Here! Here! Exactly what the founders said too. Without virtue, without a moral electorate, a republic will not endure. Some econcons and some libertarians always throw up a straw man here. Any mention of this is pushing religion, getting in people’s faces, peeking into their bedrooms. It is not. All we are saying is there are higher values than the buck and contractual obligations and if those values disapear, kiss goodbye to everything. The rich will overpower the weak, the corrupt dominate the virtuous and everything will fall apart.
You don’t have to be without virtue or morality to follow this advice.
That’s a strawman argument. No one suggested giving up virtue or morality.