Thanks to the constitutional mandate of Article I, Section 5, Paragraph 3, every debate and every vote that has taken place in Congress from 1774 to the present is recorded in the public records. As a result of this mandate, the american people are able to read exactly what happened when Congress first moved into the Capitol.
On December 4, 1800, just a few weeks after moving into the building, Congress decided that the Capitol would also serve as a church building. This fact is not only recorded in the Annals of Congress but also confirmed in the journals of various representatives and senators serving at that time.
For example, Senator John Quincy Adams recorded on Octoboer 30, 1803:
Attended public service at the Capitol where Mr. Ratoon, an Episcopalian clergyman from Baltimore preached a sermon.
Just a week earlier he'd written:
Religious service is usually performed on Sundays at the Treasury Office and at the Capitol. I went both forenoon and afternoon to the Treasury.
Thus began the longstanding - and congressionally sanctioned - practice of using government buildings as houses of worship.
I think everyone would agree that this would not happen today. What has happened to turn our government and country away from the dreams of our forefathers.
1 comment:
I haven't read the book yet! But you're right - our country isn't the same as it once was! Somewhere Christians have lied down and believed the lie of separation of church and state.
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