[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 14]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 19903-19904]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             ``LANDMARKS''

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JACK KINGSTON

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 19, 2007

  Mr. KINGSTON. Madam Speaker, during the July 4th holidays with my 
family, I heard the following inspirational sermon in Denver, Colorado. 
I would like to share it with my fellow colleagues:

                               Landmarks

                             (By Bill Huth)

       I am deeply grateful to be a citizen of the USA and I know 
     that it is a privilege to be an American.

     I love this week and the 4th of July:
     Watermelons are juicy
     Flags are waving from businesses and homes
     Fireworks light up the night sky
     Families are cooking hot dogs and dousing them with mustard 
           and relish
     Churches gather to sing patriotic hymns
     Apple pies bake in the ovens
     There is a sharp crack to the sound of baseball bats
     We see old John Wayne movies

[[Page 19904]]

     There are Parades and we sing ``The Star Spangled Banner''
     We pray for the nation and for peace
     Everywhere we discover Red, White, and Blue
     People and families intentionally come to the YMCA of the 
           Rockies

       These are Landmarks to mark the birthday celebration of the 
     USA!
       In ancient times, boundary stones or landmarks identified 
     personal property. Boundaries in Israel were sacred because 
     God owned the land. To extend ones property by moving the 
     landmarks was a violation of the covenant and sacred oath. To 
     move a landmark was to renege on the commitment to God's 
     promise.
       Unfortunately, moving a boundary stone was and still is a 
     major problem--not so much in the realm of property--but 
     those founding principles, the landmarks, the ancient 
     boundaries on which America was founded. Those landmarks have 
     either been forgotten or diluted in this relativistic, 
     postmodern age when everything seems to be up for grabs, with 
     no absolutes, and everyone interprets things the way they 
     personally see them.
       Lets talk today about some of these permanent landmarks 
     that we should recall and revere.
       A poet wrote: ``We eat from orchards we did not plant. We 
     drink from wells we did not dig. We reap from fields we did 
     not sow. Fires we did not kindle warm us. Roofs we did not 
     build shelter us. We are blessed by monies we did not give.''
       A landmark will always be that of Sacrifice and Liberty, 
     and we cannot fudge on our own commitment to tend the tree of 
     Liberty by our own acts of self sacrifice and service. If we 
     do, then we stand to lose one of our great American 
     traditions--July 4th!
       Someone has said, ``The temptation is to enjoy the fruits 
     of citizenship without tending the tree of liberty.'' Many of 
     us have not personally earned the freedoms we enjoy. We did 
     not go to Germany, North Africa, France, Iwo Jima, Hawaii, 
     Italy--we did not find ourselves on beaches named Omaha, 
     Salerno, or Sword. We, you and me, have not shed our blood or 
     not given an arm or leg or not sacrificed our lives for our 
     Freedom.
       John Adams, as he said as he signed the Declaration of 
     Independence, ``Whether we live or die, sink or swim, succeed 
     or fail, I stand behind this document. And if God wills it, I 
     am ready to die in order that this country might experience 
     freedom!'' That is patriotism which led men, armed with 
     little more than hunting rifles, to engage in battle with, 
     what was then the most powerful nation on earth. Many of our 
     forefathers paid a terrible price in the Revolutionary war, 
     but finally they won the victory so that you and I might be 
     citizens of this ``land of the free and the home of the 
     brave.''
       Because of them a landmark has been established and my 
     responsibility is to tend the Tree of Liberty.
       Another landmark is our commitment to Religious Freedom. In 
     the early days of the country, it was made clear that 
     Congress would not establish a state religion, that Americans 
     would be free to worship God according to the dictates of 
     their own conscience. That is our freedom, to worship, or 
     not.
       Peter Marshall prayed before the U.S. Senate, ``Lord Jesus, 
     thou who art the way, the truth and the life, hear us as we 
     pray for the truth that shall make all free. Teach us that 
     liberty is not only to be loved but also to be lived. 
     Liberty, Lord, is too precious to be buried in books, costs 
     too much to be hoarded.''
       French writer Alexis de Toqueville, after visiting America 
     in 1831 wrote, ``I sought for the greatness of the U.S. in 
     her commodious harbors, her ample rivers, her fertile field, 
     and boundless forests . . . and it was not there. I sought 
     for it in her rich mines, her vast world commerce, her public 
     school system, and in the institutions of higher learning . . 
     . but it was not there. I went into the churches of America 
     and heard her pulpits flames with righteousness and I 
     understood the secret of her genius and power: America is 
     great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to 
     be good, America will cease to be great!''
       The final landmark is very sacred and special to each one 
     of us. Our Constitution ends with ``In the year of our 
     Lord.'' Our National Motto is ``In God we trust.'' The Pledge 
     of Allegiance states ``One nation, under God.'' The landmark 
     is our faith in God, the Divine Creator.
       Patrick Henry, first governor of Virginia and member of the 
     Continental Congress stated, ``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.''
       We all received the news that a Federal Appeals court in 
     San Francisco decided that the Pledge of Allegiance, when 
     recited in schools, represents an unconstitutional 
     endorsement of religion. The ruling overturned a 1954 act of 
     Congress that inserted the phrase, under God, in the pledge.
       On every coin, on every dollar we find ``In God We Trust'' 
     which reminds everyone of us and this nation, that the 
     business and economy of the nation is based on our faith and 
     trust in the Almighty.
       The pledge and the motto remind us of the founding 
     principle that this is a nation under the care of God.
       A warning from Deuteronomy 8:7-14: ``The Lord your God is 
     bringing you into a good land . . . brook of water, fountains 
     and springs, a land of plenty, vines and trees, a land in 
     which you will plenty to eat and lack nothing. A land that 
     will provide you the tools. Take heed lest you forget the 
     Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and his 
     statues. You shall remember the Lord God for it is He who 
     gives you power . . . Lest you forget the Lord your God and 
     go after other gods and serve them . . . on that day you will 
     perish because you would not obey the voice of the Lord.
       When, as a nation, our courts and leaders want to remove 
     the sacred Scriptures, the Ten Commandments, the prayers, no 
     Bibles, the Motto . . . what is next? Will there be 
     censorship of the pulpits of the land? Out of this pulpit to 
     achieve political correctness?
       It is fascinating and inspirational to know that:
       Twelve of the original thirteen colonies incorporated the 
     entire 10 commandments into their civil and criminal codes.
       George Washington said, ``It is impossible to govern the 
     world without God and the Bible.''
       That we have heard so much talk of the ``separation of 
     church and state'' when we find that the phrase does not 
     appear in the constitution. It was coined from a letter that 
     was penned by Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptist 
     Association assuring them that he would keep the Government 
     out of the Church, and not the church out of government.
       When our Presidents take the oath of office, they place 
     their hand on the Bible and concludes the oath of office by 
     affirming ``so help me God.''
       The constitutions of all states mention God.
       Abraham Lincoln, the besieged 16th President, said this 
     over a nation on the brink of the Civil War, ``We have been 
     the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven, but we 
     have forgotten God and his gracious hand which preserved us 
     in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, 
     intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-
     sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving 
     grace, too proud to pray to the God who made us.''
       Presidents Roosevelt, Wilson, and Coolidge all spoke about 
     our dependence on God.
       Franklin Roosevelt prayed this prayer on national radio on 
     D-Day, June 6, 1944: Almighty God, with Thy blessing we shall 
     prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to 
     conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogance. Lead us 
     to the saving of our country. They will be done, Almighty 
     God.''
       President Ronald Reagan, ``If we ever forget that we are 
     `one nation under God,' then we will be one nation gone 
     under.''
       Landmarks are there for you and me, from the past, for the 
     future . . . and with your help and the strength of the Lord 
     our God they shall not be moved.