Covenanter Witness Vol. 54 - Rparchives.org

wait."
ed."
a
statement."
Christian Amendment Movement News
CAM NEWS
(Continued from front page)
Washington, D. C.
May 24, 1955
Letter from A. J. McFarland, D.D.
Dear Dr. Taggart:
I have been in Washington, D. C. just
a little over two weeks, and have talked
with many Congressmen and Senators,
and have had some good results. It is
hard to know for sure the final out
come, but if promises hold out seven or
eight Congressmen will introduce our
Bill in the House. They have said they
would, and have given me their pic
tures to include in the Patriot. Some
take considerable time at something
such as this, so we will have to wait for
final results. In the Senate it is also,
like the army, "hurry and
Right
now I am waiting on the final word of a
Senator who just took the plane for his
home state and will not be back until
next week. If, in the end, he doesn't
introduce the Amendment bill, I think
there is another who will.
But I am writing this, not to talk
about hopes and maybes, but I want to
see put in the Witness the statement
made by the Honorable Eugene Siler,
Congressman from Kentucky. This was
his own idea, and this is what he said as
he introduced the Christian Amend
ment Resolution on May 23, 1955.
I might just say that he said, "I
hope every
Bill
person who introduces the
will make a similar
And then he made this further com
ment: "As long
as I am in Congress,
and this Amendment has not become a
reality, I will continue to introduce it."
He was for two years the President of
the Baptist State Convention of Ken
tucky, the only layman to have held
that position in many, many years. His
father before him,
held the same position.
But this is the statement:
"Mr.
as a layman, had
Speaker, I have introduced in
this great legislative body a resolution
seeking to add
amendment 23 to our
present United States Constitution to
the end that the basic and fundamental
law of our land might recognize the
Master Architect, Creator, and Builder
of the Universe, the Almighty God, who
hung
out the stars and lit the burning
taper of the sun and draped the glorious
rainbow as a scarf about the shoulders
of the storm: and also to the further
end that there may
be recognized in
that same Constitution Jesus Christ as
the Son of God and Universal Saviour
of all mankind.
"Many people, I believe, think the
greatest deficiency of our present Con-
What the Amendment Is
The Amendment proposed is stated as follows:
"SECTION 1. THIS NATION DEVOUTLY RECOGNIZES THE AUTHORITY
AND LAW OF JESUS CHRIST, SAVIOUR AND RULER OF NATIONS,
THROUGH WHOM ARE BESTOWED THE BLESSINGS OF ALMIGHTY GOD."
Sections two and three read as follows:
"Section 2. This amendment shall not be interpreted so as to result in the
establishment of any particular ecclesiastical organization, or in the abridgment of
the rights of religious freedom, or freedom of speech and press,
semblage.
or of peaceful as
"Section 3. Congress shall have power, in such cases as it may deem proper,
to provide a suitable oath or affirmation for citizens whose religious scruples pre
vent them from giving unqualified allegiance to the Constitution as herein amend
stitution lies in its failure to recognize
specifically God Almighty and Ameri
ca's definite position .as
great Chris
tian nation. In this modern day
of paganistic
and mundane attitudes, when
Communism and all its philosophy of
atheism and statism and materialism
hold full sway in many places of the
earth and embrace millions of its peo
ples there is surely a great need for
America to assert humbly her unalter
able dependence upon God and her own
daily followership of Christianity as
the prevailing ideology of most of her
people. As most everyone knows, the
Constitution is whatever the people de
cree it shall be, and since most of the
people are God-fearing
lowing,
and Christ-fol
the Constitution itself should
make manifestation accordingly.
"This proposed amendment is in no
way an enroachment upon the demarca
tion line of Church-State separation
that has always characterized our Gov
ernment, since this amendment would
neither recognize nor support with tax
revenue any
soever.
church organization what
While this Amendment would
not in any wise establish a church, yet
it would in a positive way recognize the
authorship of the Supreme Being and
His Son Jesus Christ, as Saviour of
mankind.
"Mr. Speaker, the Holy Bible tells us :
'Blessed is that nation whose God is the
Lord.'
wrote :
"And the great Apostle Paul once
'For other foundation can no
man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus
Christ.'
"I hope our great Constitution may
come to recognize God as our Lord and
may
also come to recognize that the
Nation's foundation must be laid upon
Jesus Christ as the firm Rock of Ages
and Saviour of the
Siler's remarks.)
world."
(End of Mr.
Why not, right now, while you are
thinking
about it drop a card or
letterto
Mr. Siler and tell him how grateful
you are for his having introduced the
Bill, and for the message he gave in
connection with its introduction.
I am writing this Tuesday evening
May 24 from Washington. Tomorrow,
another is to introduce this Bill in the
House, and he too is to give a brief
message in connection with its intro
duction. Perhaps next week we can
have that message for the paper. Maybe
we can have a little more complete
story at that time, as well.
But please write these men and thank
them for championing the cause of Je
sus Christ in our national Capitol.
My most sincere thanks to so many of
you who have been praying that the
Lord would open hearts and doors here
in Washington. God has answered.
Sincerely in Christ,
A. J. McFarland
Address your letter to:
The Honorable Eugene Siler
House Office Building
Washington, D. C.
THE CHRISTIAN AMENDMENT
INTRODUCED
(Continued from front page)
Today I have introduced a joint reso
lution to amend the Constitution of the
United States so as to give due recog
nition to Almighty God.
The resolution was the Christian
Amendment.
I was present to see Mr. Ashmore
hand in this paper and also the Bill. The
Bill was handed in just after the open
ing prayer, at the beginning
of the Ses
sion, thus the comments ranked a place
on the front page. There were a number
of others who handed in Bills at the
same time. Mr. Ashmore scanned the
gallery and we waved at each other as
he walked back after putting the Bill in.
So far as I can determine no one else
submitted the Bill on Wednesday. We
have hopes of some others doing it
(Continued on page 367)
366
THE COVENANTER WITNESS