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Historical details considered

Historical details considered

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Editor,

Harold Young's letter (April 3) makes several statements worthy of challenge, notably the inference that Christian thought was irrelevant to our nation’s founding. Of the approximate 250 founders — those who made significant contributions to the country’s beginnings, nearly 95 percent had strong orthodox Christian convictions. These were men like Benjamin Rush — Father of American Medicine and signer of Declaration and Constitution; John Jay – diplomat, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court; Governor Morris — military officer, diplomat, US Senator; Gunning Bedford — military officer, federal judge, signer of Constitution; Elias Boudinot — attorney, director of the US Mint; and others too many to mention here.

Secularists like to focus on the slim minority who were deists or atheists — such as Jefferson, Franklin, or Madison; yet while these men did not espouse a personal faith, many of them supported Christian initiatives.

Franklin promoted the teaching of Christianity in public schools and worked to increase church attendance in Pennsylvania; he even made a forceful defense of Christianity when attacked by Thomas Paine. Jefferson, in 1800 as President of the Senate, supported using the Capitol building as a church on Sundays and attended services for many years there. In 1803, he promoted the use of federal funds to send missionaries to the Kaskaskia Indians. Numerous historical documents support these assertions for anyone willing to take the time to study them, rather than be manipulated by snippets carved from the historical record, designed to revise the view of our national heritage and founding.

Guilt-laden moralists decry the sins of America’s past, while obscuring its Christian influence and rich tapestry of conflict and growth which is our legacy. Was our historical journey without mistakes or transgressions? Of course not. Rather than lament the past, why not be thankful that men and women far wiser than any who seem to be on the horizon today, left us a durable republic (not a democracy). It was a genius blend of Godly principles that gave this land a robustness to survive, rectify its mistakes and prosper.

Rolan Becker
Ronan

 

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