The early founders of our Nation came to set up a government based on Christian principals. They yearned for a new world where they could establish a society based on biblical values and morals. Our founding Fathers recognized the fact that virtue is crucial to wise leadership. Character does matter. Voters often accept character flaws like marital infidelity and are told not to focus on a candidates "personal life" but to "concentrate on the man". Many Americans fail to realize that a man who will lie to his own wife and break his marriage vows will think nothing of lying to his constituents and breaking his campaign promises.

Whatever happened to America? How did we get from Godly leaders to greedy politicians? We've come from colonial christian education to pagan public schools. How did we get from the puritans' influence and the Great Awakening to secular humanism and a valuless society?

The Founding Fathers had ample evidence that unrestrained democracy led to anarchy. Having witnessed the chaos in France, "the religiously minded leaders and citizens" decided "to choose delegates who had a deep commitment to religious roots of the colonists who established this country". Those who attended the Constitutional convention in 1787 in Philadelphia were selected for their deep commitment to Puritan and Calvinistic doctrine as well as for other political considerations. Their goal was not to establish a democracy in which "Every man does that which is right in his own eyes". Instead, they formated a representative form of government based on divinely inspired law. The Constitution they wrote and the gov. they founded upon it verified that they never intended to establish a secular nation. Instead it was and still is "One Nation Under God." There is no doubt about it--America was established as a christian nation based on biblical principles. I have my opinions on what has happened to America. What are yours? If you want to discuss this with me, please post.

One person may have an opinion or a belief that may differ from someone elses. To say one persons way of thinking is better or should become law over another persons way of thinking is obviously not right.

The bible was at one time the guidebook, or standard for rulemaking and laws when this countries founding Fathers started it. Once the bible was removed from the process, there was no longer an ultimate rule or decision making tool to set the pace for society. People began to do what they felt was good according to themselves. If the bible was put back into the governing of this country, we could eliminate all of the controversy over issues that divide the people. It's not what he says or what she says is right or wrong, but it's what GOD says. No more quarrel, no more controversy.

I understand that some may say that wouldn't work, because they don't believe in God. Well, then let's take it to a vote. The believers would win. Polls show that 92% of Americans believe in God. 63% believe the bible to be literally true.

This could solve all of those controversial issues amongst Americans. Don't you think?

One person may have an opinion or a belief that may differ from someone elses. To say one persons way of thinking is better or should become law over another persons way of thinking is obviously not right.

The bible was at one time the guidebook, or standard for rulemaking and laws when this countries founding Fathers started it. Once the bible was removed from the process, there was no longer an ultimate rule or decision making tool to set the pace for society. People began to do what they felt was good according to themselves. If the bible was put back into the governing of this country, we could eliminate all of the controversy over issues that divide the people. It's not what he says or what she says is right or wrong, but it's what GOD says. No more quarrel, no more controversy.

I understand that some may say that wouldn't work, because they don't believe in God. Well, then let's take it to a vote. The believers would win. Polls show that 92% of Americans believe in God. 63% believe the bible to be literally true.

This could solve all of those controversial issues amongst Americans. Don't you think?

What do you say to those who have no belief in God? America's system of government is not "majority rules," so those percentages mean nothing. In this country, minorities are protected--including the atheists.

The "majority' decides who will be the President. The 'majority' voted in Calif. on gay marriages. The majority does rule at times.

The 'other' 8% of the country need to understand that they are the 'minority' and they need to adjust.

You know, like they want the majority to do right now; adjust to their faith of atheism.

With the help of the ACLU and the National Education Asso., the humanists are accomplishing their goal of alienating children from the faith of their "fathers and mothers" in several ways. Bibles are being taken out of school libraries, and they can't bring them to school. Prayer was outlawed, The story of the pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving has been completely distorted. Christmas Celebrations have been replaced with "winter festivals" , you can't even sing 'O Holy Night' in the school concert anymore, and some school districts have stopped scheduling spring break around Easter for fear of "advancing religion."

Could it be that a religion that worships man gives kids the idea that they can do as they please? And why shouldn't they? After all, they are accountable to no one.

A christian minister said that if you want to find a christian view of our founding fathers in the library of Congress, you need to look at books that are 60 years old or older. Even Patrick Henry's "Give me liberty or give me death" has been deleted from todays "politically correct" textbooks. There is a total absence of the christian religion in them. They emphasize big brother government, welfarism, and a new socialist global order, while putting down patriotism, traditional morality and free enterprise. How do humanists educators plan to teach this "new" religion of the absence of God in America? By constantly indoctrinating children with negative views of religion in history that presents christians as narrowminded bigots motivated by hatred and greed. While some of us look back nostagically and fondly on American History, the liberal and radical now look back and see more that is sinister--Slavery and segregation, the despoliation of the environment, the maltreatment of the Native Americans, repression of women, the exploitation of women. By imposing this sort of thinking on American students, humanistic educators hope to remove all sympathy for religious values held by the majority of Americans past and present. It is alienating children from the morals and faith of their parents. The public school presents the Church with a generation of youth whose minds have been cast in a secular mode. This leaves us with a generation of young people who think that Christopher Columbus was a crazed gold digger intent on ravishing the New World of its riches; that our founding fathers were wealthy womanizers and Christians in name only; that America is, was, and always has been a secular--even pagen--nation with no christian foundation. It robs them and our nation of its rich christian heritage leaving us without a sense of honor and respect for our founding fathers. Abraham Lincoln once said,"The philosophy of education in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next."

Could it be that a religion that worships man gives kids the idea that they can do as they please? And why shouldn't they? After all, they are accountable to no one.

We are accountable to ONE ANOTHER, Pattygreen. That's what my children are being taught and they are growing up to be lovely, responsible, thoughtful kids. Their school is doing a great job of rewarding kindness and encouraging a great work and civic ethic and guess what? God doesn't have anything to do with it.

The narrow-mindedness that teaches the ultimate moral code exists in a book, rather than in our human condition, is really scary to me. Not everyone buys the magical thinking in your favorite book. But we are all human, without exception, and in that condition can we find our shared responsibility to one another.

We are accountable to ONE ANOTHER, Pattygreen. That's what my children are being taught and they are growing up to be lovely, responsible, thoughtful kids. Their school is doing a great job of rewarding kindness and encouraging a great work and civic ethic and guess what? God doesn't have anything to do with it.

The narrow-mindedness that teaches the ultimate moral code exists in a book, rather than in our human condition, is really scary to me. Not everyone buys the magical thinking in your favorite book. But we are all human, without exception, and in that condition can we find our shared responsibility to one another.

I agree with you. I am teaching my children to be honest and considerate and to be ethical in what they do because they want to be a better person today than they were the day before. I believe that in every person lies the ability to have a strong moral platform based on human decency, not on the fear of an imaginary person in the sky who is going to rain hell and brimstone on their heads if the do something 'wrong'. I can live a good and moral life without a god figure in my life. I dont need Jesus to hold my hand when I am faced with an ethical dilemma. I am ultimately responsible for what I say and do. I weigh the consequences of my actions and make decisions based on that. I teach my children to think about how what they say and do impact other people. Frankly, some of the things written in this thread are downright scary.

I agree with you. I am teaching my children to be honest and considerate and to be ethical in what they do because they want to be a better person today than they were the day before. I believe that in every person lies the ability to have a strong moral platform based on human decency, not on the fear of an imaginary person in the sky who is going to rain hell and brimstone on their heads if the do something 'wrong'. I can live a good and moral life without a god figure in my life. I dont need Jesus to hold my hand when I am faced with an ethical dilemma. I am ultimately responsible for what I say and do. I weigh the consequences of my actions and make decisions based on that. I teach my children to think about how what they say and do impact other people. Frankly, some of the things written in this thread are downright scary.

I couldn’t agree more. Whoever said that religions or people of faith had the market cornered on morality? We all know the difference between right and wrong and we can choose to go either way. I tend to believe that most people make the right choice most of the time, not because they are afraid of what God thinks, but because the are basically good people.

Plenty of “good” people have done bad things and there are some “bad” folks out there that have surprised us and done good things. As far as ethics and morality goes, religion is just teaching you what you should have learned in kindergarten or at least from your parents.

With the help of the ACLU and the National Education Asso., the humanists are accomplishing their goal of alienating children from the faith of their "fathers and mothers" in several ways. Bibles are being taken out of school libraries, and they can't bring them to school. Prayer was outlawed, The story of the pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving has been completely distorted. Christmas Celebrations have been replaced with "winter festivals" , you can't even sing 'O Holy Night' in the school concert anymore, and some school districts have stopped scheduling spring break around Easter for fear of "advancing religion."

Could it be that a religion that worships man gives kids the idea that they can do as they please? And why shouldn't they? After all, they are accountable to no one.

Oh come on now, who said you can’t bring a bible to school? I can see the school stopping you from creating a “Christian Club” or trying to organize group prayers or the like but I have never heard of them stopping and individual from expressing their religion. I’ve seen kids at our school wearing crosses, Jesus bracelets, and religious t-shirts, to my knowledge nobody has ever tried to stop them. I can’t see why you would want to bring a bible though. My middle schooler already has 50 pounds of textbooks and a violin to lug around every day, the last thing he needs is another book in his bag.

Oh come on now, who said you can’t bring a bible to school? I can see the school stopping you from creating a “Christian Club” or trying to organize group prayers or the like but I have never heard of them stopping and individual from expressing their religion. I’ve seen kids at our school wearing crosses, Jesus bracelets, and religious t-shirts, to my knowledge nobody has ever tried to stop them. I can’t see why you would want to bring a bible though. My middle schooler already has 50 pounds of textbooks and a violin to lug around every day, the last thing he needs is another book in his bag.

No kidding. My kids sing plenty of Christmas songs at their holiday concerts. My daughter has been whistling "Amazing Grace" since she played it at the spring concert a few weeks ago. And why should spring break be scheduled around Easter? It's on a Sunday! Good Friday is not a legal holiday, and neither is Passover.

And where has all this 'goodness and morality' that's being taught in our schools today gotten us? Just teach the kids to be good. The moral decline is far worse than ever. More murders, more robberies, more drug use, more teen pregnancys, etc.

We are accountable to ONE ANOTHER, Pattygreen. That's what my children are being taught and they are growing up to be lovely, responsible, thoughtful kids. Their school is doing a great job of rewarding kindness and encouraging a great work and civic ethic and guess what? God doesn't have anything to do with it.

I believe we are really only accountable to God. He has everything to do with it.

No kidding. My kids sing plenty of Christmas songs at their holiday concerts. My daughter has been whistling "Amazing Grace" since she played it at the spring concert a few weeks ago. And why should spring break be scheduled around Easter? It's on a Sunday! Good Friday is not a legal holiday, and neither is Passover.

Why do people want some christian things out of the public schools and not other christian things like singing "Away in a Manger"? Why is it that christians can't have prayer at school, but they can pledge the flag that mentions "under God" in it. It's hypocritical. I believe it's the same thing as people who want to obey God when he says "thou shalt not steal", but not when he says "don't have sex with the same gender". In other words, "if it seems okay to me, then fine. If not, then no." You can't have God on your terms. We must take him at ALL his words or not.

Students for America took a survey of 13 colleges and found that 56 % of the students polled said that right and wrong is a matter of personal opinion. Only 38% said they believe their are absolutes.

The nations prison pop. has now topped 1 million. that's 400 for every 100,000 people. Today, children are killing children. Secular humanism will never change anyone behavior. They have no answer ot the "why not?" Why not casual sex? Why not smoke marijuana? Why not steal a pair of Nikes? Why not peak at my neighbors teat paper?Don't be surprised, our educational system is merely reaping what it sows. It goes beyond why Jane can't read to why Jane can't tell right from wrong. The eral point of education is to produce leadership that is achieved by the formation of character. Humanists can't produce character because they have no basis on which to make a list of attitudes they want children to attain. To change a childs attitude is impossible unless his heart agrees. And that is something 'mere' education without christian morals can never do.The puritans knew that the true purpose of education was to teach how to apply christian principals to the issues in every area of life.

No kidding. My kids sing plenty of Christmas songs at their holiday concerts. My daughter has been whistling "Amazing Grace" since she played it at the spring concert a few weeks ago. And why should spring break be scheduled around Easter? It's on a Sunday! Good Friday is not a legal holiday, and neither is Passover.

In Dec of 1994, the administrators of the Colorado High School told the staff and students to eliminate the traditional singing of "Silent Night" from the annual Christmas program. The night of the event, however, as the program ended, one person stood in protest and and began to quietly hum the hymn. Soon other students and parents joined in the song, standing one at a time across the auditorium until almost everyone was softly singing the words "Silent Night, Holy Night". The administration got the message, and all it took was one person with the courage to initiate "some selective civil disobedience".

The 'people' wanted to acknowledge that Jesus is the reason for the Christmas season, but the minority always seem to have a much louder voice than the majority, and that's a shame and the reason for why God has been pushed out.