THE SPEECH I’D LOVE TO HEAR
Rev. Bill Banuchi, Executive Director
This
is a speech we’d love to hear come from our President to address the issues of
the day. Keep it in prophetic prayer.
Maybe one day it will be reality.
******
My Fellow Americans,
We’ve been through much together
over the last few years, and we have succeeded in ways no one could have
anticipated in protecting our nation, preserving our peace and maintaining our
prosperity. And for that I am deeply grateful.
But tonight I want to address
three very important issues affecting the life of our nation, and indeed
affecting our security, our peace and our prosperity. As important as terrorism is, these issues I believe are
even more important. As ruinous as a failed economy can be, these issues, if left unchecked, will bring
even greater ruin. What I have to speak to you about
today, is so important that I think you better call your friend, your neighbor,
your children, or your parents, and have them tune in. This is important, because we’re going
to speak about three issues that will affect the very essence of American
culture; three issues that will determine the quality of life enjoyed by our
children, our grandchildren, and generations to come.
I’m well aware that this
discussion will generate a lot of controversy, and I’m sure the press will have
a field day predicting my political demise,
because I dare to express my personal views on these matters. Be that as it
may, I’m going to talk about these issues because they are so important to the
lives of our people. I may not
have all the answers, but I have some. I may not have all your support, but I
believe I have the support of most Americans concerning these issues. If that
were not the case, I would still be compelled to talk about these issues, and
perhaps spark a national conversation or
debate.
ISSUE 1 - The First Issue is the place of religion in
government, or the idea of Separation of Church and State.
Many have criticized me saying
there is too much religion in the White House. They seem to think it is somehow
inappropriate for a President to express his faith publicly. There are a lot of
myths flying around out there, and we need to put them to rest tonight.
Let’s begin with our nation’s
motto, “In God We Trust.” Is it just a figure of speech? A nice sounding
platitude? No. From the beginning of our nation’s birth our leaders, and our public institutions have always demonstrated a
sincere trust in the God of The Bible.
George Washington, our First
President, told us,
“It is impossible to govern
without God and The Bible.”
James Madison, the chief Architect
of the Constitution told us,
“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 our political institutions upon the capacity of each and all of
us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves according to the Ten Commandments
of God.”
In 1952 The U.S. Supreme Court
told us,
“…We are a religious people,
and our institutions presuppose a Supreme Being…”
And in 1955 President Eisenhower
told us:
“Without
God there could be no American form of government, nor an American way of life.
Recognition of the Supreme Being is the first –the most basic- expression of
Americanism.”
The fact is that our history illustrates
that we have been, since our founding, a nation of people who truly put there
trust in the God of the Bible. That is the American spirit.
So then exactly what does
“Separation of Church and State mean? Well, we have the benefit of those who went
before us, who asked the very same question. A Congressional subcommittee was
appointed to answer this question in 1854, and this was their answer:
“…At the time of the adoption of The Constitution and The
Amendments the universal sentiment was that Christianity ought to be encouraged
but not any one sect, (denomination.) In fact, they went on to say that, “Had
the people during the Revolution had a suspicion of any attempt to war against
Christianity, that Revolution would have been strangled in its cradle.”
So separation of church and state
means simply this: Government shall make no law respecting the establishment of
religion –that’s the job of The Church. That happens to be exactly what the
First Amendment says. Establishment of religion means organizing, starting,
regulating or controlling a specific denomination or religious organization.
The government cannot do that; neither can it restrict the free exercise thereof.
Religion is exercised in public as well as in private. I
didn’t lose my Constitutional rights as an American citizen when I became President. When the state pays a teacher’s salary it
doesn’t assume the right to restrict the free
exercise of religion in or out of the classroom. We are, generally, a religious people, but if one is not
religious in a traditional sense, they have the freedom to exercise their form
of religion -whether it’s belief
in God or belief in man- and the government cannot interfere as long as their free exercise doesn’t violate
anyone else’s rights.
We must always select Christians
for our leaders, as John Jay told us, the First Chief Justice of the U.S.
Supreme Court. There’s a very good
and practical reason for this. A
Christian knows that God is watching when no one else is. He knows he’ll get
away with nothing. Granted, it’s
not a cure-all, but as corrupt as men are with religion, imagine how much worse
it would be without it!
So, let’s put this issue to bed
and quit all the wasted legal proceedings. Separation of Church and State
simply means that the Federal Government must not establish its own religion
and it may not interfere with yours, but our institutions are based on a
Judeo-Christian worldview, and by remaining so they allow the freedom for
others to follow their own religion or belief system.
John Adams told us,
“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious
people; it is wholly inadequate to the governing of any other.”
So teachers, or anyone else
employed at any level of government, have the liberty to talk about their faith,
and even try to influence others, just as they do with evolution, or any other
subject. If a teacher is a New York Yankee fan it doesn’t mean the state
endorses the New York Yankees. Why would it be any different if that teacher
were a Jesus fan? It isn’t. Teachers have the right to speak about
their faith, but they must always do so with humility and respect, as I hope
they would do for anything else. And by the way, there is no Constitutional
right to not be offended.
2. Let’s talk about the
second issue: Gambling.
We have taken it upon ourselves to
promote gambling as public policy. This is wrong.
This is wrong, because by
promoting gambling we are teaching our citizens that there is a better way than
hard work and creative industry to acquire wealth.
We teach them to rely on, as one gambling commercial put it, “a dollar and a
dream” instead of a healthy work ethic. In fact, by establishing state run
lotteries we are assuming the role of “bookie” for a cut of the action.
Following that logic we may as well sell drugs too? We can make even more
money! That will be the next logical step in this trend of government
exploitation of the poor. Never mind that lives are being lost and families are
being broken. Governments must
reverse this deadly trend. Gambling is wrong whether done by individuals or
governments; it’s still wrong.
3. Now let’s
talk about one of the most difficult area to discuss: Homosexuality.
First, let’s look at the practical
side. We print warnings on
cigarette packs, and we spend millions advertising that smoking is hazardous to
your health, because we know that smoking takes one to two years off the
average American lifespan. Well, the average homosexual male
lifespan is only 42 years. That’s a full 35 years off his average lifespan, yet
where are the warnings? Instead of
attempting to discourage an unhealthy lifestyle, the current trend is to
attempt to normalize it while it wreaks havoc among our citizens. By promoting
this lifestyle and perpetrating the lie that it is both normal and healthy we,
in fact, become complicit in the misery and pre-mature deaths of precious
Americans. We wouldn’t call drug addiction normal or healthy, yet the
characteristics and the outcome is often the same as living a life of
homosexuality. Practically
speaking, it needs to be regarded as a destructive addiction, not a civil
right.
James Wilson, signer of both the
Declaration and our Constitution, and a Supreme Court Justice and the founder
of our laws school system taught us that civil law must always be consistent
with divine law. Every major world
religion calls homosexuality sin. Our laws must reflect no less.
We must reach out in love and
compassion to those who are caught up in this destructive lifestyle, but we
must never condone it, or we sentence future generations to annihilation as
evidenced by other failed societies that have accepted homosexuality as
anything less than sin.
I’ve brought up these three vital
issues, because though it’s not my intent to sermonize,
(I leave that to capable clergy)
it is vitally important to provide moral leadership as leader, not only of the
United States, but for all practical purposes, also of the free world.
I believe most Americans agree
with the positions I’ve stated, but I respect the right of those who disagree.
Let’s begin a national debate about these three areas. I trust in the American
people to make the right choices as long as we can get truth out on the table.
We must debate our ideas with humility and respect realizing that any one of us
can be wrong about any issue. This is the strength of our nation.
None of us have it all together,
but together we have it all. As your President, it’s my responsibility to lead
according to the dictates of righteousness, as I understand them, because it’s
a true saying that
“righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a reproach to
any people.”
This was the belief of our
founders, and is still my belief today. I agree with President John F. Kennedy
who told us,“ …we must make God’s work our own.” (Inaugural speech)
God bless you and may God continue
to bless America.