By Lauren Bartlett
Features Editor

On Sun., Oct. 11 in the city of Gainesville, Ga., Free Chapel, a mega-church pastored by Jentezen Franklin, hosted a special guest speaker.

Following worship and a special performance of the National Anthem on saxophone from Franklin, presidential candidate Ben Carson was introduced to over 4,000 people.  

After his introduction, Carson then led the crowd in a prayer.  

                  Carson was born in Detroit, Mich., and grew up with his older brother and mother in a poverty stricken area. Once Carson graduated high school, he served in the military and then attended Yale University. He graduated at Yale with a degree in psychology and continued to medical school at the University of Michigan.

                  Carson eventually became the Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery and even surgically separated conjoined twins. After 22 hours of surgery, he was successful in his operation, and both twins survived.

                  Carson told a story during his sermon about during his childhood, his mother would make him and his brother read two books a day and write reports on them, and she would then grade the reports. At the time, however, his mother did not know how to read.

Carson has written six books, and his most recent book was co-written with his wife, Candy Carson.  Their book hit the stands on Oct. 6, shortly before his speech at Free Chapel.

 “People who are not well informed can be very easily manipulated and all it takes is dishonesty from politics, and off you go,” Carson said. “And that I believe is what is happening right now. That is why Candy and I wrote the book, A More Perfect Union.”

Their book focuses on the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

“The Constitution of the United States of America has stood the test of time,” Carson said. “It is one of the most revered documents of any civilization in the history of the world, and it’s because God was involved in putting this country together.”

During his speech, Carson was very focused on maintaining the relationship between God and the United States of America.

Carson said, “Many courtrooms in the land say, ‘In God We Trust.’ Every coin in our pocket, every bill in our wallet says it. So, if it is in our founding documents, in our courts and it’s on our money, yet we’re not supposed to talk about it? What in the world is that? In medicine, it’s called schizophrenia.”

Carson continued to say, “This country is supposed to be of, for and by the people. The government is there to facilitate life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. What’s happened is the government has grown and insinuated itself into part of our lives and now its about them and they dictate to the people, and that’s problematic. We need to make sure we send people to congress who have backbone.”

Carson did not talk about his policies or what he would do if he were to be elected President. He did, however, talk about his love for America.

He ended his speech with saying, “It was Thomas Jefferson who said, ‘People of America would not pay attention, and as a result, the government would grow into our lives and it would begin to control us, but just before we turn into something else, he said, the people of America would awaken and regain control, and I think now is that time.”