The actual founding vision is that to be free, we must be a people who can govern the self. This was the role of religion in a civil society. . .religion provided the principles from which a consensus on values could be forged. However. .the implementation of those values, would be imposed NOT BY GOVERNMENT, as this article alleges . .but, rather, by the moral conscience of each member of society.
James Monroe observed, "Republics demanded virtue. Monarchies could rely on coercion and “dazzling splendor” to suppress self-interest or factions; republics relied on the goodness of the people to put aside private interest for public good."