The “Props” of Political Prosperity

by Dr. D. James Kennedy                                                                           Vol. IX, No. 9, October 1996

           Don't you believe in the wall of separation between church and state?" a rather aghast reporter asked me recently

           "No," I replied. "I believe in the First Amendment."

           "Aren't they the same thing?" she responded, somewhat confused.

           "Not at all. In fact, they are opposites."

           The so-called "wall of separation" is not, as many today regard it, simply a shorthand expression for the First Amendment. That, dear friend, is a lie that has been used for purposes 180 degrees away from the intention of the Founding Fathers.

           A federal judge recently ruled that the long-standing practice in Pontotoc, Mississippi, of student-led devotions during school is an unconstitutional violation of the wall of separation between church and state. What would the Founders say to that?

           Consider what they wrote into law in the Northwest Ordinance, passed four years before the ratification of the Bill of Rights. This law, approved in 1787, states that, "Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged."

           The Founders believed that education was an enterprise in which religion and morality had important roles. These men endorsed the idea that religion and morality in the schools were, far from unconstitutional, necessary to good government.

           The people of Pontotoc did nothing unconstitutional by allowing religion into their schools. George Washington would have approved. It was he, after all, who said:

     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, these firmest props of the duties of Men and Citizens.

           Sadly, the latter-day doctrine of a "wall of separation" between church and state has been used by groups such as the ACLU to destroy these vital pillars of political prosperity and human happiness. These "props" of human happiness cannot continue to be knocked down without the edifice of American life, at some point, falling all around us.

           What can you and I do? We as Christians can and must be salt and light in our communities and nation. Share the good news of Jesus Christ with others. It is only when individual lives are touched by the light of the Gospel that we will see transformation of homes, communities, and ultimately, our nation.

           Beyond that, I urge you to become active and involved in every sphere of your community. Our absence, as Christians, from public life has left a vacuum into which unbelievers have moved. We need to repent of that and become busy once more in bringing biblical influence to the moral and political debates facing our nation.

[Reprinted from Impact, newsletter of Coral Ridge Ministries, P.O. Box 1940, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33302-1940; 954-772-0404.]