Secretary of
Defense, Pete Hegseth, was inundated with a flood of criticism after leading a
prayer service at the Pentagon. Critics accused Hegseth
of trying to impose his Christian faith on others and warned that it was an expression of Christian Nationalism and a violation of the First Amendment.
This kind of response, however, merely highlights the ignorance of the First Amendment and America's history that pervades our country. The First Amendment bans Congress from ever
establishing an official state church. It does not ban prayer by public
officials, which was common in America for the first 150 years of her existence.
Hegseth merely wants to acknowledge our national need and ask God for His help. In this regard, he
has the support of America 's two greatest presidents. He also has precedence on his side for the American army was a praying army from the
very beginning.
Washington Ordered Every Day to
Begin with Prayer
George
Washington took command of the ragtag Colonial Army in May of 1775. Knowing they
would need Divine help in facing the mighty British war machine, he immediately
issued an order that each day was to begin with prayer led by the officers of
each unit. He also began appointing chaplains throughout the different units.
Washington was not trying impose a religion on anyone. He knew that "religion" would not save them from the British. His command to pray was based on the fact that he knew that unless they had help from Heaven they would be devastated by the British forces and they and their children would remain British subjects for generations to come.
This is why he also ordered that, unless their duties required them to be elsewhere, every
soldier was to observe “a punctual attendance of Divine services, to implore
the blessing of heaven upon the means used for our safety and public defense.”
Washington also forbade profanity, swearing, gambling and drunkenness, explaining, “We can have little hope of the blessing of Heaven on our arms if we insult it by our impiety and folly.” He went on to express his desire that, “Every officer and man will endeavor so as to live and act as becomes a Christian soldier” (Hyatt, 1726: The Year that Defined America, 114).
Not only was there corporate prayer in
the ranks of the Colonial Army, but Washington engaged in private prayer on a
regular basis. This was confirmed by the Quaker, Isaac Potts, who lived near
Valley Forge, and happened upon Washington alone at prayer in the forest. He
said,
I heard a plaintive sound as of a man at prayer. I tied my horse to a sapling and went quietly into the woods and to my astonishment I saw the great George Washington on his knees alone, with his sword on one side and his cocked hat on the other. He was at Prayer to the God of the Armies, beseeching Him to interpose with his Divine aid, as it was ye Crisis, and the cause of the country, of humanity and of the world. Such a prayer I never heard from the lips of man (Hyatt, 1726: TheYear that Defined America, 115).
Not only did
Washington and his troops pray, but the Continental Congress also opened each
of their sessions with prayer. They also issued no less than fifteen
proclamations for national days of repentance, prayer and fasting during the
war. The Catholic scholar, the late Michael Novak, was correct in saying, “In all moments of imminent danger, as in the first Act of the First
Continental Congress, the founding generation turned to prayer” (Hyatt, 1726:
The Year that Defined America, 109).
Amazing
Answers to Prayer
It was a grueling
seven years of war, but the prayers of Washington, his troops, and the American
populace prevailed. This was acknowledged in a dramatic way on the same day the
British commander, General Cornwallis, ended the war by surrendering to Washington on
October 19, 1783.
Washington immediately
appointed Israel Evans, a chaplain in the Colonial Army, to deliver a
Thanksgiving sermon to the troops that same day. A massive crowd from the
surrounding region gathered with the troops to hear this sermon.
Evans exhorted them
to give thanks to God, knowing that their victory was not the result of their
own strength and prowess. He also declared that the same God that fought for
Israel in days of old had fought for them. In poetic verse, he declared,
To Him who led in ancient days,
the Hebrew tribes, your anthems raise.
The God who spoke from Sinai’s hill,
Protects His chosen people still,
Not in ourselves success we owe,
By
Divine help we crushed the foe.
Are
Hegseth’ s Critics too Proud to Pray?
So, Washington’s orders
for prayer were not an attempt to impose his faith on anyone. It was an act of
desperation knowing they had no chance against the British forces apart from
Divine help. God answered their prayers, and a great new nation was born.
The critics of
Hegseth fit the category of those President Abraham Lincoln admonished in his
Prayer Proclamation issued at the height of the Civil War. He said that too
many Americans had become “too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of
redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us”
(Hyatt, 1726:The Year that Defined America,
185)!
Pete Hegseth has no desire to impose his faith on anyone. He realizes we are not sufficient in ourselves and he wants to publicly acknowledge the need and ask God for His help. In this, he has separated himself from the modern critics and joined the ranks of great Americans such as Washington and Lincoln who were not too proud to acknowledge our need for God.
This article is derived from the book, 1726:The Year that Defined America, by Dr. Eddie L. Hyatt and is available from Amazon and his website at http://www.eddiehyatt.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment