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The Bible In American History |
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Written by Steve Sanson
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Monday, 01 January 2007 |
Las Vegas-Nevada: There have been discussions about an elected candidate for Congress, Keith Ellison a Democrat from Minnesota that would like to take the Oath on the Koran instead of the bible. Keith Ellison would be the first Muslim elected to the House of Representatives.
To get a better understanding about the bible in American history I interviewed Mr. George Chehade. Mr. Chehade was born in Beirut Lebanon and came to the United States at the age of two he made several trips back to Lebanon since that time. Mr. Chehade is a minister and has preached in The Church At Las Vegas and at retirement homes. Mr. Chehade had his own ministry in Iowa, and is the Minister for the Veterans In Politics International. I respect Mr. Chehade's view point due to his knowledge on this delicate subject and this is what Mr. Chehade stated to me.
America is a Christian nation because most people here are Christians. Over 85% of Americans adhere to the beliefs of the Bible and consider it to be God's Word and the foundation of our society.
The Summer 2005 Wilson Quarterly discusses the article "The Bible in America" by David Gelernter, in The Weekly Standard (May 23, 2005):
"Unless we read the Bible, American history is a closed book," writes Gelernter... The rhetoric of the Bible runs as an unbroken thread through American history. "We are entered into Covenant with him for this work," said John Winthrop, the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. "We shall find that the God of the Bible is among us." Three and a half centuries later, a sermon of Winthrop's would be drawn upon, famously, in President Ronald Reagan's evocation of a "shining city on a hill."... Woodrow Wilson "spoke in biblical terms when he took America into the First World War," and other presidents have used biblical imagery to underscore their actions.
Let's look at the some of the past presidents in America and their thoughts on the Bible---
George Washington - "It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible."
John Quincy Adams (6th U.S. President)-- "So great is my reverence of the Bible, that the earlier my children begin to read it the more confident will be my hope that they will prove to be useful citizens of their country and respectable members of society."
Andrew Jackson (7th U.S. President) -- Talking to a skeptic and pointing to the Bible said, "That book, sir, is the rock on which our republic rests."
Abraham Lincoln (16th U.S. President)-"I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given to man. All the good from the Savior of the World is communicated to us though the great Book."
Woodrow Wilson (28th U.S. President) -- addressing a large audience , "I ask every man and woman in this audience that from this day on they will realize that part of the destiny of America lies in their daily indulgence of this great book , the Bible."
Herbert Hoover (31st U.S. President) -- "The whole of the inspiration of our civilization springs from the teachings of Christ and the lessons of the Prophets. To read the Bible for these fundamentals is a necessity of American life."
Some of our great colleges and universities such as Harvard, Yale, Columbia, and Princeton all had their beginnings with the Bible and the teachings of Christ as a part of their curriculum. Whether we like it or not, we in America have had a heritage and foundation deeply rooted in the Bible and its teachings. Let us also remember that the Bible is at the top of the all time best sellers of any book year after year for centuries. This is not even counting of the millions of Bibles that are given away by Bible societies and churches worldwide.
Now we come to this question-
Should we in America allow any public official to take office by swearing on the Koran instead of the Bible?
"George Washington began this movement. He was the one to bring a Bible and swear on it. Every president except one, Teddy Roosevelt, because it was right after the assassination of James McKinley and they didn't have time for a Bible.
Although we can respect Rep.-elect Keith Ellison religious view, he needs to respect America's traditions and religious heritage. Since the majority of Americans are professing Christians and Bible believers then he should respect this majority as well. In most Muslim countries, the Bible is not looked on as the main religious book for their land but rather the Koran is. Their culture and fabric of their society revolves around their religious beliefs and they don't care about offending the minority who don't believe that way. We in America have become so sensitive in offending the minority. What about offending the majority? Since Christians are the majority in America, then it is offensive to swear in with any other book than the Bible. This would be the end of the interview with George Chehade expressing his love for the United States of America and our founding fathers, Mr. Chehade can be contacted at (702) 296-8394.
In closing this is a free country governed by principals and traditions. We can not go into other countries to change tradition and principals and we do not expect the minority to dictate to the majority. Our service men and women laid their lives down for these principals and traditions therefore we can not honor them if we do not uphold these traditions and principals.
May God Bless the United States of America and keep our serviceman and women safe and bring peace and happiness to this world in the upcoming year.
E-Mail: SteveWSanson@cs.com Phone: (702) 283 8088
Website: www.VeteransInPolitics.com |
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Last Updated ( Monday, 01 January 2007 )
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