Today is Christmas, a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. They called him Teacher, and his entire life was a lesson in how to live. The Ten Commandments are a gift from God, life’s fundamentals. We were not made to serve them; they were made to serve us, and Jesus taught us how to use them.

 

America was founded in the Judeo-Christian tradition and the Bible is quoted more than any other source in publications and speeches of the founding era.

 

America’s founding ideals, rooted in Judeo-Christian principles, include in part:

• Reliance on the providence of God.

• The laws of God form the basis for good human laws.

• Religion and morality form the basis of liberty.

• All people are created equal.

• Our rights are God-given.

• Government authority comes from the consent of the governed.

• Separation of church and state.

 

We are confronted every day with the evidence we are a troubled society. Immorality is pervasive. Many have not been taught the fundamentals, depriving them of the framework essential to living a good life. The remedy lies within the family.

 

The push toward secularism is one of the many threats to our freedom. Those who want to exclude all religious considerations from society deliberately confuse recognizing our Christian heritage with imposing it. People from all over the world, who are drawn to the United States to pursue righteousness and freedom, are welcome here. We are free to believe and worship as we choose, or not at all. Never-the-less, the fundamentals of Christianity are deeply imbedded in the foundation of our country, and the foundation keeps the house from falling. We must never allow this truth to be buried.

 

Have a very Merry Christmas and, to borrow a phrase from Charles Dickens’ Christmas Carol,

“God bless us everyone.”