|
 On
the morning of his execution, a captured American spy was allowed by
his captors to write his mother and his brother, only to have the
enemy destroy the letters he had just written. He then asked for a
Bible and was refused his last request.
As he stood beneath
an apple tree with a noose around his neck and only moments from
certain death, the young American spy was challenged to confess his
betrayal of the King of England. Standing firm and defiant before
his enemy and no doubt thinking of his family, his country and of
God, his last words were, “I only regret that I have but one life to
lose for my country.” On September 22, 1776, Captain Nathan Hale,
only 21 years of age, became a martyr soldier of the American
Revolution, a true American hero—a hero among heroes.
The
events of that fateful day for Nathan Hale reflect so much about his
character. He was a man who loved his family, loved his country and
knew God would provide the strength and courage he needed in the
final moments of his life. He could have saved his own life if he
would only betray a nation yet to be sovereign. He died a courageous
man who cherished honor, duty and country more than life itself.
Nathan Hale's character was not that of uncommon character in
the days of our struggle for independence. Men of courage and with
reverence to God led our country into a fight for an idea not yet
seen in the world they knew. It was the idea that all men are
created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator and therefore
entitled to certain unalienable rights that prompted such men as
Washington, Jefferson, Madison and others to call for a declaration
of independence and to seek life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness. They were men who recognized God as the authority to
venture such a claim.
Our first President, George
Washington, was one of those men who recognized God as the authority
to create such a nation as the United States of America. He
understood the importance of acknowledging God as our creator and
said, “It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence
of Almighty God and to obey His will.”
As a nation, we have
heeded the words of our first President and as a nation we have
acknowledged the providence of Almighty God by placing the words “In
God We Trust” on our currency and by including the words “one nation
under God” in our officially recognized and optional Pledge of
Allegiance.
Yet another President, and often called the
Father of our Constitution, James Madison recognized the importance
of a nation obeying God as a vital ingredient for the success of our
nation. He proclaimed, "We've staked the whole future of American
civilization not on the power of government, far from it. We have
staked the future of all our political institutions upon the
capacity of each and all of us, to govern ourselves according to the
commandments of God. The future and success of America is not in
this Constitution, but in the laws of God upon which this
Constitution is founded.”
There is no doubt that the United
States of America was founded as one nation under God. For if you
look at the men of historical importance that contributed to the
birth of our nation, if you read the Constitution, and if you are
knowledgeable of the contents of the Bible, the only conclusion that
can be drawn is that our nation was founded on the principals of
Christianity and the acknowledgment that God exists.
To
acknowledge the existence of God by including “one nation under God”
in a congressionally approved optional Pledge of Allegiance IS NOT
unconstitutional. The collective acknowledgment of the people of the
United States of America that God exists and that we are one nation
under God is, as President George Washington stated, “...a duty of a
nation.” We have fulfilled our duty as directed by President
Washington and as required by God.
The optional Pledge of
Allegiance IS NOT unconstitutional for it does not establish a
religion by the state. It only acknowledges our belief, as a nation,
in the Almighty God and there is nothing in our Constitution that
prohibits such an acknowledgment by our government. There are no
laws requiring citizens to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. In fact,
in 1943, the Supreme Court ruled in its Gobitis (310 US 586)
decision that school children could not be forced to recite the
Pledge as a part of their school day routine.
In November of
1775, Abigail Adams, the wife of the 2nd President and Mother of the
6th President of the United States, wrote a letter to a friend,
Mercy Warren. In that letter Mrs. Adams states, "A patriot without
religion, in my estimation, is as great a paradox as an honest Man
without the fear of God. Is it possible that he, whom no moral
obligations bind, can have any real Good Will towards Men?”
Mrs. Adams doubted a non-religious man could have any “real Good
Will towards Men?” I wonder if a nation that forbids the
acknowledgment of God in our Pledge of Allegiance is capable of good
will toward its citizens. For tyranny lurks in the minds of men and
in a government that is without the fear and acknowledgment of our
Almighty God.
I have no doubt that if our Pledge of
Allegiance had been around in 1776, Nathan Hale, when given the
opportunity to confess his betrayal of the King of England, would
have chose these words as his last: “I pledge allegiance to the Flag
of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it
stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice
for all.”
So remember Nathan Hale. His sacrifice, along with
4,435 other Americans in the War of Independence, is why we are all
here today, one Nation under God.
By Gene Johns
Copyright 2003
Email Gene Johns |
Gene
Johns' site
Comment on this article |
