Our True Heritage
Our Founding Fathers' Beliefs
Our nation's heritage is firmly rooted in religious principles. This truth
is clearly seen in our pledge of allegiance, our national anthem, our money,
our unique form of government and in our founding fathers' beliefs.
Our founding fathers believed that national prosperity and morality were
inseparably linked to religious principles. This fact is evidenced by the
following founding fathers quotes:
|
George Washington |
"And let us with caution indulge
the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion…Reason
and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail
in exclusion of religious principles.." (1) |
|
Noah Webster |
"No truth is more evident to any
mind than that the Christian religion must be the basis of any government
intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people."
(2) |
|
Benjamin Rush |
"The only foundation for a useful
education in a republic is to be laid in religion. Without this there
can be no virtue, and without virtue there can be no liberty, and liberty
is the object and life of all republican governments... Without religion,
I believe that learning does much mischief to the morals and principles
of mankind." (3)
|
|
John Adams |
"…it is Religion and Morality alone,
which can establish the Principles upon which Freedom can securely stand."
(4) |
Other Quotes
Our Founding Father's Principles
Clearly, our nation's heritage is deeply rooted in religious principles.
This was at the core of our founding fathers' beliefs. Our forefathers took
God's Word seriously. They established a nation founded on biblical principles
that publicly acknowledged God's headship and providential protection.
Our founding fathers understood fundamental biblical truths and structured
our government accordingly. They established three branches of government
to protect against unrestrained pursuit of self-interest and abuse of power.
Our founding fathers debated at length whether good government was a function
of good laws or a function of good men. William Penn determined that although
good laws were important, good leaders were paramount to good government when
he said:
"Governments, like clocks, go from the motion men give them... Wherefore
governments rather depend upon men, than men upon governments. Let men be
good, and the government cannot be bad... But if men be bad, the government
[will] never [be] good." (5)
Our forefathers realized that neither good laws nor the Constitution could
restrain wicked men and corrupt leaders. They understood that the corrupt
nature of man's heart, left unrestrained, would inevitably lead to moral decline.
As John Adams eloquently stated:
|
John Adams |
We have no government armed with power
capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and
religion..." (6) |
Founding Father's Warnings
Our forefathers left us numerous warnings concerning what would happen if
we violated the principles that they had put in place. They warned that our
nation's future depended its citizens acknowledging God and submitting to
His principles. To do otherwise would result in rampant immorality and deteriorating
political prosperity. Finally, they warned this would ultimately lead to a
national denial of God's headship and bring with it God's judgment on America
and her people.
Consider the following warnings from our founding fathers:
|
Thomas Jefferson |
"And can the liberties of a nation
be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction
in the minds of the people that these liberties are a gift of God? That
they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed I tremble for
my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot
sleep forever." (7)
|
|
Patrick Henry |
"The great pillars of all government
and social life [are] virtue, morality and religion…If we loose these
we are conquered indeed." (8) |
|
James Madison |
"We have staked the whole future
of American civilization not on the power of government, far from it.
We have staked the future ...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. " (9) |
|
John Adams |
"Our constitution was made only for
a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government
of any other." (10) |
Other Warnings
In direct opposition to our founding fathers' warnings, God and His principles
are being incrementally removed from the public affairs of our nation.
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