George Washington – A Prayer for Guidance – An undated prayer from Washington’s prayer journal, Mount Vernon

O eternal and everlasting God, I presume to present myself this morning before thy Divine majesty, beseeching thee to accept of my humble and hearty thanks, that it hath pleased thy great goodness to keep and preserve me the night past from all the dangers poor mortals are subject to, and has given me sweet and pleasant sleep, whereby I find my body refreshed and comforted for performing the duties of this day, in which I beseech thee to defend me from all perils of body and soul….  

Increase my faith in the sweet promises of the gospel; give me repentance from dead works; pardon my wanderings, and direct my thoughts unto thyself, the God of my salvation; teach me how to live in thy fear, labor in thy service, and ever to run in the ways of thy commandments; make me always watchful over my heart, that neither the terrors of conscience, the loathing of holy duties, the love of sin, nor an unwillingness to depart this life, may cast me into a spiritual slumber, but daily frame me more and more into the likeness of thy son Jesus Christ, that living in thy fear, and dying in thy favor, I may in thy appointed time attain the resurrection of the just unto eternal life bless my family, friends, and kindred.    

Thomas Jefferson – A Prayer for the Nation – Washington D.C., March 4, 1801    

Almighty God, Who has given us this good land for our heritage; We humbly beseech Thee that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of Thy favor and glad to do Thy will. Bless our land with honorable ministry, sound learning, and pure manners. Save us from violence, discord, and confusion, from pride and arrogance, and from every evil way. Defend our liberties, and fashion into one united people, the multitude brought hither out of many kindreds and tongues. Endow with Thy spirit of wisdom those whom in Thy name we entrust the authority of government, that there may be justice and peace at home, and that through obedience to Thy law, we may show forth Thy praise among the nations of the earth. In time of prosperity fill our hearts with thankfulness, and in the day of trouble, suffer not our trust in Thee to fail; all of which we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.   

Barack Hussein Obama (peace be upon him), speaking in Turkey in June 2006, repeated by him on CNN in 2007:   

Whatever we once were, we are no longer a Christian nation – at least, not just. We are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, a Buddhist nation, and a Hindu nation, and a nation of nonbelievers. 

How big is this “nation of nonbelievers”?  According to Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-founder of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, an atheist organization, her business is booming:    

There are more legal challenges to prayer in the United States than ever before.  We’ve never had more complaints about government prayer.  We have just hired a second staff attorney in July. It’s turned into a cottage industry for our attorneys.  

The foundation allegedly has had a huge volume of complaints about prayer in the public sector, including numerous issues involving civic and government meetings where sessions have traditionally begun with a prayer or moment of silence.

In Arizona, school children were told they couldn’t pray in front of the Supreme Court building … Two University of Texas Arlington employees were  fired for praying over a co-worker’s cubicle after work hours … In Cranston, R.I., a high school banner caused a controversy when a parent complained it contained a prayer and demanded that it be removed.   

In Augusta, Ga., the city’s law department just issued a legal opinion defending the city’s practice of a pre-meeting prayer, saying it does not violate federal law. this was a response to a letter from the Freedom From Religion Foundation to the mayor’s office urging him to stop saying prayers (invocations) at the start of meetings. The foundation sent similar letters to three cities in South Carolina. 

Gaylor claims:

  These are flagrant violations of the laws. 

Not according to Nate Kellum, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, representing the Arizona school children and their teacher, Maureen Rigo, who said they were told they couldn’t pray on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington.   

Kellum says:   

Religious liberties are under attack across the country.  My sense is that there’s some type of knee-jerk reaction, almost an allergic reaction, if someone sees the expression of religion.   

And the majority of the complaints are directed at Christians, he says:   

There’s an overreaching presumption that there’s something wrong   

The atheist Gaylor whines that there’s no country in the world where religion flourishes as much as in the United States, and she predicts that conflicts over public expression are going to increase.   

And San Fran Nan predicted that Tea Partiers would erupt into violence.   

This rocket scientist says:   

Fifteen percent of the people are not religious. There’s an increasing plurality of faiths. It’s inevitable there’s going to be this clash with more people being offended.   

Time out.  Let’s examine the statement:  “Fifteen percent of  the people are not religious.”  Most studies show that Ms. Gaylor has overstated her claim by at least 5 percent.  She also does not admit that seventy-five percent of Americans identify themselves as Christians.   That would leave a total of  just five percent to other faiths of which one to 1 and one half percent have been identified as Muslim. 

Kelly Shackelford, president of the Liberty Institute, represents the two University of Texas employees who were fired for praying over a co-worker’s desk after hours. The co-worker was not even there at the time and had no idea until months later why the employees were fired.   

The university, in legal documents, said the employees prayer had been deemed harassment.   Judge Terry Means of the U.S. Federal District Court in Ft. Worth rejected that argument.   

Per Shackleford:   

One of the women just said ‘amen’ while the other prayed.  So she was fired for just saying ‘amen.’   

It’s just so crazy!  There’s a hostility, and there are folks who want to change this country and want to engage in some kind of religious cleansing.   

Shackelford is also part of the legal team that filed a brief on Thursday defending the National Day of Prayer, which Federal Judge Barbara Crabb ruled unconstitutional in April. Even though the Justice Department announced one week later that it planned to appeal the judge’s ruling after there was a deafening outcry, and despite President Obama’s proclamation of National Prayer Day the next month, because he got blasted, too, the Liberty Institute, along with the Family Research Council, took legal action because of what they claim is “the Obama Administration’s weak defense of the National Day of Prayer.”   

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, issued a statement saying:   

The President’s attorneys failed to cite any of the key cases that would require immediate dismissal of this lawsuit because the plaintiffs lack standing to bring it. FRC plans to mount a robust defense of this important national event that a liberal judge has attempted to scrub from the public square.   

Shackelford says, and rightfully so:   

The thing that makes [America] unique is that we believe our freedoms don’t come from government, they come from God.   

 

It appears that some Liberals in positions of power are taking steps to insure that President Obama’s proclamation that “America is not longer just a Christian nation” is reinforced.  I’ve got some news for the psuedo-intellectual Elite:  Christians outnumber you.  The freedom Americans have experienced for over 200 years is God-given, not man-made.  It is not yours to give or take away.  That is way above your pay grade.  President John Adams explained it very eloquently over 200 years ago:   

Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.    

 Sources:  foxnews.com, brainyquotes.com, beliefnet.com, americanthinker.com