AMERICA - AN EXPERIMENT IN FREEDOM

We are unlike any nation that has ever existed. We were not founded on ethnicity but on an ideal.

Our founders were men with a Christian Worldview who wanted to establish a new republic that was committed to preserving the freedom to honor God as each chose. Religious freedom was specifically freedom from anyone dictating which of the multiple Christian 'denominations' they should belong to. Freedom was founded on freedom in Jesus Christ, but with the right to join any church one chose, without having a State religion all must follow with the threat of persecution if they didn't.

Our forefathers were poignantly aware that different people would have differing views about how to interpret God's Word – and they needed to be free to do that. It was freedom from dictatorship. Freedom to freely explore Truth – and the One who is Truth. It was the freedom to choose within parameters that established and honored God for who He truly is – the one and only King, Master, Creator and Deity!

I have heard several people state that the battle cry that spread throughout the thirteen colonies in their pursuit of independence was: “No King but King Jesus!”

In the research I did online it appears that this rallying cry had been used before in the Fifth Monarch Rebellion – and the passion for that freedom from tyranny came with the earliest settlers – those who came here for freedom from religious persecution. The reason they came to America was to have the freedom of religion they had been denied in England. Please note it was not freedom from religion, but freedom of religion! All of the religions they were referencing were Christian religions, different denominations who held to slightly different interpretations. Their passion was for people to be able to carefully study and come to different opinions without reprisal.

A site called daveblackonline is a wonderful resource for checking out the Christian foundation of our country. I am dreadfully disappointed that our history books never gave us the broader scope of our true history!

All excerpts below are quotes on the afore-mentioned site, which are credited with being taken from America’s God and Country Encyclopedia Of Quotations, by William J. Federer, 1994 (page numbers listed in brackets at end of excerpt).

The Great Law of Pennsylvania (April 25, 1682), was the first legislative act of Pennsylvania. It proclaimed:

Whereas the glory of Almighty God and the good of mankind is the reason and the end of government, and, therefore government itself is a venerable ordinance of God… [there shall be established] laws as shall best preserve true Christian and civil liberty, in opposition to all unchristian, licentious, and unjust practices, whereby God may have his due, and Caesar his due, and the people their due, from tyranny and oppression. [p.503]


The Charter of Privileges of Pennsylvania (1701), granted by William Penn to the province of Pennsylvania, stated:

And that all persons who also profess to believe in Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World, shall be capable to serve this government in any capacity, both legislatively or executively.

No people can be truly happy, though under the greatest enjoyment of civil liberties, if abridged of… their religious profession and worship… [p.503]


The Committees of Correspondence… began sounding the cry across the Colonies
(ca. 1774):

No King but King Jesus. [pp.58-59]

Constitution of the State of North Carolina (1776), stated:

There shall be no establishment of any one religious church or denomination in this State in preference to any other.

Article XXXII That no person who shall deny the being of God, or the truth of the Protestant religion, or the divine authority of the Old or New Testaments, or who shall hold religious principles incompatible with the freedom and safety of the State, shall be capable of holding any office or place of trust or profit in the civil department within this State. (until 1876)

In 1835 the word “Protestant” was changed to “Christian.” [p.482]

The Constitution of the State of Delaware (until 1792) stated:

Article XXII Every person who shall be chosen a member of either house, or appointed to any office or place of trust… shall… make and subscribe the following declaration, to wit:
“I, _______, do profess faith in God the Father, and in Jesus Christ His only Son, and in the Holy Ghost, one God, blessed forevermore; I do acknowledge the holy scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be given by divine inspiration.” [p.203]

John Jay (1745-1829), was the first Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, having been appointed by President George Washington. He was a Founding Father,
a member of the First and Second Continental Congresses… He was very instrumental in causing the Constitution to be ratified by writing the Federalist Papers, along with James Madison and Alexander Hamilton.

On October 12, 1816, John Jay admonished:

Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers. [p.318] [emphasis added]


The Constitution of the State of Mississippi (1817), stated:

No person who denies the being of God or a future state of rewards and punishments shall hold any office in the civil department of the State. [p.451]

Congress of the United States of America (May 1854), passed a resolution in the House which declared:

The great vital and conservative element in our system is the belief of our people in the pure doctrines and divine truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ. [emphasis added] [p.170]


These are just snippets of information excerpted from a much longer article – but they make my point. Our foundation as a nation was decisively Christian.

This weekend we celebrate our independence from England. It wasn’t just about unreasonable taxation, it was about religious freedom to choose whatever denomination within Christian faith we want to align ourselves with.

Our tolerance has expanded to ‘religious freedom’ of any sort…but that was not the original intended purpose. Now, what our forefathers fought so valiantly for is at risk. We need to pay attention!

I feel absolutely deprived that the TRUTH of our foundation as a country was not taught in the schools I attended.

The men who carved out the ideals of The United States and its government had a Christian Worldview, even if they were not all ‘Christian’ in the sense of a personal spiritual discipline. I’m overwhelmed with what I am just learning at the age of 65!!!!!

My online search included trying to find support for a statement attributed to George Washington when he was asked to serve as leader, that when they asked him to be king, he wisely responded, "There is no king but King Jesus." I couldn’t find any solid evidence to support that contention – but - since it was corroborated that it was the rallying cry of the colonies, it is plausible that he may have reiterated that truth.

All of the other information I found supports the larger issue of our foundations, and what we celebrate this weekend. Our Independence Day is specifically independence from religious persecution – and over and over the documents of our nation’s history bear out the Christian foundation that was established as a unique experiment in freedom.

I love our roots! Happy 4th! Happy Independence Day!

Freedom isn’t free – and I am deeply grateful to all who have fought to preserve our freedom. We are the land of the free because of the brave!!!!! I don’t know who first said that – but it is sooooo true!