A Modern Woman's Perspective On The Kingdom of God on Earth


January 5, 2013

Daughters of the American Revolution: Fairly Criticized or Falsely Accused?

    Earlier this week, a Fox News contributor reported that the venerable Daughters of the American Revolution have attempted to remove Jesus Christ from their 2011 publication of their Rituals and Ceremonial Missals (Convocations and Prayers listed as a guideline for Chaplains).  My first reaction, was "How dare they!"  Then I remembered that nothing can be taken at face value where the Media is concerned.
     I could not imagine that this patriotic service organization for women who are directly descended from a person involved in the United States' War for Independence would ever consider denying the Christian foundation of this nation.  After all, they work primarily to promote historic preservation, education and patriotism; and removing Jesus from that equation just would not be accurate.  Yet, here is a "conservative" reporter supposedly outing one of the lynchpins of American nationalism. Starnes reports that members told him that the DAR leadership made the changes to be politically correct and to accommodate new members of other religious beliefs.
     For their part, the DAR initially made no comment, and then a State Chaplain released this statement:  "The newly updated Missal and Ritual was written to reflect the desire to be considerate of other belief systems.  The Chaplain General uses scripture from both the Old and New Testaments and prays in the name of God without referencing Christ. Chapter and district chaplains need to follow the example set by the National Society.”
     I decided to do a little research myself and see just what all the fuss was about.  At first glance, the latest publication of the Rituals and Missals available online, lists an impressive directory of Rituals, including the Pledge of Allegiance (in which "under God" is recited), the American's Creed, the Preamble to the Constitution, and a multitude of benedictions and prayers.  Throughout the prayers, the Chaplains call upon "the name of the Lord", and they end prayers "in your Holy Name".  They pray to "Our Heavenly Father", "God Almighty", "Gracious Lord", "Eternal God" and other variations.  At first glance, this seems to be in line with Christian traditions.
     Then I decided to do a little comparison between publications from different years.  I took a look at "George Washington's Prayer For His Country."  This has been included in publications down through the decades and I wanted to see if there had been any considerable changes in the substance of this prayer.  Here is the prayer as stated in the latest 2011 publication:
     Bless our land with honorable industry, sound learning, and pure manners. Save us from violence, discord and confusion; from pride and arrogancy and from every evil way. Defend our liberties and fashion into one united people the multitudes brought out of many kindreds and tongues. Endue with the spirit of wisdom those whom in Thy name we entrust the authority of government, that there be peace and justice at home, and that through obedience to Thy law, we may show forth Thy praise among the nations of the earth. Amen.
     I then decided to take a look at this same prayer as illustrated in 2001.  It was printed exactly the same, word for word.  But I was still curious to see if our Founding Father's prayer for his country had substantially changed within the last quarter century.  So I took a look at their Centennial 1991 publication:
     Almighty God, we make our earnest prayer that thou wilt keep the United States in thy holy protection; that thou wilt incline the hearts of the citizens to cultivate a spirit of subor­dination and obedience to government; and entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another and for their fellow citizens of the United States at large. And finally, that thou wilt most graciously be pleased to dispose us all to do justice, to love mercy and to demean ourselves with that charity, humility and pacific temper of mind which were the characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed religion, and without a humble imitation of whose example in these things we can never hope to be a happy nation. Grant our supplication, we beseech thee, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
     Aha!  There it is!  And if you are capable of any kind of critical thinking you can see a change in the meaning of our First President's prayer.  Over the last twenty years, the value of George Washington's prayer has changed from a Biblical overtone of cultivating the hearts of individual citizens in justice, loving mercy, charity and humility towards a collective multitude that lives in peace and harmony at home and among the nations of the earth.  Furthermore, in 1991, the Chaplain would have asked for these blessings through Jesus Christ.  Not so in 2001 and 2011.  An unnamed God was asked to bestow the more secular blessings of hard work, education and freedom from violence and pride, which have become the hallmarks of American arrogancy among the Left.
     I then decided to visit an earlier time in our country's history and read through the 1953 DAR publication.  There was an abundance of invocations that Chaplains had at their disposal.  They overwhelmingly called upon the name of Jesus.  This is just one example:
     Dear Heavenly Father, we come before Thee humbly seeking Thy forgiveness for our many shortcomings. We are not able to comprehend Thy great power and love for Thy children, but we feel that whatsoever we ask of Thee through Jesus our Lord Thou cans't give it to us if it is Thy will. We thank Thee for the many blessings we enjoy daily. We thank Thee for our beloved country which is in such peril at the present time. 0 Father, give to the men and women elected to lead us wisdom and understanding and a willingness to ask Thy help that right and Christianity may prevail, and be an example to the rest of the world. In Jesus' name. Amen.
     And if you desire, you can go all the way back to the 1903 publication of the DAR Rituals, which reads like an evangelical revival and Fourth of July celebration all rolled into one!  But in the end, I come away from this controversy with the sad realization that even the Daughters of the American Revolution have slid down the slippery slope of political correctness.  While they maintain that they are in keeping with the original intent of the organization and honoring freedom of religion, which was one of the most important facets of American independence, I find the statement by the President General of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution to be of a compromising nature:

"The Executive Officers feel that the revised Ritual and Missals can be used by members of any faith, substituting words as they wish, changing the prayers to suit the needs of the meeting in which they are being used. At our Executive meetings, knowing that we are all Christian, we pray in the Name of Jesus. When those are present whose faith is unknown, we pray in God’s name. However, we all recognize that when Christians pray in God’s name we are, indeed, praying in Christ’s name because the Christian faith believes in the Trinity of God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We also understand that our Jewish members know God as Jehovah or Yahweh, Muslim members use the name Allah for God and there are those whose spirituality may have a still different higher power or none at all."
     Were there Muslims fighting in the Revolutionary War?  History tells us that one Peter Saleem was a slave from Africa who fought bravely at Bunker Hill.  I am sure there were others, not of the Christian faith, who took part in securing our independence.  But it is a fact that the majority of patriots were of the Christian faith.  While I cannot disagree that the faiths of all Revolutionary patriots should be honored, I find it disgraceful that the name of Jesus Christ has slowly been eliminated from all official ceremonies.   The DAR is adamant that they are not censoring prayers.  On the surface, that is a correct statement.  But they are insincere if they claim Jesus Christ is still a part of stated prayers and devotions.  Chaplains are allowed to insert His name whenever they deem it "appropriate for the occasion and the audience."  My question is this:  Since when is His name ever inappropriate?  And why has His name been removed from the historical prayers and benedictions of the organization?  It is one thing to be inclusive of a patriot's different faith.  It is heresy to exclude the Founding Father's stated faith in Jesus Christ.

1 John 3:23     "And this is His command: to believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as He commanded us."
    


   

11 comments:

  1. Isn't it amazing how the argument is ALWAYS presented as "We just want to be respectful of other religions."? Yet, they show such disrespect for Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God .... refusing to even mention His name?!?! It makes me so sad.

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  2. The NSDAR continues to deny the removal of the name of Jesus and words that specifically reference Christianity. The DAR Daughters protesting the new Ritual and Missal have never denied that it contains many prayers with various references to God, which are used as generic names for any god or God. The facts are:
    • It is the deliberate omission of the actual name "Jesus" and "Jesus Christ" that we Christian Daughters find very offensive, as "Jesus" is the name God directed Mary to name His Son (Mathew 1:21) and the Bible directs us to pray in His name .
    • The name "Jesus" appears only once, and that is in a parenthetical statement about Easter. The name "Jesus Christ" is nowhere to be found!
    • The name "Christ" appears only three times, twice in the body of two of the five prayers for Easter and in a parenthetical statement "the Christ child" for Christmas.
    • Also offensive is the deletion or the altering of every prayer or poem having words that reference a Christian symbol or Christianity in some way. What is vital and dear to Christians has been purged from the Ritual and Missal in the name of so-called "inclusion."

    Every meeting of DAR begins with the DAR ritual led by the chaplain. The official guide book provided by the DAR for chaplains is the Ritual and Missal. In the front of both the old and new Ritual and Missals, there is a statement reminding Daughters to be considerate of members of all faith beliefs.
    • We know of no other administration that has given a specific example about how they pray. (Sept. 2011, President General's Blog)
    • Although the President General's later blogs confirmed that there is no mandate directing Daughters how to pray, concern remains for many members that political correctness has found its way into the NSDAR. Political correctness is political and divisive, as this issue now well illustrates. Our Bylaws forbid anything political. We heartily embrace Daughters of all faiths, beliefs, and life-styles. What we do not accept are the radical changes that exclude our Judeo-Christian beliefs, the very root and heart of American liberty, because others are offended by them.

    It is also a fact that in the new Ritual and Missal oaths to the Constitution, a promise to respect the Flag, and the singing of the National Anthem were omitted.
    • After we brought this matter to the attention of the Administration, the President General issued statements that these omissions would be corrected with the next printing. When will that be?
    • It is another fact that two patriotic hymns have been deleted from a ritual. There has been no indication that these omissions will be corrected with the next printing.

    Previous Ritual and Missals were compiled by appointed Chaplain Generals, were revised for each new administration, and had contributions by state chaplains. The new book dispenses with this tradition.
    • The newly revised book can be used for many future generations. If this method now replaces the former tradition, a permanent version should still reflect the legacy of our DAR founders. They entrusted their legacy to administrations that would follow them.
    • While placing some older versions on the DAR website is a step in the right direction, many members may not know about them or be able to view them.

    The new Ritual and Missal must be recalled and reprinted to correct all omissions if the peace of our Society is to be restored. Otherwise, Christian Daughters have no choice but to resign their membership.

    Unfortunately, because this Administration denied us our freedom of speech to discuss these changes to the Ritual and Missal among the membership at large, Daughters have been forced to take the matter public, and we are thankful to FOX and FRIENDS for breaking the story.

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    1. THANK YOU for bringing your experience to this website! You have validated what I strongly believed was a deliberate and carefully crafted method of eliminating Jesus from the DAR. It always starts small, doesn't it? Just changing the name shouldn't offend anyone, right? But the obvious omission of Jesus in favor of political correctness is not to be tolerated from an organization that purports to embrace our historical legacy and liberties. Thank you for giving us the truth!

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    2. I just wish I could post the actual scanned pages as proof.

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    3. The NSDAR's denials are astounding and are in truth not denials but deflections. Despite all efforts at obfuscation, covertly striking out the name of Jesus & relegating Christianity to an optional status is a major, deeply disturbing change, not to mention historically divisive. The accusations are true by reference to the irrefutable evidence of the documents themselves. The 2008 Ritual edition and all other previous editions include dozens of references to Jesus Christ in prayers & benedictions. The current 2011 Ritual mentions Christ only in the context of optional "religious observance" prayers for Christmas & Easter, which are only identified as "a Christian celebration" - no other mention of Jesus or Christ at all. IMPORTANT INFORMATION: Using your DAR member # go to www.dar.org then go to National Publications and then click Ritual and Missal & download & view ALL the Ritual and Missals from 1903 to 2011. Herein lies the irrefutable evidence of the documents themselves

      This is also a helpful link
      http://teapartyorg.ning.com/profiles/blog/show?id=4301673%3ABlogPost%3A1221504

      Thank you, Debra French Bloom, Nashville, TN

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  3. Interestingly, those who are screaming and protesting for tolerance are the least tolerant of others. As I've stated on other pages, this is nothing more than a lesson taken from the Liberal Handbook on how to dismember America bit by bit, piece by piece.

    The Government says keep Christ, Religious quotes and Crosses out of Government funded facilities, yet the Government is demanding that churches and other Christian based institutions acknowledge same sex marriage (which goes against the Bible) under the guise of creating "equality" for all. Nothing could be further from the truth. Mandates and forcing laws into the American ideology has been on the agenda for some time...at least since the 1960's.

    Unfortunately, the DAR is apparently infiltrated with nothing more than Liberal female cronies who have been indoctrinated INside the D.C. Beltway and wish to now spread their wealth of knowledge to the masses! The group now disgusts me!!!

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    1. Unfortunately, the DAR has now joined the ranks of sell-outs to the Progressive cause. I am sure that the founders of this once patriotic and faith-based organization would be saddened and disgusted. I know I am.

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  4. I too am a DAR member and have presented the same argument to other members of my chapter. While I've had some support I've also encountered much hostility even with the irrefutable evidence of the 2011 revised "Ritual and Missal". Also, I can't help but believe our 1st Amendment Rights have been infringed upon by the NSDAR Administration's covert actions. Personally, I think President General Merry Ann T Wright should be banned not Jesus Christ. In her statements she deflects from the accusations: She says 1. We want to be inclusive 2. We mention God 3. We include prayers that are Christian in origin. She never denies the accusation, in fact deflection #1 is a tacit admission that the accusation is true, as well as an attempt at justification. And last but not least it's a blatant implication that our DAR Founders somehow got it wrong. www.thepetitionsite.com/820/102/062/dar-recall-the-ritual-and-missal-books-printed-in-december-2011/ Thank you, Debra French Bloom, Nashville, TN

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    1. I applaud you proud and patriotic ladies who are willing to go on record with the truth. Please keep fighting for this worthy cause! Not only are you representing the DAR Founders, the Founding Fathers, but our Lord, Jesus Christ. It is obvious to anyone who knows progressivism when they set it, that the DAR leaders have compromised their organization. To those of you who are fighting to return it to its founding principles, we recognize your efforts and are cheering you on!

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  5. We started meeting in person a few months ago and it was disturbing to hear our Chaplain say an "atheist" prayer. Our Regent is a strong Christian woman and there is a new group that have been bullying her. These woman happen to not be Christian. I was also upset the the NSDAR no longers supports the Tamassee DAR school for children after 100 years-could it be because it is Christian? I recently heard Os Guiness speak at a program called LifeWork - bring Christ into the workplace.His book The Magna Carta of Humanity: Sinai’s Revolutionary Faith and the Future of Freedom reflects the message of a society without God / Jesus.

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    1. The Bible tells us that in the Last Days, man's heart will grow cold toward God/Jesus and we will be lover's of self. We should not be surprised as Christians become "bullied". And bullying will turn into outright persecution as we get closer to Christ's return. Sad but true! We must remain committed to our faith and to being representatives of God's Kingdom on earth. But it's going to get rough!

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