BARRETT FAMILY BRANCHES
I wanted to share this on my website, because this is what our grandfather Reuben Barrett fought for in the Revolutionary War, and these are the principals that he lived by....I for one will make sure that my future generations know about the history of our country.....and I do honestly feel like these are our FORSAKEN ROOTS...
Subject: Forsaken Roots
Forsaken Roots
Did you know that 52 of the 55 signers of the Declaration of Independence
were orthodox, deeply committed Christians? The other three all believed in
the Bible as the divine truth, the God of scripture, and His personal
intervention. It is the same Congress that formed the American Bible
Society.
Immediately after creating the Declaration of Independence, the Continental
Congress voted to purchase and import 20,000 copies of scripture for the
people of this nation.
Patrick Henry, who is called the firebrand of the American Revolution, is
still remembered for his words, "Give me liberty or give me death." But in
current textbooks the context of these words is deleted. Here is what he
said:
"An appeal to arms and the God of hosts is all that is left us. But we
shall
not fight our battle alone. There is a just God that presides over the
destinies of nations. The battle sir, is not to the strong alone. Is life
so
dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and
slavery?
Forbid it almighty God. I know not what course others may take, but as for
me, give me liberty, or give me death."
These sentences have been erased from our textbooks. Was Patrick Henry a
Christian? The following year, 1776, he wrote this "It cannot be emphasized
too strongly or too often that this great Nation was founded not by
religionists, but by Christians; not on religious, but on the Gospel of
Jesus
Christ. For that reason alone, people of other faiths have been afforded
freedom of worship here."
Consider these words that Thomas Jefferson wrote on the front of his
well-worn Bible: "I am a real Christian, that is to say, a disciple of the
doctrines of Jesus. I have little doubt that our whole country will soon be
rallied to the unity of our Creator and, I hope, to the pure doctrine of
Jesus also."
Consider these words from George Washington, the Father of our Nation, in
his
farewell speech on September 19, 1796: "It is impossible to govern the
world
without God and the Bible. Of all the dispositions and habits that lead to
political prosperity, our religion and morality are the indispensable
supporters. Let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can
be
maintained without religion. Reason and experience both forbid us to expect
that our national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious
principle."
Was George Washington a Christian? Consider these words from his personal
prayer book: "Oh, eternal and everlasting God, direct my thoughts, words
and
work. Wash away my sins in the immaculate blood of the lamb and purge my
heart by thy Holy Spirit. Daily, frame me more and more in the likeness of
thy son, Jesus Christ, that living in thy fear, and dying in thy favor, I
may
in thy appointed time obtain the resurrection of the justified unto eternal
life. Bless, O Lord, the whole race of mankind and let the world be filled
with the knowledge of thee and thy son, Jesus Christ."
Consider these words by John Adams, our second president, who also served
as
chairman of the American Bible Society. In an address to military
leaders
he said, "We have no government armed with the power capable of contending
with human passions, unbridled by morality and true religion. Our
Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly
inadequate to the government of any other."
How about our first Supreme Court Justice, John Jay? He stated that when
we
select our national leaders, if we are to preserve our Nation, we must
select Christians. "Providence has given to our people the choice of their
rulers, and it is the duty as well as the privilege and interest of our
Christian Nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers."
John Quincy Adams, son of John Adams, was the sixth U.S. President. He was
also the chairman of the American Bible Society, which he considered his
highest and most important role. On July 4, 1821, President Adams said,
"The
highest glory of the American Revolution was this: it connected in one
indissoluble bond the principles of civil government with the principles of
Christianity."
Calvin Coolidge, our 30th President of the United States reaffirmed this
truth when he wrote, "The foundations of our society and our government
rest
so much on the teachings of the Bible that it would be difficult to support
them if faith in these teachings would cease to be practically universal in
our country."
In 1782, the United States Congress voted this resolution: "The Congress of
the United States recommends and approves the Holy Bible for use in all
schools."
William Holmes McGuffey is the author of the McGuffey Reader, which was
used
for over 100 years in our public schools with over 125 million copies sold
until it was stopped in 1963. President Lincoln called him the
"Schoolmaster
of the Nation."
Listen to these words of Mr. McGuffey: "The Christian religion is the
religion of our country. From it are derived our notions on the character
of
God, on the great moral Governor of the universe. On its doctrines are
founded the peculiarities of our free institutions. From no source has the
author drawn more conspicuously than from the sacred Scriptures. From all
these extracts from the Bible I make no apology."
Of the first 108 universities founded in America, 106 were distinctly
Christian, including the first, Harvard University, chartered in 1636. In
the
original Harvard Student Handbook, rule number 1 was that students seeking
entrance must know Latin and Greek so that they could study the scriptures:
"Let every student be plainly instructed and earnestly pressed to consider
well, the main end of his life and studies is, to know God and Jesus
Christ,
which is eternal life, John 17:3; and therefore to lay Jesus Christ as the
only foundation of all sound knowledge and learning. And seeing the Lord
only
giveth wisdom, let every one seriously set himself by prayer in secret to
seek it of him (Proverbs 2:3)."
For over 100 years, more than 50% of all Harvard graduates were pastors!
It is clear from history that the Bible and the Christian faith, were
foundational to our educational and judicial system. However, in 1947,
there
was a radical change of direction for the Supreme Court. It required
ignoring
every precedent of Supreme Court ruling for the past 160 years. The Supreme
Court ruled in a limited way to affirm a wall of separation between church
and State in the public classroom.
In the coming years, this led to removing prayer from public schools in
1962.
Here is the prayer that was banished:
"Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence on Thee. We beg Thy blessings
upon us and our parents and our teachers and our country. Amen."
In 1963, the Supreme Court ruled that Bible reading was outlawed as
unconstitutional in the public school system. The court offered this
justification: "If portions of the New Testament were read without
explanation, they could and have been psychologically harmful to children."
Bible reading was now unconstitutional, though the Bible was quoted 94
percent of the time by those who wrote our Constitution and shaped our
Nation
and its system of education and justice and government.
In 1965, the Courts denied as unconstitutional the right of a student in
the
public school cafeteria to bow his head and pray audibly for his food.
In 1980, Stone vs. Graham outlawed the Ten Commandments in our public
schools. The Supreme Court said this:
"If the posted copies of the Ten Commandments were to have any effect at
all, it would be to induce schoolchildren to read them. And if they read
them, mediated upon them, and perhaps venerated and obeyed them, this is
not
a permissible objective."
Is it not a permissible objective to allow our children to follow the moral
principles of the Ten Commandments?
James Madison, the primary author of the Constitution of the United States,
said this: "We have staked the whole future of our new nation, not upon the
power of government; far from it. We have staked the future of all our
political constitutions upon the capacity of each of ourselves to govern
ourselves according to the moral principles of the Ten Commandments."
Today, we are asking God to bless America. But, how can He bless a Nation
that has departed so far from Him? Prior to September 11, He was not
welcome
in America. Most of what you read in this article has been erased from our
textbooks. Revisionists have rewritten history to remove the truth about
our
country's Christian roots. You are encouraged to make copies, and share
with
others, so that the truth of our nation's history will be told.