Grateful to God for our Liberties

2025-2026 Bill 4568: Grateful to God for our Liberties - South Carolina Legislature Online

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026
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H. 4568
STATUS INFORMATION
House Resolution
Sponsors: Reps. Magnuson, Chumley, Harris, Edgerton, Frank, Morgan, Lastinger, Long, Sanders, Duncan, Terribile, Kilmartin and Burns
Document Path: LC-0454SA-SA26.docx
Introduced in the House on January 13, 2026
Currently residing in the House
Summary: Grateful to God for our Liberties
HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

Date

Body

Action Description with journal page number

12/16/2025

House

Prefiled

12/16/2025

House

Referred to Committee on
Judiciary

1/13/2026

House

Introduced (
House Journal-page 25
)

1/13/2026

House

Referred to Committee on
Judiciary
(
House Journal-page 25
)

1/15/2026

House

Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Harris,
Edgerton, Frank, Morgan, Lastinger, Long,
Sanders, Duncan, Terribile, Kilmartin

1/29/2026

House

Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Burns

View the latest
legislative information
at the website
VERSIONS OF THIS BILL
12/17/2025

A
house
RESOLUTION

to officially acknowledge that
Jesus Christ is Lord and King of all nations and declare this truth as the
essential limit upon human power and thus the foundation of our republican form
of government.

W
hereas, the South Carolina Constitution presently acknowledges God
as the giver of liberty, with the words in our preamble, "We, the people of the
State of South Carolina, in Convention assembled, grateful to God for our
liberties, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the preservation and
perpetuation of the same"; and

W
hereas, the South Carolina Constitution of 1778 in Articles III and
XXXVIII affirmed five vital truths as undergirding the proper execution of the
laws:

(1) that there is one
eternal God, and a future state of rewards and punishments.

(2) that God is
publicly to be worshipped.

(3) that the
Christian religion is the true religion.

(4) that the holy
scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are of divine inspiration, and are the
rule of faith and practice.

(5) that it is lawful
and the duty of every man being thereunto called by those that govern, to bear
witness to the truth; and

W
hereas, in 1758, the eminent English legal commentator William
Blackstone, whose writings strongly influenced the American Revolution, stated
that "[The] law of nature, being co-eval with mankind and dictated by God
himself, is of course superior in obligation to any other. It is binding over
all the globe, in all countries, and at all times: no human laws are of any
validity, if contrary to this; and such of them as are valid derive all their
force, and all their authority, mediately or immediately, from this original,"
and continued, "the holy scriptures…are found upon comparison to be really a
part of the original law of nature, as they tend in all their consequences to
man's felicity"; and

W
hereas, the timeless Declaration of Independence of 1776 cites "the
Laws of Nature and Nature's God" as the authority to establish an independent
nation on the American shores, honors the "Creator" as the author of
unalienable individual rights such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness, appeals to "the supreme Judge of the World" to examine the hearts of
the signers, and proclaims "a firm reliance on divine providence" for the
coming American victory over the lawlessness of the British king; and

W
hereas, President George Washington rightly declared on October 3rd,
1789, that "it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of
Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to
implore his protection and favor"; and

W
hereas, Congress was prohibited by the First Amendment to the U.S.
Constitution from making an establishment of religion, which has been taken to
create a separation of church and state, but this restriction cannot overturn
the authority of God over civil government, nor was it taken to do so at the
time the First Amendment was ratified; and

W
hereas, the existence of a Creator God with infinite power and
perfect divine character is a self-evident matter of fact and reality known by
every human heart, not a religious proposition; and

W
hereas, without a supreme divine authority as King over governments,
governments become their own kings, and gain boundless power to usurp the
freedoms of the people and to pervert justice; and

W
hereas, the Holy Scriptures manifestly declare that Jesus Christ is
the present Lord and King over every earthly government, for example in Psalm
2:7-12, Matthew 28:18, Acts 10:36, I Corinthians 15:25, Ephesians 1:21,
Colossians 2:10, and Revelation 1:5; and

W
hereas, the Holy Scriptures continue to be regularly cited in
support or opposition of legislation in the General Assembly by members of
every political persuasion; and

W
hereas, despite all these facts it has grown to be considered
controversial or sectarian to acknowledge Jesus Christ as King, the Bible as
authoritative, or even a Creator God as the true source of liberty; and

W
hereas, some organizations opposed to the principles of America's
founding have taken it upon themselves to intimidate legislators, school
districts, and local governments within the state of South Carolina from
recognizing these truths in the public square. Now, therefore,

Be it resolved by the House of
Representatives:

That the members of the South
Carolina House of Representatives, by this resolution, officially acknowledge
that Jesus Christ is Lord and King of all nations and declare this truth as the
essential limit upon human power and thus the foundation of our republican form
of government.

Be it further resolved, the members
reject any attempt to undermine the freedom of legislators, school board
members, and local government officials to point citizens of this State toward
the Holy Scriptures.

Be it further resolved, the members
declare it to be the public policy of the State that our laws will endeavor to
respect the revealed will of the Creator.

Be it further resolved, as
America celebrates the 250th anniversary celebration of our Declaration of
Independence, the members of the House of Representatives reiterate our
confidence in the God-honoring statements within it, along with those within
our past and present state constitutions, and proclaims that the people of
South Carolina are indeed grateful to God for our liberties, in constant hope
that we can preserve and perpetuate the same to future generations.

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This web page was last updated on January 13, 2026 at 2:41 PM