An important aspect in human history and civilization is religion (Viteritti). We need religion in order to have a nation of some sort and to establish culture. Patrick Henry once quoted, �It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionist, but by Christians; not on religion, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ! For this very reason, peoples of faiths have�freedom to worship here.� (�Religion and the Founding Fathers�). Woodrow Wilson even agreed, stating that, �America was born a Christian nation.� (�Religion and the Founding Fathers�). The United States was founded upon Christian principles beliefs (Witmer). When the nation was founded, Christianity dominated the land, and influenced the thinking of our forefathers in their process of making laws (Witmer).
In 1789, when 11 of the 13 states ratified the Constitution, many of the states still required that a man be a Christian in order to hold public office (Witmer). Today, sporting a cross necklace and promise ring in the public eye is seen as a publicity stunt to influence young, Christian viewers to be more like them. Presidential candidates manipulate us into believing they hold �Christian� views, only to find out after their successful election that it was a ploy to pull more votes in.
Not everyone houses a deceptive heart. Christians founded a majority of hospitals, charity centers, orphanages, and rescue missions standing today. (Miller) Without the founding of these help centers, many individuals would be lost in the world today, left on the streets to die.
In the Supreme Court Decision of 1892 of the Church of Holy Trinity vs. United States, it is stated: �Our laws and institutions must necessarily be based upon the teachings of the Redeemer of mankind. It is impossible that it should be otherwise, and to this extent our civilization and our institutions are emphatically Christian.� (�Religion and the Founding Fathers�) Original laws in our judicial system were taken from the Bible (Miller) Take capital punishment; found in the book of Leviticus, the verse establishes that �he that killeth any man shall surely be put to death.� Looking deeper into the Bible, you can find verses that give us laws dealing with bankruptcy, child labor, demanding witnesses in court and even setting prices in the marketplace (Miller) The United States obtained laws from the book of Deuteronomy that provided ways of punishment for hideous crimes such as rape and assault (Miller).
The Bible also provides healthy ideas. Found in Exodus, the Ten Commandments, allow us to have a day off, saying that we are to keep the Sabbath holy (Miller). Nations that do not allow people to rest on the Sabbath end up working animals and people to the point of extreme exhaustion and death. Their life spans are shortened and the risk of obtaining disease is higher (Miller). Christians also helped create famous institutions that are still standing today. In fact, the first 126 colleges and universities, including Harvard, Princeton and Yale, were established by Christians to express the glory of Jesus (Miller).
The Preamble to the Delaware Constitution clearly states that all men have the rights of worshiping and serving their Creator, and the First Amendment implies that Congress cannot make a law that prohibits any worshipping of any religion (Miller, Witmer). But in 1962, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down organized prayer (Chadwick). Supreme Court laws allow students to express their beliefs about religion in any form of homework, artwork or written and oral assignments (Black). They also allow a salutatorian or valedictorian to make a religion expression in their graduation speech (Levin-Epstein). Some authorities have broken these laws all over the nation. Zachary Hood of Medford, NJ, decided to read the story of Genesis from his Beginner�s Bible to his class when given the choice and was punished for his selection. A teacher from Arizona was told she couldn�t read her Bible to herself during reading time. In Nevada, a student received an F for a paper she wrote on Jesus, and a valedictorian was removed from graduation for referring to religious upbringing (Viteritti). Student led prayers were banned before football games in Texas by a Federal Appeals court (Viteritti).
Some people believe that praying as part of a protest is using prayer as a weapon (Black). Even the Bible says, �And whenever you pray, do not be like hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others�.but whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father in secret.� (Benen). But the Bible is referring to hypocrites; individuals who say they believe in God but only use it as a public display.
Many Americans do not let religion interfere with their private life and personal decisions, so they ignore religious considerations in political and moral issues like creationism, abortion, sex education and pornography (Viteritti). When a community shuns Christianity, it will start to reflect evil in its cultural choices (Miller). Ever since prayer was banned in schools, SAT scores have plummeted, teen pregnancy has risen, crime rates have gone up, and alcohol consumption has increased (Barton). 12 million cases of STD�s are reported annually in the U.S., and individuals under 25 contract 67 percent of STD�s (Miller).