive branch “President” instead of “King” because they believed we have “no King but Jesus“
December 4, 2008 at 2:43 pm
“It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ!”
-Patrick Henry
December 4, 2008 at 2:43 pm
A more recent patriot was smeared for accurately saying,
December 4, 2008 at 3:14 pm
Yeah, I didn’t think you had anything.
All you can come up with is that there are 3 branches of government? That’s a uniquely Christian principal is it?
I was going to write more, but then I took a look at the rest of your site. You aren’t really open to free thought, intelligent debate, or any sort of reason. You really need some help, and I hope you get it.
my best wishes to you.
December 4, 2008 at 4:55 pm
Ryan,
You said:
You asked for one; I gave you one. A unique verse from the Christian Bible, and how it helped form the nation.
You respond with an ad hominem attack, which is what liberals ALWAYS seem to do when they can’t argue the point.
There’s more, but you appear to be leaving.
My best wishes to you, too.
June 15, 2009 at 1:06 am
[...] of our National Motto? Check. Just like in the new Capitol Visitor Center, Obama has replaced our National Motto, “In God We Trust“, with the secular motto [...]