The Glories of America - 2

The Glories of America – 2
In pursuit of the Truth – www.cinopsbegone.com – Tuesday, June 30, 2009

1.) Of our recent President, the 40th was especially gifted in his ability to communicate great truths to the American people, Ronald Reagan said: Barton, Myth, 249

“Without God there is no virtue because there is no prompting of the conscience… Without God there is a coarsening of the society; without God democracy will not and cannot long endure…. If we ever forget that we are One Nation under God, then we will be a Nation gone under.”

2.) In May, 1819, Julia Ward Howe was born. Her “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” written in 1862, caught perfectly the shift in spirit which was drawing men to don blue uniforms. No longer were they fighting simply to preserve the Union. Now the war was becoming a holy crusade to free the slaves. Patriotic Anthology, 196

“In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me;
As He died to make men holy let us die to make men free,
While God is marching on.”

3,) On Memorial Day in 1923, Vice-President Calvin Coolidge, who would be President in 5 months, called upon Americans to recall the motives of their Puritan forebears: Annals,XIV

“They were intent upon establishing a Christian commonwealth in accordance with principle of self-government. They were an inspired body of men. It has been said that God sifted the nations that He might send choice grain into the wilderness… Who can fail to see in it the hand of destiny? Who can doubt that it has been guided by a Divine Providence?”

4.) As the debate in the colonies intensified over whether to finally separate from Great Britain, each delegate had to weight what the struggle for independence could mean in terms of his own personal life. John Adams wrote:

“If it be the pleasure of Heaven that my country shall require the poor offering of my life, the victim shall be ready at the appointed hour of sacrifice, come when that hour may. But while I do live, let me have a country, and that a free country!” Spirit of ’76, 26.

5.) In 1863, three weeks before the Battle of Gettysburg, Lincoln was asked by a college president if the country would survive the Civil War.

“I do not doubt that our country will finally come through safe and undivided. But do not misunderstand me… I do not rely on the patriotism of our people… the loyalty and skill of our generals… But the God of our Fathers, Who raised up this country to be the refuge and asylum of the oppressed and downtrodden of all nations, will not let it perish now. I may not live to see it,” he paused. “I do not expect to see it, but God will bring us through safe.” Johnson, Lincoln, 109-110

6.) Edward Schneider was a young student at Philip’s Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, when the Civil War broke out. He enlisted at once and fought well, until he was mortally wounded at the Battle of Cold Harbor. As he lay dying, he said to his chaplain:

“Don’t weep, chaplain, it is God’s will. Please write to my father, and tell him that I have tried to do my duty to my country and to God… And there is my brother in the navy: write to him and tell him to stand by the flag and cling to the Cross of Christ. Billingsley, Christianity, 25 ghk