Three Secular Reasons Why America Should Be Under God
by William J. Federer

Christians believe that America, and all other nations, are "under God," whether they like it or not. But according to William J. Federer, even atheists have a vested interest in religion. "Though much media coverage is given to the minority of atheists who want to force their views on the majority of Americans, this book examines the reasons America's founders referenced God and the implications if these references are removed," writes Federer.

First, this nation was founded on the idea that men are "endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights." As President John F. Kennedy said in his inaugural address, "the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God." If there is no God, Federer argues, "your rights cannot come from anywhere else except from the 'generosity of the state'"-and the state may not be so "generous" forever.

Second, the great truth that "all men are created equal" comes to grief when there is no public recognition of God. Daniel Webster called the Bible "a book which teaches man his own individual responsibility, his own dignity, and his equality with his fellow-man." Equality, like liberty, follows logically from the existence of a Creator who made men equal and gave them dignity and rights. Charles Darwin certainly did not believe in equality, or in the value of every human life. Margaret Sanger, Adolph Hitler, Joseph Stalin, and Mao Zedong caused the deaths of millions because they did not believe in God, and did not believe that all human lives were equal and valuable.

Federer's third "reason why America should be under God" is that self-government depends on citizens who believe in a "future state of rewards and punishments." John Adams wrote, "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." A godless public requires too many laws, while a godly public can be governed with few laws.

About half the book consists of brief quotations from every state constitution, and from every presidential inaugural address. These quotations show how consistently Americans have recognized God in public life. Federer believes with Ronald Reagan that "if we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a Nation gone under."

(Amerisearch, 2008, 171 pp., $19.99)