Lawson_Raider
May 6th, 2009, 9:13 pm
* Political Correctness General Warning: The following opinion contains biblical references and is Christian based. *
It is obvious there is alot of problems in America today. The debate goes on as to what is the problem, how did the problem start, and what is the future of this nation.
It is very easy to get wrapped up with the here and now, debating and arguing that it's either the Democrats or the Republicans, liberals or the conservatives faults for what is happening. However, within all the back and forth, we still cannot figure out who or what the solution is or if it will ever resolve.
I believe that this great nation was founded on Judeo-Christian values. That is my belief and opinion. Since our foundation, this nation has been blessed and has expanded as a beacon for all of the world because of our founding beliefs and values.
God has brought this nation through many wars; even a war that threatened to tear this nation in two. He has brought us through racial divides going from slavery to now having a black man as President (This is not an endorsement of Obama but rather that our society has made it possible for a black man to reach the highest office in the land).
However, this nation reached a point in it's history where the blessings started to taper off and chaos and hell started to snare the country. Americans started to lose the beliefs and values that were the foundation of this great land. These beliefs and values were the cement that held us together and now that cement has cracked and weathered down.
We have gone from having the Bible in the classroom as required study to teaching kids about their two dads, Tom and Bob. Kids used to pray before class but now they shoot up, drink up, and curse at the teachers.
Abraham Lincoln once said, the values of the classroom in one generation will be the values of government in the next. His statement was prophetic. The following Supreme Court cases starting in 1948 was the beginning of weeding out Christianity from public life and the government.
McCollum v. Board of Education Dist. 71 (http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/case/507/), 333 U.S. 203 (1948)
Court finds religious instruction in public schools a violation of the establishment clause and therefore unconstitutional.
.
Torcaso v. Watkins, 367 U.S. 488 (1961)
Court holds that the state of Maryland can not require applicants for public office to swear that they believed in the existence of God. The court unanimously rules that a religious test violates the Establishment Clause.
Engel v. Vitale (http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/case/111/abstract), 82 S. Ct. 1261 (1962)
Any kind of prayer, composed by public school districts, even nondenominational prayer, is unconstitutional government sponsorship of religion.
Abington School District v. Schempp (http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/case/2/), 374 U.S. 203 (1963)
Court finds Bible reading over school intercom unconstitutional and Murray v. Curlett, 374 U.S. 203 (1963) - Court finds forcing a child to participate in Bible reading and prayer unconstitutional.
Epperson v. Arkansas (http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/comm/free_speech/epperson.html), 89 S. Ct. 266 (1968)
State statue banning teaching of evolution is unconstitutional. A state cannot alter any element in a course of study in order to promote a religious point of view. A state's attempt to hide behind a nonreligious motivation will not be given credence unless that state can show a secular reason as the foundation for its actions.
Lemon v. Kurtzman (http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/case/207/), 91 S. Ct. 2105 (1971)
Established the three part test for determining if an action of government violates First Amendment's separation of church and state: 1) the government action must have a secular purpose; 2) its primary purpose must not be to inhibit or to advance religion; 3) there must be no excessive entanglement between government and religion.
Stone v. Graham (http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/case/369/), 449 U.S. 39 (1980)
Court finds posting of the Ten Commandments in schools unconstitutional.
Wallace v. Jaffree (http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/case/428/), 105 S. Ct. 2479 (1985)
State's moment of silence at public school statute is unconstitutional where legislative record reveals that motivation for statute was the encouragement of prayer. Court majority silent on whether "pure" moment of silence scheme, with no bias in favor of prayer or any other mental process, would be constitutional.
Edwards v. Aquillard (http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/case/107/), 107 S. Ct. 2573 (1987)
Unconstitutional for state to require teaching of "creation science" in all instances in which evolution is taught. Statute had a clear religious motivation.
Allegheny County v. ACLU (http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/case/87/), 492 U.S. 573 (1989)
Court finds that a nativity scene displayed inside a government building violates the Establishment Clause.
Lee v. Weisman (http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/case/206/), 112 S. Ct. 2649 (1992)
Unconstitutional for a school district to provide any clergy to perform nondenominational prayer at elementary or secondary school graduation. It involves government sponsorship of worship. Court majority was particularly concerned about psychological coercion to which children, as opposed to adults, would be subjected, by having prayers that may violate their beliefs recited at their graduation ceremonies.
Church of Lukumi Babalu Ave., Inc. v. Hialeah (http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/case/793/), 113 S. Ct. 2217 (1993)
City's ban on killing animals for religious sacrifices, while allowing sport killing and hunting, was unconstitutional discrimination against the Santeria religion. http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/church-state/decisions.html
So, we can take Abraham Lincoln's statement to heart, when the Supreme Court made these rulings, it paved the way for the secularization of teaching in public schools. Thus, with less Christian teaching which as previously stated was the values and beliefs that cemented this nation together, the children of that generation grew up with secular values.
They passed on those secular values to the next generation and so forth, those generations went into politics at various levels and now you have secular values in government. Just as Lincoln wisely predicted.
As more of these secularly indoctrinated people of that generation entered local, state, and federal government, they started instituting their secular values on legislation, executive decisions, and judicial orders.
Now, we have a situation where there are so many secular politicians in office that it merely isn't removing Christian beliefs and values from public life that is satisfactory, it now has turned to active suppression and attack on Christian values and beliefs.
The Bible says that a nation that turns its back on God will be turned into chaos and Hell. Psalms 9:17 states, The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.
God Himself has answered us in why this nation is in the position that it finds itself today. If only the United States would turn back to God and its founding beliefs and values in God, the situation will reverse and we will become a blessed nation once again.
It is obvious there is alot of problems in America today. The debate goes on as to what is the problem, how did the problem start, and what is the future of this nation.
It is very easy to get wrapped up with the here and now, debating and arguing that it's either the Democrats or the Republicans, liberals or the conservatives faults for what is happening. However, within all the back and forth, we still cannot figure out who or what the solution is or if it will ever resolve.
I believe that this great nation was founded on Judeo-Christian values. That is my belief and opinion. Since our foundation, this nation has been blessed and has expanded as a beacon for all of the world because of our founding beliefs and values.
God has brought this nation through many wars; even a war that threatened to tear this nation in two. He has brought us through racial divides going from slavery to now having a black man as President (This is not an endorsement of Obama but rather that our society has made it possible for a black man to reach the highest office in the land).
However, this nation reached a point in it's history where the blessings started to taper off and chaos and hell started to snare the country. Americans started to lose the beliefs and values that were the foundation of this great land. These beliefs and values were the cement that held us together and now that cement has cracked and weathered down.
We have gone from having the Bible in the classroom as required study to teaching kids about their two dads, Tom and Bob. Kids used to pray before class but now they shoot up, drink up, and curse at the teachers.
Abraham Lincoln once said, the values of the classroom in one generation will be the values of government in the next. His statement was prophetic. The following Supreme Court cases starting in 1948 was the beginning of weeding out Christianity from public life and the government.
McCollum v. Board of Education Dist. 71 (http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/case/507/), 333 U.S. 203 (1948)
Court finds religious instruction in public schools a violation of the establishment clause and therefore unconstitutional.
.
Torcaso v. Watkins, 367 U.S. 488 (1961)
Court holds that the state of Maryland can not require applicants for public office to swear that they believed in the existence of God. The court unanimously rules that a religious test violates the Establishment Clause.
Engel v. Vitale (http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/case/111/abstract), 82 S. Ct. 1261 (1962)
Any kind of prayer, composed by public school districts, even nondenominational prayer, is unconstitutional government sponsorship of religion.
Abington School District v. Schempp (http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/case/2/), 374 U.S. 203 (1963)
Court finds Bible reading over school intercom unconstitutional and Murray v. Curlett, 374 U.S. 203 (1963) - Court finds forcing a child to participate in Bible reading and prayer unconstitutional.
Epperson v. Arkansas (http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/comm/free_speech/epperson.html), 89 S. Ct. 266 (1968)
State statue banning teaching of evolution is unconstitutional. A state cannot alter any element in a course of study in order to promote a religious point of view. A state's attempt to hide behind a nonreligious motivation will not be given credence unless that state can show a secular reason as the foundation for its actions.
Lemon v. Kurtzman (http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/case/207/), 91 S. Ct. 2105 (1971)
Established the three part test for determining if an action of government violates First Amendment's separation of church and state: 1) the government action must have a secular purpose; 2) its primary purpose must not be to inhibit or to advance religion; 3) there must be no excessive entanglement between government and religion.
Stone v. Graham (http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/case/369/), 449 U.S. 39 (1980)
Court finds posting of the Ten Commandments in schools unconstitutional.
Wallace v. Jaffree (http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/case/428/), 105 S. Ct. 2479 (1985)
State's moment of silence at public school statute is unconstitutional where legislative record reveals that motivation for statute was the encouragement of prayer. Court majority silent on whether "pure" moment of silence scheme, with no bias in favor of prayer or any other mental process, would be constitutional.
Edwards v. Aquillard (http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/case/107/), 107 S. Ct. 2573 (1987)
Unconstitutional for state to require teaching of "creation science" in all instances in which evolution is taught. Statute had a clear religious motivation.
Allegheny County v. ACLU (http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/case/87/), 492 U.S. 573 (1989)
Court finds that a nativity scene displayed inside a government building violates the Establishment Clause.
Lee v. Weisman (http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/case/206/), 112 S. Ct. 2649 (1992)
Unconstitutional for a school district to provide any clergy to perform nondenominational prayer at elementary or secondary school graduation. It involves government sponsorship of worship. Court majority was particularly concerned about psychological coercion to which children, as opposed to adults, would be subjected, by having prayers that may violate their beliefs recited at their graduation ceremonies.
Church of Lukumi Babalu Ave., Inc. v. Hialeah (http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/case/793/), 113 S. Ct. 2217 (1993)
City's ban on killing animals for religious sacrifices, while allowing sport killing and hunting, was unconstitutional discrimination against the Santeria religion. http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/church-state/decisions.html
So, we can take Abraham Lincoln's statement to heart, when the Supreme Court made these rulings, it paved the way for the secularization of teaching in public schools. Thus, with less Christian teaching which as previously stated was the values and beliefs that cemented this nation together, the children of that generation grew up with secular values.
They passed on those secular values to the next generation and so forth, those generations went into politics at various levels and now you have secular values in government. Just as Lincoln wisely predicted.
As more of these secularly indoctrinated people of that generation entered local, state, and federal government, they started instituting their secular values on legislation, executive decisions, and judicial orders.
Now, we have a situation where there are so many secular politicians in office that it merely isn't removing Christian beliefs and values from public life that is satisfactory, it now has turned to active suppression and attack on Christian values and beliefs.
The Bible says that a nation that turns its back on God will be turned into chaos and Hell. Psalms 9:17 states, The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.
God Himself has answered us in why this nation is in the position that it finds itself today. If only the United States would turn back to God and its founding beliefs and values in God, the situation will reverse and we will become a blessed nation once again.