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Homeland Security: Turn to God in time of terrorism
State law stresses 'dependence on Almighty' for protection from threats
Posted: December 01, 2008
11:40 pm Eastern
WorldNetDaily
To whom should Homeland Security officials turn when faced with terrorist threats?
They should turn to God, according to Kentucky state law.
When Kentucky formed its state Office of Homeland Security in 2006, it listed the department's initial duty as "stressing the dependence on Almighty God as being vital to the security of the Commonwealth."
According to the Lexington Herald-Leader, Homeland Security must proclaim God's protection in its reports. The office also features a plaque at its Emergency Operations Center declaring, "The safety and security of the Commonwealth cannot be achieved apart from reliance upon Almighty God."
State Rep. Tom Riner, D-Louisville, included the stipulation to acknowledge God in an amendment to the legislation. Lawmakers overwhelmingly approved it, according to the report.
The office is now required to put God above all else – including allocation of government grants and threat-risk analysis.
Riner, a Southern Baptist minister, told the Herald-Leader giving God glory for his protection is of utmost importance.
"This is recognition that government alone cannot guarantee the perfect safety of the people of Kentucky," Riner said. "Government itself, apart from God, cannot close the security gap. The job is too big for government."
Under Gov. Ernie Fletcher, Homeland Security mounted the plaque as directed and gave God credit in its annual reports – until last month.
Now the office of current Gov. Steve Beshear is saying it did not know about the plaque. Regardless, Homeland Security Chief Thomas Preston said he has no plans for its removal.
"I will not try to supplant almighty God," Preston said. "All I do is try to obey the dictates of the Kentucky General Assembly. I really don't know what their motivation was for this. They obviously felt strongly about it."
While God is not mentioned on Homeland Security's website or in its mission statement, Riner said he would like to see references to Him.
"We certainly expect it to be there, of course," he said.
But state Sen. Kathy Stein, D-Lexington disagreed. She said the office should concern itself with terrorist threats rather than evangelizing.
"It's very sad to me that we do this sort of thing," she told the Herald-Leader. "It takes away from the seriousness of the public discussion over security, and it clearly hurts the credibility of this office if it's supposed to be depending on God, first and foremost."
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Evangelist seeks national prayer day for economy
'The answer isn't dollars; it's turning back to God'
11:28 pm Eastern
By Drew Zahn, WorldNetDaily
 Bill Keller |
Internet evangelist and host of LivePrayer Bill Keller is petitioning President Bush and Congress to designate Dec. 18 as a national day of prayer and fasting for the economy.
Despite several government attempts to revive a slumping national economy, the financial crisis remains – a fact, Keller contends, that illustrates America's problems aren't economic but spiritual.
"They have tried everything to fix the economy," Keller told WND, "including throwing a few trillion at the problem, and we are no better than when the 'experts' started to try and fix (it)."
"The crisis is a spiritual problem," said Keller in a statement. "The answer to our economic downfall is not an infusion of trillions of dollars, but the humble prayers of forgiveness and repentance for our sin and rebellion against God."
In a YouTube video LivePrayer released in October, Keller declared, "People are looking for answers from their financial advisors, from their stock brokers, from their elected officials, from the men running for president, from the financial pundits on the TV, from the economists in the financial publications – from every place except where the answer is to be found."
"The answer isn't dollars," Keller said, "it's turning back to God."
Now Keller is hoping President Bush will hear his message by calling Americans to pray.
A long historical precedent exists for presidents calling the nation to prayer and fasting. On March 23, 1798, President John Adams issued a proclamation recommending May 9 of that year as a "day of solemn humiliation, fasting and prayer."
"As the safety and prosperity of nations ultimately and essentially depend on the protection and blessing of Almighty God," Adams wrote. He is proclamation called Americans to "acknowledge before GOD the manifold sins and transgressions with which we are justly chargeable as individuals and as a nation; beseeching him, at the same time, of his infinite Grace, through the Redeemer of the world, freely to remit all our offences, and to incline us, by his holy spirit, to that sincere repentance and reformation which may afford us reason to hope for his inestimable favor and heavenly benediction."
President Abraham Lincoln also called for a national day of "humiliation, fasting and prayer" in 1863. In 1952, a joint resolution by Congress, signed by President Truman, declared an annual prayer day, and in 1988, President Reagan declared the first Thursday of every May as the National Day of Prayer.
In his petition to President Bush and Congress, Keller writes, "Our nation is in the midst of an economic crisis that is not going to be solved by the wisdom of men or any amount of money, but only by the grace and mercy of Almighty God."
The petition continues, "We call upon you as the ones the people of the United States have elected to lead our nation, to follow the example of past Presidents and Congress, and call the people of our land to fast and pray for God's favor and blessings on our economy."
Keller's website invites people to sign the petition and states that he is hoping to hand-deliver at least 250,000 signatures to President Bush, House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Dec. 16.
A former businessman convicted of insider trading in 1989, Keller served two years in federal prison, was released and later earned a degree in biblical studies from Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia.
In 1999, Keller launched LivePrayer, which claims to have responded personally to more than 60 million online requests for prayer since its inception and claims its LivePrayer devotional is received daily by over 2.4 million e-mail subscribers.
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