(AgapePress) - What do America's activist judges, educators, and media outlets have in common? According to one Republican congressman, they all need to revisit the heritage of the nation, where he says they will find ample evidence to the pervasive influence of the God of the Bible.

During the last several months, attacks on Christianity in the public arena have gained considerable notoriety around the country. They include a legal effort to eliminate "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance, and challenges by the American Civil Liberties Union to remove Ten Commandments monuments from public property in Alabama and Pennsylvania.

Alan Sears, president of the Alliance Defense Fund, stated recently: "People who care about religious liberty and preserving our nation's heritage should be alarmed. [These cases] are just the tip of the iceberg -- and part of a growing national trend."

Congressman Roscoe Bartlett of Maryland responded this past summer (July 15, 2002) to these developments with a "Special Orders Speech" given before his colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives.

In the speech, which was also broadcast on C-SPAN, Bartlett quoted extensively from several of America's founding fathers -- including Benjamin Franklin, Patrick Henry, George Washington, John Jay, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson. Bartlett, a former inventor and farmer, also included in the speech various recitals and legal enactments from Congress supporting Christianity in America and its heritage in the formation of the United States government.

Clearly Bartlett is concerned about the trends in the legal system to eliminate God and the Bible from the public forum. Bartlett is also annoyed with what he described as an "educational system that has in large measure tried to rewrite our history" concerning America's religious heritage.

Bartlett pointed out numerous examples that are commonly overlooked by both the media and the education community:

• The Declaration of Independence specifically refers to God three times within its context.
• The founding fathers wanted "freedom of religion, which is very different from freedom from religion." As Bartlett pointed out, "regardless of how we feel about it today, the historical fact is [in the first 160 years of America's existence] there was no separation of church and state. There was a clear denial of the right of the state to empower any one religion [or church -- i.e., the Church of England] so that it could oppress the people."
• President George Washington declared: "It is impossible to govern the world without God and the Bible. Of all dispositions and habits that lead to political prosperity, our religion and morality are indispensable supporters."
• According to Bartlett, "thirty-four percent of all quotes from the writings of the founding fathers were direct, word-for-word quotes from the Bible." The founding fathers, he said, understood the need for a biblical direction and established a nation based on its underlying principles.
• The American Bible Society was started by an act of Congress; John Adams, the second president of the United States, was its first leader.
• For more than 100 years, the Bible was required reading in U.S. public schools. Bartlett reminded his peers that "in 1782, the United States Congress voted [in favor of the] resolution: 'The Congress of the United States recommends and approves the Holy Bible for use in our schools.'"
• For more than 150 years, the Supreme Court routinely followed precedent and supported Christianity and America's Christian heritage.
• French statesman Alexis de Tocqueville, upon his study of America's early success, is quoted as saying: "But not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because America is good -- and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great."
• Almost half of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were former or acting members of the clergy.
• Twelve of the original 13 colonies incorporated the entire Ten Commandments into their civil and criminal code.
• Much of the founders' moral code in government was based on ethics found in the Bible, including the Ten Commandments. Even some of the buildings that house the government today (i.e., the Supreme Court and the U.S. Capitol) feature stone etchings and quotations from the Bible.

With his speech, Bartlett repeatedly questioned the courts' wisdom in seeking to eliminate the Bible and Christianity's influence in the public forum. On June 17, 1963, the Supreme Court outlawed Bible reading in America's public schools. Since that time, as Congressman Bartlett pointed out, much has occurred negatively in the culture.

He illustrated that observation with some facts. "In 1960, a survey found that 53% of America's teenagers never kissed [while] 92% of teenagers in America said they were virgins." Just 30 years later [in another survey], "75% of American high school students were sexually active by [age] 18."

Some of Bartlett's opponents may question this conclusive "leap" -- but many pro-family advocates argue that America's youth need moral guidance. Bartlett pointed out there is little or no moral guidance being brought to children -- even through the nation's schools. Current restrictions in the educational system make it difficult for anyone in education to teach between right and wrong or good and evil.

In his concluding remarks, Bartlett asked: "Are we better off today? Since we banished God from public life ... and allowed a vocal group of humanist activists to tell us our faith is dangerous to [the] liberties of this nation -- are we better off?"