PART 4
By
Pastor Roger Anghis
March 6, 2010
NewsWithViews.com
Part 4 – Original Intent
In looking at the charters for the colonies we see that establishing Christianity was the main purpose for their developing the colony.
The 1629 charter of Massachusetts states: “Our said people be so religiously, peaceably, and civilly governed that their good life and orderly conversation may win and incite the natives of that country to the knowledge and obedience of the one true God and savior of mankind, and the Christian faith, which is the principle end of this colony.”
The 1662 charter for North Carolina stated that they were: “Excited with a laudable and pious zeal for the propagation of the Christian faith in the parts of American not yet cultivated or planted and only inhabited by people who have no knowledge of Almighty God.” This, again, is not the policy of a secular nation.
In 1663 the charter for Rhode Island explained the colonist’s intent: “Pursuing with Peace and loyal minds, their sober, serious and religious intentions of Godly edifying themselves and one another in the holy Christian faith, a most flourishing civil state may stand and best be maintained with a full liberty in religious concernments.” Does this sound like the policy of a secular nation?
William Penn wrote the charter for Pennsylvania stating: “Out of a commendable desire to convert the savage natives by gentle and just manners to the love of civil society and Christian religion, hath humbly besought leave of us to transport an ample colony unto a certain contry in the parts of America not yet cultivated or planted. ”
The charter of Connecticut, New Hampshire, New Jersey and others were a virtual restatement of the Christian goals stated by these states.
Connecticut had the first constitution and in 1639 it stated: “Well knowing when a people are gathered together, the Word of God requires that to maintain the peace and union of such people there should be an orderly and decent government established according to God.” Secular people do NOT establish government according to God (Russia, China and Cuba as examples). Their constitution went on to declare the colonists desire to: “Enter into combination and confederation together to maintain and preserve the liberty and purity of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus which we now profess which, according to the truth of the said Gospel, is now practiced amongst us.” If they were not Christians, why would they put in writing that they were?
To ignore what our Founding Fathers wrote and to declare that our Founding Fathers were not Christian is nothing less than foolish not to mention deceptive. We all know that our enemy is a master at deception. He’s a liar, a thief and a murderer. Jesus stated in John 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. How do we know if the devil is lying? His lips are moving. Our enemy does not want this younger generation to know that it was Christianity that made America the great nation that it is today. If they find out that Christianity is what made this nation great, there is a good chance that many will pursue Christianity and he will not make the progress that he wants to make.
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We have allowed liberal Presidents, members of Congress and judges to redefine our Constitution and Bill of rights to fit their socialist agenda. There are members of congress that are doing everything they can to shut the church up and take it out of the influence of government.
In 1954 Lyndon Johnson was able to partially shut the church up. Ted Kennedy tried and others are trying to silence the church even more with the passing of the so-called ‘hate crimes’ bill where it could be illegal to even read the biblical point of view about homosexuality. This legislation is now in effect and there are ‘hate crime’ lawsuits against students for putting a Bible on a teachers desk. Some preachers are now getting liability insurance so they can have a buffer against any possible litigation. When our leaders ignore the Word of God the laws of this nation will reflect that. Even legislators that are professed Christians demand abortion upon demand, support same-sex marriage, and support the hate crimes bill.
Here are some statistics about the apathy in the church today. Of our population today 83% claim to be Christian. Of that figure 46% are protestant and attend weekly with 56% in the south. In 2006 a poll was taken and out of this group of ‘Christians’ only 11% felt that abortion should be banned. 35% want it legal in rare instances. Abortion has always been available when the life of the mother is at stake. Planned Parenthood says that abortion is a health issue. Over 90% of abortions are done for convenience, not health. When asked if there should be state laws that would allow terminally ill patients end their lives 52% said yes. 58% stated that it wouldn’t be a problem if their child’s elementary teacher was a homosexual. (100% of the male teachers that attack male students are homosexual.) 45% would allow their child to read a book about a same-sex couple. 42% of adults between the ages of 18 and 44 approve of homosexual rights.
Over all Americans are split 42% to 42% as to whether they approve of homosexual rights. 70% of Americans do not believe that the military should have the right to discharge someone who lives the gay lifestyle. Who wants to be on the battlefield with someone who might have AIDS and could contaminate others if they get shot? 62% feel that homosexuals should have the same rights that racial minorities and women have. 50% of Americans support some form of legal status for same-sex couples.
Would we see these kinds of statistics in the colonies? I don’t think so. They would spend on average 4 hours a day studying the Word of God. Most Christians today don’t spend 4 hours a month in the Word.
In 1643 Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Plymouth and New Haven joined together to form the New England Confederation which was Americas first united government. They banded together because they all had the same goal: “We all came into these parts of America with one and the same end and aim, namely to advance the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
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In 1669, John Locke assisted in the drafting of the Carolina constitution under which no man could be a citizen unless he acknowledged God, was a member of a church, and used no reproachful, reviling, or abusive language against any religion. Can you imagine if that was still a requirement in any state constitution today? If you were not a believer in the state of Connecticut you were not allowed to even camp in that state. They didn’t want you there for any reason.
These documents are proof that Christianity was the prominent influence in the early growth and development of our civil government.
Click here for part -----> 1, 2, 3, 4,
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Pastor Roger Anghis is the Founder of RestoreFreeSpeech.org, an organization designed to draw attention to the need of returning free speech rights to churches that was restricted in 1954.
President of The Damascus Project, TheDamascusProject.org, which has a stated purpose of teaching pastors and lay people the need of the churches involvement in the political arena and to teach the historical role of Christianity in the politics of the United States. Married-37 years, 3 children, three grandchildren.
Web site: RestoreFeeSpeech.org
E-Mail: editor@restorefreespeech.org
