http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=7&article=395
Prayer: “Immoral and Un-American”?
The ongoing assault on America’s historic Christian heritage grows more
aggressive and alarming with each passing day. One recent outrage by
the ACLU consists of an attempt to punish
Louisiana school officials for permitting a pre-game prayer at a high
school baseball game. The local ACLU director
called the brief prayer for player safety—“un-American and immoral”
(Hume, 2005). Unbelievable and outrageous! How can the broad segment of
American society allow such vicious, ludicrous attacks on our freedoms
to be perpetuated? Did the Founding Fathers and the Framers of the
federal
Constitution wish to create a secular society in which
the Christian religion is not allowed to be manifested in public—whether
in the government, the public school, or local communities? Would they
agree with the ACLU’s contention that prayer is
immoral and un-American? Quite the opposite. The historical evidence is
overwhelming and decisive. Even a casual perusal of Founder remarks
quickly and easily exposes the ACLU’s contention as erroneous and uninformed.
Having been instructed by resolution from the U.S. House of
Representatives as well as the Senate, President George Washington
issued a proclamation calling for a day of
national prayer and thanksgiving:
Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of
Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor—and
whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested
me “to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public
thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God...” (1789, emp. added).
The second President of the United States, John Adams, issued a
proclamation on March 23, 1798 urging the nation to petition God in
prayer:
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; ...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 (emp. added).
President James Madison called for a national day of prayer during the War of 1812:
The two Houses of the National Legislature having by a joint
resolution expressed their desire that in the present time of public
calamity and war a day may be recommended to be observed by the people
of the United States as a day of public humiliation and fasting and of prayer to Almighty God for the safety and welfare of these States, His blessing on their arms, and a speedy restoration of peace (1814, emp. added).
A year later on March 4, with peace restored, another proclamation was issued:
The senate and House of Representatives of the United States have by a
joint resolution signified their desire that a day may be recommended
to be observed by the people of the United States with religious
solemnity as a day of thanksgiving and of devout acknowledgments to Almighty God for His great goodness manifested in restoring to them the blessing of peace (1815, emp. added).
Signer of the
Declaration of Independence, Samuel Adams, while
governor of Massachusetts, issued a proclamation on February 28, 1795
calling for “public fasting, humiliation, and prayer”:
The supreme Ruler of the Universe, having been pleased, in the course
of his Providence, to establish the Independence of the United States of
America, and to cause them to assume their rank, amount the nations of
the Earth, and bless them with Liberty, Peace and Plenty; we ought to be
led by Religious feelings of Gratitude; and to walk before Him, in all
Humility, according to his most Holy Law.... [I]t is therefore highly
incumbent on us, according to the ancient and laudable practice of our
pious Ancestors, to open the year by a public and solemn Fast. That with
true repentance and contrition of Heart, we may unitedly implore the
forgiveness of our Sins, through the merits of Jesus Christ, and humbly supplicate our Heavenly Father,
to grant us the aids of his Grace, for the amendment of our Hearts and
Lives, and vouchsafe his smiles upon our temporal concerns: I have
therefore thought fit to appoint, and with the advice and consent of the
Council, I do hereby appoint Thursday, the Second Day of April next, to
be observed as a Day of Public Fasting, Humiliation and Prayer throughout this Commonwealth (emp. added).
On Thursday, June 28, 1787, Benjamin Franklin delivered a passionate
plea to the Constitutional Convention to pray to God for His assistance
in their deliberations:
In this situation of this Assembly groping as it were in the dark to
find political truth, and scarce able to distinguish it when to us, how
has it happened, Sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of lights to illuminate our understandings? In the beginning of the contest with G. Britain, when we were sensible of danger we had daily prayer in this room for the Divine Protection. Our prayers, Sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered.... I therefore beg leave to move that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessings on our deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to business (emp. added).
These allusions to the essentiality of public prayer throughout the
nation are legion during the period of the Founders and Framers. They
could be multiplied many times over. The average American today simply
has no idea how thoroughly the Christian worldview was embedded into the
hearts and lives of the Founders—who frequently and repeatedly
indicated their insistence that America’s status was integrally and
inextricably linked to God and His providential acts.
Consider one additional compelling sample. Three years after they
declared their independence from England, while the Revolutionary War
was raging, the Continental Congress issued a national proclamation that
is literally saturated with recognition of the one true God, the one
true religion, and the absolute imperative that all Americans direct
prayers to the God of the Bible. [NOTE: The
reader is asked to exercise patience in giving due consideration to the
lengthy quotation that follows, taken from the Library of Congress Web
site (see “Proclamation,” 1779).]
WHEREAS, in just Punishment of our manifold Transgressions, it hath
pleased the Supreme Disposer of all Events to visit these United States
with a calamitous War, through which his Divine Providence hath hitherto
in a wonderful Manner conducted us, so that we might acknowledge that
the Race is not to the Swift, nor the Battle to the Strong: AND WHEREAS,
notwithstanding the Chastisements received and Benefits bestowed, too
few have been sufficiently awakened to a Sense of their Guilt, or warmed
with Gratitude, or taught to amend their Lives and turn from their
Sins, that so he might turn his Wrath: AND WHEREAS, from a Consciousness
of what we have merited at his Hands, and an Apprehension that the
Malevolence of our disappointed Enemies, like the Incredulity of
Pharaoh, may be used as the Scourge of Omnipotence to vindicate his
slighted Majesty, there is Reason to fear that he may permit much of our
Land to become the Prey of the Spoiler, our Borders to be ravaged, and
our Habitations destroyed:
RESOLVED,
THAT it be recommended to the several States to appoint the First
Thursday in May next to be a Day of Fasting, Humiliation, and Prayer to
Almighty God, that he will be pleased to avert those impending
Calamities which we have but too well deserved: That he will grant us
his Grace to repent of our Sins, and amend our Lives according to his
Holy Word: That he will continue that wonderful Protection which hath
led us through the Paths of Danger and Distress: That he will be a
Husband to the Widow, and a Father to the fatherless Children, who weep
over the Barbarities of a Savage Enemy: That he will grant us Patience
in Suffering, and Fortitude in Adversity: That he will inspire us with
Humility, Moderation, and Gratitude in prosperous Circumstances: That he
will give Wisdom to our Councils, Firmness to our Resolutions, and
Victory to our Arms: That he will bless the Labours of the Husbandman,
and pour forth Abundance, so that we may enjoy the Fruits of the Earth
in due Season: That he will cause Union, Harmony, and mutual Confidence
to prevail throughout these States: That he will bestow on our great
Ally all those Blessings which may enable him to be gloriously
instrumental in protecting the Rights of Mankind, and promoting the
Happiness of his Subjects: That he will bountifully continue his
paternal Care to the Commander in Chief, and the Officers and Soldiers
of the United States: That he will grant the Blessings of Peace to all
contending Nations, Freedom to those who are in Bondage, and Comfort to
the Afflicted: That he will diffuse Useful Knowledge, extend the
Influence of True Religion, and give us that Peace of Mind which the
World cannot give: That he will be our Shield in the Day of Battle, our
Comforter in the Hour of Death, and our kind Parent and merciful Judge
through Time and through Eternity.
Done in CONGRESS, this Twentieth Day of March, in the Year of Our Lord
One Thousand Seven Hundred and Seventy-Nine, and in the Third Year of
our Independence.
JOHN JAY, President
Attest. CHARLES THOMSON, Secretary
Not only does this proclamation, and many more early documents, refute
the contention that “prayer is un-American and immoral,” it establishes
very clearly the fact that the Founders firmly believed in the one true
God to the exclusion of all other deities, that they believed in the one
true religion (i.e., Christianity) to the exclusion of all other
religions, and that they believed in the one true “Holy Word” of God
(i.e., the Bible) to the exclusion of all other books. They believed
that the establishment of the Republic, the outcome of the Revolutionary
War, and America’s future survival were completely dependent on the
favor, guidance, and blessings of God. They believed the Bible’s
assertion: “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord” (Psalm 33:12).
Indeed, how tragically ironic that the very ones who are opposing the
Christian religion—by doing everything they can to undermine prayer and
Christian morality in the public square—are in actuality the ones who
are “un-American and immoral.”
REFERENCES
Adams, John (1798), “Presidential Thanksgiving Proclamations,”
Pilgrim Hall Museum, [On-line], URL: http://www.pilgrimhall.org/ThanxProc1789.htm.
Adams, Samuel (1795), “1795 Massachusetts Fasting and Prayer Proclamation,”
Wallbuilders, [On-line], URL: http://www.wallbuilders.com/resources/search/detail.php?ResourceID=108.
“Proclamation” (1779), Documents from the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention, 1774-1789,
The Library of Congress, [On-line], URL: http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query.
Franklin, Benjamin (1787),
Records of the Federal Convention, [On-line], URL: http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/benfranklin.htm.
Hume, Brit (2005), “Prayer Punishment,”
Fox News: Political Grapevine, [On-line], URL: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,152684,00.html.
Madison, James (1814), “Presidential Thanksgiving Proclamations,”
Pilgrim Hall Museum, [On-line], URL: http://www.pilgrimhall.org/ThanxProc1789.htm.
Madison, James (1815), “Presidential Thanksgiving Proclamations,”
Pilgrim Hall Museum, [On-line], URL: http://www.pilgrimhall.org/ThanxProc1789.htm.
Washington, George (1789), “The Thanksgiving Proclamation,”
The Papers of George Washington, [On-line], URL: http://gwpapers.virginia.edu/documents/thanksgiving/intro.html.
