American Minute with Bill Federer

George Washington was born FEBRUARY 22, 1732.

He was unanimously chosen as the Army's Commander-in-Chief, unanimously chosen as President of the Constitutional Convention, and unanimously chosen as the first U.S. President.

After having the Declaration of Independence read to his troops, General Washington ordered chaplains placed in each regiment, stating:

"The General hopes and trusts, that every officer and man, will endeavour so to live, and act, as becomes a Christian Soldier, defending the dearest Rights and Liberties of his country."

General Washington stated at Valley Forge, May 2, 1778:

"To the distinguished character of Patriot, it should be our highest Glory to laud the more distinguished Character of Christian."

To the Delaware Indian Chiefs who brought three youths to be trained in American schools, General Washington stated, May 12, 1779:

"You do well to wish to learn our arts and ways of life, and above all, the religion of Jesus Christ."

As recorded in The Writings of George Washington (March 10, 1778, 11:83-84, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1934), record George Washington's order:

"At a General Court Marshall whereof Colo. Tupper was President...Lieutt. Enslin of Colo. Malcom's Regiment tried for attempting to commit sodomy, with John Monhort a soldier;

Secondly, For Perjury in swearing to false Accounts, found guilty of the charges exhibited against him, being breaches of 5th. Article 18th Section of the Articles of War and do sentence him to be dismiss'd the service with Infamy.

His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief approves the sentence and with Abhorrence and Detestation of such Infamous Crimes orders Liett. Enslin to be drummed out of Camp tomorrow morning by all the Drummers and Fifers in the Army never to return."

In his Farewell Address, 1796, Washington stated:

"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, Religion and Morality are indispensable supports.

In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great Pillars of human happiness."

_America's Party Principles In Public Policy -> Free the First Amendment Committee

What a Democrat President did 71 years ago...

American Minute

Bill Federer

On JANUARY 25, 1941, Democrat President Franklin D. Roosevelt wrote the foreword to a Special Military Edition of the New Testament & Book of Psalms, distributed to millions of soldiers and sailors by The Gideon's International:

JANUARY 25, 1941
The White House, Washington
To the Armed Forces,
As Commander-in-Chief I take pleasure in commending the reading of the Bible to all who serve in the armed forces of the United States. Throughout the centuries men of many faiths and diverse origins have found in the Sacred Book words of wisdom, counsel and inspiration. It is a fountain of strength and now, as always, an aid in attaining the highest aspirations of the human soul.
Very sincerely yours,
Franklin D. Roosevelt

Also on JANUARY 25, in the year 1952, Dwight Eisenhower was quoted in The Religious Herald, Virginia, in the article "Presidential Candidates Stress Role of Religion":

"What is our battle against Communism if it is not a fight between anti-God and a belief in the Almighty?...Communists...have to eliminate God from their system. When God comes, Communism has to go."

On JANUARY 25, 1984, in his State of the Union Address, President Ronald Reagan stated

"Each day your members observe a 200-year-old tradition meant to signify America is one nation under God.
     I must ask: If you can begin your day with a member of the clergy standing right here leading you in prayer, then why can't freedom to acknowledge God be enjoyed again by children in every school room across this land?'...

America was founded by people who believed that God was their rock of safety. I recognize we must be cautious in claiming that God is on our side, but I think it's all right to keep asking if we're on His side."

Reagan concluded:

"Carl Sandburg said, 'I see America not in the setting sun of a black night of despair....I see America in the crimson light of a rising sun fresh from the burning, creative hand of God.'"

A month later in a radio address, February 25, 1984, President Reagan stated:

"The First Amendment of the Constitution was not written to protect the people from religion; that amendment was written to protect religion from government tyranny...
      But now we're told our children have no right to pray in school. Nonsense. The pendulum has swung too far toward intolerance against genuine religious freedom. It is time to redress the balance."

Reagan concluded:

"Former Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart noted if religious exercises are held to be impermissible activity in schools, religion is placed at an artificial and state-created disadvantage...
      Refusal to permit religious exercises is seen not as the realization of state neutrality, but rather as the establishment of a religion of secularism."

American Minute

Bill Federer

William Orville Douglas died JANUARY 19, 1980.

He was a Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court for 36 years, after having taught law at Yale and Columbia University.

In the 1952 case of Zorach v. Clauson, Justice Douglas wrote:

"The First Amendment, however, does not say that in every and all respects there shall be a separation of Church and State...Otherwise the state and religion would be aliens to each other - hostile, suspicious, and even unfriendly...

Municipalities would not be permitted to render police or fire protection to religious groups. Policemen who helped parishioners into their places of worship would violate the Constitution. Prayers in our legislative halls; the appeals to the Almighty in the messages of the Chief Executive; the proclamations making Thanksgiving Day a holiday; "so help me God" in our courtroom oaths - these and all other references to the Almighty that run through our laws, our public rituals, our ceremonies would be flouting the First Amendment.

A fastidious atheist or agnostic could even object to the supplication with which the Court opens each session: 'God save the United States and this Honorable Court...'"

Justice Douglas continued:

"We are a religious people whose institutions presuppose a Supreme Being...

When the state encourages religious instruction...it follows the best of our traditions. For it then respects the religious nature of our people and accommodates the public service to their spiritual needs.

To hold that it may not would be to find in the Constitution a requirement that the government show a callous indifference to religious groups. That would be preferring those who believe in no religion over those who do believe."

Justice William Douglas concluded:

"We find no constitutional requirement which makes it necessary for government to be hostile to religion...We cannot read into the Bill of Rights such a philosophy of hostility to religion."