Endowed by the Creator

There are many citizens today who believe there is no truth to the idea that America was established upon Judeo-Christian principles. However, the authors of our Declaration of Independence used the phrase "endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights". I do not believe they chose their words carelessly. After all, this declaration was a very bold statement which put all the signers and even their families at great risk. I believe they chose their words very carefully before they announced their intent to the world. But the Christian heritage of this country goes back even further, to the very beginnings of the history of our great nation. The proposition that the Christian God is the one true God is not the purpose of this post. My objective is simply to state that one can deny our Christian heritage steadfastly and repeatedly. But this does nothing to change the facts. One can rewrite the history books. But this in no way changes history itself.

The facts are clear, and the facts are irrefutable. Our country was founded by colonists fleeing religious and political persecution in their homelands. Most of these colonists were Protestant rather than Roman Catholic. Religion was not their sole motivation. Certainly expansion of territory and maritime commerce provided funding for the original explorers who first set foot in the New World. But the colonists who came here to establish a new life were driven by the desire to worship unfettered by the constraints of the Old World Church. It is not my intent to provide exhaustive evidence of this here. This evidence may be found easily enough by anyone with the desire for the truth. However, a few examples will serve well at this point.

The original charter of the Virginia Colony in Jamestown stated that one of the principal purposes of the colony was "under the providence of Almighty God, might tend to the glory of his Divine Majesty in propagating the Christian religion to such people as yet live in darkness and miserable ignorance of the true knowledge and worship of God". In fact, male colonists were taxed to pay the yearly salary of the clergy. Further, by law each plantation was required to have a room or house established strictly for worship, and attendance at worship was required.

The colonists who established the Plymouth Colony signed a compact before debarking from the Mayflower. In this compact we can read the following words today: "In the name of God, Amen. We whose names are underwritten...having undertaken, for the glory of God and advancement of the Christian faith...".

The first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, John Winthrop wrote the following words to his father: "I shall call that my country where I may most glorify God and enjoy the presence of my dearest friends. Therefore herein I submit myself to God's will and yours, and dedicate myself to God and the company with the whole endeavors both of body and of mind".

These brief glimpses into the minds of the early colonists are repeated again and again in the historical documentation of each and every colony. These hardy pioneers were girded by their faith in the Almighty, and they established rules and routines that reflected their values. Their faith provided them the strength and the motivation that carried them through the colonial period and saw them successfully through to the time of the founding of this nation.

So, you may say, what difference does this make to me today? It is the twenty-first century and our country is comprised of citizens from every faith on the face of the earth. There are many citizens who deny the existence of the Almighty entirely. There are many citizens who say we cannot know whether or not a God exists. There are many citizens who argue that we are no longer a Christian nation. Though history leaves no doubt that the founders of our country were Christian, the constitution adopted by the framers makes it possible for all of us to live together peacefully and respectfully.

Count a blessing.