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Walter Albritton
Great American Experiment Is Still Working
July 4th is a time for fireworks, family cookouts, and a brief break from the midsummer heat. It is also a time to celebrate our nation’s heritage and offer thanks to God that the great American experiment is still working.
Despite the
efforts of secularists to rewrite our history, it remains true that our ancestors
came to
There has been much public debate recently about the Ten Commandments. Some people, admittedly, have parted company with common sense in their defense of the commandments. However, even a cursory study of history reveals that our founding fathers considered the Ten Commandments the essential foundation stones of American government.
President James Madison, known as the “Father of Our Constitution,” once said, “We have staked the whole of all our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government, upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God.” The more we surrender our reverence for the Ten Commandments, the greater will be the moral decline of our country.
Ignorance
poses a real danger for
Despite our
gradual moral slide toward immorality, there remains much about
Religious holidays continue to be recognized nationally. Good Friday and Christmas are actually Christian holy days. Though they are grossly commercialized, they are still woven into our culture, reminding us of the birth of our Savior and his crucifixion for our sins. When we are willing to do so, we can remind others of the deep meaning of these holidays.
Thanksgiving remains a national holiday. From the beginning, our presidents have called upon our people to give thanks to God for our blessings. President Abraham Lincoln made the day an enduring celebration and every president since has urged our reverent recognition of God’s blessings. Thanksgiving draws all our people to a spirit of gratitude.
Chaplains continue to be appointed to serve in Congress and in the Armed Forces. The present chaplain of the Senate is the distinguished Christian preacher and author, Lloyd Ogilvie. I am proud to belong to a country in which such a godly man has the privilege of offering spiritual guidance to every member of the Senate. Like others, I am alarmed about the recent appointment of Muslim chaplains in the Armed Forces and their possible link to terrorists. Still, I realize that some of the finest men I have known have served as military chaplains. I thank God that our nation recognizes the need of our military forces for spiritual guidance.
The phrase, “Under God,” remains in our Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag. Some want this reference to God removed from all aspects of public life, as well as the flag, but they have not succeeded. When we salute the flag, we can with pride thank God that, in many ways, we remain “one nation under God.” Some may abuse freedom by burning the flag, but I feel a surge of pride and gratitude to God every time I salute our flag. Far too many people have died defending the flag for me to gaze upon it with anything but reverence. Those who burn the flag disgrace themselves and deserve to be punished for such sacrilege.
The crusade
continues to secularize
We can,
therefore, celebrate on this Fourth of July the fact that what William Penn
called “An Holy Experiment in Government” continues in