American history

Dear Editor:In response to the letter "Christian Nation" (Letters to the Editor, 8/8/13), it amazes me that a person who claims to know American history can not find evidence that this nation was founded on Christian principles. A simple click on your computer will provide insurmountable evidence that, "The Bible is the rock on which this republic stands," as Andrew Jackson said. Consider these facts: Our basic laws and three branches of government came from the Bible. (Exodus 20 and Isaiah 33:22) At least 50 of the 55 framers of the U.S. Constitution were Christian. Every single American president has taken his oath on the Bible and referenced God in his inaugural address. Every one of the 50 states' constitutions call on God for support. For 355 years (1607-1962), American children prayed and read the Bible in classrooms. Almost every Ivy League school including Harvard, Yale and Princeton were established to train ministers in the gospel. You can find numerous scripture or references to God in our Capitol, from the Supreme Court to the Library of congress, and on the Lincoln Memorial and Jefferson Memorial. Because of the importance that God and the Bible played in forming this nation, Thomas Jefferson, in a speech he wrote after the Constitution was signed, used the term "separation of church and state", meaning to keep government out of the church and not church out of the government. After an exhaustive 10-year study, researchers examined 15,000 documents from America's founders and determined 34 percent of their quotations came from the Bible. In 1892, the Supreme Court declared, "This is a religious people. This is a Christian nation." This is American history. Linda Lopez Downey

********** Published: Sept. 26, 2013 - Volume 12 - Issue 24