California was so excited because the Christmas tree to be placed in front of the White House came from California. Living around Washington, D.C., I have seen this tree a number of times. Sorry, I guess we are told it is now a holiday tree. It reminded me for years a number of artists had been asked to produce Christmas ornaments for the large Christmas tree in the White House.
Three years ago I received an e-mail from a friend in D.C saying all the artists were advised if their Christmas ornaments had any religious significance on them they would be banned from the tree. This is a first in all of the years of celebrating Christmas at the White House. Nativity scenes are banned from in front of all government buildings and public property. Crosses honoring our military are being taken down. There has been on ongoing lawsuit in the San Diego area over this exact thing.
In some schools and other public establishments, Christmas trees have been renamed holiday or friendship trees. We see many stores and other establishments have stopped using Merry Christmas and are using Happy Holidays in fear of offending someone. How did Merry Christmas become offensive? What about Santa, should I be offended by him? I don’t think so, but I have stopped writing Christmas letters to him because somehow I still get the bills.
Prayer at school is under attack or has been banned entirely. The pledge of allegiance is under attack or has been banned. A bill in Washington has been introduced to take “In God WE Trust” from our currency.
In fact, if you look at the new gold dollars you will find “In God We Trust” has been placed on the edge of the coin. If you have good eyes you may even be able to read it. Just another step in pushing God aside. How far up in government did this decision come down from, or who made that decision.
Don’t even bring up taking “In God We Trust” from the Pledge of Allegiance. It was the Obama White House that asked Georgetown University to cover up all religious symbols prior to a presidential address. It was President Obama who dropped the words, “by their Creator ” when reciting a key excerpt from the Declaration of Independence to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus – not once but twice.
What is the next step are we going to see – the removal of “In God We Trust” boldly displayed on the front of many building in Washington, D.C.? I have proudly stood in front of the Supreme Court building observing the beautiful and meaningful carvings and “In God WE Trust” boldly displayed recognizing our dependence in a higher power.
The Washington Monument stands 555 feet tall overlooking the 69 square miles of the District of Columbia, capitol of the United States of America. On the aluminum top of the monument there are two words, “Laus Deo” which means very simply “Praise be to God”. When working on the damage done by the recent earth quake on the Washington Monument is someone in the administration going to want to take that off of the top on the monument?
For 42 years flyovers have been allowed by the Pentagon at the God and Country Rally in Nampa, Idaho on July 3. These flyovers were not to endorse or promote any one religious faith or tradition. Rather, they were held to honor and pay tribute to our heroic men and women who have served, or are currently serving, in our armed forces. For the Obama Administration to deny a flyover for the first time in 42 years is a slap in the face of our military. This is a troubling shift in the administration policy.
In a recent presidential trip to Turkey, President Obama announced to the world that “Americans do not consider ourselves a Christian nation”.
Quoting a news item, President Obama in an e-mail to CBN stated, “whatever we once were, we are no longer just a Christian nation”.
It is unquestionable that four previous centuries of American leaders would definitely disagree with him. Just to quote a few. Joseph Story (1779-1845), under President James Madison, stated, “One of the beautiful boasts of our municipal jurisprudence is that Christianity is a part of Common Law”. Justice Brewer (1837-1910), under President Benjamin Harrison, agreed saying, “We constantly speak of this republic as a Christian nation – in fact, as the leading Christian nation of the world”.
On March 3, 1863, while in the midst of the Civil War, the U.S. Senate requested President Abraham Lincoln to designate and set apart a day of national prayer. President Lincoln quickly complied with the request and issued what today has become one of the most famous and quoted proclamations in America’s history.Justice Earl Warren (1891-1974), Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court under President Dwight Eisenhower, said, “I believe the entire Bill Of Rights came into being because of the knowledge our forefathers had of the Bible”.
Thomas Jefferson was instrumental in establishing a weekly Sunday worship service in the U.S. Capitol Building. I have stood there a number of times and thought how awesome that would be and wondered how far we have gotten from there. Let’s not rewrite history. This is a Christian nation so when you come to my house you need to play by my rules.
A quote from former President Ronald Reagan, “If we ever forget were one nation under God then we will be one nation gone under.” Think about it. Whatever you believe every time you sign and date a check you acknowledge the year of our Lord. Merry Christmas and God Bless America.
Guest columnist A. Erwin Boggs is a longtime Gilroyan and member of the Exchange Club.
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