Our nation has been blinded. In many schools across the country, students are allowed to meet to discuss and promote literature, philosophy, politics, even gay rights, but do not have the freedom to meet for prayer, worship, or Bible study. In a state circuit court in Alabama, a judge is told by the Alabama Supreme Court that he must remove a plaque containing the Ten Commandments from his courtroom wall, and that he cannot open courtroom sessions with prayer. In many schools, baccalaureate or commencement speakers may speak freely on any topic, but are often forbidden from speaking about religious issues. Some schools allow occult symbols such as witches and goblins to be used at Halloween, but cannot use Christian symbols at Christmas.

What has happened to respect for the Biblical principles that made this nation great? When did we as a nation decide to become ignorant of the importance of religion and morality in everyday life? When did our blinders go on?

Many people justify the total removal of religion from everyday life by saying that there is a wall of separation between church and state, as guaranteed by the First Amendment of the Constitution. The First Amendment actually only states:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.

The Congressional records containing the discussions of the men who wrote the Constitution reveal that the purpose of the First Amendment was to prevent a single denomination from being established as a national religion. The word "religion" was interchangeable with "denomination".

Our founding fathers were religious men, demonstrating a deep faith in God. They were students of the Bible, frequently quoting it in their writings and speeches. They had great respect for organized religion. Fisher Ames, who authored the final wording of the First Amendment, in January 1801 expressed concern about the Bible not being kept in schools as a textbook. He clearly did not see this as a violation of the First Amendment. Founding father Benjamin Rush warned of the explosion of [crime and immorality] that would occur if the Bible was removed from schools. George Washington in his Farewell Address advised people to reject any tenet that says one can be moral without religion, stating that:

. . .reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.

These men did not hesitate to declare their dependence on God, to mention Him in public talks, to open Congress with prayer, and to ask the President to call a day of prayer and thanksgiving to God.

So, where does the phrase "wall of separation" come from? This phrase, which does not appear in any founding document, comes from a letter written by Thomas Jefferson reaffirming that no national church would be established.

In subsequent court cases Jefferson’s full letter was presented, not just the eight words we hear today, and was always used to reaffirm the intent of the authors of the Constitution.

But in 1947 in the case Everson vs. the Board of Education, the court for the first time did not use Jefferson’s full letter, but only the eight-word phrase "a wall of separation between church and state." They completely divorced the phrase from its context and intent, and did not show that previous courts had used this same letter to confirm the intent of the founding fathers.

The 1962 Supreme Court case of Engel vs. Vitale ruled that a 22-word one-sentence prayer could not be uttered in New York schools. This case was decided without referring to precedent of previous cases, and redefined "church" to be any type of religious activity.

In 1980, the Supreme Court ruled in Stone vs. Graham that students could not even see a copy of the Ten Commandments.

Have we paid a price for our deliberate blindness? Has it made a difference in our lives? Has the nation has suffered as a result of rejecting these principles?

The changes we are experiencing are just what the founders of our nation predicted. Crime rates, rampant disregard for law, tax evasion, lying, infidelity, and immorality have exploded since the removal of God from everyday life. This nation has more murders, violent crime, juvenile crime, abortion, single-parent families, divorce, pornography, and drug abuse than any other industrialized country.

And yet, there is hope. Current courts are slowly moving back toward a reaffirmation of the relevance of Biblical principles to our lives, and returning to the original meaning of the Constitution. More people are realizing the importance of our religious heritage. It is good that the re-introduction of prayer into schools and the teaching of religion as part of government classes is currently being discussed by lawmakers, because it is clear that prayer in schools is actually not a violation of the Constitution at all.

I urge everyone to remove the blinders we have so willingly put on as a nation. Roll back the onslaught against our religious heritage. Let’s keep our blinders off, and our vision clear. A secular government will not be as eager to maintain liberty as our traditionally Christian nation has been for over two hundred years. Our form of government has been successful because of its foundations of religion and morality. Let’s rediscover and rebuild those foundations again, for the health of our nation.