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To the Editor:
Tuesday, Feb. 22, is George Washington’s birthday. In the past it was a separate national holiday. Now Washington’s birthday is honored along with the other presidents on President’s Day which is celebrated on Monday, Feb. 21, this year. An encyclopedia said, “In the history of the world no man has done more to help any country than Washington did to help America.” As we celebrate Washington’s birthday it would be good to reflect on some of the wise things he said and believed in. Washington warned against national debt. If we had listened to Washington we could have had a great economy instead of one were the price of everything is going up. The price of a little bread will soon cost a day’s pay. Washington promoted Christianity. In his speech on May 12, 1779, Washington claimed what children needed to learn above all was the religion of Jesus Christ.
The forgotten history of George Washington is the fact Washington was a dedicated Christian who gave God the credit for his success and for protecting him. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Marshall said, “Washington was a sincere believer in the Christian faith, and a truly devout man.” Both Washington’s nephew and adopted daughter said Washington had daily prayer in his library both morning and evening and was seen kneeling with a Bible open before him. Tim LaHaye said, “that Washington was a devout believer in Jesus and had accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior is demonstrated by reading his 24 page personal prayer book written in his own handwriting.”
Washington told how God protected him during a battle. It happened before the Revolutionary War while Washington was fighting in the French and Indian wars. In one battle, four bullets passed through his coat and two horses were shot out from under him yet he was unhurt. Years later, Washington met an Indian who he had fought during that battle who said he had shot at Washington 14 times and then gave up shooting at him because he believed God was protecting him. The Weather Channel had a special in which they said the weather saved Washington and his army on more then one occasion. A thick fog saved him and his army. God controls the weather so God saved Washington and his army.
Cicero, Roman philosopher and statesman said, “to be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child.” In communist countries the people joke that history keeps changing. Many evil people want to re-write or change American history and slander and demonize all of our forefathers. In his book “1984” George Orwell said, “Who controls the past controls the future. Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. The past was erased, the erasure was forgotten, the lie became the truth!” George Orwell said, “The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history!”
One lie those attacking our founders say is they were all for slavery. Strangely these same people support the slavery of the unborn also called abortion and they do nothing to stop human trafficking. These hypocrites support or refuse to fight modern day slavery. They need to first remove the log from their eye before attacking the speck in our founders eye. All races have been slaves and have owned slaves. There were over 3500 free blacks that owned black slaves in 1830. It was against the law for our founders to free slaves they inherited. America couldn’t end slavery before they got independence from England in 1776 because the King wouldn’t allow them to. Over half of American states passed laws abolishing slavery by 1804 which was the largest group of people who had voluntarily freed their slaves up to that point in history. This was 30 years before Christian Wilbur Wilberforce ended slavery in England.
The Bible teaches it’s important to remember history. The most important thing to remember is Jesus died for our sin and arose from the dead. Jesus says Christians should take the Lord’s Supper to remember His sacrifice. Proverbs 22:28 says, “remove not the ancient landmarks, which thy fathers have set.” Elizabethton has been blessed because we didn’t remove the covered bridge. The history books need to take into account the large part played by Christianity in American government. The decisions of our first president affects us even today and he deserves to be remembered. We are in debt to George Washington and our other founding fathers. We owe the most to Jesus for protecting and guiding them. Put your trust in Jesus and let Jesus forgive your past and change your future! Ultimately everything good we have or ever will have we owe to Jesus our Lord and Savior and coming King!

D.D. Nave
Elizabethton