STATE OF MINNESOTA
PROCLAMATION
WHEREAS: The preamble to the Constitution of the State of Minnesota states: “We the people of the State of Minnesota, grateful to God for our civil and religious liberty, and desiring to perpetuate its blessings and secure the same to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution”; and
WHEREAS: Benjamin Franklin, at the Constitutional Convention in 1787, observed: “It is impossible to build an empire without our Father’s aid. I believe the sacred writings which say that ‘Except the Lord build the house, they labor to vain that build it’” (Psalm 127:1); and
WHEREAS: George Washington said: “Animated alone by the pure spirit of Christianity, and conducting ourselves as the faithful subjects of our free government, we may enjoy every temporal and spiritual felicity”; and
WHEREAS: Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, wrote: “Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed the conviction that these liberties are the gift of God?”; and
WHEREAS: James Madison, father of the U.S. Constitution, advocated for “the diffusion of the light of Christianity” in our nation in his Memorial and Remonstrance; and
WHEREAS: Patrick Henry, quoting Proverbs 14:34, declared: “Righteousness alone can exalt a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people”; and
WHEREAS: George Mason, in his Virginia Declaration of Rights, forerunner to our U.S. Bill of Rights, affirmed: “It is the mutual duty of all to practice Christian forbearance, love, and charity towards each other”; and
WHEREAS: Many other great statesmen and women in American history drew upon their knowledge of the Christian religion in founding this nation and did not hesitate to express their faith.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, TIM PAWLENTY, Governor of Minnesota, do hereby proclaim the week of November 22 – 28, 2009, as CHRISTIAN HERITAGE WEEK in the State of Minnesota.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of Minnesota to be affixed at the State Capitol this 20th day of November in the year of our Lord two thousand and nine, and of the State the one hundred fifty-first.
TIM PAWLENTY
GOVERNOR
MARK RITCHIE
SECRETARY OF STATE
