As morning’s first light breaks over the eastern seaboard and the sun begins to spill its light across the waters of the Atlantic, there stands a monument of marble and granite rising high above our nation’s capital.
The beacon rises more than 555 feet and provides a perfect panoramic of the 69 square miles that comprise the District of Columbia. To the north is the White House; to the South, the Jefferson Memorial; to the west the Lincoln Memorial and to the North the Capitol.
But no building is as tall as the obelisk — and at its pinnacle is a capstone made of aluminum. It was the intention of her architect, Robert Mills, to carve a message that might stand as a message to future generations.
The words have weathered time and turmoil, war and peace. And to this day the seven letters Mr. Mills had carved into the aluminum capstone remain.
The obelisk may celebrate a man, but it gives glory to a higher power. And when morning comes to America, the first rays of light illuminate the capstone — and Mr. Mill’s testimony for the ages — Laus Deo, praise be to God.
I thought about the Washington Monument awhile back when I heard the president of the United States deliver a stunning message to the nation and to the world.
President Obama set the record straight on the campaign trail, telling CBN News, “America is no longer just a Christian nation,“ he told the Christian Broadcasting Network. It would not be the first time he made such a declaration.
“I’ve said before that one of the great strengths of the United States is – although as I mentioned we have a very large Christian population – we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation, or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation,” he said. “We consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values.”
His declaration stands in stark contrast to comments once made by former President Ronald Reagan.
“The Founding Fathers believed that faith in God was the key to our being a good people and America’s becoming a great nation,” he said.
And during a National Prayer Breakfast, Reagan did not hesitate to lay out the source of our nation’s success.
“I also believe this blessed land was set apart in a very special way, a country created by men and women who came here not in search of gold, but in search of God,“ he said. “They would be free people, living under the law with faith in their Maker and their future. Sometimes, it seems we’ve strayed from that noble beginning, from our conviction that standards of right and wrong do exist and must be lived up to.”
Not a Christian nation? Tell that to the men who wrote our Declaration of Independence.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
Not a Christian nation? Tell that to George Washington. He used 54 Biblical terms to describe God in his various writings.
“While we are zealously performing the duties of good citizens and soldiers, we certainly ought not to be inattentive to the higher duties of religion. To the distinguished character of Patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of Christian,” he once wrote.
Not a Christian nation? Tell that to John Jay the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
“Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers,” he wrote.
Not a Christian nation? Tell that to James Madison, our fourth president and a signer of the U.S. Constitution.
“A watchful eye must be kept on ourselves lest, while we are building ideal monuments of renown and bliss here, we neglect to have our names enrolled in the Annals of Heaven,” he once wrote.
Not a Christian nation? Tell that to Patrick Henry, the voice of liberty.
“Being a Christian…is a character which I prize far above all this world has or can boast,” he once said.
Secular humanists may one day be successful in the religious cleansing of American history. There may come a time when Christian values will be banished from the marketplace of ideas and expelled from our public schools. On the horizon a day fast approaches when Americans could pay a price for following the teachings of Jesus Christ.
And while the winds of change may sweep across the nation’s capital — there stands a beacon of hope — a reminder that this nation of immigrants was built, not on sinking sand, but on a firm foundation, girded by Almighty God.
And on this Fourth of July, the first ray’s of morning light will shine down upon these United States of America — illuminating an eternal truth and a grateful nation’s prayer — praise be to God!
Laus Deo.
TODD STARNES IS A FOX NEWS RADIO REPORTER AND BEST-SELLING AUTHOR.
President Obama’s first major speech on immigration contained several factual errors.
He concluded his remarks at American University with the moving story of Emma Lazarus, the woman who wrote the sonnet, “The New Colossus,” for the Statue of Liberty, in 1883.
President Obama said Lazarus was “inspired by what she saw and heard, she wrote down her thoughts and donated a piece of work to help pay for the construction of a new statue – the Statue of Liberty which actually was funded in part by small donations from people across America.”
There’s just one problem — the story is incorrect. According to the National Park Service, the Statue of Liberty was a gift from the people of France. The NPS told FOX News Radio French donors gave money to the Franco-American Union, a non-profit organization that gave the statue to the United States.
The statue’s pedestal, however, was paid for by contributions through an American branch of the Franco-American Union.
According to the Park Service, Lazarus’ poem was sold at auction by the pedestal committee for $1,500.
READ OBAMA’S ENTIRE SPEECH HERE
The sonnet was engraved on a bronze plaque and affixed to the inner walls of the pedestal in the early 1900′s.
The president also misquoted her sonnet. According to New York Magazine, he recited the line as “yearning to be free.” instead of “yearning to breathe free.”
A group of Muslims has accused the New York City Dept. of Education of discrimination for refusing to recognize Islamic holy days on the school calendar.
Nearly 200 Muslims and their supporters rallied at City Hall to call on Mayor Michael Bloomberg to add Eid-ul Adha and Eid-ul Fitr to the calendar. According to some estimates, 12 percent of the city’s 1.1 million students are Muslim.
“This is important for the Muslim students because currently they are forced to choose between going to school or observing one of the holiest holidays in their religion,” Faiza Ali told WPIX-TV. “So, it puts an unfair burden on Muslim children.”
The current calendar recognizes major Christian and Jewish holidays including Christmas and Yom Kippur. Muslim students said it’s unfair.
“I want the mayor to know everyone has rights and we want our holiday off,” student Anas Shuaib told WABC.
Khaleda Aketer, a student from Staten Island, wondered about the fairness of the mayor’s decision. “Islam is the fastest-growing religion in the city,” she told SLLIVE.com. “Why shouldn’t we have the same rights as other religions?”
Under the current policy, Muslim students are allowed excused absences for their holidays, but have to makeup classwork.
Mayor Bloomberg said he sympathizes with the Muslim community, but he won’t add their holidays to the calendar.
“If you close the schools for every single holiday, there won’t be any school,” Bloomberg told WPIX. “Educating our kids requires time in the classroom, and that’s the most important thing to us.”
Several members of the city council support adding the Muslim holidays. “Our children deserve to have their holiday like everyone else,” Council member Robert Jackson told WPIX.
Other Muslim leaders agrue that Bloomberg has an opportunity to reaffirm that Muslim students are an “integral part of the city.”
The mayor went out of his way to assure the Muslim community his decision was not personal. “This city will do everything it can to protect Muslim’s rights to get together and practice their religion,” he said.
