Thought of the Day – “The rights of the colonists as Christians. . .may be best understood by reading and carefully studying the Institutes of the Great Law Giver and Head of the Christian Church, which are to be found clearly written and promulgated in the New Testament.” – Sam Adams

A GOVERNOR COULD BE ELECTED BY 44 VOTES

Since Vision America was founded, we have repeatedly talked, written and preached about how elections often turn on a handful of votes. If fewer than 800 votes had gone the other way in Florida in 2000, Al Gore would have been president of the United States for the past four years.

This year’s election for governor of Washington State offers a stark example of the power of a handful of voters.

According to the latest recount, in a governor’s race where over 2.8 million ballots were cast, the Republican candidate leads by 44 votes. That’s less than the number of people in the first three pews of a church during Sunday services. In turn, that means that virtually any single congregation in the state of Washington could have affected the choice of governor. Your vote does make a difference!

As there doubtless will be more recounts, the race has yet to be decided. In the meantime, it’s important to note that the outcome of this election could have been decided by one preacher motivating just part of his congregation to exercise their Christian duty to vote – and vote their Biblical beliefs. This is yet another incentive to stay involved and to stay active.

CHRISTIANS REVOLT AGAINST EU CONSTITUTION

Europe is often thought of as a spiritual wasteland – a post-Christian culture characterized by the lowest church attendance in the World, and the triumph of secularism.

But there’s always cause for hope. More than 1 million Europeans have signed a petition demanding that the preamble of the new constitution of the European Union acknowledge the continent’s Christian heritage.

While the document as currently written refers to Ancient Greece and Rome, and the Enlightenment, there is no reference to the faith that dominated the continent for more than 1,000 years. (Europe once was referred to as Christendom.) While Jesus lived and died in the Holy Land, Christianity developed in Italy, Greece, Germany, Holland, Switzerland and England.

Pope John Paul II has decried the “moral drift” coming out of Brussels (headquarters of the EU). “One does not cut the roots to one’s birthright,” the pope told a group of pilgrims this summer. Poland’s President Aleksander Kwasniewski, a self-described atheist, also condemns the move. Kwasniewski observes, “The most significant feature of every city and town in Europe is either a cathedral or a church.”

The petition, with 1,149,000 signatures (and thousands more flooding in every day), will be presented to British Prime Minister Tony Blair and other EU leaders.

But EU bureaucrats are determined to block any change. In response to the petition, one unnamed official arrogantly declared, “These Christians could at least have the good grace to accept that they lost the argument.”

Pray for the success of European Christians in their attempt to amend the EU Constitution to acknowledge historical reality. In the meantime, whatever the fate of post-Christian Europe (which is sorely in need of revival), at least the argument hasn’t been lost on this side of the Atlantic.

HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS MENTIONING GOD BANNED FROM CALIFORNIA SCHOOL

With the able support of the Alliance Defense Fund, a California teacher filed a suit this week in the US District Court in San Jose claiming his free-speech rights have been violated.

Stephen Williams, a Christian and a fifth-grade teacher at the Stevens Creek School in the San Francisco Bay Area, is the only teacher who’s required to submit supplemental materials to the principal before they’re distributed to students.

It seems Williams was showing his children documents that underscore our nation’s religious roots. Among other material rejected by Principal Patricia Vidmar are the Declaration of Independence (for its multiple references of God), George Washington’s Journal and John Adam’s Diary.

The Founding Fathers would have been aghast to learn that two centuries after the Revolution, the Declaration of Independence would be barred from an American school because in it they acknowledged the Creator.

Presumably, Vogel would also prohibit Williams from distributing one-dollar bills to his class, because they contain our national motto - “In God We Trust.” Of course, if Principal Vidmar were consistent, she’d have to return her salary – paid in the same currency with same slogan. We don’t think she’d take “church-state separation” quite that far.

Thank God for Christian teachers like Stephen Williams who are willing to risk the wrath of administrators by telling their children the truth. Developments in this case may be followed on the Alliance Defense Fund website – http://www.alliancedefensefund.org.

CONGRESS STEPS IN TO SAVE SAN DIEGO CROSS

Congress has acted to save a 43-foot cross in San Diego by designating it a National Veterans Memorial.

The cross, which has sat at the summit the city’s Mt. Soledad for over half a century, has been the subject of litigation for the past 15 years. With the support of the ACLU, atheist Phillip Paulson has been working to have the cross removed.

In 1998, the city tried to sell the site to the Mt Soledad War Memorial Association, which wanted to maintain the cross. The sale was approved by 76% of San Diego’s voters but nullified by the 9th. Circuit Appeals Court – the same court that two years ago declared reference to God in the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional, a decision overturned by the Supreme Court.

By designating the cross and the land on which it is situated a National Veterans Memorial, the site will be administered by the Department of Interior as part of the National Park Service.

But the ACLU (Atheists’ Civil Liberties Union) isn’t giving up. Paulson told the San Diego Union, “Jihad Jesus Republicans need to understand that the separation of church and state has kept this country from getting into religious wars.”

He should take a leisurely walk through the Arlington National Cemetery sometime. There he will see thousands upon thousands of crosses. None of them got us into religious wars. But the men whose resting place they mark died to preserve our freedom, including freedom of religion.

Post Script: I recently attended a briefing for conservative leaders during which there was a discussion of breaking up the 9th Circuit (Circus?) Appeals Court. I believe the time has come for us to serve notice on the federal courts that we the people are sick and tired of constant judicial assaults on people of faith – our rights, our symbols and our heritage. Breaking up the most liberal circuit court in the land would be a great beginning.