President doesn't have power to force Catholics to provide for immoral actions | Arkansas Catholic | February 27, 2012

President doesn't have power to force Catholics to provide for immoral actions | Arkansas Catholic | February 27, 2012

Jottings by Janice: Being Courageous Catholics and Christians In Our W...

Jottings by Janice: Being Courageous Catholics and Christians In Our W...: "The person who does not become irate when he has cause to be, sins. For an unreasonable patience is the hotbed of many vices. It fosters n...

Being Courageous Catholics and Christians In Our World Today

"The person who does not become irate when he has cause to be, sins. For an unreasonable patience is the hotbed of many vices. It fosters negligence, and stimulates not only the wicked, but above all, the good to do wrong."

~ St. John Chrysostom

This kind of says it all in lieu of the recent health care issues we as Catholics are facing.  With all the letters that have come out from our Bishops I hope and pray you all feel as I do.  We are all being called forth to stand up and be courageous Catholics.  I also feel it is time to share a story with you of my mission trip to Lithuania in 2009.  I want people to understand what I seen and experienced there.

In 2009 I was blessed to go to Lithuania for three months and I say blessed because of many reason.  I met many wonderful people and was so blessed to be invited to be a part of their Sacred journey; past, present and future.  Lithuania is the heart of Europe, really, it is geographically in the middle and it is shaped like a heart! (see above picture) The People of Lithuania are heart people once you get to know them.  They are very family oriented. The experience I was most touched by was this:  Matthew 16:18-19 " And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." 

After three month of being with people that had their stories to tell of their days of communism, I saw the words of this Scripture fulfilled.  These Lithuanian Catholics prevailed in their faith and stood for Truth! I was so amazed that they have not only come through the terrible trials of communism but that they are stronger people and Christians from it! They lived the Passion of Christ, they know what Jesus meant when he said,  Matthew 16:24-25, ..."Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.  For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. I began to ponder what it would be like to live in their situation and If I did would I have the faith as they did to stand up for God, his Church and Her truth.

We too, as Catholics and Christians are now facing a time when we have to stand up and fight for our religious freedom.  Our weapon?  Coming together as a community of believers and pray and  intercede for those who want to do these things to us, impose their beliefs upon us which would make us go against out beliefs and the moral teachings of the Church.  Stand strong in our faith. Moses went before God for an entire nation, he went in faith, he was only one person and God did not destroy them.  Imagine if we all went before God asking him to change the hearts of others.  God desires to move, he is awaiting us, his children, to ask.  Have we set back and let it happen?  Yes we have.  Now is the time to repent and be sorry for our complacency. 

Below is a brief article explaining what took place in Lithuania.  This is just the basics.  I encourage you to read it and notice the similarity of what we are facing now.

THE RESISTANCE OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN LITHUANIA AGAINST RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION

Summary of Doctoral Dissertation
by Rev. PRANAS DAUKNYS
at Pontifical University of St. Thomas in Rome
where he obtained after public defence the degree of
Doctor in Sacred Theology with the mark With High Honours.

The situation of the Catholic Church in Lithuania presents a special case of great concern that should be of interest to the whole Catholic Church and all Christians. The Second World War brought the greatest tragedy of all times to Catholic Lithuania. Nazi Germany signed a secret agreement with the Soviet Union in Moscow on the 23rd August, 1939, the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact — to partition Eastern Europe and especially the Baltic States: Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, As the German troops marched into Paris on the 14th June 1940, the Soviet Union at that time sent an ultimatum to the three Baltic States and immediately the Red Army with thousands of its tanks, airplanes, other war machinery and Secret Police units invaded Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia on the 15th June, 1940.

The Catholic Church immediately lost its legal rights as the Soviet Communist government gradually introduced Soviet Russian laws concerning religious denominations. An Iron Curtain descended on Lithuania's western border. In an attempt to force the Soviet system and the tenets of Communism upon the Lithuanian people — both of which were unacceptable to them — a veritable storm of terror and violence was let loose. Arrests, tortures and executions, the sudden disappearance of leading personalities in public life without a trace became an everyday occurrence.

The first mass deportations were carried out June 14th-22nd, 1941, and 40,000 people were deported to northern Russia in Siberia behind the Arctic Circle. Most of the deportees were confined to forced labor camps. The deportations were to destroy a large part of Lithuania and to make territory for Russian colonists. On June 22nd, 1941, Germany attacked Soviet Russia. Lithuanians saw but one thing: a chance to overthrow the Communist Soviet yoke and to regain their independence. A spontaneous and general revolt against Soviet rule broke out throughout Lithuania 22nd-24th June, 1941, and the insurgents succeeded in taking full control of chief cities and provincial towns. The fleeing Communist Red Army and the Soviet Security police killed an additional 1,500 Lithuanians. Fifteen priests were tortured and crucified. A Provisional Government of Lithuania was formed and declared the restoration of independent Lithuania, even before the German troops reached the capital. The German Nazis boycotted the Lithuanian Government, suppressed its activities and instituted a German civil administration.

The Russian armies in 1944 swarmed over Lithuania again, subjecting the people to brutal treatment. Thirteen waves of mass deportations to Siberia were carried out between 1945-1950. According to Lithuanians and experts of other nations, the number of genocide victims comes to 1.1 million people, about 36 percent of all Lithuanian inhabitants. The majority of deportees perished as a consequence of inhuman conditions and bad treatment. Armed resistance was organized in Lithuania. The Freedom Fighters bitterly fought the war of liberation for eight years; they were willing to sacrifice their lives in order to regain freedom and independence; they deemed it better to die defending their countrymen than live as virtual slaves. One of their leaders fought his way to the West with another survivor, brought an Appeal to the Holy Father Pius XII from Lithuanian Catholics pledging their loyalty to the Apostolic See and asking consoling words and assurance of the Catholic world that their children shall no longer suffer in spiritual slavery.

When Soviet Russia occupied Lithuania, all publishing and printing houses were nationalized, millions of religious and history books were removed from libraries and sent to paper factories for repulping. What is the meaning of this destruction of a cultural Lithuanian Christian heritage? — It is the fear of truth, the desire to keep the new generation ignorant, the wish to freely utter any lie which slanders the Lithuanian past. A total of 448 churches and chapels in Lithuania have been closed, with the remaining 574 still open. The faithful are permitted to use them upon payment of very high taxes.

Elections were sovietized and compulsory. A single communist electoral ticket is drawn up with the number of candidates exactly identical to the number of seats to be filled. So called elections are an attempt to fool the free world and to intimidate the voters so that they will obey the Soviet Communist regime.

One of the most detrimental facts to the Catholic Faith Under Soviet Law in Lithuania, any form of religious instruction to children is forbidden. Instead, children are forced to join the atheist and Communist Youth organizations in schools. Those who do not wish to join are intimidated. Those who are forcibly enrolled in atheist organizations are forced to speak against their own and their parents' convictions. Children are persecuted for attending church.and morals of the Lithuanian people is the mass recruiting of people by all possible means to become informers for the KGB — such as bribery, blackmail, the threat of being discharged from work. These techniques are employed as attractive promises of higher education and furthering one's career. Those who do not agree to become informers are threatened with all sorts of punishments.

The treatment of Church administration.

The decade 1944-1954 must be considered the most horrifying in the entire 1,000 years of Lithuania's history. Had the same policies continued in effect for a longer time, not only religion would have been wiped out, but the Lithuanian nation itself would have been annihilated. Nearly every priest in Lithuania was required to present himself for interrogation at one of the 480 centers of terror set up throughout the country. At these centers, the Soviets demanded that each priest sign a loyalty oath, a promise to spy on his own people and to make reports to the police. He was also required to help organize The Living Church, which was to be independent of Rome and loyal to the government of Soviet Russia. As a result of these terror acts, the Bishop of Telšiai, Vincentas Borisevičius, was shot by the firing squad, 100 priests were imprisoned and another 180 priests and three bishops were deported to the concentration camps in Siberia.

The main attack came in the form of great moral pressures, since physical terror only seemed to strengthen and unify the faithful. The Church was the chief obstacle in the view of Moscow's plan to merge and submerge little Lithuania into the giant Soviet Russian empire. It was the Church, said the Communists, which fused the national and religious view into a single ideological battle-front. It is the priests, in the eyes of the Communist Party, who are incorrigible reactionaries and deadly enemies of Soviet order. It is the priests, who bear the greatest responsibility for the failure of the atheistic propaganda to achieve its desired objects. A sermon on even the most innocent religious topic is offensive to the Communists, for they regard the sermon as an aid to spread and perpetuate religious superstitions which Communism strives to eradicate.

Legal resistance, harassment of seminarians.

In December 1971, a group of Catholics took the initiative for the most organized and massive Memorandum yet written by Lithuanians signed by 17,054 Catholics, and sent to the United Nations General Secretary about religious persecution in Lithuania. The Soviet regime was outraged by the Lithuanian Catholics for defending religious freedom and the fact that they gained the world's admiration.

Frequent petitions to the Soviet government emerge spontaneously. They are not answered, but people continue writing against officials of the regime who destroy order and violate human rights. In these circumstances an underground journalThe Chronicle of the Catholic Church in Lithuania, came into being March 19, 1972, which publishes texts of statements by believers and clergy, protesting against religious discrimination and suppression, court proceedings against the clergy and laymen for religious activities.

Communist government restrictions have driven one part of the Church into the underground such as the convents, the nuns, the friars, the preparation of theology students, even some ordinations.

The seminaries at Vilkaviškis, Telšiai, and Vilnius were closed, while the seminary in Kaunas was permitted to operate on a very limited scale. The KGB continues with every effort to recruit seminarians as agents. Applicants to the seminary are screened by the KGB and told: "If you do not work for us, you will not be admitted to the seminary." Seminarians are compelled to give written pledges to provide the information required by the security police. The recruiting of seminarians and priests for the subversion of the Church is one of the worst crimes of the KGB.

For the Soviet atheist, the struggle against religion is not a goal in itself, but the most suitable means for consolidating and extending Russian imperialism as it most clearly appears in the occupied Baltic States: Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, incorporated into the Soviet Union.

The ranks of the clergy were depleted by the deportations, arrests and normal deaths. Today, 600 of 700 priests in Lithuania have been in Soviet jails and concentration camps in Siberia. Persecution of religion, waves of arrests, mock trials and imprisonment hardened rather than weakened the determination of the priests and faithful. Priests defend the rights of believers as well as those of their bishops and their own colleagues.

The Committee for monitoring the Helsinki Agreement

was formed in Lithuania in November 25, 1976, and sent a series of documents to the West detailing various violations of human rights in Soviet-occupied Lithuania. The Soviet authorities became furious. How dare their slaves reveal Soviet perpetrated persecutions? Members of the Committee were arrested and put on mock trial and sent to concentration camps for 10 and 15 years.

The Catholic Committee for the Defense of the Rights of Believers was created on November 22, 1978. The Committee acted publicly by publishing about 50 documents, but did not seek any political goals. They are invaluable weapons in the struggle for religious freedom. The Soviet government silently tolerated the activity of the Catholic Committee, but later lost its patience and began to terrorize the members of the Committee. Two members of the Committee, Father Alfonsas Svarinskas and Father Sigitas Tamkevičius, were summoned in 1983 and sentenced to seven years in concentration camps and three years in Siberian exile.

Our concern of solidarity is with the Catholic Church in Lithuania under the atheistic Communist regime, which is seeking to completely paralyze religious activity and to destroy religion. Catholic and Christian news media should report facts of persecution, write commentaries, treatises, suggest prayers, letters to the persecutors, diplomatic efforts, etc.

Towards a Theology of Persecution.

The Lithuanian experience of religious persecution under the Soviet Communist occupational regime and its heroic struggle for religious freedom could lead theologians toward a new understanding and formulation of a Theology of Religious Persecution. Theologians of our time, like the prophets of the Old Testament, are supposed to be beacon lights in the darkness that envelops human existence today. They should, among other things, manifest and express the vital reaction of faith to people without faith. Theology today, if it is to maintain a grip on concrete reality, needs to focus carefully upon the crucial problems of religious persecution. Our great concern is with the Catholic Church in Lithuania. This concern needs to be adequate to the reality of persecution, as it is experienced in Lithuania.

Technical concepts of a Religious Persecution theology are necessary if a science is to develop, because accumulated experience can only become fruitful after the achievement of an exact understanding. This scientific theology can then be available for further use by formulating a determined concept.

Theology of Religious Persecution therefore could be defined as a science by drawing from the principles of religious freedom, human rights and man's dignity and investigating the reliable facts of Christian persecution, exposing instances of religious suppression and promoting Christian solidarity to defend the Church and in its struggle for religious freedom against the persecutors.

The Theology of Religious Persecution must also seek to deal realistically with the evil and injustice in the world, and not to compromise with the persecutors. Ultimately, it may turn out to be the theology of action if it is to be effective. It must be founded in facts and must speak for those whose right to believe is threatened. Nothing is more dangerous to mankind than ignorance of evil and violence.

The Second Vatican Council published a series of important documents. Its Declaration on Religious Liberty states the general principles of Religious Freedom, then indicates Religious Freedom in the light of Revelation, exhorts Catholics and directs an appeal to all men to consider with great care how necessary religious liberty is, especially in the present condition of the human family. It was also a great historical event of deep theological significance, when on December 10, 1948, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and of Religious Freedom.

Communism in theory and practice has been the subject of many papal documents and statements. Pius IX solemnly condemned it in 1846, because from the beginning, Karl Marx with his collaborator Friedrich Engels, in the Communist Manifesto, began to spread their materialistic doctrine. Pope Leo XIII dealt with Communism at length in the encyclical Quod Apostolici Muneris in 1878 and defined it as the deadly plague which is tainting society to its very core. Pope Pius XI carefully analyzed the fundamental errors of Communism in his encyclical Divini Redemptoris in 1937, and stated that "Communism is intrinsically wrong." The first encyclical of Pope John Paul II, Redemptor hominis is very important, because in it he gives the answer to the Communist Manifesto and emphatically declares that the Redeemer of man is Jesus Christ and not Communism.

In a State where Communist anti-Christian forces are set up against God, for world-domination and the extermination of Christ and his Chruch, Lithuanian Catholics, priests and laymen courageously defend the truth, the human rights. Christ is their radiating center. Lithuanian resistance and the affirmation of universal principles of rights and duties are applicable not only to Christians but also to all human beings. For that reason, all men of good will should support them.

*   *   *

Father P. Dauknys, in his dissertation, has described and analyzed the martyrdom of the Catholic Church in Lithuania under the atheistic Communist Soviet Union's occupation regime. He wrote of the great danger of resolved annihilation of the faith, the Russification of the Lithuanian Catholic nation, and he described its resistance, its heroic struggle for religious freedom, human rights and its survival.

Since the election of Pope John Paul II, who firmly supports the persecuted Church, there has been an extraordinary response provoked by Catholics and non-Catholics. The Soviet Communist regime is reluctant to crush those who are receiving continued media attention in the West.

The Catholic Lithuanian nation's struggle for freedom during the past and present, the enormous sacrifices and sufferings undergone have demonstrated to the world the resolve of the Lithuanian Christian spirit to maintain its identity under any circumstances, at any price. It is tragic that to this day Lithuania has hardly received even moral support from the countries of the world.

The Decree Christus Dominus of the Second Vatican Council urges the bishops of the entire world to show particular love and concern for those priests, who suffer various persecutions for Christ. It urges bishops to assist persecuted priests by prayer and support. Moreover, it urges all the faithful, especially those in higher positions, to boldly defend the faithful, who are being persecuted. Lithuanian Catholics are waiting for those decrees to be zealously put into practice.

There is a very detailed account of all of this called, "The Chronicles of the Catholic Church in Lithuania" . I was privledged to have met and got to hear the story of Sister Nijole Sadunaite , whom was very influnetial in getting these Chronicles out and was eventually arrested and sent to Sibera for it. Her story was incredible and she was so full of joy and excitment as she shared it with us.  At the end I asked her how she could be so full of joy.  Her reply really invited me to contemplate where I was in all of this.  Her reply?  "Those were the happiest days of my life and I miss them!"  I thought what!?  I said, "Sister, how and why could you possibly miss that!?"  She said, "Because in that time of great trial I was closer to my spouse than any other time in my life and I miss them."  Whew! She lived and understood Matthew 16:24-25   24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.  25 For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

A radiance in the Gulag : the Catholic witness of Nijole Sadunaite

by Nijole Sadunaite   http://www.lkbkronika.lt/en/images/sadunaite/sadunaite.pdf

2. Father Sigitas Tamkevičius, S.J. then, is now the Archbishop of Kaunas, Lithuania was the key person who was writing and sending out the Chronicles of Lithuania.  He was sent to Siberia as well.  I was very privileged to have met with him. He was a beautiful example of love and forgiveness, very humble. Below is a link of an interview with him while he was in Chicago where there is a big Lithuanian community.

Cries that Pierced the Iron Curtain -Eastertide 2010

www.wf-f.org/10-1-Liaugminas.html

Archbishop Sigitas Tamkevičius | Witness | Salt + Light Television

saltandlighttv.org/witness/tamkevicius.php

Friends, if we do not wake up and start standing up and defending our faith and Church we may very well find ourselves in this same situation.  Not only do we need to stand up but support, in every way, our Bishops who are making a stand!  They need our support and CONSTANT prayers.

1 Thessalonians 5:1-17   Concerning times and seasons, brothers, you have no need for anything to be written to you.   For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief at night.   When people are saying, "Peace and security," then sudden disaster comes upon them, like labor pains upon a pregnant woman,and they will not escape.  But you, brothers, are not in darkness, for that day to overtake you like a thief. For all of you are children of the light and children of the day. We are not of the night or of darkness.  Therefore, let us not sleep as the rest do, but let us stay alert and sober. Those who sleep go to sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night.  But since we are of the day, let us be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love and the helmet that is hope for salvation. For God did not destine us for wrath, but to gain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live together with him.  Therefore, encourage one another and build one another up, as indeed you do. We ask you, brothers, to respect those who are laboring among you and who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you,  and to show esteem for them with special love on account of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. We urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, cheer the fainthearted, support the weak, be patient with all. See that no one returns evil for evil; rather, always seek what is good (both) for each other and for all. Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing.

info@manhattandeclaration.messages5.com

ManhattanDeclaration.org 

The Catholic bishops of the United States, dozens of whom are signers of the Manhattan Declaration, have made clear that they cannot and will not bend to the mandate. If forced to choose between the law of Christ and the edict of Caesar, they have no doubt about which master they will serve. If necessary, they are prepared to close institutions, and even go to jail, rather than comply with a human dictate in violation of what they believe, in conscience, to be the will of God.


CCC 1903 Authority is exercised legitimately only when it seeks the common good of the group concerned and if it employs morally licit means to attain it. If rulers were to enact unjust laws or take measures contrary to the moral order, such arrangements would not be binding in conscience. In such a case, "authority breaks down completely and results in shameful abuse."

Very Enlightening ... Is it possible the ACLU is WRONG?

Received this in an e-mail from a friend!  It is great!  Thanks Mary Beth!

Do you know YOUR state's Preamble????????

Be sure to read the message in red at the very end of this email!

Alabama 1901, Preamble -- We, the people of the State of Alabama ,

invoking the favor and guidance of Almighty God, do ordain and

establish the following Constitution...

Alaska 1956, Preamble -- We, the people of Alaska , grateful to God

and to those who founded our nation and pioneered this great land...

Arizona 1911, Preamble -- We, the people of the State of Arizona ,

grateful to Almighty God for our liberties, do ordain this

Constitution...

Arkansas 1874, Preamble -- We, the people of the State of Arkansas ,

grateful to Almighty God for the privilege of choosing our own form of

government...

California 1879, Preamble -- We, the People of the State of California

, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom...

Colorado 1876, Preamble -- We, the people of Colorado , with profound

reverence for the Supreme Ruler of the Universe...

Connecticut 1818, Preamble -- The People of Connecticut, acknowledging

with gratitude the good Providence of God in permitting them to

enjoy...

Delaware 1897, Preamble -- Through Divine Goodness all men have, by

nature, the rights of worshipping and serving their Creator according

to the dictates of their consciences...

Florida 1885, Preamble -- We, the people of the State of Florida ,

grateful to Almighty God for our constitutional liberty, establish

this Constitution...

Georgia 1777, Preamble -- We, the people of Georgia , relying upon

protection and guidance of Almighty God, do ordain and establish this

Constitution...

Hawaii 1959, Preamble -- We, the people of Hawaii , Grateful for

Divine Guidance ... Establish this Constitution...

Idaho 1889, Preamble -- We, the people of the State of Idaho ,

grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, to secure its blessings...

Illinois 1870, Preamble -- We, the people of the State of Illinois,

grateful to Almighty God for the civil , political and religious

liberty which He hath so long permitted us to enjoy and looking to Him

for a blessing on our endeavors...

Indiana 1851, Preamble -- We, the People of the State of Indiana ,

grateful to Almighty God for the free exercise of the right to choose

our form of government...

Iowa 1857, Preamble -- We, the People of the State of Iowa , grateful

to the Supreme Being for the blessings hitherto enjoyed, and feeling

our dependence on Him for a continuation of these blessings, establish

this Constitution...

Kansas 1859, Preamble -- We, the people of Kansas , grateful to

Almighty God for our civil and religious privileges establish this

Constitution...

Kentucky 1891, Preamble -- We, the people of the Commonwealth are

grateful to Almighty God for the civil, political and religious

liberties...

Louisiana 1921, Preamble -- We, the people of the State of Louisiana ,

grateful to Almighty God for the civil, political and religious

liberties we enjoy...

Maine 1820, Preamble -- We, the People of Maine, acknowledging with

grateful hearts the goodness of the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe in

affording us an opportunity, and imploring His aid and direction...

Maryland 1776, Preamble -- We, the people of the state of Maryland ,

grateful to Almighty God for our civil and religious liberty...

Massachusetts 1780, Preamble -- We, the people of Massachusetts ,

acknowledging with grateful hearts, the goodness of the Great

Legislator of the Universe In the course of His Providence, an

opportunity and devoutly imploring His direction...

Michigan 1908, Preamble -- We, the people of the State of Michigan ,

grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of freedom, establish this

Constitution...

Minnesota, 1857, Preamble -- We, the people of the State of Minnesota,

grateful to God for our civil and religious liberty, and desiring to

perpetuate its blessings:

Mississippi 1890, Preamble -- We, the people of Mississippi in

convention assembled, grateful to Almighty God, and invoking His

blessing on our work...

Missouri 1845, Preamble -- We, the people of Missouri , with profound

reverence for the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, and grateful for His

goodness, Establish this Constitution...

Montana 1889, Preamble -- We, the people of Montana , grateful to

Almighty God for the blessings of liberty establish this

Constitution...

Nebraska 1875, Preamble -- We, the people, grateful to Almighty God

for our freedom, Establish this Constitution.

Nevada 1864, Preamble -- We, the people of the State of Nevada ,

grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, establish this

Constitution...

New Hampshire 1792, Part I. Art. I. Sec. V -- Every individual has a

natural and unalienable right to worship God according to the dictates

of his own conscience...

New Jersey 1844, Preamble -- We, the people of the State of New

Jersey, grateful to Almighty God for civil and religious liberty which

He hath so long permitted us to enjoy, and looking to Him for a

blessing on our endeavors...

New Mexico 1911, Preamble -- We, the People of New Mexico, grateful to

Almighty God for the blessings of liberty...

New York 1846, Preamble -- We, the people of the State of New York ,

grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, in order to secure its

blessings...

North Carolina 1868, Preamble -- We, the people of the State of North

Carolina, grateful to Almighty God, the Sovereign Ruler of Nations,

for our civil, political, and religious liberties, and acknowledging

our dependence upon Him for the continuance of those...

North Dakota 1889, Preamble -- We, the people of North Dakota ,

grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of civil and religious

liberty, do ordain...

Ohio 1852, Preamble -- We, the people of the state of Ohio , grateful

to Almighty God for our freedom, to secure its blessings and to

promote our common...

Oklahoma 1907, Preamble -- Invoking the guidance of Almighty God, in

order to secure and perpetuate the blessings of liberty, establish

this....

Oregon 1857, Bill of Rights, Article I Section 2 -- All men shall be

secure in the natural right, to worship Almighty God according to the

dictates of their consciences...

Pennsylvania 1776, Preamble -- We, the people of Pennsylvania ,

grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of civil and religious

liberty, and humbly invoking His guidance...

Rhode Island 1842, Preamble -- We, the People of the State of Rhode

Island, grateful to Almighty God for the civil and religious liberty

which He hath so long permitted us to enjoy, and looking to Him for a

blessing....

South Carolina , 1778, Preamble -- We, the people of he State of South

Carolina , grateful to God for our liberties, do ordain and establish

this Constitution.

South Dakota 1889, Preamble -- We, the people of South Dakota ,

grateful to Almighty God for our civil and religious liberties .

Tennessee 1796, Art. XI..III. -- That all men have a natural and

indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates

of their conscience...

Texas 1845, Preamble -- We, the people of Texas, invoking the

blessings of God our Creator, do ordain and establish this

constitution.

 Utah 1896, Preamble -- Grateful to Almighty God for life and liberty,

we establish this Constitution...

Vermont 1777, Preamble -- Whereas all government ought to enable the

individuals who compose it to enjoy their natural rights, and other

blessings which the Author of Existence has bestowed on man...

Virginia 1776, Bill of Rights, XVI -- Religion, or the Duty which we

owe our Creator can be directed only by Reason and that it is the

mutual duty of all to practice Chris tian Forbearance, Love and

Charity towards each other...

Washington 1889, Preamble -- We, the People of the State of Washington

, grateful to the Supreme Ruler of the Universe for our liberties, do

ordain this Constitution...

West Virginia 1872, Preamble -- Since through Divine Providence we

enjoy the blessings of civil, political and religious liberty, we, the

people of West Virginia reaffirm our faith in and constant reliance

upon God...

Wisconsin 1848, Preamble -- We, the people of Wisconsin , grateful to

Almighty God for our freedom, domestic tranquility....

Wyoming 1890, Preamble -- We, the people of the State of Wyoming ,

grateful to God for our civil, political, and religious liberties,

establish this Constitution...

After reviewing acknowledgments of God from all 50 state

constitutions, one is faced with the prospect that maybe, the ACLU and

the out-of-control federal courts are wrong!

If you found this to be 'Food for Thought' send to as many as you

think will be enlightened as I hope you were.

Please note that at no time is anyone told that they MUST worship God.

Let us bring God back into America!

May GOD continue to BLESS AMERICA !

AS YOU CAN SEE
IN GOD WE HAVE ALWAYS TRUSTED !!!!!