By W. Cleon Skousen

  1. One of God’s most important warnings to the Gentiles in the western hemisphere, particularly that nation among these Gentiles that has become mighty “above all other nations,” (1 Nephi 13:30; 3 Nephi 20:21) is this declaration set forth in the Book of Ether:

“And he had sworn in his wrath… that whoso should possess this land of promise… henceforth and forever, should serve him, the true and only God, or they should be swept off when the fullness of his wrath should come upon them.

“And now, we can behold the decrees of God concerning this land, that it is a land of promise; and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall serve God, or they shall be swept off when the fullness of his wrath shall come upon them. And the fullness of his wrath cometh upon them when they are ripened in iniquity.

“For behold, this is a land which is choice above all other lands; wherefore he that doth possess it shall serve God or shall be swept off; for it is the everlasting decree of God. And it is not until the fullness of iniquity among the children of the land, that they are swept off.

“And this cometh unto you, o ye Gentiles, that ye may know the decrees of God – that ye may repent, and not continue in your iniquities until the fullness come, that ye may not bring down the fullness of the wrath of God upon you as the inhabitants of the land have hitherto done (the Jaredites and Nephites)…

“Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the GOD OF THIS LAND, WHO IS JESUS CHRIST.” (Ether 2:8-12)

  1. This scriptural warning says the present inhabitants of the United States will imperil themselves if they allow a wave of wicked, anti-religious, anti-Christian sentiment to arise among the people which denigrates the work of Jesus Christ who is the God of this land.
    1. All experience demonstrates that people tend to behave according to the way they believe. What if traditional values and beliefs are neglected or even suppressed? And what if this suppression of morality and standards of Christian values becomes a policy of the government itself?
    2. Consider the present situation where the courts of the United States have come out in open hostility against religion in general and Christianity in particular. For example:
    3. The Supreme Court has held that it is a mandate according to the Court’s interpretation of the supreme law of the land, that Americans cannot mention Jesus Christ, pray to Jesus Christ, or read or discuss the teachings of Jesus Christ in the tax-supported schools of the United States. In fact, no reference to religion of any kind can be made in these schools.
    4. This has occurred in spite of the specific provisions in the First Amendment that the government shall make no law nor issue any edict “respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
  1. The federal courts justify their constant intermeddling with religious issues on the ground that the Constitution requires the government to maintain a strict “separation of church and state.”
    1. The facts are that there is no provision in the Constitution giving the federal government authority to enforce the separation of church and state.
    2. There was an historical reason for this. At the time the Constitution was being adopted, seven states had official state churches. They would not have signed it if there had been any suggestion that the government could intermeddle with their religious faith.
    3. Of course, the Founders realized there were important religious issues to be worked out, but each state wanted to handle these delicate matters themselves. In Virginia, for example, the Constitution came very close to being rejected, and one of the main reasons was the fact that the people were afraid the national government might become involved in their religious affairs. James Madison, the principal architect of the Constitution, gave them this absolute assurance:

“There is not a shadow of right in the general government to intermeddle with religion. Its least interference with it would be a most flagrant usurpation.” (Quoted by Skousen in The Making of America, p. 681)

    1. Thomas Jefferson hammered home this same principle in his second inaugural address when he said:

“In matters of religion I have considered that the free exercise is placed by the Constitution independent of the powers of the General (i.e. national) Government.”

    1. At the close of his second term, he wrote:

“I consider the government of the United States as interdicted (prohibited) by the constitution from intermeddling with religious institutions, their doctrines, discipline, or exercises. This results not only from the provision that no law shall be made respecting an establishment or free exercise of religion, but from that also which reserves to the states the power not delegated to the General government (10th Amendment). IT MUST THEN REST WITH THE STATES.” (Quoted by David Barton in The Myth of Separation, p. 42)

  1. Then how did the federal government get jurisdiction over all these religious issues now coming before the courts?
    1. The strategy was as follows: the Supreme Court decided to just simply ignore the intent of the First Amendment, and base the court’s federal jurisdiction on the Fourteenth Amendment. This Amendment says no state can abridge “the privileges or immunities” of a citizen or “deprive any person life, liberty or property without due process of law.” This amendment was designed to give the federal government the power to protect the civil rights of the recently liberated slaves.
    2. But of course the First Amendment made cases involving religion, free speech, free press, and freedom to assemble an exception to the Fourteenth Amendment. These issues still rested exclusively within the jurisdiction of the states.
    3. After 160 years, the Supreme Court decided to more or less ignore the restrictions of the First Amendment on the federal government and treat it as a restriction on the states!
    4. The first case involving a religious issue which the Supreme Court assumed it had jurisdiction was the case of Everson v. Board of Education in 1947. (330 U.S. 18) The state of New Jersey had elected to furnish transportation to all schools including charitable parochial schools. The majority decided in favor of the New Jersey statute but not on the grounds that it was the exclusive right of the state to handle such issues. They decided the case on the presumption that the federal courts had complete jurisdiction to determine the merits of the case. The judges said the Fourteenth Amendment made religious issues a matter for the federal courts to decide in spite of the First Amendment. Thus, by twisting the original intent of the Fourteenth Amendment, the Supreme Court virtually repealed the First Amendment. This became the precedent for all future state cases involving religious issues. The results speak for themselves:
    5. Today, a verbal prayer offered in a school is unconstitutional, even if it is both denominationally neutral and participation is voluntary. (1962, Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421; 1963, Abington v. Schempp, 374 U.S. 203; 1971, Massachusetts Commissioner of Education v. School Committee of Leyden, 404 U.S. 849)
    6. Today, freedom of speech and press is guaranteed to students unless the topic is religious. In the public schools all religious freedom of speech and all religious freedom of press is prohibited as unconstitutional. (1965, Stein v. Oshinsky, 382 U.S. 957; 1981, Collins v. Chandler Unified School District, 454 U.S. 863)
    7. Today, if a student prays over his lunch, it is unconstitutional for him to pray aloud. (1965, Reed Hoven, 237 Fed. Supp. 48)
    8. Today, it is unconstitutional for kindergarten students to recite: “We thank you for the flowers so sweet; we thank you for the food we eat; we thank you for the birds that sing; we thank you for everything.” Even though the word “God” is not contained in this poem, it was construed to be a prayer to something or somebody. (1967, DeSpain v. DeKalb County Community School District, 390 U.S. 906)
    9. Today, it is unconstitutional for a war memorial to be erected on public property in the shape of a cross. (1969, Lowe v. City of Eugene, 434 U.S. 876)
    10. Today, it is unconstitutional for students to arrive at school early to hear a student volunteer read prayers which have been offered by the chaplains in the chambers of the United States House of Representatives and Senate, even though those prayers are contained in the Congressional Record published by the U.S. government. (1970, State Board of Education v. Board of Education of Netcong, 1970, 57 New Jersey, 172; 262 Appellate Court, 2d, 21)
    11. Today, it is unconstitutional for a Board of Education to use or refer to the word “God” in any of its official writings. (1976, State v. Whisner, 47 Ohio St. 2d, 181; 351 N.E. 2d, 750)
    12. Today, it is unconstitutional for a kindergarten class to ask during a school assembly whose birthday is celebrated on Christmas. (1979, Florey v. Sioux Falls School District, 619 F. 2d, 1311)
    13. Today, it is unconstitutional for the Ten Commandments to be displayed in a school or classroom on the ground that this might lead the students to read them and be impressed to obey them. (1980, Stone v. Graham, 449 U.S. 39)
    14. A bill becomes unconstitutional, even though the wording may seem constitutionally acceptable, if the legislator who authored it had a religious activity in his mind when he introduced it. (1984, Wallace v. Jaffrey, 472 U.S. 38)
    15. Today, it is unconstitutional for a kindergarten class to recite, “God is great, God is good, let us thank Him for our food.” (1984, Wallace v. Jaffrey, Ibid.)
    16. Today, it is unconstitutional for a school graduation ceremony to contain an opening or closing prayer. (1986, Graham V. Central Community School District of Decatur county, 608 F. Supp. 531)
    17. In 1989, the Supreme Court ruled in a 6 to 3 decision that an 18-foot Jewish Menorah erected on the steps of the Pittsburgh city hall did not violate the First Amendment because there was a large decorated Christmas tree nearby, together with a snowman, reindeer, Santa’s house and other secular symbols. However, down the block at the Pittsburgh courthouse, a nativity scene was ruled by the court 5-4 to be unconstitutional because it represented a single establishment of religion. (“Intolerant ACLU Bags Another Creche,” George Will, Deseret News, Salt Lake City, July 11, 1989)
  1. Since the original Everson case in 1947, hundreds of suits have been pouring through the courts to determine precisely what religious rights Americans can still enjoy under the “Free Exercise” clause. Public officials have felt compelled to use the guidelines of the courts in making decisions as new situations arise. So far, the prospects for the future have looked rather dismal. For example:
    1. In the Alaska public schools during 1987, students were told that they could not use the word “Christmas” in school because it had the word “Christ” in it. They were told they could not have the word “Christmas” in their notebooks, or exchange Christmas cards or presents at school. (William Murray, “America without God,” The New American, June 20, 1988, p. 19)
    2. In Virginia, a federal court ruled that a homosexual newspaper could be distributed on the school campus, but religious newspapers could not. (Ibid.)
    3. Recently public schools were forbidden to show a film about the settlement of Jamestown because the film depicted the erection of a cross at the settlement. (John Eidsmoe, Christianity and the Constitution, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1987, p. 406)
    4. In 1987, a 185-year-old symbol of a Nevada city had to be changed because of its “religious significance,” and a fire station was forced to remove a cross in remembrance of a fellow fireman who lost his life in the line of duty. (Tim La Haye, Faith of our Founding Fathers, Brentwood, Tenn., Wogemuth and Hyatt Publishers Inc., 1987, p. 27)
    5. In December, 1988, an elementary school principal in Denver removed the Bible from the school library and an elementary school music teacher in Colorado Springs stopped teaching Christmas carols because of alleged violations of the separation of church and state. (“Parent Silences Teaching of Carols,” Washington Times, December 12, 1988)
    6. In 1989, at an Omaha, Nebraska, school, a 10-year-old boy, James Gierke, was prohibited from reading his Bible silently during free time… The boy was later forbidden by his teacher to open his Bible at school and was told that reading the Bible in school was against the law. (“Fifth Grader Sues for Right to Read Bible,” IFA Newsletter, February 1989)

QUESTIONS

  1. In the first three verses of the Lord's warning quoted on the first page, a certain two-word phrase appears in each verse. What is it?
  2. Can you summarize in a single sentence how hostile the courts have come toward religion in the public schools?
  3. What are the two provisions in the First Amendment which this policy violated?
  4. What principle do the federal courts feel they are protecting? Does the constitution require the federal government to provide this protection?
  5. Can you describe briefly why the Founders did not want the national government to have any authority over religious issues in the states?
  6. What did James Madison say to assure the people of Virginia that it was safe to adopt the Constitution? What did Thomas Jefferson say?
  7. How did the U.S. Supreme Court get around the restrictions in the First Amendment forbidding the federal government to intermeddle with religious questions arising in the states?
  8. How many anti-religious decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court can you recall?
  9. Can a student read the Bible in school? Can you say a silent prayer over the food at a school? Can you read out of the Bible on your own time in the public schools? Can you discuss the 2 ½ minute talk which you are preparing for next Sunday, in the public school?
  10. Do you believe this situation will improve or deteriorate during the coming years? What is the basis for your opinion?