Enough

Many times in the past 25 or so years, the phrase “when God was moved out the devil moved in” has been repeated by numerous folks. We have moved God out of our public schools, no public prayer is allowed at sporting events, holiday parties instead of Christmas parties, and the list goes on.

Last Sunday, God was even removed from the “Pledge of Allegiance.” During the opening coverage of the final round of the U.S. Open, NBC presented a clip of a group of students reciting the “Pledge of Allegiance.” However, two important words were left out. “Under God” wasn’t included or as NBC reports it was “regrettably omitted.”

According to NBC, “We began our coverage of this final round just about three hours ago and when we did it was our intent to begin the coverage of this U.S. Open Championship with a feature that captured the patriotism of our national championship being held in our nation’s capital for the third time. Regrettably, a portion of the ‘Pledge of Allegiance’ that was in that feature was edited out. It was not done to upset anyone and we’d like to apologize to those of you who were offended by it.”

Being offended by this may not be enough. Many of us have stood aside while a small number of folks have told us that we cannot recognize God in public events or public places because those who believe differently might be made uncomfortable.

This country was built and founded on Judeo-Christian principles and beliefs. Our forefathers fought for our freedom to worship and left a country where religious tyranny existed.

Many and hopefully the majority of the citizens of this country believe that we have been blessed as a nation because we seek to serve God and place Him in his rightful position of honor and authority. Looking back over the past three decades since men passed laws to keep God out of our public schools, we can see how this has resulted in the decline of morals and watched as behaviors have made a change for the worse. Many teachers now admit more time is spent with discipline than with teaching.

Now is the time to speak up. The effort to remove God from our country will not end without us being more than just offended.

We can’t afford to wait until our churches have to remove their steeples because someone is offended by what the cross symbolizes.

Only a small number have managed to remove God from our schools and other areas. Imagine what could happen if all of God’s people said “enough.”

Randy Garrison is the general manager of the Hartselle Enquirer.