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Christian amendment describes any of several attempts to amend the United States Constitution by inserting explicitly Christian ideas and language. The most powerful such attempt began during the American Civil War and was spearheaded by the National Reform Association. == Initial proposals == In February 1863, during the American Civil War, a coalition of eleven Protestant denominations from seven northern states gathered to discuss the state of the nation. Seeing the Civil War as God's punishment for the omission of God from the Constitution, they discussed a proposed amendment to alter the wording of the Preamble to acknowledge God. The idea that civil governments derive their legitimacy from God, and Jesus in particular, was alleged to be based on Biblical passages such as Psalm 2 and Romans 13. The original draft of the amendment, by Pennsylvania attorney John Alexander, read:〔(The NRA (National Reform Association) and the Christian Amendment ), by Jim Allison〕 The Christian Amendment Movement was founded the next year and quickly renamed the "National Reform Association" with Alexander as its first president. They sent a memorial to Congress formally proposing the following amendment:〔 A delegation from the National Reform Association sought to meet with Abraham Lincoln on February 11, 1864, to solicit his endorsement of the amendment. Lincoln's pastor, Rev. Phineas Gurley, arranged for Lincoln to meet the delegation.〔"(Origin and Progress of the Movement to Secure the Religious Amendment of the Constitution of the United States )", by T. P. Stevenson. ''Proceedings of the National Convention to Secure the Religious Amendment of the Constitution of the United States'' (1872), pp. viii, x.〕 After hearing their petition, Lincoln responded:〔 The proposal was supported by Senators Charles Sumner, B. Gratz Brown and John Sherman, but did not come to a vote in Congress. One member of the National Reform Association, James Pollock, played a role in getting the phrase "In God We Trust" on the two-cent coin in 1864. Another version of the amendment read:〔(A Letter to James Dobson ), by William Gould, ''The Christian Statesman'', September–October 1996.〕 Similar proposals were considered by Congress in 1874, 1896 and 1910, but none passed. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Christian amendment」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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