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The Amish Voice 14
like it had in England. England went so
far as to forbid worship in private
homes. All church activities were spon-
sored and controlled by the English gov-
ernment. People were forced to go to
the state-established church and do
things that were contrary to their con-
science. No other churches were al-
lowed. Mandatory attendance of the
state-established church was compelled
under the Conventicle Act of
1665. Failure to comply could result in
imprisonment and torture.
Our founding fathers wanted freedom of
religion—NOT freedom from reli-
gion. That is why many of them had
come to the American colonies in the
first place. Those who scream,
"Separation of Church and State" have
absolutely no idea what they are talking
about.
The United States Constitution was
founded on biblical principles and it
seemed to be the intention of the authors
for this to be a Christian nation. The
Constitution was put together by 55 peo-
ple, of which 52 were evangelical Chris-
tians. Research indicates that 94% of all
quotes by our founding fathers were
based on the Bible. The founding fa-
thers took ideas from the Bible and did
their best to incorporate them into our
government. Unfortunately, things went
downhill from there.
In October 1961, the Supreme Court of
the United States officially removed
prayer from our public schools. If our
founding fathers didn't want prayer in
government, why did they pray publicly
at nearly all official meetings? Since
that Supreme Court decision of 1961,
there has been much effort to forbid
reading from the Bible in school – even
silent reading during free time.
In recent years, the first amendment has
wrongly been used to remove displays of
religious texts like the Ten Command-
ments from public areas and government
buildings
throughout
the
United
States. There is talk about removing the
phrase "In God We Trust" from our cur-
rency. This is NOT at all what the First
Amendment is about.
What are we allowing to happen? I
don't think you can argue with the fact
that as we have removed God from our
politics, our government, and our educa-
tional systems, there has been a very dra-
matic decrease in the morality and the
integrity of the American people. It ap-
pears to me that our society is slowly
degenerating into a corrupt system in
which people misuse the authority of the
government to obtain what they want at
the expense of others. If we don't bring
God back into our politics, this once
great nation of ours is doomed to fall
apart.
“All that is necessary for the triumph of
evil is for good men do nothing.”
Edmond Burke (1729-1797)
I can't say that our politics and our gov-
ernment are completely void of God,
because we still have Godly people in
politics and in our government. We still
have Godly teachers in our school sys-
tems. However, we have many less
Godly people in place than we had 50
years ago.
Friends, it is time to take a stand and to
make a difference. Let us be more ear-
nest in prayer and in support of our lead-
ers who really do know and love God.
We need to back and support leaders
who are Godly men and women.
If my people, which are called by my
name, shall humble themselves, and
pray, and seek my face, and turn
from their wicked ways; then will I
hear from heaven, and will forgive
their sin, and will heal their land. 2
Chronicles 7:14
Don’t just GO to church; BE
the church
In the next issues, we will be looking at the last
of these chief dangers. In the meantime, let us
cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh
and spirit, perfecting holiness in
the fear of God. 2 Corinthians 7:1
Dangers—Continued from Page 13
END
Smith, p. 345). They believe God the
Father has a “body of flesh and bones as
tangible as man’s” (Doctrine and
Covenants 130:22). Brigham Young
taught that Adam actually was God and
the father of Jesus Christ—although this
teaching has been abandoned by modern
Mormon leaders.
In contrast, Christians know this about
God: there is only one true God
(Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 43:10; 44:6–8).
He always has existed and always will
exist (Deuteronomy 33:27; Psalm 90:2; 1
Timothy 1:17). He was not created but is
the Creator (Genesis 1; Psalm 24:1;
Isaiah 37:16). He is perfect, and no one
else is equal to Him (Psalm 86:8; Isaiah
40:25). God the Father is not a man, nor
was He ever (Numbers 23:19; 1 Samuel
15:29; Hosea 11:9). He is Spirit (John
4:24), and Spirit is not made of flesh and
bone (Luke 24:39).
Mormons believe that there are different
levels or kingdoms in the afterlife: the
celestial
kingdom,
the
terrestrial
kingdom, the telestial kingdom, and outer
darkness (Mormon Doctrine, p. 348).
Where mankind will end up depends on
what they believe and do in this life (2
Nephi 25:23; Articles of Faith, p.79).
In contrast, the Bible tells us that after
death we go to heaven or hell based on
Cont from back page…Mormon Beliefs
Continued next page