The New Minutemen - Part I

The original Minutemen were ordinary people - pastors, farmers, businessmen. Most people don't realize this (because our public schools vigorously censor any mention of religion from our history), but the majority of the local militias later called Minutemen were organized and trained by the pastors of their local churches.

In fact, the Revolutionary War would not have been won were it not for the pastors and Christians of colonial America. But that is a study for another time, one that is well documented in an earlier article about the original Minutemen ("The Forgotten Holiday"), the publication of which resulted in me being interviewed on national television regarding our nation's Christian foundations. Today's article is the first in a series about the New Minutemen (and Women).

These men and women are like the Watchmen on the Wall in the ancient cities of Israel - keeping watch, and blowing their trumpets when they see danger. They are the men and women (and teens and children) you saw at the TEA Parties on April 15 and July 4, and will see again many times in the coming months. Hundreds of thousands of patriots who love America and hate what her "leaders" are doing to her. They are the core of a vast Army of Patriots that is beginning to make its voice heard, warning of the grave dangers that face our nation.

Over the next few weeks we will discuss a number of those dangers, including the loss of our national sovereignty, crippling inflation caused by government incompetence, and the deliberate weakening of our economy by a man who took an oath to protect this nation, but who has his own corrupt agenda.

Today we will discuss the danger of the loss of our identity as a Christian nation, and the loss of our religious freedom. Let me begin by saying that any student of American history will have no trouble discovering that this nation was founded as a Christian nation and has always been considered by its leaders to be a Christian nation.

That is not to say that people who practice other religions are not welcome in this country. They are. But the principles upon which our founding documents were based were Christian principles; and our laws are based on the Bible itself. But even though this is true, we have never tried to force others to become Christians, and our government and courts are not run by preachers.

By contrast, in most Muslim nations, for example, the exact opposite is true. If you are a Christian your very life is at risk. Christian women must dress in burkas like Muslim women, and all Christians must obey Muslim religious laws. The Mullahs (their version of preachers) run virtually everything. For instance, in the recent fraudulent election in Iran the reform candidate had two-thirds of the vote, according to independent observers. The current corrupt president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared that HE had won by a two-thirds majority. After days of rioting and protests, the Mullahs simply declared that their boy was the winner - and that was that. (By the way, Obama supported Ahmadinejad, saying we shouldn't meddle in other country's affairs. But in the recent situation in Honduras he did meddle, and in doing so sided with Castro and his new friend, rabid America-hater Hugo Chavez.)

Regarding the Christian foundations of this nation, allow me to quote some beloved American leaders, including our Founding Fathers, Presidents, and Justices of the Supreme Court on the subject. But first I would like to recount some historical facts brought out on the floor of the House last month by Representative Randy Forbes.

The first act of the first Congress of the United States of America was to invite a minister to pen the Congress in prayer, after which four chapters were read from the Bible.

In our Declaration of Independence, the signers made it very clear that unlike other nations, this nation would not grant any rights to the people; only Almighty God had that right and that power. The rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness were referred to as "inalienable," or God-given. Since the government didn't grant the rights, the government couldn't take them away.

The Treaty of Paris in 1783, which ended the Revolutionary War and birthed our nation, began with the words, "In the Name of the Most Holy and Undivided Trinity."

The Constitution of the United States, the most important document in the nation, is punctuated with the words, "In the Year of Our Lord, 1787."

And a hundred years later in the case of Holy Trinity Church, The Supreme Court of the United States, after recounting the long history of faith in this country, stated that we were a Christian nation.

Before the invasion of Normandy, the greatest battle in the history of the world, President Franklin Roosevelt led the nation in a six minute long prayer for protection, which began, "Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity." Please notice that he asked God to preserve not just our Republic, but also "our religion" (singular) not "religions" (plural).

Is this a Christian nation? According to their speeches and writings, these guys thought so. You might recognize their names:

• George Washington
• John Adams
• Thomas Jefferson
• Andrew Jackson
• Abraham Lincoln
• William McKinley
• Teddy Roosevelt
• Woodrow Wilson
• Herbert Hoover
• Franklin Roosevelt
• Harry Truman
• Dwight Eisenhower
• John F. Kennedy
• Ronald Reagan

Since our nation's founding, both Houses of Congress have honored our Christian heritage by having Christian chaplains open their sessions with prayer. When this tradition was challenged in 1853, the Senate's response was, "We are Christians. In a land thus universally Christian, what is to be expected, what desired, but that we shall pay a due regard to Christianity, and have a reasonable respect for its ministers and religious solemnities?" The House's strong response was, "Christianity was the religion of the founders of the Republic, and they expected it to remain the religion of their descendents."

"Give me liberty or give me death!" Patrick Henry said, "It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ."

Samuel Adams, "The Father of the American Revolution," stated, "The rights of the colonists as Christians...may be best understood by reading and carefully studying the institution of the Great Law Giver and Head of the Christian Church, which are to be found clearly written and promulgated in the New Testament."

Samuel Chase, Justice of the US Supreme Court and one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, was Chief Justice of the State of Maryland when he ruled in 1799 (in Runkel v Winemiller): "By our form of government, the Christian religion is the established religion."

John Quincy Adams, our sixth president: "From the day of the Declaration...they [the American people] were bound by the laws of God, which they all, and by the laws of The Gospel, which they nearly all, acknowledge as the rules of their conduct."

John Jay, the First Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court, said, "Providence has given to our people the choice of their ruler, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers."

President Harry Truman: "This is a Christian nation. The fundamental basis of this nation's laws was given to Moses on the Mount. The fundamental basis of our Bill of Rights comes from the teachings we get from Exodus and Saint Matthew, from Isaiah and Saint Paul. I don't think we emphasize that enough these days. If we don't have a proper fundamental moral background, we will finally end up with a totalitarian government which does not believe in rights for anybody except the State."

President Woodrow Wilson unequivocally stated, "A nation which does not remember what it was yesterday, does not know what it is today, nor what it is trying to do. We are trying to do a futile thing if we do not know where we came from or what we have been about...America was born a Christian nation. America was born to exemplify that devotion to the tenets of righteousness which are derived from the revelations of Holy Scripture."

Barack Obama (on April 6 in Turkey, his first appearance in a Muslim nation as president): "Although we have a very large Christian population, we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation."

To which the great majority of Americans who heard his words have said, "Speak for yourself!"

Representative Forbes asked Obama to answer two simple questions:

1. Has this nation ever considered itself a Christian nation?
2. If so, when did we cease being a Christian nation?

Since it is doubtful that Obama will ever answer these two very pertinent questions, I will take the liberty of answering them for him. Obama claims to be a student of the Constitution and of American history, so his studies must have included the quotations above. Therefore, he knows that the answer to the first question is that yes, this nation has for over two hundred years considered itself a Christian nation, although certainly some individuals (including agnostics, atheists, and Obama himself) would disagree with that characterization.

As to when America ceased to be a Christian nation, if it did so, it can only be because the chief spokesman for the nation believed it to be the case. Therefore, logic dictates that the day the United States of America ceased to be a Christian Nation was January 20, 2009 - the day Barack Hussein Obama, who calls himself a Christian but who has done everything in his power to hinder the Christian church in this country, was sworn in as president of the United States.

If it is true that on January 20 of this year we ceased to be a Christian nation, I pray fervently that on January 20 of 2013 we will inaugurate a man or woman who understands the history and character of this nation and will celebrate the fact that we are indeed a Christian nation.

Fortunately, we did not cease to be a Christian nation when the United States made the huge mistake of making this small man their president. He doesn't have that power. He can say that the sun doesn't shine, but it will still shine. He can say that we are not a Christian nation, but that doesn't change a thing.

In May he had the audacity to tell a French reporter that "if you actually took the number of Muslim Americans, we'd be one of the largest Muslim countries in the world." Hello! Is it disrespectful to call the president an idiot? There are about 1.3 million Muslims in this country - about ½ of one per cent. Religious Jews are about twice that number. Throw in a handful of Hindus, Buddhists and other religions, and Christians are still the huge majority. And Obama says we are one of the largest Muslim nations?!?! But I guess I shouldn't be surprised. After all, during the campaign he impressed us with how hard he had been working when he told us he had visited all 57 states.

In June he gave a speech in Egypt in which he said that he felt it his duty and "part of my responsibility as president of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear." Whoa! Let me check the Constitution. I must have missed something. He denies the Christian heritage and identity of America, but decides it is his duty and responsibility to fight against Islamic stereotypes? Either he is a closet Muslim or he has gone completely crazy.

(Don't worry, next week, I promise not to hold back. I'll tell you how I really feel.)

We may laugh at the irony of a president who cares more about what the rest of the world thinks about him than about what his country thinks of him. We may find humor in his characterization of the United States as a Muslim nation.

But his animosity toward Christianity is deadly serious, and should not be taken lightly. Even if he serves just one term, he can do damage to religious freedom that might take many years to repair.

His mockery of the Bible is all over YouTube and other video sites. This is particularly distressing as young people, particularly those raised in homes without strong values, tend to emulate anyone in the public eye, particularly someone as glib and charismatic as Obama.

However, I am most concerned about legislation he and his henchmen in Congress are crafting that is designed to harm Christian churches. With the seating of the filthy-mouthed so-called comedian Al Franken as a Democrat senator, Obama now has a filibuster-proof control of both the House and the Senate.

One initiative will financially penalize public schools that rent space to Christian churches when school is not in session. Never mind that in many cases this is the only affordable option for new churches. Never mind that often the schools really need the rental revenue the churches provide. Obama has found a way to hurt churches and call it "separation of Church and State," and he's not going to miss the opportunity.

Another plan is to stop allowing gifts to churches as tax deductions. Personally, I will continue to tithe ten per cent of my income and give offerings over and above that, regardless of whether I can deduct that giving. But this will have an overall negative effect on giving, particularly to ministries that shelter the homeless and released prisoners. Obama doesn't care that Christian ministries have been proven far more effective in these areas than government programs. His agenda calls for the government to be in charge of everything, and he has no qualms about using the tax code to further that detestable agenda.

And of course he supports so-called "hate crimes" laws that could put Christians in jail for simply stating what the Bible says about homosexual sin. Don't laugh; it has already happened in Canada. With a man like Obama in the White House, it's just a matter of time here.

This Christian nation has been a beacon to the world for 233 years. Because of our beliefs we have been the most generous country the world has ever seen. We have sent missionaries to lands that the rest of the world cared nothing for, and the result of the ministry and teaching of those brave missionaries has transformed entire nations. We have protected the world, fed the world, and acted as the world's referee. And we have been a friend to Israel, as God has commanded us to.

Obama's goal is to change all of that. We need Minutemen and Minutewomen to stand up and be counted. We need Watchmen who know how to look past the smooth talk and see what is actually happening - and then warn America of the danger it faces.