Should the Legislature begin each day with prayer?

Before answering the question posed in the headline directly, it is important to understand where it comes from.

No, it is not important to know the names of those who espouse such ideologies, nor of those who would promote them. Truth of the matter is that these are just pawns in a much larger game. The Bible tells us in Ephesians 6 that we Christians “wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

Truthfully, this is not about the separation of church and state. From a historical perspective, the same forefathers who gave us our Constitution and Bill of Rights had no problem beginning their sessions with prayer. Unless my memory of history is failing me, it was even that renowned Deist, Benjamin Franklin, who proffered the notion during the Constitutional Convention. And if we go back to colonial days, sermons were preached before prayers were prayed whose lengths were measured in hours, not just minutes.

What the separation of church and state was all about was the prohibition against establishing a state-church, as most of Europe had. As such, our forefathers were perfectly comfortable with expressions of Christianity in public as well as private life.

Neither is this about offending other groups.

This very fact is well-established in pre-Revolutionary War America, where Jews found not only a land that was hospitable to them culturally, but one that also allowed them to build a synagogue and worship freely. Somehow they were not bothered that America was largely Protestant. In fact, such was their gratitude that when America waged its struggle for independence from mother England, these early Jews opened up their purse strings once and again in financial support of the fledgling nation.

You need to understand that at that point in history, the Jews had been wandering from country to country with persecution on their tails for about 1,700 years, and for the first time they found a place where they could flourish. Those who claim to be offended by public prayer not only demonstrate a historical deficit, but also lack gratitude toward those they directly benefit from.

No, this is about erasing America’s history from the minds of every young American. While vestiges can be found all the way back to the founding of our country, or at least nearly so, we can really see it come of age here in the last 50 years.

This was most notable in 1963, when Madalyn Murray O’Hair went all the way to the Supreme Court to remove prayer from our public schools. While scholastic aptitudes have been declining ever since 1964, to the chagrin of our educational system, what this has led to is an ever increasing secularization of America’s youth.

Folks, to speak of the secularization of anything is to admit to a change from something. And in America’s case it is to move from Christianity to its absence. To do this, you must with patience cause America to forget her history, and this is done through her children. This process is all but complete in those children attending public schools.

But even more than erasing America’s history is the eradication of Christianity itself. While Christianity has been pleased to establish religious liberty, secularists are not content to share the field with Christianity. The bid to remove prayer in total from the public arena is a bold move designed to subjugate Christianity to the religion of secularism with the view of its annihilation being the next step.

To answer our question then, the Alaska Legislature should, and indeed needs to, begin each session with prayer. Beginning its sessions in prayer is to acknowledge that the Legislature’s best efforts are wholly inadequate without the divine intervention of Almighty God. To begin in prayer is to confirm before our youths the sacred trust handed down to us from our forefathers. And, it is a declaration that some things should never change.

But there is more. The Legislature ought to make it very clear who it is praying to. For whatever you think about it, America was founded by Christian denominations, therefore it should not be offensive to pray “in Jesus’ name, Amen.” As befitting those of the Last Frontier, the Alaska Legislature ought not to cower before assertions to the contrary. Grit and backbone are the order of the day.

And lastly, what our legislators need today is to hear from you. As the voices of secularism begin to clamor for prayer to cease, those who claim the mantle of Christianity need to rise up and say, “Pray, and in the name of Jesus.” And then take that banner to the ballot box.

Ron Hamman is pastor of Independent Baptist Church of Wasilla. Contact him at 357-4229 or rghamman@mtaonline.net.