Sean C. Capapruccia
originally published September 17th, 2019
Here is the transcript of a speech I delievered at the courthouse in Clinton, NC on Constitution Day.
America, America, Why Have You Forsaken ME?
Thank you, members of the DAR, for having me speak on this grand occasion. And it is a grand occasion, for anytime we gather around our nation’s flag, hear the the nation’s anthem, and pay homage to our nation’s glorious history and the men and women who were a part of it, it is a wonderful thing. And it is a grand opportunity to be a part of our nation’s glorious future. I believe Ms. McCullen called me a “history buff.” Well, it is true, I do enjoy history for I feel it is essential to understanding the present. But more than a historian I consider myself a theologian because it is essential to me to try to understand all things, including history, in view of God’s plan for our world. The reality of it is this: all of history is simply the unfolding of God’s plan. Listen, “in the beginning, God…” and “in the end, God.” We are simply living in midst of things.
It always irks me a little when speakers start off with a little disclaimer, so I’m going to issue a little disclaimer: this may sound like a sermon; it may sound a bit “preachy.” This isn’t a sermon, though, it’s a discourse on truth, something I feel most of us get precious little of these days.
“Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani.” “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Such were a few of the last words uttered by Jesus as He was dying on the cross. And perhaps many of us can share in the sentiment: Oh God, why have you forsaken us? Why have you left us here seemingly to fend for ourselves in the midst of the evils going on all around us?
Friends, we are gathered here for a good occasion, being the remembrance and, hopefully, re-commitment to, our nation’s Constitution. But it seems as though all we do anymore is tainted by an element of suspicion, distrust, and animosity. The very fact that we’re holding this important celebration at our court house’s back door because there’s a certain statue watching over the front door is evidence of that. To say one thing is to offend these people over here; to say another is to offend that group over there; and some will be offended just because a man opened his mouth; or a white man at that. I hope nobody was offended by the beautiful singing of our National Anthem by Ms. McCollister. How could you be?
But that is the culture in which we live – a culture of skepticism and cynicism. And even though it has been forming for decades we are now seeing the fruit finally coming to bear. We are an anonymous culture; people don’t communicate with one another as they used to. Everything is done by text message or email, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram. I think most people are loath to talk with others anymore, especially people they don’t know. Orthopedists are starting to diagnose people with a little bone-like protrusion growing at the base of their necks because they are constantly looking down at their phones. Folks, that’s just sad. It used to be that kids would develop callouses from hard work like raking leaves or mowing the lawn with a push-mower; now they’re they’re developing i-bones from their i-phones.
History is a funny thing. We see the present and we try to guess the future by gauging the trajectory of the present, but once it becomes history, we begin to realize a few things: like, maybe we didn’t see the whole picture, we were too limited in our scope; or, the human factor where people – a lot, a few?? – altered the course of that trajectory.
When we look at 20th century America we see some marked periods that stand out as transitional. But I had been interested in that “one big change” that happened. Where did our nation start going downhill, so to speak? I asked a few people what they thought. Someone said it began when gangsta rap came out in 1980’s; someone else said it was when the T.V. show Happy Days began in 1974 because it was the first television show where teenagers openly mocked their parents. Another said it was when abortion was legalized in 1973. Or when Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed in 1968, or John F. Kennedy in 1963? Or the Vietnam War in 1965? Maybe it was WWII in 1942; or the Great Depression in 1929 with the ensuing New Deal and all that that encompassed. Well, those were all certainly large enough blips on the radar screen of history but I think the pivotal moment was in 1962 when the Supreme Court of the United States – the one nation under God – took God out of the schools, and subsequently out of the public square. Yes, that had to have been the decisive moment when things began to slide because it was at that point that America formally lost its moorings… it’s Christian moorings.
Now many will try to argue that America was not founded as a Christian nation; that its founders were not necessarily Christians but deists, people who believed in something out there, but not necessarily God. But this is simply not true! When we look at the Constitution and the myriad number of other founding documents, we plainly see the Christian foundation upon which our country was laid.
In the 1600’s the Puritans, looking for religious liberty, came to this land and began the difficult task of settling it. Over time, more immigrants came seeking religious liberty and eventually the land became a sovereign nation through determination, war, and conviction by men, says Benjamin Franklin Morris, “whose minds were illuminated by divine influences, and whose characters and lives bore the superscription and the image of Christ. All were not public professors of the Christian religion, but almost all acknowledged its divinity and necessity to the existence, welfare, and stability of the state.”[1]
It amazes me how cunning many are in attempting to wrest the Christian religion from the Constitution, and from our country, by using the Constitution. For example, the First Amendment of our Constitution reads, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” See, some would say, the government is not to endorse any religion but should be neutral in religious matters. First of all, is that really what is says? It says that Congress shall not establish a religion, nor that it shall prohibit the exercise of religion. Secondly, and I think this is the main thing, the word religion in the 18th century did not mean what it means today. When we think of religion we includes anything that anyone believes that cannot be empirically proven: whether it be Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Shintoism, Christian Science, Evolution, or man-made global warming. These are all religions; there is no observable data to justify it. But in the 18th century the word religion meant denomination as in Christian denomination. If someone asked what religion you were you might say Baptist, or Anglican, Presbyterian, or Methodist. That you were a Christian was assumed. So the First Amendment properly reads, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of any one Christian denomination, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof …” meaning, unlike England, where the official religion was Anglican and if you weren’t Anglican you were a second-class citizen, the federal government will not make an official national denomination. Each state can choose for themselves what they want.
Here’s proof of that: On July 4th, 1776, Samuel Adams signed the Declaration of Independence. In August he wrote, “Our forefathers threw off the yoke of Popery in religion… They opened the Bible to all, and maintained the capacity of every man to judge for himself in religion… We have this day restored the Sovereign [that is, the Christian God], to whom alone men ought to be obedient. He reigns in Heaven… from the rising to the setting sun may His kingdom come.”[2] Obviously, Samuel Adams was not a deist.
As the Amendment states, federal law prohibits the establishment of a particular denomination, or national church – thank God! – but the states do have that power. Listen to some of these excerpts from early state constitutions and documents:
Connecticut was formed around these words: ….[we] do, therefore, associate and conjoin ourselves to be as one public State or Commonwealth, and do enter into combination and confederation to maintain and preserve the liberty of the gospel of our Lord Jesus, which we now profess, as also the discipline of the churches, which, according to the truth of said gospel, is now practiced amongst us; as also in our civil affairs to be guided and governed according to such laws, rules , orders, and decrees as shall be made. [Listen to this first decree…] I. That the Scriptures hold forth a perfect rule for the direction and government of all men in all duties which they are to perform to God and men, as well in families and commonwealths as in matters of the church.” Did you hear that? Not only is the Bible to be used to govern the state affairs but is mandated by the state to be used to govern your family. Oh how far Connecticut has gone from that.
The Provincial Congress of New York stated in 1775, in declaring July 20th of that year as a day of fasting and prayer said, “And we, being taught by that holy religion, declared by the merciful Jesus and sealed by His blood, that we ought to acknowledge the hand of God in all public calamities, and being thoroughly convinced that the Great Disposer of events regardeth the hearts of his creatures, do most earnestly recommend it to all men to conform themselves to the pure dictates of Christianity…”[3] Sound like mere deists to you?
Another piece of legislation from New York said, “With us it is wisely ordered that no one religion shall be established by law, but that all persons shall be left free in their choice and in their mode of worship. Still, this is a Christian nation. Ninety-nine hundredths, if not a larger proportion, of our whole population, believe in the general doctrines of the Christian religion. Our Government depends for its foundation on the morality of the Christian religion; and that religion is the common and prevailing faith of the people. There are, it is true, exceptions to this belief; but general laws are not made for excepted cases.”[4] This from the first state in our union to allow mothers to birth their children and then kill them if they don’t want them. Oh, New York, New York how far you have come!
North Carolina, 1775, the delegates of Mecklenburg county express the will of the people saying, “You are instructed to assent and consent to the establishment of the Christian religion, as contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament, to be the religion of the state, to the utter exclusion forever of all and every other religion, whether pagan or papal.”[5] I have to wonder what these same men who settled the rough terrain of the mountains and foothills would think of a bill that allowed strange men into their wives’ and daughters’ restrooms at will?
In the Virginia legislature, a bill was introduced in 1784 that read: “clergy should manifest that they are inwardly moved by the Holy Ghost to take upon them that Office, that they seek the good of Mankind and not worldly Interest. Let their doctrines be scriptural and their Lives upright. Then shall Religion (if departed) speedily return, and Deism be put to open shame, and its dreaded Consequences removed.”[6]
We see this same language in every original state constitution and legislation – the Christian religion with its various denominations is the moral and legal foundation of this great nation.
Yet some cite the phrase “separation of church and state” as though it was some ideal codified in the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Guess what? It’s not. It was a phrase used one time by Thomas Jefferson in a letter to some Baptists in Virginia and is not entirely conclusive as to what his view on the matter was. But we do know that Jefferson, as governor of Virginia, “issued calls for prayer and fasting…” and he “drafted bills stipulating how the governor could… punish ‘Disturbers of Religious Worship and Sabbath Breakers.’” He also “proposed that the nation adopt a seal containing the image of Moses ‘extending his hand over the sea, caus[ing] it to overwhelm Pharaoh,’ and the motto ‘Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.’”[7] Jefferson didn’t sound like much of a deist either.
I remember, as a kid in school, first thing every morning in homeroom standing up, facing the flag and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. “One nation under God” it says. But it wasn’t until 1954 that these words were added in by President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s urging. According to Google is was “in response to the Communist threat of the times…” As we know, Communism and Socialism are hostile to Christianity and in nearly all Communist and Socialist nations Christians are persecuted as are any who do not bow to the State. But then Google goes on to say that, “these words should be removed as swiftly as possible… because it contradicts the Establishment Clause in the First Amendment which states that there will be no laws that relates to religion.”[8] Obviously there’s an agenda behind Google.
Thomas Jefferson – Mr. Wall of Separation himself again – wrote, “Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gifts of God? That they are not to be violated except with his wrath? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, and that his justice cannot sleep forever.”[9]
It is interesting to me that so many are throwing this word “justice” around now. All these groups of people are demanding “justice.” And this is in conjunction with the proliferation of “victimhood.” Everyone is a victim of something; it has somehow become a badge of honor. Listen, justice is getting what you deserve; victimhood is a way to get what you don’t deserve. Now let me just say before you get the wrong idea: there are some who are truly victims- the tens of thousands of children who are being sold as slaves in this country are victims; the millions of children who have been murdered in the womb are victims; anyone who is denied the right of the pursuit of happiness solely because of the color of their skin from the lightest shade of pale to the darkest ebony is a victim. BUT we should be very careful about who we label victims because victimhood lies on the path to slavery. I suspect that there are quite a few who cry “victim” when the truth is they are only victims of their own lack of a desire to work for something more, or victims of their own poor decisions. (I can tell you firsthand that I have been the victim of some poor decisions on my part. I chose poorly and I paid the price.) But when we are victims we become subject to the control of others. The Founding Fathers saw in this nation an opportunity to become the greatest nation on earth – and it has, by God’s own grace. But I can tell you right now it will not continue if we are a nation full of victims seeking entitlements from the government and restitutions from our fellow citizens. And rest assured, there are some in the government who would like to see the people totally dependent on the State – that’s called Socialism.
The biggest victimizer in our country – maybe even our world – right now is the Big Bully named Political Correctness. And here’s the greatest fault with this bully – it tells us to avoid offending one another at all costs while at the same time allowing everyone to offend God in whatever manner they are able. If we are to remain great Americans must rise above the state of victimhood and put their hands to the plough and bow before no one except God Almighty. In the Bible when it speaks of justice it means doing God’s will, being righteous; doing things according to the way God would have it be done. I wonder if we began looking at all these “injustices” in our country in light of God’s true justice if we might come away with a different understanding.
In closing let me remark that the most detrimental consequence of removing the Christian God from our schools, our laws, and our public square is the evident departure from reality. In God we find the true reality for He is the Author of reality. Without Him we will drift into a virtual reality or fantasy which is, quite frankly, where I think a lot of people are now. We lament and sorrow over the murderous shootings that occur somewhat regularly now but let us not overlook the fact that suicide is close to being the number one killer of Americans because people are losing hope; for too many, life no longer matters because the search for meaning keeps turning up empty. And no wonder, we have shut out our Creator and opened the door to the murder of over a million babies every year in order to appease those who do not believe that when the Constitution says “in order to secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity,” it doesn’t mean all our posterity – only selected Posterity;[10] a very poignant example of where y’all don’t mean all.
The Christians who formed this nation had this common conviction: with God – as revealed in Jesus Christ – and with His Gospel as the center of this new nation; with the firm realization that we are His creatures created to live in obedience to His laws, there is no limit to the Divine blessing. When we reject Him then we reject 1. the basis of truth and reality and 2. we lose sight of who we are as individuals at this moment in history. Without God as the standard of truth and morality, we can do nothing but bring ourselves down to the lowest common denominator. So instead of the Christian ideal of helping the poor and wretched and ignorant – we will all become the poor and wretched and ignorant.
Friends, as we ponder our Constitution and other documents pertaining to the founding of our great nation let it not escape us that this nation was founded not just upon Christian principles, but the Christian religion. That the only Savior Jesus Christ is the Author of this nation and He is the sustainer of it. That is the stark reality of our situation. With Jefferson “I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, and that his justice cannot sleep forever.
I cannot help but wonder if God is crying, “America, America, lama sabachthani?” America, the only way to go forward is to go back and that is the truth. We must go back to the Constitution and back to the Christ-centered principles that established it. Put God back in the public square and we will see the blessings that the Founders saw multiplied beyond measure. ‘Merca.
18th century English Parliamentarian and author, Horace Walpole, is often quoted as saying, “This world is a comedy to those who think, and a tragedy to those who feel.” I wonder if today it is not truly a tragedy to those who think, and a comedy to those who feel?
See also
Charles Colson, “Can We Be Good Without God?” Imprimis, volume 22, no. 4.
Catherine Millard, The Rewriting of America’s History (Horizon House Publishers, 1991.)
Jose Miquez Bonino, Christians and Marxists (Eerdman’s, 1976.)
James M. Willson, The Establishment and Limits of Civil Government (originally published 1853; American
Vision Press, 2009.)
[1] Benjamin F. Morris, The Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States. 2nd. (Powder Springs, GA: American Vision, 2007), 51.
[2] Samuel Adams, “American Independence” from The Constitution of the United States of America and Selected Writings of the Founding Fathers (NY: Barnes & Noble, 2012), 112-113.
[3] Morris, 284.
[4] Morris, 283.
[5] Morris, 127.
[6] Mark David Hall, “Did America Have a Christian Founding?” June 7, 2011 Political Process, online.
[7] Ibid
[8] Google, “under God.”
[9] Morris, 167.
[10] This is also a very poignant example of legalized racism as Planned Parenthood’s primary mandate is to eradicate Blacks (Maafa 21).
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