Montana IS the last "best place", but don't tell anybody!

This nation was formed by people who had faith in hard honest work; wanting only to be governed by the laws of God and seeking only to realise the fruit of their labors.

Democrats and other communists believe that the whims of man are law, and hard working Americans should have the fruit of their labors taken from them, and given to those who do not work!

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Do gays want to be in committed married monogamous relationships? Read response to doctor who dared suggest monogamy to stem tide of AIDS spread

"When Judges ORDER the making of a law...(as in Massachusetts) it is all over folks. Wake up and smell the gun smoke! Our representative government is gone. We pass laws, and they are struck down by the judges. We elect people to represent us and every thing they do is stopped by the judges..... The constitution is being violated every single day."~~me --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"The other thing is that we have adopted a sort of a pragmatic test for right and wrong--whatever works is right. If it works, it's all right. Nothing is wrong but that which does not work. If you don't get caught, it's right. That's the attitude, isn't it? It's all right to disobey the Ten Commandments, but just don't disobey the Eleventh, Thou shall not get caught. That's the attitude. That's the prevailing attitude in, in our culture. No matter what you do, just do it with a, with a bit of finesse. You know, a sort of attitude of the survival of the slickest. Not the Darwinian survival of the fittest, but the survival of the slickest--who, whoever can be the slickest is, is the one who right. It's all right to lie, but lie with dignity. It's all right to steal and to rob and extort, but do it with a bit of finesse. It's even all right to hate, but just dress your hate up in the garments of love and make it appear that you are loving when you are actually hating. Just get by! That's the thing that's right according to this new ethic.

My friends, that attitude is destroying the soul of our culture! It's destroying our nation! The thing that we need in the world today, is a group of men and women who will stand up for right and be opposed to wrong, wherever it is. A group of people who have come to see that some things are wrong, whether they're never caught up with. Some things are right, whether nobody sees you doing them or not.

All I'm trying to say is, our world hinges on moral foundations. God has made it so! God has made the universe to be based on a moral law. So long as man disobeys it he is revolting against God. That's what we need in the world today--people who will stand for right and goodness. It's not enough to know the intricacies of zoology and biology. But we must know the intricacies of law. It is not enough to know that two and two makes four. But we've got to know somehow that it's right to be honest and just with our brothers. It's not enough to know all about our philosophical and mathematical disciplines. But we've got to know the simple disciplines, of being honest and loving and just with all humanity. If we don't learn it, we will destroy ourselves, by the misuse of our own powers."~~~Martin Luther King Jr.

"Two wrongs don't make a right" ~my momma

"A miserable being needs to find more miserable being....then, is happy."~~ Boris, Lady and the Tramp

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Educate yourself. Christians founded this nation, as a Christian Nation. Acknowledgment of Jesus Christ as the foundation on which this nation stands will not turn this nation into a state like religious state of Iran! That is a really stupid thing to say! Don't let ignorant people get away with saying it! Check out how intertwined this nation was with Christianity----and yet people have poured into this nation from every other nation! Christ is Liberty!

FOUNDATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Sir Walter Raleigh was given the first colonial grant, authorizing him to build a colony here in America, in 1584, he was given permission to enact laws, provided: "They be not against the true Christian faith"...

Then, in the first Charter for Virginia, King James, in 1606, wrote that the charter was for this reason: "In propagation of Christian Religion to such a People as yet live in darkness"

It is a little known fact these days, that every Colonial Charter, had a similar statement, and in fact established Christianity as their religion, and the purpose of the colony being formed was to spread the truth of the gospel.

It is also clearly written in the Mayflower Compact, but left out of school text books so that non Christians will not now be "offended", that the reason for founding the colony in America was: "Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith,"

The fundamental orders of Connecticut, under which a temporary government was formed in 1638, said explicitly: "...to maintain and preserve the liberty and purity of the gospel of our Lord Jesus which we now profess.."

FREEMEN

To be eligible to vote, or run for public office, in the new colonies, a man had to meet two qualifications: Be a church member; and take the "Oath of Freemen

"I, A&B, being by God's providence an inhabitant and freeman within the jurisdiction of this common weale, do freely acknowledge myself to be subject to the government thereof, and therefore do hereby swear by the great and dreadful name of the ever-living God that I will be true and faithful to the same, and will accordingly yield assistance and support thereunto, with my person and estate, as in equity I am bound, and will also truly endeavor to maintain and preserve all the priviledges [sic] and liberties thereunto, submitting myself to the wholesome laws made and established by the same. And further, that I will not plot nor practise any evil against it, nor consent to any that shall be so done, but will timely discover and reveal the same to lawful authority now here established for the speedy preventing thereof. Moreover, I do solemnly bind myself in the sight of God that when I shall be called to give my voice touching any such matter of this State, wherein Freemen are to deal, I will give my vote and suffrage as I shall in my own conscience judge best to produce and tend to the public weale of the body, without respect of persons or respect of any man. So help me God in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The "Liberty Bell", in Philadelphia, is inscribed with a verse from the Bible, Leviticus chapter 25, verse 10: "PROCLAIM LIBERTY THROUGHOUT ALL THE LAND UNTO ALL THE INHABITANTS THEREOF LEV. XXV X,"

Then the Declaration of Independence says: ""We therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions"........"the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them"...."We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,"...."And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence," ("providence" means God--and the founders and framers always referred to the Christian God!)

These ideas had been preached in thousands of sermons throughout America. The idea came from the Apostle Paul who told the Galatians: "The Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother . . . So then, brethren, we are not children of a bondwoman, but of the free woman" (4:26, 31).

In 1777 just one year after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, a congressional committee authorized the purchase, with public funds, of twenty thousand Christian Bibles to be distributed to the citizens of the United States.Unfortunately, no printing presses could be found to undertake such a large exorcise, and so, In 1782, congress again authorized to spend public funds on the printing and distribution of Christian Bibles to American Citizens.

These are quotes from the founders of our Nation, see if you don't think they built our nation on the foundation of Jesus Christ!

"It can not 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!"~~Patrick Henry

"Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for the rulers."~~John Jay

"The Birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior and forms a leading event in the progress of the gospel dispensation"......."The Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer's mission upon earth and laid the corner stone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity."~~John Quincy Adams

"Let us enter on this important business under the idea that we are Christians on whom the eyes of the world are now turned. ... Let us in the first place..... humbly and penitently implore the aid of the Almighty God whom we profess to serve. Let us earnestly call and beseech Him for Christ's sake to preside in our councils." --Elias Boudnot - President of the Continental Congress.

"No free government now exists in the world unless where Christianity is acknowledged, and is the religion of the country".....Christianity is part of the common law."~~1826 ruling by the Supreme Court of the United States.

Our own Supreme Court gave our Christian History, and acknowledged that we are a Christian nation, in its 1887 decision on the case, Church of the Holy Trinity V. U.S. In this decision, it stated clearly, that: "We are a Christian nation" And also sited other Supreme Court decisions in which this fact was clear. None more clear than The People V. Ruggles, in which the Court said: "The people of this State, in common with the people of this country, profess the general doctrines of Christianity, as the rule of their faith and practice...We are a Christian people, and the morality of the country is deeply engrafted upon Christianity, and not upon the doctrines or worship of those impostors" And, also the quote from Vidal v. Girard's Executors: "It is also said, and truly, that the Christian religion is a part of the common law"

House Judiciary Committee, March 27, 1854 "Had the people, (the founding fathers) during the revolution, a suspicion of any attempt to war against any Christianity, that revolution would have been strangled in its cradle.... at the time of the adoption of the Constitution and its amendments, the universal sentiment was Christianity should be encouraged, not any one sect. In this age, there is no substitute for Christianity. That was the religion of the founders of the republic and they expected it to remain the religion of their descendants." Two months later, they said,"The great vital and conservative element in our system (the thing that holds our system together) is the belief of our people in the pure doctrines and divine truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ." @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

Schools in the nation were founded so that the citizens would not be decieved by satan! In Europe, only the rich could be educated, and the colonists felt that the ignorance of the Bible, led to great atrocities in the name of Christianity. They personally had felt that oppression, for many Christians had been killed, in the countries where they came from, because of the populations general ignorance of the Bible. So, in this nation, the colonists enacted one of their first laws: "The Old Deluder Satan Law"! This is what it said:

"It being one Cheif project of that old deluder, Satan, to keep men from the knowledge of the scriptures, as in former time...It is therefore ordered that after the Lord hath increased the settlement, to the number of fifty householders, they shall then forthwith, appoint one within their town, to read....And it is further ordered that where any town shall increase to the number of one hundred families or householders, they shall set up a grammar school to instruct youths so far as they may be fitted for the University."

* Harvard University - Reverend John Harvard gave half his property and his entire library to start this world renowned institution. Harvard's original motto was: "For Christ and the Church." The goal of a Harvard education was to establish Christian principles in the minds of students according to the Word of God. Harvard use to be called, "Holy Harvard"! The requirements for getting a degree included being able to read and translate the scriptures from Chaldee, Syriac, Greek, into Latin. In addition to ministers, Harvard also produced some of the greatest statesmen of the 1700s, such as, John Hancock, John Adams, and Samuel Adams.

* Yale University - Yale was patterned after the design of Harvard. The founders of Yale were authorized to create an institution where "youth may be instructed in the Arts and Sciences who through the blessing of Almighty God may be fit for employment both in the Church and Civil State." Three Yale graduates were: the inventor Eli Whitney, the educator and author Noah Webster, and the patriot Nathan Hale who just before being hanged by the British said, "I regret that I have but one life to lose for my country."

* Amherst College - Amherst was founded and was maintained for many years with the aim of educating young men to serve God. The school's Latin motto, "Terras Irradient," is an allusion to Isaiah 6:3: "The whole earth is full of His glory." In the early years of the school frequent and powerful revivals often resulted in the salvation of many young men. Graduates of Amherst College have included the radical social reformer Henry Ward Beecher (brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe), and Daniel W. Poor, the pioneer missionary to Ceylon.

* Wellesley College - One of the most beautiful of the American colleges founded in the 1800s, Wellesley was patterned after the system of education at Mount Holyoke. Wellesley College's charter declared its foundation to be "distinctly and positively Christian in its influence, discipline and instruction." From its beginning, Wellesley has enrolled many international students.

* Brown University - First chartered as Rhode Island College, Baptist followers of Roger Williams founded the school "to train ministers and educate youth properly in the Christian faith." The rapid increase of Baptists in New England in the 1700s led to the need for a better educated leadership. Rhode Island College was the first of many educational projects begun in the American colonies as a result of the First Great Awakening.

* Dartmouth University - Yale graduate Eleazar Wheelock first founded Dartmouth as Moor's Indian Charity School in Columbia, Connecticut, but it was later mover to Hanover, New Hampshire. In the beginning, it was a reflection of the early settler's zeal to share the Christian faith with the Indians and to educate young Native Americans in the spirit of Jesus and the Bible. The school's motto, "A Voice of One Crying in the Wilderness", describes the prophetic calling which is firmly ingrained in Dartmouth's foundation.

As for The Constitution, it is true that it does not mention Christianity, because it was believed that this was a matter addressed in the individual state governments. Most of the original states actually had some form of Christian religious establishment! A minister, because his job was so important to the welfare of the society, by law, could not hold any public office...and It was the law, in many states, that the people attend church!! No person could hold office, unless he were a Christian!

Here is an example of the qualifications for being selected from an individule state, to the Constitutional Convention, where the Constitution was written. The representative from the state, was chosen from the state legislature. And to be a member of the state legislature one had to be able to meet the requirements.

This is from the state of Delaware, but all the other colonies had similar requirements:

"Article 22. Every person, who shall be chosen a member of either house, or appointed to any office or place of trust shall make and subscribe the following declaration, to wit: "I, ______ do profess faith in God the Father, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, and in the Holy Ghost, one God, blessed for evermore; and I do ackowledge the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be given by divine inspiration."

Here are some of examples of the state Constitutions, where those delegates to the Constitutional Convention came from:

North Carolina — 1776

Section 32. That no person who shall deny the being of God, or the truth of the protestant religion, or the Divine authority of the Old or New Testaments, or who shall hold religious principles incompatible with the freedom and safety of the state, shall be capable of holding any office, or place of trust or profit, in the civil department within this state.

New Jersey — 1777

Article 19. That there shall be no establishment of any one religious sect in this province in preference to another; and that no protestant inhabitant of this colony shall be denied the enjoyment of any civil right, merely on account of his religious principle; but that all persons professing a belief in the faith of any protestant sect, who shall demean themselves peaceably under the government, as hereby established, shall be capable of being elected into any office of profit, or trust, or being a member of either branch of the legislature, and shall fully and freely enjoy every privilege and immunity enjoyed by others their fellow subjects.

Massachusetts — 1780

"Part I, Article 3. As the happiness of a people, and good order and preservation of civil government, essentially depend upon piety, religion, and morality; and as these cannot be generally diffused throughout the community, but they the institution of a public worship of God, and of public institutions in piety, religion, and morality; therefore, to promote their happiness, and to secure the good order and preservation of their government, the people of this commonwealth have a right to invest their legislature with power to authorize and require, and the legislature shall, from time to time, authorize and require, the several towns, parishes, precincts, and other bodies politic, or religious societies, to make suitable provision, at their own expense, for the institution of the public worship of God, and of the support ant maintenance of public protestant teachers of piety, religion, and morality in all cases, where such provision shall not be made voluntarily."...."And every denomination of Christians, demeaning themselves peaceably, and as good subjects of the commonwealth, shall be equally under the protection of the law; and no subordination of any sect or denomination to another shall ever be established by law."

Chapter VI, Article I "Any person chosen governor or lieutenant–governor, counselor, senator or representative, and accepting the trust, shall, before he proceed to execute the duties of his place or office, make and subscribe the declaration, viz.

I, A.B., do declare that I believe the Christian religion, and have a firm persuasion of its truth; and that I am seized and possessed, in my own right, of the property required by the Constitution, as one qualification to the office or place to which I am elected.

New Hampshire — 1792 same as Massachusetts!

Vermont — 1793

Chapter I, Article 3. ....Nevertheless, every sect or denomination of Christians ought to observe the Sabbath, Lord's Day, and keep up some sort of religious worship, which to them shall seem most agreeable to the revealed will of God.

Chapter II, Section 41. Laws for the encouragement of virtue and prevention of vice and immorality, ought to be constantly kept in force and duly executed: and a competent number of schools ought to be maintained in each town, for the convenient instruction of youth; and one or more grammar schools be incorporated, and properly supported, in each county in this state. And all religious societies or bodies of men that may be hereafter united or incorporated for the advancement of religion and learning, or for other pious and charitable purposes, shall be encouraged and protected in the enjoyment of the privileges , immunities, and estates, which they in justice ought to enjoy, under such regulations as the General Assembly of this state shall direct.

Maryland — 1812

Right 33. That as it is the duty of every man to worship God in such manner as he thinks is most acceptable to him, all persons professing the Christian religion are equally entitled to protection of their religious liberty; wherefore, no person ought by law to be molested in his person or estate, on account of his religious persuasion or profession, or for his religious practice; unless, under colour of religion, any man should disturb the good order, peace, or safety of the state, or shall infringe the laws of morality, or injure others in their natural, civil, or religious rights; nor ought any person to be compelled to frequent or maintain any place of worship, or any particular ministry; (yet the legislature may, in their discretion, lay a general and equal tax for the support of the Christian religion: leaving to each individual the power of appointing the payment over the money collected from him, to the support of any particular place of worship or minister, or for the benefit of the poor of his own denomination, or the poor in general of any particular county;)

#35 That no other test or qualification ought to be required, on admission to any office of trust or profit, than such oath of support and fidelity to this state, and such oath of office, as shall be directed by this convention or the legislature of this state, and a declaration of the belief in the Christian religion.

The rest of the states are almost exactly the same! The Constitution, does not mention Christ, because it left all matters regarding religion and devotion to God, to the state governments.

Lincoln wrote shortly before his assassination:

"On many a defeated field there was a voice louder than the thundering of a cannon. It was the voice of God, crying, 'Let My people go.' We were all very slow in realizing it was God's voice, but after many humiliating defeats, the nation came to believe it as a great and solemn command. Great multitudes begged and prayed that I might answer God's voice by signing the Emancipation Proclamation, and I did it, believing we never should be successful in the great struggle unless the God of Battles has been on our side."

I remember the "blue laws" --THE LAW, that no business could be open on Sunday, (the Christian day of worship) giving honor to the Lord Jesus Christ! Every state in the union use to have these laws!

Our nation was certainly founded on Jesus Christ, and getting the gospel out to the world! Our laws are based on the Bible: the concept of three branches of government was taken from Isaiah 33:22 and tax exemption of churches from Ezra 7:24!

Our nation was strong because it honored God...the Christian God! The founding fathers knew this. My grandparents knew this! They read the Bible in School, prayed, and it was thought "unamerican" to not be a Christian!

Evidence of our Christian heritage are all over Washington DC! They are carved in the very buildings...if not in the people's hearts.

The Capitol – Every session of the House and the Senate begins with prayer. Each house has its own chaplain. The Eighty –third Congress set aside a small room in the Capitol, just off the rotunda, for the private prayer and meditation of members of Congress. The room is always open when Congress is in session. The room’s focal point is a stained glass window showing George Washington kneeling in prayer. Behind him is etched these words from Psalm 16:1: “Preserve me, O God, for in Thee do I put my trust.”

Inside the rotunda is a picture of the Pilgrims about to embark from Holland on the sister ship of the Mayflower; the Speedwell. The ship’s reverend chaplain, Brewster, who later joined the Mayflower; has open on his lap the Bible. Very clear are the words, “the New Testament according to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.” On the sail is the motto of the Pilgrims, “In God We Trust, God With Us.”

The phrase, “In God We Trust,” appears opposite the President of the Senate, who is the Vice President of the United States. The same phrase, in large words inscribed in the marble, backdrops the Speaker of the House of Representatives. It is of course engraved on our money, and is in fact our national motto.

The Supreme Court – Above the head of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court are the Ten Commandments, with the great American eagle protecting them. Moses is included among the great lawgivers in Herman A. MacNeil’s marble sculpture group on the east front. The crier who opens each session closes with the words, “God save the United States and the Honorable Court.”

The Washington Monument – Engraved on the metal cop on the top of the Washington Monument are the words: “Praise be to God.” Lining the walls of the stairwell are such biblical phrases as “Search the Scriptures,” “Holiness to the Lord,” “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.”

The Lincoln Memorial – inscribed into the walls.

…"That this Nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

At the opposite end, on the north wall, his Second Inaugural Address alludes to “God,” the “Bible,” “providence,” “the Almighty,” and “divine attributes.” It then continues:

“As was said 3000 years ago, so it still must be said, “The judgments of the Lord are true and righteousness altogether.”

Jefferson Memorial – On the south banks of Washington’s Tidal Basin, Thomas Jefferson still speaks:

“God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that his justice cannot sleep forever.”

Christ gave his life for us that we might have freedom from sin. The founders of this nation gave all they had, some gave their lives; just as their God had taught them; that all might live in a free Christian nation. *******************************************************************************

No matter how much we demand and ask it, God is not going to bless an America which is not humbly seeking forgiveness for our sins, an America which is not repentant! God has conditions on his blessings, according to 2 Chron. 7:14.

When, you ask, has this nation ever sought forgiveness for it's sins?

First in 1775, during the Continental Congress:

"As the great Governor of the World, by his supreme and universal Providence, not only conducts the course of nature with unerring wisdom and rectitude, but frequently influences the minds of men to serve the wise and gracious purposes of his providential government; and it being, at all times, our indispensible duty devoutly to acknowledge his superintending providence, especially in times of impending danger and public calamity, to reverence and adore his immutable justice as well as to implore his merciful interposition for our deliverance:

This Congress, therefore, considering the present critical, alarming and calamitous state of these colonies, do earnestly recommend that Thursday, the 20th day of July next, be observed, by the inhabitants of all the English colonies on this continent, as a day of public humiliation, fasting and prayer; that we may, with united hearts and voices, unfeignedly confess and deplore our many sins; and offer up our joint supplications to the all-wise, omnipotent, and merciful Disposer of all events; humbly beseeching him to forgive our iniquities, to remove our present calamities, to avert those desolating judgments, with which we are threatned, and to bless our rightful sovereign, King George the third, and [to] inspire him with wisdom to discern and pursue the true interest of all his subjects, that a speedy end may be put to the civil discord between Great Britain and the American colonies, without farther effusion of blood: And that the British nation may be influenced to regard the things that belong to her peace, before they are hid from her eyes: That these colonies may be ever under the care and protection of a kind Providence, and be prospered in all their interests; That the divine blessing may descend and rest upon all our civil rulers, and upon the representatives of the people, in their several assemblies and conventions, that they may be directed to wise and effectual measures"

In 1798. Proclaimed by the President, John Adams.

"As the safety and prosperity of nations ultimately and essentially depend on the protection and the blessing of Almighty God, and the national acknowledgment of this truth is not only an indispensable duty which the people owe to Him, but a duty whose natural influence is favorable to the promotion of that morality and piety without which social happiness can not exist nor the blessings of a free government be enjoyed; and as this duty, at all times incumbent, is so especially in seasons of difficulty or of danger, when existing or threatening calamities, the just judgments of God against prevalent iniquity, are a loud call to repentance and reformation; and as the United States of America are at present placed in a hazardous and afflictive situation by the unfriendly disposition, conduct, and demands of a foreign power, evinced by repeated refusals to receive our messengers of reconciliation and peace, by depredations on our commerce, and the infliction of injuries on very many of our fellow-citizens while engaged in their lawful business on the seas-under these considerations it has appeared to me that the duty of imploring the mercy and benediction of Heaven on our country demands at this time a special attention from its inhabitants.

I have therefore thought fit to recommend, and I do hereby recommend, that Wednesday, the 9th day of May next, be observed throughout the United States as a day of solemn humiliation, fasting, and prayer; that the citizens of these States, abstaining on that day from their customary worldly occupations, offer their devout addresses to the Father of Mercies agreeably to those forms or methods which they have severally adopted as the most suitable and becoming; that all religious congregations do, with the deepest humility, acknowledge before God the manifold sins and transgressions with which we are justly chargeable as individuals and as a nation, beseeching Him at the same time, of His infinite grace, through the Redeemer of the World, freely to remit all our offenses, and to incline us by His Holy Spirit to that sincere repentance and reformation which may afford us reason to hope for his inestimable favor and heavenly benediction; that it be made the subject of particular and earnest supplication that our country may be protected from all the dangers which threaten it; that our civil and religious privileges may be preserved inviolate and perpetuated to the latest generations; that our public councils and magistrates may be especially enlightened and directed at this critical period; that the American people may be united in those bonds of amity and mutual confidence and inspired with that vigor and fortitude by which they have in times past been so highly distinguished and by which they have obtained such invaluable advantages; that the health of the inhabitants of our land may be preserved, and their agriculture, commerce, fisheries, arts, and manufactures be blessed and prospered; that the principles of genuine piety and sound morality may influence the minds and govern the lives of every description of our citizens, and that the blessings of peace, freedom, and pure religion may be speedily extended to all the nations of the earth.

And finally, I recommend that on the said day the duties of humiliation and prayer be accompanied by fervent thanksgiving to the Bestower of Every Good Gift, not only for His having hitherto protected and preserved the people of these United States in the independent enjoyment of their religious and civil freedom but also for having prospered them in a wonderful progress of population, and for conferring on them many and great favors conducive to the happiness and prosperity of a nation. "

Again, during the Civil war. Abraham Lincoln called for a National Fast Day, on March 30, 1863 .

. . ."whereas, it is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon, and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history: that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord:

And, insomuch as we know that, by His divine law, nations like individuals are subjected to punishments and chastisement in this world, may we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war, which now desolates the land may be but a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole people?

We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has ever grown.

But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious Hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own.

Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us!

It behooves us then to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins and to pray for clemency and forgiveness. . . .

All this being done, in sincerity and truth, let us then rest humbly in the hope authorized by the Divine teachings, that the united cry of the nation will be heard on high and answered with blessing no less than the pardon of our national sins and the restoration of our now divided and suffering country to its former happy condition of unity and peace."

There were actually more, but I can not find them all! This is what we need today. I certainly believe that we have fair amount more sins to be forgiven of, in this day and age!

Patriotism is great, but we can do nothing without Jesus Christ! Our fathers before us knew this. We should acknowledge it, and repent.

This, of all times, is the time for George Bush to be a witness to the truth of Christianity. He could show the world where his faith lies...not in military might...not in the "diversity" of America....but in the Almighty God! Like Elijah, he could show who the true God is....the enemy is praying to their God, let our leader pray to his God, and let the world see who is the true God!

I think we are called to be more afraid of insulting Jesus, than insulting other religions!

Lastly, I am reminded of FDR's prayer on D-day, and think it fitting today:

And so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in prayer:

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.

Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith.

They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.

They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest -- until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men’s souls will be shaken with the violences of war.

For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and goodwill among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home.

Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom.

And for us at home -- fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters, and brothers of brave men overseas, whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them -- help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice.

Many people have urged that I call the nation into a single day of special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts.

Give us strength, too -- strength in our daily tasks, to redouble the contributions we make in the physical and the material support of our armed forces.

And let our hearts be stout, to wait out the long travail, to bear sorrows that may come, to impart our courage unto our sons wheresoever they may be.

And, O Lord, give us faith. Give us faith in Thee; faith in our sons; faith in each other; faith in our united crusade. Let not the keeness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events, of temporal matters of but fleeting moment -- let not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose.

With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogances. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace -- a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil.

Thy will be done, Almighty God.

Amen.

Franklin D. Roosevelt - June 6, 1944

The Bible tells us clearly what happens when we forget the God who gave us our blessings:

Deuteronomy 8:

"When you have eaten and are satisfied, you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you. Beware lest you forget the Lord your God, by not keeping His commandments and His ordinances and His statutes which I am commanding you today; lest, when you have eaten and are satisfled, and have built good homes and have lived in them, and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and gold multiply, and all you have multiplies, then your heart becomes proud, and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. He led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water; He brought water for you out of the rock of flint. In the wilderness He fed you manna which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do good for you in the end. Otherwise, you may say in your heart, ‘My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.' But you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day . . . if you ever forget the Lord your God, and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I testify against you today that you shall surely perish. Like the nations the Lord makes to perish before you, so you shall perish; because you would not listen to the voice of the Lord your God" ( 10-20).