Talent On Loan From God

No, I am not talking about how Rush Limbaugh describes himself.

I am talking about an essay found on the website of the Center for Christian Statesmanship, an organization dedicated to "ministering to those serving on Capitol Hill." The organization's mission urges "statesmen", in this case, those serving on Capitol Hill, to subscribe to the Center's principles by laying "aside your personal and political agenda... (and) reestablish the principles and practices of Christian statesmanship so prevalent at the birth of our nation."

In an "editorial" released by the Executive Director, George Roller, J.D., he clearly states that the Bible comes first in making legislative decisions -- and the US Constitution comes second.

"These men and women," he says, "govern by using two primary criteria in shaping their policy decisions. First and foremost, obviously, is the Bible. When a bill is up for review a statesman should ask, "Is this biblical?" If the bill passes the biblical test, the next question is "Is this constitutional?" The constitutional aspect should never supercede the biblical aspect of forming and shaping law."

This is a call to arms. Roller is essentially calling for the overthrow of civil law in our nation and replacing it with a biblical one narrowly defined by him and his organization, based on his narrow interpretation of early American history. The organization justifies its position using quotes, liberally sprinkled throughout the website, which, according to them, proves that our founding fathers actually intended that the United States be ruled by Christian law.

Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, two of our founding fathers, were among the most vocal about why church and state should be kept separate. An essay on the site of Americans United for Separation of Church and State outlines the early history of America and why that separation was needed.

While the Center for Christian Statesmanship describes itself as non-partisan, one look at the list of recipients of their Distinguished Christian Statesman Award, is a revealing who's who of the Christian right on Capitol Hill including, among others, Senator John Ashcroft (1996), Majority Leader Dick Armey (1999), Rep. Tom Delay (2002), Senator Sam Brownback(2000), and most recently Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (2005) whose drumbeat in Congress has been a constitutional amendment establishing marriage as between one man and one woman, period.

The Center for Christian Statesmanship is only one of many organizations working to destroy the separation of church and state and construct a purely Christian government in Washington DC. This large and very active movement is working to rewrite history and force all Americans to live under Christian biblical laws as written and interpreted by them.

I will be writing about more of these groups on a regular basis in this blog.