Dwight D. Eisenhower Opened His Presidency With a Prayer

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On January 20, 1953, Dwight D. Eisenhower was sworn in as President of the United States.

President Eisenhower opened his inaugural address with a short prayer in which he asked God for wisdom and divine blessing, saying,

Give us, we pray, the power to discern clearly right from wrong and allow all our words and actions to be governed thereby and by the laws of this land.

Especially we pray that our concern shall be for all the people, regardless of station, race or calling. May cooperation be permitted and be the mutual aim of those who…hold to differing political faiths, so that all may work for the good of our beloved country and Thy glory.

You can watch President Eisenhower’s inaugural prayer below.

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Atheist Group Demands AR Governor Stop Sharing Bible Verses

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Last week the atheist Freedom From Religion Foundation based in Wisconsin sent a letter to Governor Asa Hutchinson demanding he stop sharing scripture verses via social media.

The letter reads in part,

We understand that every Sunday, you post or tweet an image with a bible verse from your official, government Facebook page and Twitter account.

But it is not for the government in our secular republic to promote one religious book over others or to promote religion over nonreligion. Doing so violates the Establishment Clause of the Constitution.

We’ve written before about similar efforts to purge religious references from public life in Arkansas.

Here’s the bottom line:

By most accounts, the Bible is the single most widely-read book in the history of human civilization.

In Europe and America, public speakers, writers, and elected officials have quoted it routinely for centuries.

The President of the United States typically takes the Oath of Office on a Bible.

Elected officials often share well-known, popular, or inspirational quotes via their official social media accounts.

Given all of this, why shouldn’t an elected official be able to post a Bible verse on Facebook or Twitter?

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Rebuilt Ten Commandments Monument One Step Closer to Capitol Lawn

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In 2015 Sen. Jason Rapert (R – Bigelow) sponsored a law authorizing a monument of the Ten Commandments on the Arkansas State Capitol Grounds. It was placed on the Capitol lawn on June 27, 2017.

Less than 24 hours later, a man plowed a vehicle into the monument, completely destroying it.

In late October we learned the monument had been reconstructed and would be placed on the Capitol lawn in the near future.

Today a subcommittee of the Capitol Arts and Grounds Commission approved a proposal to reinstall the monument and make it more secure by adding concrete barriers to prevent a vehicle from destroying it again.

The Associated Press reports a public hearing on the proposed changes will be held this week before they go before the full commission next week.

Meanwhile, the ACLU has said it plans to file a lawsuit against the State of Arkansas as soon as the monument is back on the Capitol Grounds. They say the monument is unconstitutional and has no place on public property — even though the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled an identical monument constitutional in Texas.

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