The celebrations of our country’s 250th birthday should provide an opportunity for Americans to think, reflect and to pray.
Yes, I said it —pray. While some might find it out of fashion, the founding generation gave us much to be thankful for — and an example of giving thanks to God for those blessings.
Contrary to popular belief, most of our nation’s Founding Fathers were not agnostic Deists; and although none of them were perfect, they agreed that faith played a role in their lives and in the lives of the new nation. In fact, they put it down on parchment.
Many people know that, in the Declaration’s final phrase, the 56 signatories pledged “our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.” But that last sentence began by noting that “for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other.”
There it is: an emphasis on faith, right in our nation’s founding document—Providence, with a capital “P.”
And the United States needed to rely on divine Providence to win its independence. Consider the Providential fog that enabled the Continental Army to escape near-certain destruction after the Battle of Long Island, or the weather conditions that allowed George Washington and his troops to cross the Delaware River, delivering a major victory when poor morale threatened the Army’s disbandment.
Time and time again, America’s fate during the Revolution was a close-run thing—but each time America came through. As “America the Beautiful” notes, truly God has shed his grace on us.
George Washington, of all people, knew how much Providence had bestowed on America.
At the war’s end, he wrote to state governors offering “my earnest prayer that God would have you, and the State over which you preside, in His holy protection; that He would incline the hearts of the citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and obedience to government…and finally, 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.”
Those words don’t sound like the thoughts of someone indifferent about his own faith, let alone the nation’s. That someone who played a leading role in creating our country would speak so candidly about humbling himself before God gives us an example we all should follow.
The First Amendment, added to our Constitution in 1791, reinforces our nation’s religious heritage.
It gives Americans freedom of religion, and freedom of conscience — the ability to believe in, and practice, any faith, or no faith at all. Given the hyper-secularized portions of our culture, those who practice their faith should give thanks that secularists cannot use the heavy hand of government to force people to violate their deeply held religious beliefs.
But while the First Amendment rightly prevents government from establishing an official religion, it doesn’t, and shouldn’t, wall off the two completely. Faith-based and religiously affiliated institutions should be able to compete for grants or participate in public programs on an equal basis with other organizations — for instance, when impoverished or financially challenged parents use opportunity scholarships to help fund their children’s education at parochial schools.
Our Founding Fathers understood the role of divine Providence in this nation’s creation and hoped and expected faith would play a major role in the new nation.
I am fortunate to help lead a family business that is celebrating 50 years, which is a significant milestone, and we often note Psalm 127:1-2 that says, “Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain.”
As we celebrate America’s 250th birthday, we should offer a prayer of thanksgiving for God’s blessing and protection of our good country and these men of faith and the way that their beliefs and example established and sustained our nation and our continued pursuit of a more perfect union.
Frank Kelly III is a business leader who serves as CEO of Kelly Benefits. He is also the best-selling author of Love & Go: 12 Powerful Truths for a Blessed Life.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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