[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 165 (Friday, November 19, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2504-E2506]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
FAITH IN AMERICA--A FOURTH OF JULY SERMON
______
HON. MAC COLLINS
of georgia
in the house of representatives
Thursday, November 18, 1999
Mr. COLLINS. Mr. Speaker, as Congress prepares to recess for the
Session, I wanted to commend for the reading of the Members words
delivered to a small Mississippi congregation on the Fourth of July of
this year by Rev. Ray N. Daniel, Jr. I bring these remarks to your
attention now because I believe that as we return to the people who
sent us here, we may have time to reflect on the inspiration of the
basic beliefs upon which this Nation was founded. I trust that the
views are shared by many across this country. As we close this year,
and look to a new Session, may the inspiration of these words cause us
to stop and think about why we are here, what we stand for, and how we
will put the words of this sermon into action for the good of
ourselves, our constituents, and the Nation as a whole.
Faith in America--A Fourth of July Sermon
(By Reverend Ray N. Daniel, Jr.)
Scripture Reading: Paul's Letter to the Romans 1:16-2:3 KJV
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the
power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to
the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the
righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is
written, The just shall live by faith. For the wrath of God
is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in
unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is
manifest in them; for God hath showed it unto them. For the
invisible things of him from the creation of the world are
clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made,
even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without
excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him
not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their
imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And
changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made
like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts,
and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to
uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to
dishonor their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the
truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the
creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever.
Amen. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections:
for even their women did change the natural use into that
which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving
the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward
another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and
receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which
was meet. And even as they did not like to retain God in
their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to
do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with
all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness,
maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit,
malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful,
proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to
parents, Without understanding, covenant breakers, without
natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the
judgment of God, that they which commit such things are
worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in
them that do them. Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man,
whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest
another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest
the same things.
But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to
truth against them which commit such things. And thinkest
thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and
doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?
Prayer: Lord God, we pray your word be upon our hearts and
your blessings upon our nation. Amen.
How many of you are flying your flag today? Well those of
you away from home and visiting have a good excuse. I bought
a flag so that I could fly it. Fly it proudly. My remarks
today are unashamedly patriotic and Christian, what I have to
share with you is not purely Methodist, Presbyterian, or
Baptist, it's a Christian view of our country today.
While Bill Moyers was President Lyndon Johnson's press
secretary, one day at lunch, Bill said grace (a prayer of
thanks or blessing for food). President Johnson said ``Speak
up, Bill, I can't hear a thing.'' To which Bill replied
quietly, ``I wasn't addressing you, Mr. President.''
Prayer, a cornerstone of our Faith is under attack. For
there are those who would have us cease talking to God. They
would if they could banish God from any public forum.
Woodrow Wilson said, ``A nation which does not remember
what it was yesterday, does not know what it is today, nor
what it is trying to do. We are trying to do a futile thing
if we do not know where we came from or what we have been
about.''
We will take a few moments to look at where we have come
from, what the faith of our founding fathers was, take stock
of where we are today, and where we need to go. Where we need
to go is to almighty God.
A FEW QUOTES FROM AMERICA'S BEGINNINGS
``It cannot be emphasized too strongly or to often that
this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by
Christians; not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus
Christ.''--Patrick Henry (2)
``We have staked the whole future of America's
civilization, not upon 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 Ten Commandments of God.''--James
Madison
``And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when
we have removed their only firm basis--a conviction in the
minds of people that these liberties are the gift of God.?
That they are not to be violated but with his wrath? Indeed I
tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that
his justice cannot sleep forever.''--Thomas Jefferson
``He who shall introduce into the public affairs the
principles of primitive Christianity will change the face of
the world.''--Benjamin Franklin
On June 12, 1775, our nation's Congress actually called for
``a day of public humiliation, fasting and prayer,'' wherein
`` ``[we] offer up our joint supplications to the all-wise,
omnipotent and merciful disposer of all events.'' In
initiating this day, Congress attended an Anglican service in
the morning and a Presbyterian service in the afternoon.
Congress even commissioned the printing of the Bible on
October 26, 1780, stating that ``it be recommended to such of
the states who may think it convenient for them that they
take proper measures to procure one or more new and correct
editions of the Old and New testaments to be printed. * * *''
Later, Congress allocated money for the Christian education
of Indians. There are countless examples of such actions by
Congress. So, how can our Christian history be so obviously
ignored by those blatantly attempting to demonize Christian
activism in the modern culture? They look to a simple
phrase--``a wall of separation'' between church and state--
that was once written in a letter from Thomas Jefferson to a
group of Baptist worshipers. (Please note that this statement
does not appear in the Constitution, even though network
reporters frequently refer to the false notion of a
``constitutional separation of church and state.'')
In September 1779, the House of Representatives, after
passing a resolution calling for a day of national prayer and
thanksgiving, received Mr. Washington's response: ``It is the
duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty
God, to obey his will, to be grateful for His benefits and
humbly to implore His protection and favor * * That great
and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the
good that was, that is, or that ever will be, that we may
then unite in rendering unto Him or sincere and humble thanks
for His kind care and protection of the people. * * *''
Second President John Adams frequently referred to ``an
overruling providence'' and ``devotion to God almighty'' in
his writings, and recurrently contended that human freedom
was founded in the ordinance of the Creator.
Washington and Adams were not alone in their beliefs. These
were predominately-held convictions of our Founding Fathers.
Even Benjamin Franklin, often seen as a secularist member of
the group, stated in later-life, ``the longer I live, the
more convincing proof I see of this truth--that God governs
in the affairs of men.''
The most foundational of documents to our society, in fact
the document which we celebrate today is--
The Declaration of Independence of the Thirteen Colonies
``In CONGRESS, July 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of
America,
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary
for one people to dissolve the political bands which have
connected them with another, and to assume among the powers
of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the
Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent
respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should
declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are
created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with
certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life,
Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these
rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their
just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever
any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it
is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to
institute new Government, laying
[[Page E2505]]
its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers
in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect
their Safety and Happiness.
Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long
established should not be changed for light and transient
causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown, that
mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are
sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms
to which they are accustomed.
But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing
invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them
under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their
duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards
for their future security.
Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and
such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter
their former Systems of Government. The history of the
present King of Great Britain [George III] is a history of
repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct
object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these
States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid
world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and
necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate
and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation
till his Assent should be obtained, and when so suspended, he
has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of
large districts of people, unless those people would
relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a
right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places
unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of
their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them
into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for
opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of
the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to
cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers,
incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at
large for their exercise; the State remaining in the meantime
exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and
convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these
States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for
Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to
encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions
of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by
refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary
powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the
tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their
salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither
swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their
substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies,
without the consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and
superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction
foreign to our constitution and unacknowledged by our laws;
giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them by a mock Trial from punishment for any
Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these
States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases of the benefits of Trial by
Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended
offenses:
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a
neighboring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary
government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it
at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the
same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable
Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring
themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all
cases whatsoever.
He has adbicated Government here by declaring us out of his
Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our
towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign
Mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and
tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and
perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and
totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the
high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the
executioners of their friends and Brethern, or to fall
themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has
endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the
merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare is an
undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and
conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for
Redress in the most humble terms. Our repeated Petitions have
been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose
character is thus marked by every act which may define a
Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British
brethern.
We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their
legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us.
We have reminded them of the circumstances of our
emigration and settlement here.
We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity,
and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred
to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably
interrupt our connections and correspondence.
They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of
consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the
necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as
we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace
Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of
America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the
Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitud of our
intentions, do, in the Name, and by the authority of the good
People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare.
That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be
Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all
Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political
connection between them and the State of Great Britain is and
ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and
Independent States, they have full Power to levy War,
conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and
to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may
of right do.
And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm
reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually
pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred
Honor.
The signers of the Declaration represented the new states
as follows: New Hampshire--Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple,
Matthew Thorton; Massachusetts--John Hancock, Samuel Adams,
John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry; Rhode
Island--Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery; Connecticut--Roger
Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott;
New York--William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis,
Lewis Morris; New Jersey--Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon,
Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark; Pennsylvania--
Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton,
George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson,
George Ross; Delaware--Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas
McKean; Maryland--Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone,
Charles Carroll of Carrollton; Virginia--George Wythe,
Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison,
Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton;
North Carolina--William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn;
South Carolina--Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas
Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton; Georgia--Button Gwinnett, Lyman
Hall, George Walton.''
____
Remember these words, for countless Americans have fought
for them, fought to preserve them, fought to keep us free
from tyranny.
We need to exercise our rights, speaking freely, worshiping
freely, preserving our freedoms. We are only about a month
away from our first primary here in Mississippi, many are
thinking about not voting because ``my vote doesn't count''.
At the eve of the vote for the Declaration of Independence a
vote was taken and those wanting it to pass were one vote
short of having votes from all 13 colonies. Not present was a
delegate from Delaware, Caesar Rodney. Some one was sent to
tell Caesar Rodney of the need of his vote, he left his sick
bed on the night of July 2, to ride through the night,
through storm and mudslides to arrive at Liberty Hall in time
to cast the deciding vote. His one vote made the difference
between tyranny and freedom. Your one vote can make a
difference in our upcoming elections.
But there are many who ask this question: What Happened to
America? What has happened, what have we become.
It is well said in a poem titled ``What Happened to
America?'' by Sharon Lambright Duncan--
``What happened to America,
When did we go astray?
Was it when they told our children
While in school you must not pray.
Or maybe it all began when they said
There's not right or wrong.
Just do what feels the best for you
And everyone else can get along.
Or was it when they said
You can kill an unborn child?
After all if it's not wanted,
It would never be worthwhile.
Or could it be when God's word was
ignored, And they said it's not a sin
For women to love other women
And men to be lovers of men.
What happened to America,
[[Page E2506]]
Where did we go wrong?
When did we lose the principles
Our nation was founded on?
``In God we trust'' no longer seems
To be the motto of our land.
We've become so educated and smart,
So we place our trust in man.
What happened to America,
How did we get this way?
I really think it happened
When God's people had nothing to say.
If we're not willing to speak God's truth,
And on his words firmly stand,
Can we expect Him to keep us safe
In His protective hand?
What WILL happen to America,
Will she come back to God someday?
Nothing is impossible
If God's people will earnestly pray.
____
Shortly after the shooting fiasco at a Littleton High
School this guest editorial appeared in the Dallas Morning
News--
[From the Dallas Morning News, May 2, 1999]
Generation Has Some Questions
(By Marcy Musgrave)
I am a member of the upcoming generation the one after
Generation X that has yet to be given a name. So far, it
appears that most people are rallying behind the idea of
calling us Generation Next. I believe I know why. The older
generations are hoping we will mindlessly assume our place as
the ``next'' in line. That way, they won't have to explain
why my generation has had to experience so much pain and
heartache.
``What heartache?'' You say. ``Don't you know you have
grown up in a time of great prosperity?'' Yeah, we know that.
Believe me, it has been drilled into our heads since birth.
Unfortunately, the pain and hurt I speak of can't be
reconciled with money. You have tried for years to buy us
happiness, but it is only temporary. Money isn't the answer,
and it is time for people to begin admitting their guilt for
failing my generation.
I will admit that I wasn't planning to write this. I was
going to tuck it away in some corner of my mind and fall
victim to your whole ``next'' mentality. But after the
massacre in Littleton, Colo., I realize that, as a member of
this generation that kills without remorse, I had a duty to
challenge all of my elders to explain why they have allowed
things to become so bad.
Let me tell you this: These questions don't represent only
me but a whole generation that is struggling to grow up and
make sense of this world, We all have questions; we all want
explanations. People may label us Generation Next, but we are
more appropriately Generation ``Why?''
____
Remember God's Word and its truth, in a time when people
say the only truth is what I say at the moment is truth.
God's word says, ``If my people, which are called by my name,
shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn
from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and
will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.; (John 14:6
KJV) Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the
life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Jesus said, ``I am the way and the truth and the life. No
one comes to the Father except through me.''
This week our congress sought to pass a declaration that
would implore Americans to repent and turn to the Almighty,
it was defeated, I am assured it will come up again and
receive the support it so richly deserves, to call on the
nation to humble themselves before the creator, to pray, to
repent of their manifold sins. But alas there are those who
do not believe there is sin, everything is o.k. No the ills
of America, can't be solved at the polls alone, but there is
a need for Godly leadership, for Men and Women who will put
principles before money and self, who will put America,
before the economy of the world and other nations. It is time
America, to wake up and heed the call, to faith, to faith in
the one true God of our fathers. It is time America, to
repent of accepting sin for normal behavior and call sin,
sin. It is time America, to stand on the truth of God's word,
his plan, not our own.
Let us Pray.
Reverend Ray N. Daniel, Jr. is an elder serving in the
Mississippi Conference of the United Methodist Church,
appointed to the Rose Hill Charge. He has been serving in
town and country ministry since 1980. Rev. Daniel graduated
from Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi, and obtained a
Master of Divinity from the Iliff School of Theology, in
Denver, Colorado.
____________________