A TIME FOR ANGER, ASSIGNING BLAME, AND TAKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE VIOLENCE PERVADING AMERICA''S CULTURE

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By now you have heard of the tragic school shooting in Minneapolis, MN. In a most evil act of demonic hate and irrationality, Robin Westman fired dozens of rounds from a rifle through the windows of the Annunciation Catholic Church where students from the church's school had gathered for a worship service. Two children were killed and 14 injured. Three adults were also injured.

The shooter was a transgender who was born Robert Westman and recently had his name changed to Robin Westman. His murder of these children has troubling similarities to the murder of six children in 2023 at a Christian school in Tennessee by a young man who also identified as a woman.

I confess that I feel angry at the shooter and his contemptuous disregard for the lives of innocent children. I am also angered at the secularist activists and politicians whose anti-Christian policies have created a cultural environment that is conducive to such evil. I also feel angry at myself and a feckless church that has allowed the anti-Christian, secularization of this nation. 

The Secularization of American Culture

School shootings and cultural violence have become all too common in America, and it is time to identify the cause and assign blame where it belongs. Ultimate blame, of course, lies with the shooter, for it is clear from Scripture that each of us are accountable to God for our words and actions (Matt. 12:36; II Cor. 5:10). His closest associates, such as parents and friends, also bear responsibility for how they responded to the warning signs they must have observed.

But in this essay, I also want to place blame squarely on the shoulders of every secularist activist and politician who has pushed for the removal of Bibles, prayers, crosses, Ten Commandments, and all Christian symbols from the public schools. I will show how these symbols exert a positive moral influence on everyone within their visual range, and that they are more effective than metal detectors and security guards for restraining evil.

Tragically, the moral values of the Bible have been replaced with post-modern ideology that says, since there is no God and no absolute morality or truth, we are all free to create our own. If you don’t like your parents’ moral values, you can create your own. If you don’t like being a boy, you can create your own reality and identify as a girl.

According to these “progressive” educators, the Bible is an antiquated book that should have no place in the classroom. In the early 20th century, John Dewey, was at the forefront of the fight to secularize America’s education system and his atheistic ideals have been implemented by modern educators, including those of the NEA (National Education Association). Dewey hated Christianity, and wrote,

The battle for humankind’s future must be waged and won in the public-school classroom . . . between the rotting corpse of Christianity and the new faith of humanism (Hyatt, The Book that Made America Great, 149).

The secularizing of the American classroom with the removal of all biblical expressions and symbols, has had devastating consequences. This was made clear in an interview I heard years ago wherein Charlie Rose interviewed a social scientist who had just led, and completed, a study on the power of religious symbols.

This social scientist laid out their amazing discoveries on the power of religious symbols. One thing he said, I will never forget. He said they discovered that a person, sitting in a room with a Bible in view, is less likely to tell a lie than if there is no Bible in view. They found that the very presence of a Bible exudes a positive moral influence on those present.

The Tragic Consequences of Rejecting the Bible

This means that the removal of the Bible, prayers, and Christian symbols from the public schools is a major contributing factor to the violence and hate that has erupted in our society. Without those positive moral constraints, the worst in human nature is free to roam.

It was not always this way. As a teenager in high school in the 1960s, we had never heard of a school shooting. It never crossed our minds that such a thing might happen. We were not angels, but there were not the rampant hatred and violence that is all too common in today’s schools and society in general

Could it, perhaps, be partly because there was no problem with a teacher reading a verse from the Bible or having prayer before class? I remember how that at the beginning of every Friday night football game in Temple, Oklahoma, where I attended junior high school, a local pastor or minister would pray. The many hundreds—and maybe thousands—in the stands would all stand and I can still see the hundreds of men removing their hats and caps as the person began to pray.

It all began to change when I was 15 years old and in two Supreme Court rulings, Engel vs Vitale (1962) and Abington School vs Schempp (1963) the nation’s highest court banned school-sponsored prayer and Bible reading in the public schools of America. This ruling was based on a contorted and novel interpretation of that part of the First Amendment that reads, “Congress shall make no law concerning the establishment of religion or hindering the free exercise thereof.”

These rulings opened the floodgates of anti-Christian activism. Since that time, lawsuits filed by atheist and secularist organizations have resulted in the removal of crosses, Ten Commandment displays, and other Christian expressions from public property. Schoolchildren have been told they cannot sing Joy to the World or Hark the Herald Angels Sing at Christmas because that would be a violation of the First Amendment.

As part of this crusade to de-Christianize America, the secularists insist on calling a Christmas Tree a Holiday Tree and referring to the Christmas Holiday as The Winter Holiday. Veteran groups and military chaplains have been told they cannot pray in the Name of Jesus. A high school band in Mississippi was ordered by a judge to remove How Great Thou Art from the repertoire of music that they play at football games and other school events.

On April 6, 2009, President Barak Obama announced to a Turkish audience, “America is not a Christian nation.” His audacious statement showed the extent to which the crusade to de-Christianize America and remove her from her biblical moorings had come.

We Must Do More than "Sing Louder"

We as Christians must also bear blame for this secularization of the public school system and society in general, for this has all happened on our watch. We have not been the “salt” and “light” that Jesus called us to be in Matthew 5:13-14. In that culture, before refrigeration, salt was used as a preservative to restrain spoilage and corruption in fish, meats, and other foods. “Light” is used to dispel darkness, which is the absence of light.

When the church is truly "salt" and "light," the evils of this present world will be restrained and held at bay. But if the salt loses its “saltiness,” as Jesus warned, it is no longer good for anything but is thrown out and trodden underfoot by men.

I read a German Christian's remorseful testimony of how the German church responded to the Holocaust and Hitler, and it was obvious they had lost their "saltiness." He told how the church he attended was next to a railroad and there were times, during their services, that a train would pass and they would hear the cries and screams of those being taken to the death camps. What was their their response? He said, "We sang louder."

We as American Christians must do more than "sing louder." To be salt and light we must make our voices heard on our social media platforms, in school board meetings, and in whatever venue the Lord may open for your voice. We must die to self and to the fear of man. We must also support public officials who support positive biblical values in the public schools and in society.

We must also continue to pray for another Great Awakening to roll like a tsunami wave across the land. There are hopeful indicators that we are the verge of such an Awakening, but we must press in and lay hold of it in faith and prayer. The future of America is in our hands for II Chronicles 7:14, which gives the wonderful promise of national healing, begins with the condition, If My people . . ..

This article is derived in part from the books, 1726: The Year that Defined America and The Book that Made America Great by Dr. Eddie L. Hyatt and available from Amazon and his website at http://www.eddiehyatt.com. 

THE FUTILITY OF OPPOSSING GOD: HE TURNS ARROGANT PROPHETS INTO FOOLS

I Am the LORD the maker of all things, who stretches out the heavens, who spreads out the earth by Myself, who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who overthrows the learning of the wise and turns it into nonsense. - Isaiah 44:25

For 2000 years the Bible has been under constant attack. Emperors, popes, kings, priests, and theologians have all tried to destroy the Bible or minimize its influence. Even today, in many countries, you will be detained or arrested for bringing a Bible across their border. Islamic and Marxist regimes fear the Bible because of the inherent power of its message of freedom and eternal salvation.

Even in America there is an ongoing battle to keep the Bible out of the public square. In my home state of Texas, a legal battle is raging over whether Ten Commandments displays can be posted in public schools. Leftists seem to know there is an inherent power in the Bible’s message; so instead of formulating arguments against it and allowing the people to decide, they attempt to outlaw it through the courts.

But despite all the opposition, the Bible continues to be the perennial bestseller year after year. Translations continue to proliferate with the Bible now available in over 3000 languages. One writer has said, “Infidels, with all their assaults, make about as much impression on this book as a man with a tack hammer would on the Pyramids of Egypt” (Hyatt, The Book that Made America Great, 113).

The futility of opposing the Bible is dramatically illustrated in the life and death of the famous French agnostic, Voltaire (1694-1778). Voltaire arrogantly declared that one-hundred years after his death the Bible would be a forgotten book. Fifty years after his death, however, the Geneva Bible Society purchased his home and printing press and began printing and distributing Bibles throughout Europe.

One-hundred years after Voltaire's death, instead of being a forgotten book, this Bible society was printing and distributing thousands of Bible on his printing press and from his home. I think heaven must have been smiling.

Yes, it is futile to oppose God and His Word. We should remember the words of Isaiah 44:25 where God says of Himself,

I Am the LORD the maker of all things, who stretches out the heavens, who spreads out the earth by Myself, who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who overthrows the learning of the wise and turns it into nonsense. 

This article is derived from Dr. Eddie Hyatt's latest book, The Book that Made America Great, available from Amazon and his website at http://www.eddiehyatt.com.

THE STORY BEHIND THE VISION

Shortly after our marriage in May of 1976, Sue shared with me a Scripture she said the Holy Spirit had highlighted to her about her life. It was Psalm 67:2, which, in the Living Bible. says, Send us around the world with the news of Your saving power and Your eternal plan for all mankind. I excitedly shared with her that the Holy Spirit had impressed the very same passage on my heart. It seemed fantastic at the time, but we knew God was speaking.

Well, that was 50 years ago and since that time we have personally ministered in countries of Asia and Africa and throughout Europe and North America. We have written and published books that have been spread around the world and translated into various languages including Chinese, Swahili, Portuguese, Romanian, Latvian, and others. Just a few days ago, I answered a facetime call from a pastor in one China’s largest cities and for over an hour discussed and answered questions about Sue’s book, In the We’re Equal, which he was reading.

During the past 50 years, we also earned doctorates in Bible and theology and taught in some of the premier evangelical colleges in America, including Oral Roberts University, Christ for the Nations Institute, and Zion Bible Institute (now known as Northpoint Bible College). We have guest lectured at Oxford University in England, Doulos Bible College in India, Tyrannus Theological Seminary in Malaysia, and other educational venues. During this time, we have also ministered as church planters, pastors, and revivalists.

 It has truly been an incredible journey! Yes, there have been the highs and the lows. There have been incredible challenges but also wonderful breakthroughs and victories. We have known sorrow but also incredible joy. Through it all, God has been wonderfully faithful.

Now, 50 years later, and realizing that the final chapter of our lives is being written, we are bringing together the knowledge and wisdom we have gained during all these years and focusing it all on the Hyatt Institute. Through this online Bible training center, God’s promise of 50 years ago will be consummated in ways we could never have imagined at the time, for there were no internet or cell phones when God spoke those words to us.

Through the online Hyatt Institute, His promise to send us around the world will continue to be fulfilled as students from all over the world enroll and are discipled and equipped to be devoted followers of Jesus Christ. Thank you for your prayers and support as we diligently lay hold of this God-given vision. The launch date is set for September 15.

For more information on the Hyatt Institute email the Director, Rhonda Klug, at hyattinstitute.director@outlook.com or Eddie Hyatt, Founder and President, at dreddiehyatt@gmail.com.  The Hyatts' websites are http://www.eddiehyatt.com and http://www.godswordtowomen.org. Contact information and helpful resources will be found at each of these sites.

ARE WE LOSING THE WAR ON AMERICA'S CHRISTIAN HERITAGE?

A federal judge has blocked a new Arkansas law requiring Ten Commandments displays in public school classrooms, citing concerns about  the separation of church and state, which is not in the Constitution. Similar laws in Louisiana and Texas are also facing legal challenges. The photo above is of a Ten Commandments monument being removed from the Oklahoma State Capital Grounds after a federal judge declared it unconstitutional and ordered it removed.

This government animosity towards the Bible is ironic considering that the first English Bible printed in America in 1782 was created for "use in schools” and carried a recommendation from Congress. It shows how far America has wandered from her Christian past.

Robert Aitken, the producer of this Bible, had written a letter to Congress in which he asked for that government body’s sanction of his work. In his letter he described this Bible as “a neat Edition of the Scriptures for the use in schools” Congress enthusiastically responded to his request and offered a recommendation, which stated that they;

Highly approve of the pious and laudable undertaking of Mr. Aitken , , , and being satisfied from the above report of his care and accuracy in the execution of the work, they recommend this edition of the Bible to the inhabitants of the United States and hereby authorize him to publish this recommendation in the manner he shall think proper (Hyatt, TheBook that Made America Great, 16)

What a difference we see in those secularists today who oppose any reference to the Bible or prayer in our schools! They base their opposition on a distorted history that they themselves have created. They are doing this because they know that only by obliterating America's Christian past do they have any chance of transforming America into a socialist/atheistic society.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who spent eight years in a Soviet labor camp, saw this happen in his home country of Russia. Solzhenitsyn observed how the communist overlords sought to erase Russia’s Christian heritage, and later wrote, “To destroy a people you must first sever their roots.”

The goal of the socialist/secularist is to rewrite America’s history and thereby sever her from her Christian roots. When that happens, the statement of Karl Marx comes into play, who said, “People without a heritage are easily persuaded.” 

We are already seeing this happen with an outright and open communist leading in the race for New York City's next mayor. With a generation having been taught that America's founding was evil and racist, they are ready to accept anything new that seems to dazzle and glitter. We have reached the point that the Pulitzer Prize winning historian, Carl Sandburg, warned about. He wrote,

When a nation goes down or a society perishes, one condition may always be found; they forgot where they came from; they lost sight of what had brought them along (Hyatt, 1726: The Year that Defined America, 11.

It is time, therefore, for Christians in America to know our history and take a stand for righteousness and truth. America's future is in our hands, even as the wonderful promise of national healing in II Corinthians 7:14 makes clear, beginning with the condition, If My people . . ..

This article is derived from Dr. Eddie Hyatt’s latest book, The Book that Made America Great, and is available from Amazon and his website at http://www.eddiehyatt.com. Eddie is also the founder of the "1726 Project" whose purpose is to educate the American public, beginning with the church, about America's overt Christian birth out of the First Great Awakening.