AMERICAN MINUTE
Bill Federer

"DECEMBER 7, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy - the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan." Thus spoke President Franklin D. Roosevelt following the attack on Pearl Harbor by over 350 Japanese aircraft. Five American battleships and three destroyers were sunk, 400 planes were destroyed and over 4,000 were killed or wounded. President Roosevelt concluded: "No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might, will win through to absolute victory...We will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us." FDR continued: "Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory, and our interests are in grave danger. With confidence in our armed forces - with the unbounding determination of our people - we will gain the inevitable triumph - so help us God." In 2004, the World War II Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C. Of the over 500 words inscribed on the Memorial, FDR's phrase "So help us God" was not included, nor was any was other reference to faith.

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AMERICAN MINUTE
Bill Federer

His death went unnoticed, as he died the same day John F. Kennedy was shot, but his works are some of the most widely read in English literature. Originally an agnostic, he served in World War I and became a professor at Oxford and Cambridge. He credits his Catholic friend and fellow writer, J.R.R. Tolkien, author of "Lord of the Rings," as being instrumental in bringing him to faith in Christ. Among his most notable books are: The Screwtape Letters; Miracles; The Problem of Pain; Abolition of Man; and The Chronicles of Narnia, which include The Lion, Witch and Wardrobe. His name was C.S. Lewis, born NOVEMBER 29, 1898. Over 200 million copies of his books have sold worldwide and, 40 years after his death, continue to sell a million copies a year. In Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis wrote: "All that we call human history - money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery - is the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy." C.S. Lewis wrote: "Christianity...is a religion you could not have guessed...It is not the sort of thing anyone would have made up. It has just that queer twist about it that real things have."

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For News & Commentary from a Christian World View, visit Crosswalk.com.