In the summer of 1787, representatives met in Philadelphia to write the Constitution of the United States. After they had struggled for several weeks and had made little or no progress, eighty-one-year-old Benjamin Franklin rose and addressed the troubled and disagreeing convention that was about to adjourn in confusion.
Franklin said, "In the beginning of the contest with Britain (The Revolutionary War), when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for Divine protection. Our prayers, Sir, were heard and they were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of superintending Providence in our favor...Have we not forgotten this powerful Friend? Or do we imagine we no longer need His assistance?
"I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth: that God governs in the affairs of man. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the Sacred Writings that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this...
"I therefore beg leave to move that henceforth, prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven and its blessing on our deliberation be held in this assemble every morning."
And that my friends, is exactly what happened. In their zeal to "secularize" our nation, Blue Staters completely ignore the history surrounding the founding of our country. Instead, they create their own version of American history so as not to "offend a minority".
ACLU POLICY
Opposition to school-sponsored prayer is a bedrock principle for the American Civil Liiberties Union. As national board policy #81(a) states in part: "The ACLU believes that any program of religious indoctrination -- direct or indirect -- in the public schools or by use of public resources is a violation of the constitutional principle of separation of church and state and must be opposed."
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." With these words, the framers of the Constitution established one of the central principles of American government -- that religious liberty can flourish only when the state leaves religion alone.
Proponents of a school prayer amendment claim reintroducing prayer will check the country's" declining moral values." Some, like former Secretary of Education William Bennett blame the 1962 decision, Engel v. Vitale, banning official prayer from public schools, for everything from low SAT scores to high teenage pregnancy rates. But many educators and other experts tell us that these problems flow from the enormous and increasing gulf in wealth and opportunity and education, between the richest and poorest people in our society. A one-minute prayer or moment of silence in school everyday will do nothing to change that.
Declining moral values???? Have Blue Staters been living in a cave? In 1962, American teenagers were swooning to sugary rock and roll love songs like Brook Benton's hit song "Hold Me" with lyrics like "Hold me, Hold me, never let me go until you've told me, told me, Let me be the one that you adore" (or something like that). Flash forward and conjure an image of a day in the life of today's teenager and then with good conscience say....morals have not declined since they took prayer out of school!
The Blue Staters should do themselves an "educational favor" and count the number of current local, state and federally funded Social Service Programs that have been created since 1962 in order to "counter, prevent, stop the advance" of immoral and destructive behavior" by our teenagers.
The ACLU wants us to believe that this "bad behavior" is caused by "the enormous and increasing gulf in wealth and opportunity and education between the richest and poorest people in our society." The Far-Left-Blue Staters always manage to slip in their "distribution of wealth ideology" on most every issue don't they? Since when did poverty have anything to do with being immoral?... I think of Hollywood and the entertainment industry. Last I knew, Eminem is a millionaire ten times over and his moral compass points to Hell.
To be precise, being rich or poor has nothing to do with morality or does education and opportunity. A moral code is something you have or you don't. It travels with you for life, whether you're rich or poor, educated or not, and when opportunity knocks or it doesn't.
Benjamin Franklin saw the folly at the Constitutional Convention without prayer. Red Staters
and Blue Staters have experienced the folly of prayer being removed from public schools. The only difference between us....the Blue Staters won't admit it.
