There is no doubt in my mind that this country was founded primarily on Christian morals. To deny this fact, flies in the face of history. True, not all of the Founding Fathers were devout Christians. However, they all understood that the Christian morality, in particular that all men are created equal, was a good starting point for creating a new country.
The United States was created so that the individual had more rights than the state, and that the state had more rights than the federal government. The Constitution played a key role in making sure this happened. Everything from Checks and Balances to the Electoral College was put in place to make sure that the individual was always heard, no matter how small. This is what makes a country, a republic, so much different from a democracy. For in a democracy, a popular vote where the majority says “yea”, that is all that is needed. Therefore the minority, must go along with the majority. To intentionally recognize the individual as having unalienable rights, is truly Christian indeed.
This weekend I was reminded of one of our Founding Fathers, Patrick Henry. He was a devout, Christian man that is probably best known for making the bold statement: “Give me liberty or give me death”. But did you also know that he also said, “…this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians…”? What do you think about that statement? Does it make you squirm? Does it make you raise your eyebrows and question? Let me know your thoughts on Patrick Henry and the rest of the Founding Fathers.
“The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government - lest it come to dominate our lives and interests.
It can not be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians, not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ!”
“It is natural for man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts... For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth, to know the worst, and to provide for it.”
Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains or slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take but as for me; give me liberty or give me death!”
“Bad men cannot make good citizens. It is when a people forget God that tyrants forge their chains. A vitiated state of morals, a corrupted public conscience, is incompatible with freedom. No free government, or the blessings of liberty, can be preserved to any people but by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality, and virtue; and by a frequent recurrence to fundamental principles.
“Religion I have disposed of all my property to my family. There is one thing more I wish I could give to them, and that is the Christian religion. If they had that and I had not given them one cent, they would be rich. If they have not that, and I had given them the world, they would be poor.”
