DETAILS:
UPDATED 07/01/09: There is now a petition for a National version of this, HERE. Also, Oklahomans who are not able to make it to the Courthouse on Thursday can sign the petition online HERE.
Updated 06/30/09: The following proclamation, authored by OK State Rep. Sally Kern, will be signed by religious leaders, elected officials, and citizens of Oklahoma at noon on Thursday, July 2, 2009 on the steps of the Capitol in Oklahoma City:
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We the People of Oklahoma, Invoking the guidance of Almighty God, in order to secure and perpetuate the blessing of Liberty; to secure just and rightful Government; to promote our mutual Welfare and Happiness, do establish this proclamation and call upon the people of the great State of Oklahoma, and our fellow Patriots in these United States of America who look to the Lord for guidance, to acknowledge the need for a national awakening of righteousness in our land.
WHEREAS, “It is Religion and Morality alone, which can establish the Principles upon which Freedom can securely stand” (John Adams); and
WHEREAS, “We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by Religion and Morality” (John Adams); and
WHEREAS, “Our Constitution was made only for a Moral and Religious people” (John Adams); and
WHEREAS, “We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government…but upon the capacity of mankind for self-government, upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God” (James Madison); and
WHEREAS, “Freedom is not a gift bestowed upon us by other men, but a right that belongs to us by the laws of God (Benjamin Franklin); and
WHEREAS, “God who gave us life gave us liberty and can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the Gift of God” (Thomas Jefferson); and
WHEREAS, “Whether any free government can be permanent, where the public worship of God, and the support of Religion, constitute no part of the policy or duty of the state” (Joseph Story); and
WHEREAS, “We hold sacred the rights of conscience, and promise to the people…the free and undisturbed exercise of their religion” (Roger Sherman); and
WHEREAS, “This great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians” (Patrick Henry); and
WHEREAS, “When you…exercise the right of voting for public officers, let it be impressed upon your mind that God commands you to choose just men who will rule in the fear of God” (Noah Webster); and
WHEREAS, “The principles of genuine Liberty and of wise laws and administrations are to be drawn from the Bible” (Noah Webster); and
WHEREAS, the people of Oklahoma have a strong tradition of reliance upon the Creator of the Universe; and
WHEREAS, we believe our economic woes are consequences of our greater national moral crisis; and
WHEREAS, this nation has become a world leader in promoting abortion, pornography, same sex marriage, sex trafficking, divorce, illegitimate births, child abuse, and many other forms of debauchery; and
WHEREAS, alarmed that the Government of the United States of America is forsaking the rich Christian heritage upon which this nation was built; and
WHEREAS, grieved that the Office of the president of these United States has refused to uphold the long held tradition of past presidents in giving recognition to our National Day of Prayer; and
WHEREAS, deeply disturbed that the Office of the president of these United States disregards the biblical admonitions to live clean and pure lives by proclaiming an entire month to an immoral behavior;
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that we the undersigned elected officials of the people of Oklahoma, religious leaders and citizens of the State of Oklahoma, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world, solemnly declare that the HOPE of the great State of Oklahoma and of these United States, rests upon the Principles of Religion and Morality as put forth in the HOLY BIBLE; and
BE IT RESOLVED that we, the undersigned, believers in the One True God and His only Son, call upon all to join with us in recognizing that “Blessed is the Nation whose God is the Lord,” and humbly implore all who love Truth and Virtue to live above reproach in the sight of God and man with a firm reliance on the leadership and protection of Almighty God; and
BE IT RESOLVED that we, the undersigned, humbly call upon Holy God, our Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer, to have mercy on this nation, to stay His hand of judgment, and grant a national awakening of righteousness and Christian renewal as we repent of our great sin.
Signed on the second day of July in the year of our Lord Christ Two Thousand and Nine.
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Documentation for Founder's Quotes
John Adams. Quote 1. June 21, 1776. Charles Francis Adams (son of John Q. Adams and grandson of
John Adams), ed., The Works of John Adams—Second President of the United States (Boston:
Little, Brown, & Co., 1854), Vol. IX p. 401
Quote 2. October 11, 1798, in a letter to the officers of the First Brigade of the Third Division of the Militia of Massachusetts. Charles Francis Adams, ed. IBID pp. 228-229.
Quote 3. IBID, p. 229.
James Madison. Quotation attributed to him in 1778 by numerous authors. Fredrick Nymeyer, Progress Calvinism (January 1958), Vol 4 p. 31 is one such author.
This quote is in line with the beliefs of Madison as given in documented statements by him. Also, his appointment of Joseph Story to the Supreme Court in 1811, who wrote two commentaries on the Constitution support Madison's statement. In 1829 Justice Story explained in a speech at Harvard that “there never has been a period of history, in which the Common Law did not recognize Christianity as lying at its foundation.” He, also, wrote in Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States, Vol. III in 1833 that “Christianity...is not to be maliciously and openly reviled and blasphemed against, to the annoyance of believers or the injury of the public.” These statements and many others verify Madison's belief in Christian principles as presidents always seek to appoint Supreme Court justices who reflect their beliefs and views.
Benjamin Franklin. William S. Pfaff, ed., Maxims & Morals of Benjamin Franklin (New Orleans: Searcy and Pfaff, Ltd, 1927)
Thomas Jefferson. 1781, in his Notes on the State of Virginia, Query XVIII, 1781, 1782, p. 237
Joseph Story. 1833. Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution, 1833 (reprinted NY: Da Capo Press, 1970), Vol. III, p. 726, Sec 1868, and p. 727, Sec 1869.
Roger Sherman. February 1776, in a directive for the embassy to Canada. Christopher Collier, Roger Sherman's Connecticut (Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 1979), p. 129.
Patrick Henry. Attributed. Steve C. Dawson, God's Providence in America's History (Rancho Cordova, CA. Steve C. Dawson, 1988), Vol I, p. 5. This statement, like Madison's is completely in line with documented statements of Henry.
Noah Webster. Quote 1. 1832. History of the United States (New Haven: Durrie & Peck, 1832), pp. 307-308, paragraph 49.
Quote 2. 1833. Noah Webster translated Common Version of the Holy Bible, containing the Old and New Testaments, with Amendments of the Language (1833), p. 160.
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