Editor, Manteca Bulletin,
Is America a Christian nation?  From the writings of Columbus to the Mayflower Compact to the Declaration of Independence to the structure of the U.S. Constitution, America’s founders clearly applied Christian principles in the foundation of America.

James Madison, the architect of the U.S. Constitution, stated, “Religion (is) the basis and Foundation of Government”.  Madison was inspired by the Holy Bible in the formation of our three equal branches of government.  He used Isaiah 33:22 “ For the Lord is our Judge. The Lord is our Lawgiver. The Lord is our King. He will save us.”  Through this verse, Madison formed the judicial, legislative, and executive branches of our government.

The Declaration of Independence is the document that makes the U.S. Constitution legal. Of the 55 signers of “The Declaration of Independence”, 52 were deeply committed Christians; some of whom were ministers.  It is the same Congress that formed the American Bible Society, immediately after creating the Declaration of Independence. That document says that our rights come from “our Creator” (God) and the U.S. Constitution was signed “ in the year of our Lord” in 1787 after the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1783, ending the Revolutionary War with the documented writing “ in the name of the Holy and undivided Trinity” (God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit).

The very first act of the first congress was to bring in a minister and have congress led in prayer.  The Continental Congress then voted to purchase and import 20,000 copies of Scripture for the people of this nation.  Afterward, four chapters of the Holy Bible were read.  

In 1892, the United States Supreme Court declared, “This is a Christian nation,” and “Our laws and our institutions must necessarily be based upon the teachings of the Redeemer of Mankind.  It is impossible that it should be otherwise; and in this sense, and to this extent, our civilization and our institutions are emphatically Christian”.  
After World War II, congress declared “In God We Trust” on our currency.  Christian holidays of Christmas and Thanksgiving have been declared national holidays and “one nation under God” is in our Pledge of Allegiance.  Every preamble to each state in the union makes an unapologetic declaration of God in their state constitution.  

References to God are engraved on numerous national monuments.  On the Washington Monument it is engraved o­n the aluminum capstone, the Latin phrase Laus Deo, which means “Praise be to God.” Lining the walls of the stairwell are carved tribute blocks that declare such biblical phrases as “Holiness to the Lord”; “Search the Scriptures”. On the U.S Capital, in the house chamber is the inscription, “In God We Trust.”  On the Supreme Court building in a number of places are images of Moses with the Ten Commandments.  When you enter the Jefferson Memorial, you will find many references to God. A quote that runs around the interior dome says, “I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against  every form of tyranny over the minds of man.”

While liberals have tried to remove references to God and confuse people with misinterpretations such as “separation of church and state”, this phrase is not even in the U.S. Constitution.  The phrase “separation of church and state” was first written by President Thomas Jefferson in a letter to the Baptist Association of Danbury in Connecticut.  The founding fathers did not want a government run by religion as in the “Church of England”, where people could not worship freely.  Therefore a separation was intended to protect government from control by religion and to protect religion from control by government, not to build a confrontational wall to keep government and religion separated.

History shows that George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Benjamin Franklin and John Adams and many others of our founding fathers established America as a Christian nation.  Here are some of the recorded references of what they really said:  

“God who gave us life gave us liberty.  And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are a gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath?  Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever”.  -  Thomas Jefferson, 1781

“Suppose a nation in some distant region should take the Bible for their only Law Book, and every member should regulate his conduct by the precepts there exhibited...What a paradise would this region be!” - John Adams, 1756

“Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.”  - Chief Justice John Jay, October 12, 1816

With all this, President John Adams stated, “The Bible is the best book in the world,” and President Thomas Jefferson stated,  “The Bible is the source of Liberty”  

These are just a few of the several hundred documented quotes and writings of our founding fathers.  If a president or politician made any of these statements today, the liberal media would viciously attack them as intolerant religious extremists and liberal judges would accuse them of violating the very Constitution that they created.

As President Eisenhower and later President Ford stated, “Without God there can be no American form of government nor an American way of life. Recognition of a Supreme Being is the first impression of Americanism. Thus the founding fathers saw it, and thus with God’s help, it will continue to be.”

The historical record is clear. America is a Christian nation. As President Ronald Reagan once said,  “If we ever forget that we’re one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under.”