Home Literature A Return to Our Roots
By Bill McCarthy
When a person or civilization is at the precipice overlooking ruin, the most progressive way is backwards-away from the abyss. God raised up America to be a light of revelation for the world. Christopher Columbus said as he read the Scripture that he felt illuminations from the Holy Spirit that he was founding a new Israel, a Christian Israel, to be a light of revelation to the nations.
America was founded upon Godly principles; to be exact, Christian principles. Constitutionally, we were given the highest ideals known to mankind.
From 1776 to 1962, we were, as a nation, pro-God, pro-Christianity, pro-family, pro-life, pro-decency, pro-freedom, and pro-the common good. Beginning in l962, we began to throw away our sacred heritage. In 1962, we separated God from state and did something that was horrendously unconstitutional. We restricted our teachers and public school children to from participating in prayer, from learning about the Ten Commandments, and from the Judaic-Christian backdrop that formed the very basis of the American educational system as set up by our Founding Fathers. Every known moral problem began to escalate, not only among public schools student but in the nation as well.
With the new secularist and liberal philosophy, the ‘separation of Church and state’ began to take root in the minds and hearts of the American public. Now promiscuity, prostitution, sodomy, pornography, obscenity, atheism, violence, murder, rape, and incest dominate our land.
Anyone born after 1962 never knew the United States of America. Before then, we had prayer in every public school. Obscenity, pornography, prostitution, abortion, public sodomy was outlawed. Every public school student was taught the Ten Commandments and had public prayer in the classroom. At every graduation or baccalaureate, a priest, minister or rabbi led public prayer. There was a dress code for all students. There were no co-ed dorms. That was before Playboy, and Hustler. Most Americans were for protecting youth. In the new liberal culture, Littleton, Colorado is just the tip of the iceberg.
Promiscuity, pornography are rampant on our campuses, as college president after college president has compromised values. Co-ed dorms are the norm. Schools don't even push morality. The only norm is to practice safe sex, which is not safe at all, since condoms have been proven tremendously defective in preventing the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases, especially AIDS. Socially transmitted diseases among our youth are commonplace. SAT scores are down and suicides are up as we witness a youthful America without roots.
America is reveling in excesses, rolling in riches, rollicking in pleasures, revolting in morals, and rotting in sin.
We now hear that America is "too young to die." We are met on a great battlefield testing whether this nation or any nation so conceived on Christian principle can long endure.
September 11th was a great warning. God allowed the double symbols of money and military power to be attacked, for no amount of money and no military force can restore America. The question of the hour is, "Will we continue to head toward the precipice of destruction, or will we turn back to God?" For the battle line is drawn - it is Christ or chaos. The choice is clear. God, His principles and the choice of life, or death and destruction.
Moses said it long ago, " See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you ... I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life" (Deut 30:15-20).
As a nation we must get on our knees and humbly pray in contr]tion, confession, and commitment so that we can return to the faith of our fathers. The crisis is as acute as it can get. The danger of the America dream failing is imminent. Time is running out. God's mercy is coming to an end. Something miraculous must happen in the soul of America right now before it is too late. The choice is clearer than ever-repent or perish. Revival or ruin. And the question of the hour is, "Which way America, to be or not to be?"
Although it is not well known, our school children in public school are allowed to pray, to do religious term papers, to ask religious questions, to form a Bible club, and even to pray at graduation. Our Supreme Court has made it most clear that there is a distinction between those religious activities that are "student initiated" and those that are "administration initiated.""Student initiated" religious activities are allowed. Administration initiated religious activities are not.
In fact, last year (2002), there was prayer at more than 10,000 public school graduation-all, of course, initiated by the student themselves. There are also at present more than I 1,000 Bible study groups meeting regularly in public high schools. Once again, each of these is led by the students themselves. The American Civil Liberties Union, however, still tries to intimidate school systems with law suits. The American Center for Law and Justice constantly wins because it is the law of the land that a student does not leave their religious convictions on the doorstep as they enter the school building.
Following is a list compiled by Dave Roever of Ft. Worth, Texas that spells out students' religious rights that are guaranteed under the present laws of the United States.
1. THE RIGHT to Meet with Other Religious Students
The Equal Access Act allows students the freedom to meet on campus for the purpose of discussing religious issues.
2.THE RIGHT to Identify Your Religious Beliefs through Signs and Symbols.
Students are free to express their religious beliefs through signs and symbols.
3. THE RIGHT to Talk about Your religious Beliefs on Campus.
Freedom of speech is a fundamental right mandated in the Constitution and does not exclude the school yard.
4. THE RIGHT to Distribute Religious Literature on Campus.
Distributing literature on campus may not be restricted simply because it is religious.
5. THE RIGHT to Pray on Campus.
Students may pray alone or with others so long as it does not disrupt school activities or is not forced on others.
6. THE RIGHT to Carry or Study Your Bible on Campus.
The Supreme Court has said that only state directed Bible reading is unconstitutional.
7. THE RIGHT to Do Research papers, Speeches, and Creative Projects with Religious Themes.
The First Amendment does not forbid all mention of religion in public schools.
8. THE RIGHT to Be Exempt.
Students may be exempt from activities and class content that contradict their religious beliefs.
9. THE RIGHT to Celebrate or Study Religious Holidays on Campus.
Music, art, literature, and drama that have religious themes are permitted as part of the curriculum for school activities if presented in an objective manner as a traditional part of the cultural and religious heritage of the particular holiday.
10. THE RIGHT to Meet with School Officials.
The First Amendment to the Constitution forbids Congress to make any law that would restrict the right of the people to petition the Government (school officials).
(Reprinted from God bless America: God's Vision or Ours? published by Queenship Publishing, 2003. pp. 148-152. Used with permission.)
Home Literature A Return to Our Roots