Religious expression central
to America’s heritage, Blackwell says
By Kevin Kelley
Westlake
Published May 10, 2006

Republican candidate for Ohio governor Ken Blackwell speaks Thursday at Church on the Rise in Westlake. (Photo By Kevin Kelley)

The power of prayer can overcome any historical obstacle, Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell told a National Prayer Day gathering Thursday in Westlake.

Just two days after his victory over Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro in the Republican gubernatorial primary, Blackwell told about 175 people at Church on the Rise that America's religious heritage can be found in the nation’s founding documents such as the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

Contrary to recent popular thought, Blackwell said, the Founders believed the public square was an appropriate place for the liberty of religious expression.

“The Founders understood that faith or religious expression was the purest form of the human conscious,” Blackwell said. “The Founders understood that the secret of America was in the freedom of religious expression.”

As the Declaration of Independence states, human rights are not grants from government but gifts from God, Blackwell said.

“It is very difficult to enjoy freedom if you’re dead,” Blackwell said. “So the first obligation of government is to protect innocent life and to provide security to communities.”

Blackwell acknowledged that America has experienced periods of “moral incoherence,” times when “our behavior does not match up with our promise or our ideals.” He cited slavery, Jim Crowism, and Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion, as examples.

“And so all too often,” he said, “We’ve seen in our country’s history that we have created a schism between our ideals and our promise and our practice in a given moment in history.”

But the power of prayer can overcome any historical circumstances, Blackwell said. Using a quote from Martin Luther King Jr., Blackwell called on individuals to be thermostats rather than thermometers, that is, to help set the cultural mores rather than just passively reflect them.

“If you want better schools, if you want safer neighborhoods, if you want leadership of more integrity, then you have to be engaged,” Blackwell said, adding that he believed the most time-tested way of being engaged is through the power of prayer.

People should look to transform the world through prayer more than through government, Blackwell said.

“We live in a time when too many people look to government for the works of God,” he said.

After his talk, Blackwell told reporters an investigation would be conducted concerning the problems the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections experienced counting votes in the May 6 primary.

“We’re going to separate fact from fiction and see what went wrong and prescribe a fix for the future,” the secretary of state said. “This was part of an initial total statewide rollout (of electronic ballots), and elections are not perfect enterprises. They’re human enterprises. And we want to actually see what went wrong and see where the blame can be placed. And more importantly, where we can protect against this happening again.”

Prior to Blackwell’s talk, church members offered prayers for national, state and local leaders. Members of the U.S. Armed Forces were also prayed for.

Church on the Rise Pastor Paul Endrei called prayer “the greatest force on earth.”

“Prayer leads to righteousness and righteousness can exalt a nation,” he said, introductory remarks.

The pastor had strong words of support for Westlake Mayor Dennis Clough, who was investigated by the sheriff's office following revelations that five of his relatives work at a wastewater treatment plant on whose board of trustees Clough sits.

“I just thank God for our great mayor here in the city who has made a difference for over 20 years,” said Endrei, who called Clough a personal friend.

“I don’t think anyone could be in politics .... or be able to do their job, or as we say God’s work on this earth without Him by our side,” Clough said in brief remarks.

“This nation, this country, this city recognizes that God and government are not separate, and they should not be separate,” the mayor said.