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 "It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible."
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."
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 learning does much mischief to the morals and principles of mankind."
James Madison "The future and success of America is not in this Constitution, but in the laws of God upon which this Constitution is founded."
Our Founding Father's principles clearly show that 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.
"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."
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:
We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion..."
Our forefathers also left us numerous warnings concerning what would happen if we violated the principles that they had put in place. Our forefathers admonished us to continue to seek God's direction in the affairs of our nation. They warned that to do otherwise would bring confusion, division and doom to our country.
Our founding fathers believed that a constitutional government was inadequate to control an immoral people. They warned that a nation's morality was conditional on its citizens acknowledging God and submitting to His principles. To do otherwise would result in a divided nation that would experience a deteriorating political prosperity, leading ultimately to the national denial of God's headship and authority. This final act would bring God's judgment on America and her people.
Consider the following warnings from our founding father's:
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."
George Washington "..And let us indulge with caution the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion... Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail to the exclusion of religious principle."
James Madison "We've 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. The future and success of America is not in this Constitution, but in the laws of God upon which this Constitution is founded."
John Adams "Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."
Of course these inspired men said it much more eloquently than I could hope to. The point is, while we do enjoy our freedoms and liberties, to abuse them and ignore the laws of God will bring about disastrous consequences.
Remember, our form of government was established with the idea that God exists and, as our Creator, we owe it to Him to govern accordingly. Now, if you want to disagree with these men that is your right, but I will stand with them.
I do not disagree...many of the nations founders were firm believers in their chosen Christian God.
But, I still feel that Christians would object if the Government forced them to state a belief in some other God or to defer to some other God for whatever reason.
The power of the state should not be used to impose personal God beliefs on others....we should all be free to hold and state our beliefs openly..but the fact that Mr XYZ Founder was a Christian does not give the Government the right to force me to practice Christianity. When it comes to practice, the Government should be neutral.