The EPOCH Commentary

“Evangelical Perspectives On Current Happenings”

AMERICA'S QUADRICENTENNIAL: AN

"OBSERVANCE" NOT A "CELEBRATION,"

A VICTIM OF "POLITICAL CORRECTNESS"

400 years ago, on April 26, 1607, three small sailing ships, the Susan Constant, the Discovery and the Godspeed, landed at what is now known as Virginia Beach. They had been at sea for just over 3 months, and the minister assigned to the voyage, Robert Hunt, declared 3 days of fasting and prayer. Then on April 29 they stepped ashore, and their first act was to erect a cross as they claimed this new land in the name of God.

A few days later they traveled up what is now known as the James River, and there they established Jamestown as the capitol of the new colony, and "began thereon in the name of God to erect a fortresse." One of the colonists, Richrd Hakluyt, wrote concerning their purpose, "Wee shall by planting there inlarge the glory of the Gospel, and from England plante sincere religion, and provide a safe and a sure place to receave people from all partes of the worlds that are forced to flee for the truthe of God's worde." In those few words he set forth the principles upon which the future United States of America would be based to provide a safe and secure haven for all who would seek to worship God according to His word.

Robert Hunt, the first minister of Jamestown, prior to his untimely death just about a year after landing, conducted regular church serrvices and daily prayer meethngs. It was upon the principles established by those hardy colonists that this nation was founded, and grew to become a world-wide symbol of freedom, a nation built upon these truths, that "all men are created equal, and are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights."

The 400th anniversary is surely something to celebrate, but through the intervening years something has happened to the original American ideal. In earlier years, each anniversary of the founding of the Jamestown colony was celebrated: the Centennial, the Bicentennial, even the Semiquincentennial (250th) . . . but this year the officials in charge of "Jamestown 2007" have banned the use of the word "celebration," and have substituted the word "observance." They have admitted to being ashamed for what was, in their minds, an "invasion." The new Virginia Governor, Tim Kaine has declared that the previous celebrations "did not tell the whole story." To make sure the revisionist story is told he appointed a panel including Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and Otis Moss, who said that America needs to fix "the propaganda of history," and that the Jamestown colonists were guilty of "a holocaust and lynchings."

In other words, America's 400th annivrsary celebration has been made subservient to the present day cult of "political correctness." The nation's liberal media has been quick to join in the denigration of these Christian founding principles. The New York Times in speaking of the swampy land where Jamestown was built, described settlement as "a town which disappeared into the mud," and the Virginia Gazette wrote, "For a whole year or more we shall celebrate the fact that a bunch of British buffoons who knew nothing of what they were doing colonized a swamp for the sake of Christianizing Indians."

One wonders if we should send word to Her Majesty Queen Eilzabeth II, who is planning to come to America to join in the celebration ("observance") of the founding of the first permanent English settlement in North America, and the beginning of the American nation. And one wonders if the U.S. Congress should be chastised for having passed the Jamestown 400th Commemoration Commission Act in the year 2000. And perhaps President Bush should rethink that document he signed, proclaiming the year 2007 as the 400th Anniversary of Jamestown . . . the portion of that Proclamation reproduced here is indicative of the importance the President attaches to this 400th Anniversary of the initial settlement in what was to become the Unted States of America:

<>Four centuries ago, after a long journey,a small group of colonists stepped boldly onto the shores of the New World, and established the first permanent English settlement in North America. During the 400th anniversary of Jamestown, America honors the early pioneers whose epic of endurance and courage started the story of our nation.

<>Much has changed in the 400 years since that three sided fort was raised on the banks of the James River. Today we are a strong and growing nation of more than 300 million, and we are blessed to live in a land of plenty during a period of great prosperity. The long struggle that started at Jamestown has inspired generation s of Americans. Advancing the right to live, work and worship in liberty is the mission that created our country, the honorable achievement of our ancestors, and the calling of our time.

<>NOW,THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim 2007 as the 400th Anniversary of Jamestown. I encourage all Americans to commemorate this milestone by honoring the courage of those who came before us, participating in appropriate programs and celebrations, and visiting this historic site with family and friends.

<>IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this sixth day of April, in the year of our Lord two thousand and seven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-first.

GEORGE W. BUSH

The indisputable fact is this, regardles of what the liberal theories of political correctness would have us believe, America was founded as a Christian nation. The initial colony in Jamestown made its first act upon stepping ashore to erect a cross and to kneel in prayer. Thirteen years later when the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth they declared in the Mayflower Compact their goal of establishing a colony for the glory of God and the advancement of the Christian faith. In the Declaration of Independence, the founding fathers affirmed that their purpose was to conform this new nation to the guidance of God and to accept His will and plan for His people. The recently promulgated theory that America was founded as a secular nation is not true. In this year 2007 we should give thanks to God for the faith and determination of men of God who, in the Declaration of Independence, based upon their firm reliance on Divine Providence, pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to establish this nation . . . and let us honor those Jamestown colonists who 400 years ago, despite all hardships, planted the settlement which grew into today's United States of America.

Afterthoughts . . .

A word from the Vatican: there is no question that since the days of the Reformation there has been a wide gulf between Protestantism and Catholicism on certain Theological matters, and this is not to suggest that gulf is not justified. But on certain issues the Vatican holds to positions in which Conservative Evangelical Christians can rejoice. This past week Archbishop Angelo Amato, who heads the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, spoke in no uncertain terms about evils which are presented by the media as "expressions of human progress," and listed among those evils abortion clinics, which he termed "slaughterhouses of human beings," euthanasia and same-sex marriages, linking them to "parliaments of so-called civilized nations where laws contrary to the nature of human beings are being promulgated." Amato is the second highest doctrinal official for the Vatican, and is said to be very close to Pope Benedict XVI.