Sad Things Are Happening In Congress

This is the transcript of a prayer offered in Congress yesterday. Please note that ‘this transcript was compiled from uncorrected Closed Captioning.’

The transcript is taken from the C-SPAN website:

I have some problems with this. The monotheistic god and the god known by many names and faiths? Awoman? What in the world?

Just for the record, the history of America is infused with Christianity. It is not a country of religions of a god known by many names. It is a country founded on Judeo-Christian principles.

In an article posted in November 2019, Christian Action reminds us:

In 1892 Supreme Court Justice David Brewer ruled, “The United States is a Christian nation.” He may have been the first high-level government official to refer to America as a Christian nation, but he was not the last.

In a letter to Pope Pius XII, President Harry S. Truman wrote, “Your Holiness, this is a Christian Nation.” And his letter made a direct reference to Justice Brewer’s ruling in the Holy Trinity vs. United States court decision.

“More than a half century ago that declaration was written into the decrees of the highest court of this land,” President Truman told the Pontiff. “It is not without significance that the valiant pioneers who left Europe to establish settlements here, at the very beginning of their colonial enterprises, declared their faith in the Christian religion and made ample provision for its practice and for its support.”

In 1931 the Supreme Court once again ruled, “We are a Christian people.” The court also made direct reference Justice Brewer’s 1892 decision for the basis of this claim.

The 1931 case involved a Canadian-born Baptist minister, Douglas Clyde Macintosh, who applied to become a naturalized U.S. citizen. Mr. Macintosh, though he previously served as a military chaplain for the Canadian Army during WWI, objected to swearing an oath of allegiance to the United States if it involved supporting a war that he found morally objectionable.

Writing for the majority in a 5-4 decision, Justice George Sutherland found that “We are a Christian people” and, as such, following the laws of the land is “not inconsistent with the will of God.” In essence, the court acknowledged, significantly, that there was a “God” and that laws passed by “a Christian people” would never violate God’s “will.”

The prayer was simply unacceptable. It did not reflect the values of the majority of Americans. Hopefully someone in Congress will have the courage to speak out against something that is not appropriate in a Christian nation.