Letter: Founders had God in mind

Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2002 | 8:54 a.m.

In response to the numerous errors in Mel Lipman's letter of July 28, in which he responds to Mike Miller's letter of July 21: Historical facts and research do not support Lipman's claim that the Founders' belief was in government, not God. The Founders did indeed base our government on their belief in God.

Lipman quotes Madison, which was from the Virginia Ratifying Convention, not the Constitutional Convention. Madison's belief is clear: "We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future of all of our political institutions 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." Does that sound like Madison places his faith solely in government?

In Benjamin Franklin's plea for daily prayer during the Constitutional Convention, Williamson of North Carolina stated the real reason for not engaging a chaplain: the Convention had no funds to pay for one!

Lipman says our Constitution is God-free. Article 1, Section 7, Paragraph 2, states that the president shall have 10 days to consider a bill, "Sundays excepted." The Senate Judiciary Committee's report of Jan. 19, 1853, commenting on the "Sunday excepted" provision: "in recognition of the Christian Sabbath (by the Constitution) is complete and perfect."

Finally, the Constitution closes in Article 7 with the words "the Year of our Lord."

MICHAEL ZUFELT