Thomas Jefferson Memorial and USA Godly foundations

Couldn't help but chuckle when I went on a field trip with the triplets yesterday to the Lincoln, Jefferson, Washington, WWII, Korean memorials...

Panel Two of the Jefferson Memorial states:

"Almighty God hath created the mind free. All attempts to influence it by temporal punishments or burthens . . . are a departure from the plan of the Holy Author of our religion . . . No man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship or ministry or shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief, but all men shall be free to profess and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion. I know but one code of morality for men whether acting singly or collectively."

Panel Three:

"God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that his justice cannot sleep forever. Commerce between master and slave is despotism. Nothing is more certainly written in the book of fate than that these people are to be free. Establish a law for educating the common people. This it is the business of the state and on a general plan."

I realize these are excerpts, and the full text is not provided on the monument walls, but these certainly portray Jefferson's perspective of liberty and governance with a full awareness of God. If he believed in denying any reference to God in the State, he wouldn't have so eloquently described His role in defining our rights and bestowing righteous motivations.

So, anytime I doubt the people in the halls of Congress or the White House or the Supreme Court, all I have to do is take a walk around those white marble statues and stones and read the inscriptions of those who founded and led this great country. They pledged their lives to God and country. They were not ashamed. They didn't squash religious freedom, they embraced it. They understood that God is the author of our freedoms, and to deny Him would only prove our own downfall.

Above quotes and their references can be found at the Thomas Jefferson website.

What is a WORLDVIEW?

Worldview

1. Construct that one view's the activities and happenings through
2. Prism or Lens by which one can interpret the world
3. Perspective based on certain assumptions that define the world, people, nature, the cosmos

Dr. James Sire states in his new book, Naming the Elephant, "A worldview is a set of presuppositions (assumptions which may be true, partially true or entirely false) which we hold (consciously or subconsciously, consistently or inconsistently) about the basic makeup of our world."

(I'll get into Truth and Falsehood in a later post)

For a more definitive review of Worldview, read several titles by Dr. James Sire. He introduced me to worldview thinking when I was a midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy (Yes, we actually discussed Philosophy and Religion there!).

David Naugle addresses the history of worldview, Nancy Pearcey wrote a book called Total Truth, which highlights the problem with seperating Christian Worldview from public discourse.