Over this July 4 weekend, the U.S. celebrated the it’s 250 birthday this. On that day in 1776, the original 13 colonies, determined to separate from Great Britain, signed the Declaration of Independence.
The historical document says, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
The Pledge of Allegiance was authored by Francis Bellamy in August 1892 and is spoken today in school across America. It reads, “I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
Talking about the U.S. on American Family Radio (AFR)'s "Today's Issues" program, Dr. Frank Turek said our nation is the first country in the history of the world that grounded its rights in God rather than a king.
"We don't have a king. We have rights granted to us by our Creator," Turek says.
Turek added that rights in the First Amendment exist largely because of Christianity.
"They are not rights unless God exists because there are no rights unless God exists. What other worldview is going to protect rights other than Christianity? Islam isn't," Turek states.
Some people and politicians have argued that many of the nation's founders were deists.
Turek does not agree with those opinions. After reading the Declaration, he says its not a deistic document.
"A deist is somebody who believes God created the universe and left it. The Supreme Judge of the world is not somebody that leaves the universe. Divine Providence is God interacting with people. Unalienable rights is God granting rights to people because he cares about what goes on here. It's not deism. It's theism,” Turek says. “If there was no Christianity, there would be no America."
God is referenced four times in the Declaration of Independence.
