America's Christian roots
Dr. Michael Youssef - Guest Columnist - 7/14/2010 10:20:00 AM
In my last column, I explained that while a country itself is not a Christian being, Christian individuals make up a country, and the ideals of a country certainly can reflect a Christian heritage and legacy. I want to explain more to you why we do consider America a country founded upon Christianity, and not a set of secularist philosophies.

President Obama declared during his April 2009 visit to Turkey that, "One of the great strengths of the United States is...we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation. We consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values."

While I have utter respect for the office of the presidency of the United States and I pray for our President daily, I cannot abide by his statement. His words were not only an affront to our nation's history, but the statement is a contradiction of terms. He claims Americans are bound together by shared ideals, but history shows us that our country's foundational laws and charters were rooted in the Bible. Every one of our country's values blossomed out of biblical roots.

Contrary to what many secularists today try to tell us, the Founding Fathers were not skeptics or unbelievers. They were not Muslims or Buddhists. They were men and women whose faith was built on the Lord Jesus Christ. Their Christian devotion manifested itself in the documents they wrote, in the laws they formed, and in their very patriotism for their new God-given land.

Here are some truths regarding the true Christian nature of our country. Beginning with the colonial charters, we see a great passion for not only promoting God's truths, but for spreading the Gospel. The Mayflower Compact specifies that the colonies were established "for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith." The Delaware Charter defines one of the purposes for its settlements as the "further propagation of the Holy Gospel." The charter of Rhode Island commits to "the true Christian faith and worship of God." The Charter of Maryland explained a "pious Zeal for extending the Christian Religion."

In the Declaration of Independence, our Founding Fathers acknowledged God as our country's Divine Protector. In an 1844 U.S. Supreme Court case, the Court said, "Why may not the Bible and especially the New Testament be read and taught as a divine revelation in the [school]?...Where else can the purest principles of morality be learned so clearly or so perfectly as from the New Testament?"

Without the Bible, we would have no values and ideals. We would have anarchy in this land. Yet that is exactly what secularists are trying to do by ripping out the cross from public life, from hiding prayers at public and even private events, and by silencing Christians from freely speaking biblical truths. These so-called forward thinkers are dismantling over 200 years' worth of Bible-based freedoms and exchanging them for liberal dependence on a secularized government.

Before God fully removes His protection and blessings from this nation, we must repent of our apathy regarding the state of this union. We must no longer be content with what politicians tell us is the fate of our country, but rather we must unite in prayer to bring back the biblically based ideals which founded this nation.