Americans owe much to George Washington

Americans do well to honor George Washington by setting aside a day to remember his birth. He was a true patriot! Having a critical role in Philadelphia where delegates from the 13 colonies met to declare their independence, Washington became the commander-inchief to lead the Colonial Army to a great victory in our War for Independence. He eventually became our first President after the writing of the Constitution.

Especially worthy of notice among the many memorable things about this great American is the statement he made in one of his speeches: “It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible.” Above all else, Washington was a man of faith, as were many of our founding fathers. His statement about the Bible was shared by many in the early days of our nation, and they made Bible reading an important part of our public school system. Up until 1963, a reading from the Bible started every school day. Our leaders wanted the general public to become familiar with Biblical truth.

It was Benjamin Franklin, another great American patriot, who is given credit for galvanizing the delegates at the Constitutional Convention when it appeared they were ready to give up on their efforts to draft a Constitution because of sharp disagreement. Franklin placed a motion on the floor to begin all future meetings with Bible reading and prayer. Having done that, the delegates were able to come up with what is arguably the best governing document in the world. How ironic that the Supreme Court in 1963 declared Bible reading to be unconstitutional. Really, were the writers of the Constitution guilty of violating the document they wrote?

Our founders considered the Bible to be God’s truth and absolute moral authority. It is the final determinant of right and wrong. Both parties agreed to that! George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were of opposite party identifications, but both recognized the Bible to be the final absolute authority, not their party position.

Today, since the removal of the Bible from its place of prominence, it appears that too many consider their party as the moral authority rather than Divine truth. Truthfully, both fall short of being the moral authority, a position only the Bible can claim. Yes. President Washington, you were right: we need the Bible to rightly govern a nation!