Why Morality Matters
Posted by on Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Under: Columns
In reading my past newsletters, you will notice that I have quoted the Founding Fathers numerous times. Some may think I would like America to be the same as it was at that time. That is not the case. There were many who questioned the creation of our Constitution even then. Some were content living under the rule of the Crown before the Revolutionary War in 1776. Others feared the new government and the Constitution that was constructed by those at the Philadelphia Convention in 1787. It is not so much the time that matters. The reason I often turn to the words of the Founders of our nation is because their words were as true then as they are now.
I do not believe it is simply chance that so many of these great men were brought together at such a crucial point in our history. There are many who have followed our Founding Fathers in our nation’s history who have said and done great and honorable things in relation to government. However, the wisdom and understanding of our Founders is truly remarkable when you take the time to read not only their words, but to read of their lives. They certainly had weaknesses, and they did not always completely agree, but I have no doubt that much of what they did and said was inspired by God.
After all that these men accomplished in creating our Republic, they still understood that our liberties would only be preserved so long as we were a moral people who respected not only the laws of the land, but the laws of our God. To them, separation of church and state meant that the government should not interfere with or sponsor any religious institution, nor that any religious test should ever be required of those seeking elected office. However, they clearly believed that for liberty to endure, our leaders would need to be virtuous, good, moral, and religious individuals; and perhaps more importantly, that it was essential for morality, piety, virtue, and religion to be taught and practiced among the American people in general.
Hundreds of pages could be filled with words that our Founding Fathers spoke or wrote concerning the need for morality in preserving our nation. I would like to share a few of those words with you here, particularly those of two cousins, John and Samuel Adams:
“The moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence. If `Thou shalt not covet’ and `Thou shalt not steal’ were not commandments of Heaven, they must be made inviolable precepts in every society before it can be civilized or made free.”[1]
“The only foundation of a free Constitution is pure Virtue, and if this cannot be inspired into our People, in a great Measure, than they have it now. They may change their Rulers, and the forms of Government, but they will not obtain a lasting Liberty.”[2]
“We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”[3]
“If we continue to be a happy people, that happiness must be assured by the enacting and executing of reasonable and wise laws, expressed in the plainest language, and by establishing such modes of education as tend to inculcate in the minds of youth, the feelings and habits of “piety, religion and morality,” and to lead them to the knowledge and love of those truly Republican principles upon which our civil institutions are founded.”[4]
“In the supposed state of nature, all men are equally bound by the laws of nature, or to speak more properly, the laws of the Creator. They are imprinted by the finger of God on the heart of man. Thou shall do no injury to thy neighbor, is the voice of nature and reason…”[5]
When we speak of the principles that define our understanding of the proper role of government, should not the laws of nature or the laws of our Creator be, as Samuel Adams noted, the foundation of those principles? If we do not believe we have the right to the fruits of someone else’s labor, then why would we think it proper that those we elect could take from one and give to another? If we think keeping our word is only necessary when it is convenient, then it is not likely to bother us when our government representatives ignore their oaths to uphold the Constitution when it gets in their way? If we believe in treating all people with the same due respect, then would we think it right for our government to give special treatment to specific groups of people or to deny others the right to pursue their own course of action?
If we had no foundation for what good and proper law was, then what reasons would we have to abide by Constitutional law, or to limit government to any specific powers? In such cases, those who rule make the law. Unfortunately, billions have lived under such a system in the history of our world. However, if we believe that government must act in accordance with the same principles with which we live by, principles based upon truths which come from a higher being, then we have the basis for sound and just law. This is the source of lasting liberty and American freedom.
Chick Heileson
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] John Adams, A Defense of the American Constitutions, 1787
[2] John Adams, letter to Zabdiel Adams, June 21, 1776
[3] John Adams, Address to the Military, October 11, 1798
[4] Samuel Adams, Address to the Legislature of Massachusetts, January 16, 1795
[5] Samuel Adams, Having just risen from Lieutenant Governor when Governor John Hancock died, 1794
I do not believe it is simply chance that so many of these great men were brought together at such a crucial point in our history. There are many who have followed our Founding Fathers in our nation’s history who have said and done great and honorable things in relation to government. However, the wisdom and understanding of our Founders is truly remarkable when you take the time to read not only their words, but to read of their lives. They certainly had weaknesses, and they did not always completely agree, but I have no doubt that much of what they did and said was inspired by God.
After all that these men accomplished in creating our Republic, they still understood that our liberties would only be preserved so long as we were a moral people who respected not only the laws of the land, but the laws of our God. To them, separation of church and state meant that the government should not interfere with or sponsor any religious institution, nor that any religious test should ever be required of those seeking elected office. However, they clearly believed that for liberty to endure, our leaders would need to be virtuous, good, moral, and religious individuals; and perhaps more importantly, that it was essential for morality, piety, virtue, and religion to be taught and practiced among the American people in general.
Hundreds of pages could be filled with words that our Founding Fathers spoke or wrote concerning the need for morality in preserving our nation. I would like to share a few of those words with you here, particularly those of two cousins, John and Samuel Adams:
“The moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence. If `Thou shalt not covet’ and `Thou shalt not steal’ were not commandments of Heaven, they must be made inviolable precepts in every society before it can be civilized or made free.”[1]
“The only foundation of a free Constitution is pure Virtue, and if this cannot be inspired into our People, in a great Measure, than they have it now. They may change their Rulers, and the forms of Government, but they will not obtain a lasting Liberty.”[2]
“We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”[3]
“If we continue to be a happy people, that happiness must be assured by the enacting and executing of reasonable and wise laws, expressed in the plainest language, and by establishing such modes of education as tend to inculcate in the minds of youth, the feelings and habits of “piety, religion and morality,” and to lead them to the knowledge and love of those truly Republican principles upon which our civil institutions are founded.”[4]
“In the supposed state of nature, all men are equally bound by the laws of nature, or to speak more properly, the laws of the Creator. They are imprinted by the finger of God on the heart of man. Thou shall do no injury to thy neighbor, is the voice of nature and reason…”[5]
When we speak of the principles that define our understanding of the proper role of government, should not the laws of nature or the laws of our Creator be, as Samuel Adams noted, the foundation of those principles? If we do not believe we have the right to the fruits of someone else’s labor, then why would we think it proper that those we elect could take from one and give to another? If we think keeping our word is only necessary when it is convenient, then it is not likely to bother us when our government representatives ignore their oaths to uphold the Constitution when it gets in their way? If we believe in treating all people with the same due respect, then would we think it right for our government to give special treatment to specific groups of people or to deny others the right to pursue their own course of action?
If we had no foundation for what good and proper law was, then what reasons would we have to abide by Constitutional law, or to limit government to any specific powers? In such cases, those who rule make the law. Unfortunately, billions have lived under such a system in the history of our world. However, if we believe that government must act in accordance with the same principles with which we live by, principles based upon truths which come from a higher being, then we have the basis for sound and just law. This is the source of lasting liberty and American freedom.
Chick Heileson
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] John Adams, A Defense of the American Constitutions, 1787
[2] John Adams, letter to Zabdiel Adams, June 21, 1776
[3] John Adams, Address to the Military, October 11, 1798
[4] Samuel Adams, Address to the Legislature of Massachusetts, January 16, 1795
[5] Samuel Adams, Having just risen from Lieutenant Governor when Governor John Hancock died, 1794
In : Columns
