Mississippi 1998

STATE OF MISSISSIPPI

Office of the Governor

A Proclamation

By

Governor Kirk Fordice

Whereas, John Adams wrote, “The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were . . . the general principles of Christianity”; and

Whereas, Noah Webster taught, “The religion which has introduced civil liberty is the religion of Christ and His Apostles . . . This is genuine Christianity and to this we owe our free constitutions of government”; and

Whereas, Thomas Jefferson warned, “Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God?”; and

Whereas, James Madison proclaimed, “And to the same Divine Author of every good and perfect gift we are indebted for all those privileges and advantages, religious as well as civil, which are so richly enjoyed in this favored land”; and

Whereas, Benjamin Rush encouraged, “Let the children . . . be carefully instructed in the principles and obligations of the Christian religion. This is the most essential part of education”; and

Whereas, George Washington exhorted, “We ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation which disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained”; and

Whereas, commemorating America’s Christian heritage provides an opportunity for us to thank God for His “Blessings of Liberty,” to ask His help in reinsuring “domestic Tranquility,” and to recognize our national need to reaffirm our “reliance on the protection of divine Providence” in keeping America a “Free and Independent” nation:

Now, therefore, I, Kirk Fordice, Governor of the State of Mississippi, hereby proclaim November 22-28, 1998, AMERICA’S CHRISTIAN HERITAGE WEEK in the State of Mississippi.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of Mississippi to be affixed.

DONE in the City of Jackson, February 25, 1998,  in the two hundred and twenty-second year of the United States of America.

 KIRK FORDICE

 GOVERNOR