Okay, class, who said this?:
"Without God, there could be no American form of Government, nor an American way of life. Recognition of the Supreme Being is the first — the most basic — expression of Americanism. Thus the founding fathers saw it, and thus, with God's help, it will continue to be."
Was it Dr. James Dobson or Rev. Franklin Graham?
The answer is neither, although both men have certainly embraced the same idea many times over the years. This particular quote isn't from a so-called "Christian nationalist" at all. It was said by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and it caused absolutely no controversy at the time because most Americans knew the sentiment was true.
I came across the quote in a great editorial in the Christian Post written by our friend, Jerry Newcombe, the executive director of the Providence Forum, an outreach of D. James Kennedy Ministries.
Jerry shares our disgust at the vicious attacks by radical, anti-Christian elites on the key idea of the American founding—that our liberty comes from God, not man. These elites are now claiming and teaching our children that the idea of God-given rights is actually a threat to our country.
Newcombe's op-ed quotes a number of iconic Americans who would be shocked today to hear that they are "dangerous right-wing extremists."
President John F. Kennedy, in his 1961 Inaugural Address, actually expressed astonishment that the origin of our rights was still in dispute. He told the thousands who had gathered in Washington, D.C.:
"And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe — the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God."
You can read Jerry Newcombe's op-ed here. It is a reminder that those of us who love Jesus, love America, and believe our liberty comes from God, not man, have been in the mainstream of American thought from 1776 to today. It is the radical globalist secular elites who are the extremists.