DECEMBER 7, 1941, A DATE WHICH WILL LIVE IN INFAMY... --- opening statement of Franklin D. Roosevelt's address following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor
On this Memorial Day it seems fitting to give some consideration to a bit of controversy swirling about the WW II Memorial in Washington DC. Emails have been circulating drawing attention to an alleged intentional omission of Franklin Roosevelt’s statement near the close of his speech that he gave following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Perhaps some assume that the entire speech was engraved on the WW II Memorial in Washington DC.
The actual statements taken from FDR’s addess as appearing on the memorial are:
The accusation is that the phrase, “So help us God,” was intentionally omitted. Since most of us were not in on any discussion concerning what would be used or not used from FDR’s address, we don’t know for sure how the selected phrases which appear were chosen and why.
Certainly the last phrase before asking Congress to declare a state of war would have been most meaningful and appropriate -- and it should have appeared on the monument in light of the president's reference to the armed forces -- after all, it is a memorial to those who served in WW II, is it not? FDR said, “With confidence in our armed forces – with the unbounded determination of our people – we will gain the inevitable triumph – so help us God.”
If the preceding phrase would have received any consideration at all as to possibly being engraved on the monument, it likely would have been rejected instantly. A lot of us have a growing suspicion about government in all its facets and how it operates, especially as we see with alarm its intrusion into private organizations and recent efforts to control corporations!
The growing anti-God and anti-Christ spirit is spreading like a vicious malignant out-of-control cancer. So if FDR’s phrase, “So help us God,” had been given a brief consideration, it would have been rejected on the basis of being “offensive” according to warped and idiotic reasoning we hear today in those arenas where God may be mentioned! And we wouldn’t want to risk offending some people who may view the WW II Memorial and see the name of God engraved on it would we?
Anyone out there want to speculate a bit as to how God is going to respond when in an unprecedented crisis in the future the president, along with political and church leaders, issues an appeal to pray and call on God for help? And remember, the nation can be plunged into such a crisis that suddenly masses of people who never gave it a thought previously now decide that praying to God is “the thing to do!”
Take a little walk through Jeremiah 2 and see how one nation of people fared when it was decided that maybe the time had come when they should call out to God for help in a moment of crisis!
Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, and the people whom He has chosen as His own inheritance. The LORD looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men. From the place of His habitation He looks on all the inhabitants of the earth; He fashions their hearts individually; He considers all their works. No king is saved by the multitude of an army; a mighty man is not delivered by great strength. A horse is a vain hope for safety; neither shall it deliver any by its great strength. Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His mercy, to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. --- Psalm 33:12-19
2 comments:
More information on this can be found at Snopes.com.
Yes, I was aware that Snopes had addressed this matter, as did another investigative group which seeks to dispel urban legends, etc. My point is that even if the entire address given by FDR had been placed on the monument, it is most likely the phrase, "So help us God," would have been deliberately omitted. Our government is in such chaos and the dominant attitude is that the mention of God in the public arena is offensive to some people, plus they might initiate a law suit if they have to be exposed to the name of God -- it's getting crazier by the day! That is, until God decides this stupidity has gone on long enough!
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