Free unPHILtered: The Way I See It by Phil Robertson Page A

us—that money can solve our problems.
    I understand that a political structure is, in fact, going to be what ends up steering a country in the way it should go—or at least the way the politicians want to make it go. While some issues can be politically fixed, I believe spiritual, godly men would be much more effective politicians and lawmakers than ungodly men. The reason the current political parties rarely, if ever, change their minds is because there is no gospel in any of their arguments—none! Hey, Washington, DC, quit shoveling us horse manure, repent, and turn to God, and our nation might survive.
    Our founding fathers were godly men and created thegreatest republic in the history of mankind. It only took us two hundred and thirty-eight years to screw it up! Great men like Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Daniel Webster knew that morals and religion were necessary to form the government they were establishing. George Washington, the very first president of the United States, said in a Thanksgiving proclamation in New York on October 3, 1789: “It is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the Providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor: and whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint Committee, requested me ‘to recommend to the People of the United States, a day of public Thanksgiving and Prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.’ ”
    Washington, who was one of our greatest presidents and generals, repeatedly talked about God’s blessings on America throughout his life. In his farewell address on September 19, 1796, he said: “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness.” Washington believed religion and morality were the pillars on which America would stand and flourish. Well, they were forthe first two hundred years of our country’s existence, but it’s not that way anymore.
    Washington wasn’t the only founding father who believed religion and morality would be the backbone of America. John Adams, the second U.S. president, wrote to the officers of the First Brigade of the Third Division of the Militia of Massachusetts on October 11, 1798: “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any others.” In an August 28, 1811, letter to Dr. Benjamin Rush, Adams also wrote: “Religion and virtue are the only foundations, not only of republicanism and all free government, but of social felicity under all governments and in all the combinations of human society.”
    And there were others. In a speech at Plymouth, Massachusetts, on December 22, 1820, Daniel Webster, a U.S. senator and secretary of state, said: “Whatever makes men good Christians, makes them good citizens.” John Jay, the first chief justice of the United States, wrote in an October 12, 1816, letter to Pennsylvania lawmaker John Murray: “Real Christians will abstain from violating the rights of others, and therefore will not provoke war. Almost all nations have peace or war at the will and pleasure of rulers whom they do not elect, and who are not always wise and virtuous. Providence has given to our people the choice of theirrulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest, of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.”
    Abraham Lincoln, our sixteenth president and the man who fought to end slavery in America, said in his farewell speech on February 11, 1861: “Without the assistance of that Divine Being, who ever attended [George