Posted on 02/20/2024 6:20:07 PM PST by ducttape45
Does America’s freedom and liberty last only as long as its morality?
In addition to establishing a representative republic with all sorts of checks and balances to protect against the biblically defined evil nature of Man, our Founding Fathers repeatedly expressed the belief that Christian morality was absolutely essential for both the preservation of liberty and the stability of law.
They emphasized this crucial point in their writings over and over again: Consider, for example, Samuel Adams who served as Governor of Massachusetts, was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and was the organizer of the Boston Tea Party. He wrote: “A general dissolution of principles and manners will more surely overthrow the liberties of America than the whole force of the common enemy. While the people are virtuous they cannot be subdued; but when they lose their virtue they will be ready to surrender their liberties to the first external or internal invader. Religion and good morals are the only solid foundations of public liberty and happiness.”
The first governor of Virginia was Patrick Henry. He also served as member of the Continental Congress. He explained the significance of religion in these words: “The great pillars of all government and of social life are virtue, morality, and religion. This is the armor… and this alone, that renders us invincible.”
The most significant of all our Founding Fathers was, of course, George Washington. He served as Commander in Chief of the Continental Army, overseer of the Constitutional Convention, and first President of the United States. He wrote these words: “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports… in vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens.”
Another member of the Continental Congress was John Adams. He was one of the drafters of the Declaration of Independence, and he served as the second President of the United States. Here are his strong and eloquent words concerning the necessity of religion. He wrote: “We have no government armed in power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion… Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
Thomas Jefferson was the renowned author of the Declaration of Independence. Additionally, he served as Governor of Virginia, he was our first Secretary of State, and he was our third President. He wrote: “No nation has ever yet existed or been governed without religion. Nor can be. The Christian religion is the best religion that has ever been given to man, and I as Chief Magistrate of this nation am bound to give it the sanction of my example.”
James Madison was a political philosopher who is considered to be the “Father of the Constitution” and the “Father of the Bill of Rights.” Madison served as a member of the House of Representatives and as our nation’s fourth President. Here’s what he had to say about the essentiality of religion to a government of freedom and liberty: “We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future of all of our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government; upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God.”
Emphasized Throughout Our History
The concept of the inalienable interdependence of constitutional order and Christian virtue was not just a characteristic of our Founding Fathers. It has continued to be emphasized throughout our history.
Take Noah Webster for example. He is considered the “Father of American Education.” He was the publisher of The American Dictionary of the English Language in 1828. And concerning the importance of Christianity, he wrote these words: “In my view, the Christian Religion is the most important and one of the first things in which all children, under a free government, ought to be instructed… no truth is more evident to my mind than that the Christian Religion must be the basis of any government intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people.”
John Quincy Adams was the sixth President of the United States. He also served as an American diplomat, and as a member of the House and Senate. On the occasion of the celebration of the 45th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, he declared: “The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: it connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity.”
Daniel Webster served as a United States Senator from Massachusetts and as Secretary of State. Here are his words concerning Christianity and government: “No truth is more evident to my mind than that the Christian religion must be the basis of any government intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people. To preserve the government we must also preserve morals. Morality rests on religion; if you destroy the foundation, the superstructure must fall. When the public mind becomes vitiated and corrupt, laws are a nullity and constitutions are waste paper.”
William McGuffey was an American educator and author of the McGuffey’s Reader, first published in 1836. He observed: “The Christian religion is the religion of our country. From it are derived our prevalent notions of the character of God, the great moral governor of the universe. On its doctrines are founded the peculiarities of our free institutions.”
In 1838 the New York State Legislature declared: “This is a Christian nation. Ninety-nine hundredths, if not a larger proportion, of our whole population, believe in the general doctrines of the Christian religion. Our government depends… on that virtue that has its foundation in the morality of the Christian religion.”
In 1892 in the case of United States vs. Church of the Holy Trinity, the Supreme Court of the United States expressed these words: “No purpose of action against religion can be imputed to any legislation, state or national, because this is a religious people. This is historically true. From the discovery of this continent to the present hour, there is a single voice making this affirmation. We are a Christian people, and the morality of the country is deeply engrafted upon Christianity.”
Calvin Coolidge served as Governor of Massachusetts and Vice President of the United States before he was elected to serve as our 30th President. He was known as “Silent Cal” because he seldom expressed himself about anything. But he had some [insightful] words about the importance of the Christian faith to the continuing existence of our nation, he wrote, “The foundations of our society and our government rest so much on the teachings of the Bible that it would be difficult to support them if faith in these teachings would cease to be practically universal in our country.”
In 1931 The United States Supreme Court, in the case of United States v. McIntosh, made this proclamation: “We are a Christian people, according to one another the equal right of religious freedom, and acknowledging with reverence the duty of obedience to the will of God.”
Peter Marshall was a Scottish-American, a preacher, who served as pastor of New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C., he is often referred to as “The Church of the Presidents,” Peter Marshall also served as Chaplain of the United States Senate. In a prayer offered before the Senate in 1947 he said: “May it be ever understood that our liberty is under God and can be found nowhere else… We were born that way, as the only nation on earth that came into being for the glory of God and the advancement of the Christian faith.”
Earl Warren served as Governor of California and was the 14th Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. In a Time magazine interview conducted in February of 1954, shortly after President Eisenhower had appointed him as Chief Justice, he made this observation about our Christian heritage, he said, “I believe no one can read the history of our country without realizing that the Good Book and the spirit of the Savior have from the beginning been our guiding geniuses… I believe the entire Bill of Rights came into being because of the knowledge our forefathers had of the Bible and their belief in it. I like to believe we are living today in the spirit of the Christian religion. I like also to believe that as long as we do so, no great harm can come to our country.”
Dwight Eisenhower served as Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe during World War II. He also served two terms as our 34th President. He made this observation about the relationship between religion and government: “Without God there could be no American form of government, nor an American way of life. Recognition of the Supreme Being is the first and the most basic expression of Americanism.”
Ronald Reagan, our 40th President, expressed a similar sentiment when he proclaimed: “America needs God more than God needs America. If we ever forget that we are “One Nation under God,” then we will be a Nation gone under.”
Well as you can see from the survey of expressions concerning our nation’s Christian heritage, that heritage has been recognized and lauded by our leaders from the beginning until the latter part of the 20th Century. It has only been in recent years that this important heritage has been denied and disparaged.
A Foreigner’s Perspective
Even foreigners who visited the country recognized the significance of our Christian heritage. Take, for example, the French historian, Alexis de Tocqueville who visited the United States in the early 1830’s. In 1835 he published the first of a two volume study of this nation, titled, Democracy in America. He revealed that the intertwining of Christianity with government was very surprising to him.
He wrote these words, “Upon my arrival in the United States, the religious aspect of the country was the first thing that struck my attention; and the longer I stayed there, the more did I perceive the great political consequences resulting from this state of things, to which I was unaccustomed. In France I had almost always seen the spirit of religion and the spirit of freedom pursuing courses diametrically opposed to each other; but in America I found that they were intimately united, and that they reigned in common over the same country. The Americans combine the notions of Christianity and of liberty so intimately in their minds, that it is impossible to make them conceive the one without the other.”
Is America still a Christian nation?
Although 85% of Americans identify themselves as Christians, only about 9% at the most would claim to be born-again, Evangelical Christians. This means that most Americans are simply professing Christians, or cultural Christians.
But this sad fact does not negate the historical evidence that our Founding Fathers established this nation on Christian principles and that those principles still serve as the basis of our constitutional structure and our laws.
The problem, of course, is that those with [a progressive] viewpoint are determined to cut America loose from its Judeo-Christian foundation. They have a classic European-style Humanist worldview that despises Christianity and Capitalism, and the result is that freedom is endangered.
We are speeding toward a secular, pagan society devoid of values that contribute to virtue and civility. And if this transition continues unabated, our system of government will not be able to survive, for it is based upon the assumption of a citizenry that is endowed with biblical truths.
We need to pray for our nation as never before. We need to pray that the schemes of the secularists will be frustrated, confused, and defeated.
Let that one thought alone sink in. If true, then America is surely doomed.
Thoughts?
What we need are fire and brimstone revivals. Of course, Billy Graham style crusades would work very well too.
There used to be liberaltarian FReepers who would argue that “You can’t legislate morality.”
Thankfully they’ve all gone away.
America has had 4 Great Awakenings. Historical events not promulgated by government that made a huge tremendous and positive impact on America.
We are way overdue for another one. Trouble is - The State has legislated immorality to such an extent that positive social, moral and economic change is impossible.
If our rights come from God, only He can revoke them. If they come from man, man can revoke at anytime.
John Adams said, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
The inverse is also correct. Immorality is a necessity for the silencing and subjugation of others, the perversion of the many, and for the fiscal mess in which this nation finds itself.
We are speeding toward a secular, pagan society devoid of values that contribute to virtue and civility.
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We are ALREADY THERE!!! Wake up and smell the judgment!
Executing people publicly who do things like steal Presidential elections would scare some
Probably fairly accurate. Still way better than europe and then everywhere else in the world.
As is written....... wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are MANY who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are FEW who find it.
God said it would be so....and we’re watching it happen just as He sai d- increasingly so.
Interesting watching things develope in Europe with China - and how much they’re alighning on many venues. Even the British Royal William stuck his foot in political affairs of other countries. ‘Lots’ of shifting going round on the World Stage.
Mewhile we’ve got Chinese coming across the border, in the first months of 2023, they had about 33,000 come across the border... military-aged men showing up with military haircuts, clearly in shape, showing up with six packs, and military boots is not an insignificant number... We don’t know where they are going. We’re not following them. We’re not tracking them.
Futher it’s been said the Chinese government or Chinese nationals buying farmland, and it’s all around U.S. military installations. It’s really concerning when you look at what’s happening around those military installations, they have land around. Like stealth bomber training and drone training it’s beyond concerning.
yes, we are founded a Christian nation. a peculiar people and system of gov’t that is designed to restrain the power of gov’t and replace it with the perfect law of Christian liberty (James 1:25). remove the liberty of Christ’s redemption from the compulsion of sin, and of course fallen humanity will immediately return to depravity and run amok, being unable to restrain itself. untold suffering for all must be the result until some sort of order is restored: the devil and tyranny crouches always at the door.
since liberty is the state where men are restrained from injuring or exercising arbitrary and unnecessary control over other men, the Founders knew that this system of radically limited gov’t would fail without the partner of a self-governing man partaking in Christ’s mind and heart, in voluntary and joyful submission to Christ’s Will—living a Christ centered life in service and honor to all his or her fellows: that is the true religion. this is the character of a true Christian man and woman.
Obeying God’s laws is for our own good.
Worshipping false idols is the worst of our sins, in the eyes of God.
I can’t help but think of Taylor Swift and her “Swifties.”
I look at how much people (mostly young women) pay to see and worship this false idol and just shake my head.
The biggest stadium event I ever attended was led by the late Billy Graham, there to speak about what is REALLY important. It did not require my buying a ticket and it was NOT all about him. Billy Graham was there to talk about the Risen Son of God...our Savior...the only path to our Salvation.
Thoughts?
While I wholeheartedly agree with most of this article, I believe the bold statement above is a little misguided. The world is full of believers, Christian or God believers, and they reap the same benefits described in the article.
My point is you don't need to be an evangelist to be a Christian or a believer.
Heck. The Jews are a perfect example. They were God's chosen people, and while a few believed in Jesus as the Messiah, most of them did not and do not. I'm not sure anyone can argue that they have not been a cohesive group for over 2500 years through many, many ups and downs over that time. That's not to say that have not stumbled along the way. But when they did, God seemed to get their attention and bring them back into the fold.
Having said that, we are clearly abandoning the things that made us great, which is a belief in a God up above and for many, his son Jesus Christ.
We are and will pay a big price -- and probably sooner rather than later, with more to come.
Heed these words....
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. 15 Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.
In a sense, they are correct, however, that by no means justifies or rationalizes abolishing the rule of law. Moral character comes from within. Behavior may be able to be compelled by harsh enough enforcement, but it will not change the person morally.
God established Israel on the rule of law, too. THE Law. His. And it was a just and fair system.
I've been reading through Leviticus and am impressed with the detail God goes into to protect the rights of the innocent and deal with the guilty, and for rules meant to ensure a safe and just society.
Which is something we really don't need to worry about.
Romans 5:6-10 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
If Jesus was willing to do this for us when we were at our worst, then He will NOT love us any less when we become followers of Him.
His love for us is not based on our behavior but on the fact that we are His workmanship. He created us for the purpose of having fellowship with Him and He wants it.
After going to such great lengths to save us and draw us to Himself, He's not going to abandon us when we mess up.
Psalm 103:10-14 He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.
Take heart. He will NOT abandon you. Nor do I believe He will let us abandon him so easily either.
Morality means putting the well being of others on par with yourself.
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