Minuteman Monthly Newsletter
Issue 41
December 2004


Dear Minuteman Monthly Subscribers,

Thank you for visiting my Web site and thank you especially for your
individual efforts in trying to gain back some of our Second Amendment
rights that have been lost over the past few decades of the anti-gun dark
ages.  People all over the nation are starting to wake up and smell the
coffee.  The statistics have proven us correct after all these years of
trying to get out the truth.

Gun control efforts affect only those who are inclined to obey them.  Those
who are willing and inclined to take the life of another human being during
a violent assault, will not obey laws that regulate firearm ownership, carry
or transportation.

Many times, I have had anti-gunners argue with me stating the statistics of
gun possession in the United States and drawing a conclusion that there are
too many guns available.  In response, I say that 99.8% of all firearms in
the U.S. are used lawfully and safely every year.  The issue at hand should
be how those who commit crimes with them are illegally getting their filthy
hands on them, and how we can curtail those statistics without desecrating
the original intention, words and spirit of the United States Constitution.

The real issue here is that a higher percentage of young people ages 13 to
25 are doing things that they know are wrong and unlawful.  Today's youth
must get a better grasp on the concept of morality, ethics and
righteousness, if America is to survive another few hundred years.

Countless millions of young men and women in America haven't stepped into a
church, synagogue or mosque in their lives.  America's lost generation of
youth must wake up, look around themselves, study America's past history and
our national religious heritage and change themselves for the better.  Now
more than half of American families are broken up, sometimes our children
are placed on a waiting list for our time and attention and there are too
many evil influences in our world that are taking up the space in our
children's lives that used to be filled with religious and moral instruction
and love.

The reason that we have had to deal with so many attacks on the Second
Amendment and the reason we have lost so much ground on the right to keep
and bear arms has a two pronged answer.  First, it is because thousands of
legislators across the country believe in a misinterpreted Second Amendment
and they think it only protects the firearms of the National Guard.
Secondly, and the focus of this month's issue, is the fact that we have lost
sight of morality and religion and the visions of America's Founding Fathers
with respect to religion and morality.  We have strayed from the path set
for us by the Founding Fathers.

The men and women that helped pour the foundation of America were very
religious, moral, ethical and upstanding, who were very concerned with
virtue and self control.

The term "separation of church and state" cannot be found in any of our
nation's founding documents.  Just the contrary is true.  There are
references to religion and morality throughout America's past and especially
before the latter half of the last century.

The term "separation of church and state" came about during judicial
decisions of the 1950's and 1960's.  Today, the word GOD, has become a four
letter word, that many people are opposed to utter in public and I'm tired
of it.  This issue concerns the truth about the foundations of the United
States.

Oh boy, I know I'm going to get some hate mail for this month's newsletter,
but I have been silent on this issue for far too long and I'm ready for the
backlash.

GET READY FOR THE LONGEST MINUTEMAN MONTHLY I HAVE EVER WRITTEN.  MY SINCERE
HOPE IS THAT YOU MAKE IT TO THE END.  PLEASE MAKE TIME THIS MONTH TO READ
THE WHOLE THING, AND FORWARD IT TO YOUR FRIENDS.

<<< NOTE: PLEASE READ>>>

IF YOU ARE AMONG THE TEN PERCENT (10%) OF THE UNITED STATES WHO CONSIDERS
THEMSELVES TO BE NON-CHRISTIAN, PLEASE DO NOT BE OFFENDED BY THIS
NEWSLETTER.  I AM NOT ATTEMPTING TO SHOVE MY RELIGION DOWN YOUR COLLECTIVE
THROATS.  THE LAST HALF OF THIS ISSUE OF THE MINUTEMAN MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
CONTAINS WELL KNOWN QUOTATIONS ON RELIGION AND MORALITY, FROM THE VERY
PEOPLE WHO POURED THE FOUNDATION OF THE UNITED STATES.  IF YOU BELIEVE THAT
YOU MIGHT BE OFFENDED BY READING WHAT THE FOUNDING FATHERS THOUGHT ABOUT
RELIGION AND MORALITY, I ENCOURAGE YOU TO DELETE THIS E-MAIL PROMPTLY.  NEXT
MONTH'S ISSUE WILL BE SOLELY FIREARM RELATED.  I AM SICK AND TIRED OF THE
ACLU AND ITS PATHETIC INSISTENCE ON THE IDEA OF THE SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND
STATE.  IN ADDITION, I BELIEVE THAT TODAY'S YOUTH HOLD THE KEYS TO THE
FUTURE OF AMERICA AND I THINK THEY ARE HEADED IN THE WRONG DIRECTION.

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SAVETHEGUNS.COM QUOTES OF THE MONTH

"Respect for religion must be reestablished, public debt should be reduced,
the arrogance of public officials must be curtailed, assistance to foreign
lands must be stopped or we shall bankrupt ourselves.  The people should be
forced to work and not depend on the government for subsistence."
Marcus Tullius Cicero, Roman orator and philosopher (106-43BC)


"The moral principles and precepts contained in the Scriptures ought to form
the basis of all our civil constitutions and laws.  All the miseries and
evils which men suffer from vice, crime, ambition, injustice, oppression,
slavery, and war, proceed from their despising or neglecting the precepts
contained in the Bible."
Noah Webster (1758-1843)


"He who shall introduce into public affairs the principles of Christianity,
will change the face of the world."
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)


"Educate your children to self-control, to the habit of holding passion and
prejudice and evil tendencies subject to an upright and reasoning will, and
you have done much to abolish misery from their future and crimes from
society."
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)


"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human
passions unbridled by morality and religion.  Our Constitution was made only
for a moral and religious people.  It is wholly inadequate to the government
of any other."
John Adams (1735-1826) Second President of the United States.


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SAVETHEGUNS.COM GUN SAFETY TIP OF THE MONTH

OK, so, your home had been broken into twice in the past six months.  You
have decided to get some firearm safety training and a concealed carry
permit.  One day, while your wife is at work, you come home early, in the
middle of the day to find your front door open.  You go back towards your
car and call your wife on your cell phone and ask if she had left the door
open and she says "no".

You draw your firearm and slowly approach the house, your heart is beating
so loudly that you can hear it.  Adrenaline courses through your body as you
approach the door.  Your heart jumps as you see a person inside your home
stepping quickly toward you.

You level your new handgun and fire at the center of mass, just as you were
taught.  The fired shot is ringing in your ears as you step toward the
intruder lying face down in front of you on the floor at your feet.  Then
your entire body goes cold and your knees collapse and you fall to the floor
when you realize that the prone intruder is your twenty year old daughter
who came over to wash her clothes because the washer at her apartment was
broken.

My Gun Safety Tip Of The Month is to ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS POSITIVELY
IDENTIFY THE THREAT BEFORE YOU PLACE YOUR FINGER ON THE TRIGGER IN A SELF
DEFENSE SITUATION.

In 93% of the incidence of criminal activity, the unlawful intruder will
halt aggression and sit and wait for the police.  Taking a human life with a
firearm, is one of the most critical and life changing things that can
happen to us.  Please, always positively identify a threat first.
Unannounced sleepovers, unexpected guests and misidentified threats have
ended in tragedy because people were not aware of this essential gun safety
rule.  PLEASE PASS IT ON.

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Have you visited my "Let's Go Shopping" page at:
http://www.savetheguns.com/let's_go_shopping.htm

or my "Advertiser List" page at:
http://www.savetheguns.com/advertiser_list.htm


There are links there to 129 companies that sell thousands of items that I
thought my visitors might be interested in.  There are great links for
discount ammunition, hunting gear, books, videos, electronics, toys and much
more.  Christmas is only a little over four (4) weeks away.  Don't go out
shopping Christmas Eve, spend it with your family and do your shopping early
this year.

(The "Advertiser List" page is not done yet, but I'm working on it.)


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MINUTEMAN MONTHLY AIMING POINT FOR DECEMBER 2004

I know that I will take some heat for this month's "Aiming Point", but I
cannot stay silent on this issue anymore.  This month's issue is one of
those things that people can get really worked up about.  Arguments on this
issue have broken up many friendships.

Many people I have talked to are frustrated with the course that America has
set for itself and they are seeking answers on how we can turn this ship
around.

However dividing this issue might be, it has to have some light shed on it.
You see, most of our Founding Fathers, who created the United States of
America out of potential chaos right after the Revolutionary War, would
today be considered far right-wing, radical, religious conservatives whose
moral stand on issues would make today's "progressive" liberal sick.

The anti-gun group's constant whining drone is about America's rates of
crime.  America's rates of violent crime are actually about twentieth (20th)
in the world.  But even so, America does certainly have a big problem with
violent crime.  Firearm ownership was much more common two hundred years
ago, but there was a much more prevalent focus on religion, ethics and
morality, than there is today.  With freedom comes colossal responsibility.

This month's issue is not so much about firearms and our long history of
lawful gun use in the United States, but rather the opinions and quotations
of our Founding Fathers concerning religion and morality.  If you want to
delete this month's Minuteman Monthly right now, that's OK, I'll see you
next month.

America has such a pervasive and saturated history rooted in religion and
morality, but it has largely been forgotten.  Our national heritage is so
rooted in religion and morality and it has been suppressed and ignored for
far too long.  This, I believe is largely responsible for America's current
situation concerning violent crime and our nation's youth.

I truly believe that the answers we seek to the majority of our problems in
twenty first century America, can be found in our nation's past.  Yep, you
heard me correctly.  The answers to most of our problems in modern day
America can be found in the words, deeds, opinions, speeches and letters of
our nation's founders.

First of all, let me begin by saying that most of our nation's top colleges
were actually religious institutions with the purpose of training up our
young men and women for the ministry.  Please allow me to quote, which I
will do quite often in this issue.

"Let every student be plainly instructed, and earnestly pressed to consider
well, the main end of his life and studies is, to know God and Jesus Christ
which is eternally life."
Harvard University (Pamphlet published in 1643)


"Christ is the only, the true, the living way of access to God."
Timothy Dwight, Yale University President (1795-1817)


"Give up yourselves therefore to Him, [God] with a cordial confidence, and
the great work of life is done."
Timothy Dwight, Yale University President (1814 Baccalaureate Discourse)


"The chief Thing that is aimed at in this College is to teach and engage the
Children to know God in Jesus Christ, and to love and serve Him, in all
Sobriety, Godliness, and Righteousness of Life, with a perfect Heart, and a
willing Mind."
Columbia University publication (1754)


I'll bet you haven't seen those quotes before....

Religious and moral teaching is nearly completely absent in today's public
schools.  In college today, one would be seen as a nut case from the
religious right, to even suggest publishing information about the school's
history in religious teaching.

Let me give you another one of my favorite quotes and this one is very
appropriate to send out with Election Day 2004 just behind us.

"When you become entitled to exercise the right of voting for public
officers, let it be impressed on your mind that God commands you to choose
for rulers, just men who will rule in the fear of God.  The preservation
of [our] government depends on the faithful discharge of this Duty; if the
citizens neglect their Duty and place unprincipled men in office, the
government will soon be corrupted; laws will be made, not for the public
good so much as for selfish or local purposes; corrupt or incompetent men
will be appointed to execute the Laws; the public revenues will be
squandered on unworthy men; and the rights of the citizen will be violated
or disregarded.  If [our] government fails to secure public prosperity and
happiness, it must be because the citizens neglect the Divine Commands, and
elect bad men to make and administer the Laws."
Noah Webster 1758-1843

Let me end this month's issue of the Minuteman Monthly with a few
statements, then I will give you many of the quotes that I have compiled
over the years concerning religion and morality.

Today's America is ill.  We have neglected and ignored our past and our
national heritage as a very religious, moral and ethical country.  The
church I attended since 1984, has a press box in it.  The local press used
to attend church, sit in the press box and report on the week's sermon and
the church services.  Not because there wasn't other news stories to work
on, but rather because the sermon and what went on in church were very
important to the general public.

We, in modern day America have taken our eyes off the ball, to use a
baseball metaphor.  According to studies I have seen, more than 85% of
Americans today believe that there is a God, who is watching us and who
wants to be involved in our lives, yet our nation's churches are closing and
there are plenty of seats to sit in, in the ones that are still open.

I believe that the rise in divorce rates, murder rates, robbery rates,
rapes, illegal drug addiction and suicide rates over the last two hundred
years are directly proportional to the rates at which national religion and
moral instruction have declined in America's schools, families and towns.

At last, the quotes I have been speaking of.  Please feel free to forward
them, copy them, paste them, use them or print them, but do not misquote
them.

The last half of this month's Minuteman Monthly Newsletter is all
quotations.  It is a collection of quotations that should make it around the
country in a massive e-mail campaign.  If this is the case, I would hope
that the author gets credit...   www.SaveTheGuns.com

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THE QUOTES

"Our task and our duty must be to do justly, to love mercy, to walk humbly
with our God, for we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill
and the eyes of all are upon us."
John Winthrop (1588-1649) Puritan and Governor of the Massachusetts Bay
Colony from 1630 to 1649


"The moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred
as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice
to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence. If 'Thou shalt not covet' and
'Thou shalt not steal' were not commandments of Heaven, they must be made
inviolable precepts in every society before it can be civilized or made
free."
John Adams


"I have the most animating confidence that the present noble struggle for
liberty will terminate gloriously for America.Let us humbly commit our
righteous cause to the great Lord of the Universe, who loveth righteousness
and hates iniquity.Let us joyfully leave our concerns in the hands of Him
who raiseth up and pulleth down the empires and kingdoms of the world as He
pleases."
John Hancock, American Patriot and Revolutionary


"In circumstances dark as these, it becomes us as men and Christians to
reflect.All confidence must be withheld from the means we use and respond
only on that God who rules in the armies of Heaven and without whose
blessing the best of human councils are but foolishness and all created
power vanity.and that America may soon behold a gracious interposition of
Heaven."
John Hancock, April 15, 1775, just four days before the "shot heard round
the world".


"My God, how little do my countrymen know what precious blessings they are
in possession of and which no other people on earth have ever enjoyed."
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) Third President of the United States.  Author
of the Declaration of Independence.


"If Virtue & Knowledge are diffused among the People, they will never be
enslav'd. This will be their great Security."
Samuel Adams "The Father of the American Revolution"


"What is liberty without...virtue?  It is...madness, without restraint."
Edmund Burke


"Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame
with righteousness did I understand the greatness and the genius of America
. . . America is good.  And if America ever ceases to be good, America will
cease to be great."
Alexis de Tocqueville


"If we will not be governed by God, we must be governed by tyrants."
William Penn


"The moral principles and precepts contained in the Scriptures ought to form
the basis of all our civil constitutions and laws.  All the miseries and
evils which men suffer from vice, crime, ambition, injustice, oppression,
slavery, and war, proceed from their despising or neglecting the precepts
contained in the Bible."
Noah Webster 1758-1843


"Doctor, I wish you to observe how real and beneficial the religion of
Christ is to a man about to die.  This is all the inheritance I can give to
my dear family.  The religion of Christ can give them one which can make
them rich indeed."
Patrick Henry (1799, on his death bed)


"To commit our children to the care of irreligious people is to commit lambs
to the superintendency of wolves."
Timothy Dwight, President of Yale from 1795-1817


"The Bible is the book upon which this Republic rests."
Andrew Jackson, Seventh President of the United States


"My custom is, to read four or five chapters [of the Bible] every morning
immediately after rising from my bed.  It employs about an hour of my time.
It is essential, my son, in order that you may go through life with comfort
to yourself, and usefulness to your fellow-creatures, that you should form
and adopt certain rules or principles, for the government of your own
conduct and temper."
President John Adams in a letter to his son John Quincy Adams


"And now, Almighty Father, if it is Thy holy will that we shall obtain a
place and name among the nations of the earth, grant that we may be enabled
to show our gratitude for Thy goodness by our endeavors to fear and obey
Thee.  Bless us with Thy wisdom in our counsels, success in battle, and let
all our victories be tempered with humanity.  Endow, also, our enemies with
enlightened minds, that they become sensible of their injustice, and willing
to restore our liberty and peace. Grant the petition of Thy servant, for the
sake of Him whom Thou hast called Thy beloved Son; nevertheless, not my
will, but Thine be done."
General George Washington 1779


"O most Glorious God, in Jesus Christ my merciful and loving Father, I
acknowledge and confess my guilt, in the weak and imperfect performance of
the duties of this day.  I have called on Thee for pardon and forgiveness of
sins...  Let me live according to those holy rules which Thou hast this day
prescribed in Thy holy word; make me to know what is acceptable in Thy
sight."
President George Washington (From a booklet of prayers he wrote.)


"Our reliance is in the love of liberty which God has planted in us.  Our
defense is in the spirit which prized liberty as the heritage of all men, in
all lands everywhere.  Destroy this spirit and you have planted the seeds of
despotism at your own doors.  Familiarize yourselves with the chains of
bondage and you prepare your own limbs to wear them.  Accustomed to trample
on the rights of others, you have lost the genius of your own independence
and become the fit subjects of the first cunning tyrant who rises among
you."
Abraham Lincoln 1858


"At what point should we expect the approach of danger?  By what means are
we to fortify against it?  Shall we expect some trans-Atlantic military
power to step across the ocean and crush us?  Never.  At what point then is
the approach of danger to be expected?  I answer, if it ever reach us, it
cannot and it will not come from abroad.  If danger ever reach us, it must
spring up from amongst us.  If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be
its author and finisher.  As a nation of free men, we will live through all
time or die by suicide."
Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) From an 1838 speech when he was just 29 years
old.


"It's the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of almighty God,
to obey His will, to be grateful for his benefits and to humbly implore his
protection and his favor."
George Washington (1732-1799) First President of the United States.


"We need God to be our friend and our ally.  We need to keep God's
concurring aid.  If a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice,
is it probable an empire can rise without His aid?  We've been assured in
the sacred writings that 'except the Lord keep the city, they labor in vain
that build it.'"
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American printer, author, philosopher,
diplomat and scientist.  This quote was said on the floor of the
Constitutional Convention June 28, 1787


"He who shall introduce into public affairs the principles of Christianity,
will change the face of the world."
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)


"Educate your children to self-control, to the habit of holding passion and
prejudice and evil tendencies subject to an upright and reasoning will, and
you have done much to abolish misery from their future and crimes from
society."
Benjamin Franklin


"The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: That it connected in
one dissoluble bond the principles of Christianity with the principles of
civil government."
John Adams (1735-1826) Second President of the United States.


"And may that Being who is supreme over all, the Patron of Order, the
Fountain of Justice, and the Protector in all ages of the world of virtuous
liberty, continue His blessing upon this nation and its Government and give
it all possible success and duration consistent with the ends of His
providence."
John Adams (1735-1826) Second President of the United States.


"In these my confidence will under every difficulty be best placed, next to
that which we have all been encouraged to feel in the guardianship and
guidance of that Almighty Being whose power regulates the destiny of
nations, whose blessings have been so conspicuously dispensed to this rising
Republic, and to whom we are bound to address our devout gratitude for the
past, as well as our fervent supplications and best hopes for the future."
James Madison (1751-1836) Fourth President of the United States.


"God, who gave us life, gave us liberty.  Can the liberties of a nation be
secure when we remove from them a conviction these liberties are a gift of
God?  Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, and
His justice cannot sleep forever."
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)


"The precepts of philosophy laid hold to actions only, but Jesus pushed His
scrutinies into the heart of man, erected the tribunal in the region of his
thoughts and purified the waters at the fountainhead."
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)


"Your love of liberty -- your respect for the laws -- your habits of
industry -- and your practice of the moral and religious obligations, are
the strongest claims to national and individual happiness."
George Washington


"The Americans, combine the notions of Christianity and of liberty so
intimately in their minds, that it is impossible to make them conceive the
one without the other."
Alexis de Tocqueville Democracy in America (1835)


"[Religion] is more needed in democratic republics than in any others.  How
is it possible that society should escape destruction if the moral tie be
not strengthened in proportion as the political tie is relaxed?  And what
can be done with a people which is its own master, if it be not submission
to the Divinity?"
Alexis de Tocqueville Democracy in America (1835)


"We have staked the whole future of American civilization not upon the power
of government.  Far from it.  We have staked the future of all our political
institutions upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves
according to the Ten Commandments of God."
James Madison (1751-1836) Fourth President of the United States.


"Providence has given to us the choice of our rulers, and it is the duty as
well as the interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians
for their rulers."
John Jay (1745-1829) First Supreme Court Chief Justice


"It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation
was founded not by religionists but by Christians, not on religion but on
the Gospel of Jesus Christ."
Patrick Henry (1736-1799) American Orator and Statesman


"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human
passions unbridled by morality and religion.  Our Constitution was made only
for a moral and religious people.  It is wholly inadequate to the government
of any other."
John Adams (1735-1826) Second President of the United States.


"Why is it next to the birthday of the Savior of the world, your most joyous
and most venerated festival returns on this day, the Fourth Of July?  It is
because the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact
on the foundation of the Redeemer's mission on earth and laid the
cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity."
John Quincy Adams (1767-1848)  From a speech on July 4th 1837.


"We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven; we have
been preserved these many years in peace and in prosperity.  We have grown
in numbers and wealth and in power as no other nation ever has, but we have
forgotten God.  We have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of
redeeming and preserving grace, and too proud to pray."
Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)


"It is the duty of all nations as well as of men to own their dependence on
the overruling power of God and to recognize the sublime truth announced in
the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are
blessed whose god is the Lord."
Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)


"It would be peculiarly improper to omit, in this first official act, my
fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the universe,
who presides in the councils of nations, and whose providential aids can
supply every human defect...No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore
the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than those of the
United States."
George Washington (1732-1799)


"Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can
prevail in the exclusion of religious principle."
George Washington (1732-1799)


"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity,
religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man
claim the tribute of patriotism who should labor to subvert these great
pillars of human happiness."
George Washington (1732-1799)


"[W]e ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious [favorable] smiles
of heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal
rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained."
George Washington (1732-1799)


"The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were.the
general principles of Christianity.I will avow that I then believed, and now
believe, that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and
immutable as the existence and attributes of God; and that those principles
of liberty are as unalterable as human nature."
John Adams (1735-1826) Second President of the United States.


"[I]t is religion and morality alone which can establish the principles upon
which freedom can securely stand. Religion and virtue are the only
foundations...of republicanism and of all free governments."
John Adams (1735-1826) Second President of the United States.


"The practice of morality being necessary for the well being of society, He
[God] has taken care to impress its precepts so indelibly on our hearts that
they shall not be effaced by the subtleties of our brain.  We all agree in
the obligation of the moral precepts of Jesus and nowhere will they be found
delivered in greater purity than in his discourses."
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)


"The belief in a God all Powerful, wise and good, is so essential to the
moral order of the world and to the happiness of man, that arguments which
enforce it cannot be drawn from too many sources."
James Madison (1751-1836) Fourth President of the United States.


"And have we now forgotten that powerful Friend?  Or do we imagine that we
no longer need His assistance?...[W]ithout His concurring aid...we ourselves
shall become a reproach and a byword down to future ages."
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American printer, author, philosopher,
diplomat and scientist.


"[O]nly a virtuous people are capable of freedom.  As nations become corrupt
and vicious, they have more need of masters."
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American printer, author, philosopher,
diplomat and scientist.


"Three points of doctrine, the belief of which forms the foundation of all
morality.  The first is the existence of a God; the second is the
immortality of the human soul; and the third is a future state of rewards
and punishments.  Suppose it is possible for a man to disbelieve either of
these articles of faith and that man will have no conscience, he will have
no other law than that of the tiger or the shark; the laws of man may bind
him in chains or may put him to death, but they never can make him wise,
virtuous, or happy."
John Quincy Adams (1767-1848)


"[T]he law.dictated by God himself is, of course, superior in obligation to
any other.  It is binding over all the globe, in all countries, and at all
times.  No human laws are of any validity if contrary to this."
Alexander Hamilton (1757-1804)


"I conjure you, by all that is dear, by all that is honorable, by all that
is sacred, not only that ye pray but that ye act."
John Hancock (1737-1793) First signer of the Declaration of Independence.


"You do well to learn our arts and ways of life, and above all, the religion
of Jesus Christ. These will make you a greater and happier people than you
are. Congress will do everything they can to assist you in this wise
intention."
George Washington from his speech to the Delaware Indian Chiefs on May 12,
1779.


"The great pillars of all government and of social life .[are] virtue,
morality, and religion.  This is the armor, my friend, and this alone, that
renders us invincible."
Patrick Henry (1736-1799) American Orator and Statesman


"Has it [government] any solid foundation? Any chief cornerstone...?  I
think it is an everlasting foundation in the unchangeable will of God, the
author of Nature whose laws never vary...Government...is by no means an
arbitrary thing depending merely on compact or human will for its
existence...  The power of God Almighty is the only power that can properly
and strictly be called supreme and absolute.  In the order of nature
immediately under him comes the power of a simple democracy, or the power of
the whole over the world...[God is] the only Monarch in the universe who has
a clear and undisputable right to absolute power because He is the only one
who is omniscient as well as omnipotent... The sum of my argument is of God,
that the administrators of it were originally the whole people."
Samuel Adams (1722-1803) The Father of the American Revolution


"I now make it my earnest prayer that God would have you, and the states
over which you preside, in His holy protection.that He would most graciously
be pleased to dispose us all to do justice, to love mercy, and to demean
ourselves with that charity, humility, and pacific temper of mind which were
the characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed religion, without an
humble imitation of whose example, we can never hope to be a happy nation."
George Washington in his last official address to Congress


Let me give you a quote from the Massachusetts State Constitution.  In fact,
let me give you both Article two and three as follows:

Article II.  It is the right as well as the duty of all men in society,
publicly, and at stated seasons to worship the Supreme Being, the great
Creator and Preserver of the universe. And no subject shall be hurt,
molested, or restrained, in his person, liberty, or estate, for worshipping
God in the manner and season most agreeable to the dictates of his own
conscience; or for his religious profession or sentiments; provided he doth
not disturb the public peace, or obstruct others in their religious worship.


Article III.  As the happiness of a people, and the good order and
preservation of civil government, essentially depend upon piety, religion
and morality; and as these cannot be generally diffused through a community,
but by the institution of the public worship of God, and of public
instructions in piety, religion and morality: Therefore, to promote their
happiness and to secure the good order and preservation of their government,
the people of this commonwealth have a right to invest their legislature
with power to authorize and require, and the legislature shall, from time to
time, authorize and require, the several towns, parishes, precincts, and
other bodies politic, or religious societies, to make suitable provision, at
their own expense, for the institution of the public worship of God, and for
the support and maintenance of public Protestant teachers of piety, religion
and morality, in all cases where such provision shall not be made
voluntarily.

And the people of this commonwealth have also a right to, and do, invest
their legislature with authority to enjoin upon all the subjects an
attendance upon the instructions of the public teachers aforesaid, at stated
times and seasons, if there be any on whose instructions they can
conscientiously and conveniently attend.

Provided, notwithstanding, that the several towns, parishes, precincts, and
other bodies politic, or religious societies, shall, at all times, have the
exclusive right of electing their public teachers, and of contracting with
them for their support and maintenance.

And all moneys paid by the subject to the support of public worship, and of
the public teachers aforesaid, shall, if he require it, be uniformly applied
to the support of the public teacher or teachers of his own religious sect
or denomination, provided there be any on whose instructions he attends;
otherwise it may be paid towards the support of the teacher or teachers of
the parish or precinct in which the said moneys are raised.

Any every denomination of Christians, demeaning themselves peaceably, and as
good subjects of the commonwealth, shall be equally under the protection of
the law: and no subordination of any one sect or denomination to another
shall ever be established by law.

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