Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2004 | 8:32 a.m.
From time to time you receive letters from people criticizing President Bush for expressing his Christian beliefs. Often they say that he is "imposing" these beliefs on the nation.
Long before George W. Bush arrived on the scene there were those who indelibly "imposed" God upon our culture and nation. Their words were cherished then and so accepted by our forebears that they were inscribed on the most important documents of every state in the nation.
I'm referring to the preamble of every state's Constitution. From the preambles of Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia, which were written in 1776, to the preambles of Alaska and Hawaii, written in 1956 and 1959 respectively, homage is paid to God. Nevada's preamble, for example, written in 1864, starts out: "We, the people of the State of Nevada, grateful To Almighty God for our freedom, establish this Constitution ..."
Since this country and its states were founded, God has been a part of our public conscience. Why is it wrong for President Bush to continue this tradition?
RUSSELL N. MARTINO
archive
