I heard of a man who was tired of having gasoline stolen from his garage, so he poured sugar into his gas can and waited.
Sure enough, a few days later he heard there was a young man from the neighborhood looking for a new engine. Gasoline engines are not designed to burn sugar!
Maybe someone will invent a motor that runs on sugar someday, but currently they do not. And maybe someday there will be a government and country that needs no laws, and its citizens won’t need to be taught to do right, but not America, and not now.
America’s Constitution is designed, as John Adams wrote, “for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
This is not mere religious sentimentality. It is simply the truth.
With certain Supreme Court decisions of late and the legislation in Louisiana posting the Ten commandments in school classrooms, it seemed that a little history might be helpful.
The U.S. Constitution was created with the truly novel idea that if Americans disciplined themselves to live by certain moral and ethical standards they could be trusted to “self-govern,” and be largely free from external constraints. There would be no need for a big government.
The standard chosen by the Founders, logical since virtually all Americans at that time would have claimed to be Christians, was the Bible, underscoring mankind’s accountability to God. The Ten Commandments are as straight-forward a standard for right and wrong as can be found.
The governor of Louisiana’s recent signing of legislation that put the Ten Commandments in classrooms across the state, would probably not have raised many eyebrows in the first hundred years or so of the nation’s history. If you doubt the significant role that Christianity played in our history and laws, consider the extensive biblical content of the McGuffey Readers, used by a large percentage of American public schools in the 19th and 20th Centuries.
Not surprising, however, Louisiana’s new law has created a firestorm in the Media and academia! Informing students of the history and foundation of our legal system, and at the same time discouraging murder, stealing, lying, and adultery? Oh my!
What is the country coming to? Before the ink had dried, screams about “separation of church and state” echoed from coast to coast. Apparently, the republic is on the brink of collapse!
Of course, the governor’s critics would probably point to the first four Commandments, which all refer to God, as the most problematic aspect of the Commandments. But the remaining six would also come under fire because of their relationship to the Bible. Secularist critics oppose any principle that has any relationship to Christianity.
Is their perspective on this issue correct? Does the Constitution forbid the government from passing any law that is in some way linked to the Bible or coincides with the morality espoused by the Bible?
It may be that the biggest obstacle facing those crying “separation of church and state” is knowledgeable Baptists. It was almost exclusively Baptists who, during the drafting of the U.S. Constitution, championed the “separation of church and state,” calling for the elimination of state sponsorship of churches.
While we Baptists would attribute the principle to Scriptures, we point out the fact that virtually all other churches at the time of the nation’s founding held the opinion that the state should be dominated by a church. The Catholic Church had controlled much of Europe for well over a thousand years, and countries that had freed themselves from Catholicism found themselves dominated by a protestant church.
Colonial Baptists, such as Rev. John Leland of Virginia and others, met with drafters of the Constitution like Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, urging them to protect the religious liberties of Americans in the new Constitution.
The First Amendment is the fruit of those meetings.
But those who claim that “separation of church and state” means that churches and religious leaders are forbidden from influencing the government or law making are not naive. Their demands are inappropriate and malevolent.
It is clear from the fact that those early Baptists were themselves involved in politics that they held no such opinion! America’s founding was heavily influenced by church leaders!
Therefore, the question is, “What did they intend the Constitution to do regarding religion? What did they want it to allow and what did they want it to forbid?”
It is certain that they would be repulsed by the objectives of Leftist groups such as “Americans for the Separation of Church and State,” and the ACLU. These groups and others like them intentionally misrepresent the Founders objectives.
First, the statement “separation of church and state” is not found in the Constitution, but in a letter from Thomas Jefferson to an association of Baptist churches assuring them that he believed that the government should be forbidden from any authority over religious activities.
The separation principle was intended to guard against organized churches yoking together with the government; for such arrangement inevitably led to the government favoring certain churches and oppressing others. It was in no way intended to forbid religious organizations and people from influencing law.
The Framers determined that no tax dollars should be designated in support of a particular church; they would be appalled by the idea that any moral principle espoused by Christians should be precluded from influencing law! These Leftist groups may deny that this is their objective, but after seven decades of pressure from such, America is radically less Christian and increasingly lawless and violent.
Those who declare that they do not oppose teaching morality in the schools and that they only oppose the posting of the Ten Commandments because of their relationship with the Bible are being disingenuous. Make no mistake about it; if the Commandments were restated in modern jargon, without noting their source, the Leftists would still protest!
It is not only their connection to the Bible they reject. It is that they are an objective moral standard that raises their ire. The Left’s intention is to destroy morality and as a consequence, order, and peace.
It would be less offensive to Christians if the secularists treated all religions the same. Secular humanism, declared by the Supreme Court to be a religion, could rightly be called America’s state church because it is taught in every public school in the nation and emphatically violates the Constitution’s prohibition against such!
Islam, Eastern religions, and Native American religious teachings are also part of many schools’ curriculum with few if any complaints.
Someone has wisely noted that politics is downstream from culture. The character of the citizens will determine the nature of their government. The greater the moral integrity and discipline of the people, the smaller government they require, the fewer laws they need, and the more freedom they can be trusted with.
Of course, there will always be those who reject the morality and norms of culture to live on the fringe of society, but a healthy culture can survive some of that. What a free society cannot survive is a large percentage of the citizens casting off the essential character that undergirds liberty. The “lawless fringe” must remain a fringe if society is to be generally free and peaceful.
Imagine having no traffic laws on our streets and highways thus allowing people to drive on whichever side of the road they liked and having no speed limits whatever. The streets would be deadly.
Not even children’s games can exist or be played without rules, yet Leftists are clearly seeking to remove all norms, mores, and morality from the most important things we participate in, life and society! They can have only one purpose: to create chaos, and in the end overturn liberty to bring about a totalitarian state.
Say what you want about American’s historic “intolerance;” the fact is that without endorsing the philosophy and lifestyles of the fringe, the majority culture has largely left them to live as they like. However, the fringe elements, now wielding power vastly beyond their numbers, are showing no such “tolerance” for the majority.
Those holding traditional views are being forced not to merely allow the “different” lifestyles of the fringe, they are being coerced to promote and celebrate even the most objectionable and salacious conduct.
If, by the way, Christians were as intolerant and dangerous as the Leftists claim they are, things would be quite different. Christian bashers know they have little or nothing to fear from Christians because Christians generally reflect the meekness of Christ, who “being reviled, reviled not again,” and “turn the other cheek.”
Abuse people of other religions in the same way and you will discover that, in comparison, Christians are generally a pretty non-threatening group.
One of the most critical and fundamental Christian principles is that of deference or humility toward others. A selfish “Me First” society will not flourish because pride foments confrontation and conflict. Frighteningly, the loudest voice heard today in America is that of “Pride,” the precise opposite of humility, and a trait detested by the God of the Bible.
Scriptures are clear: “Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall,” (Proverbs 16:18 NKJV).
It also says in Proverbs 8:13, “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance. . . I hate,” (Proverbs 8:13).
On a related theme, the Scriptures note that “only by pride cometh contention,” (Proverbs 13:10 KJV). Not surprisingly, contention is what we now witness on every hand in America.
Without getting into the sexual issues behind the “Pride” movement, such a spirit itself conflicts with the traditional Christian virtue of humbleness.
A republic, like ours, whose Constitution and laws are dependent upon citizens exercising self-discipline, living by common principles and ideals, and exercising self-discipline, has no means of dealing with a significant part of the population discarding those principles.
John Adams was correct when he said that the Constitution is “inadequate” to govern such. Anarchy will follow along with the need for more police and more prisons. It may be an imperfect analogy, but in the same way that a gas engine cannot run on sugar water, so also our republic and its political and social structures cannot function with an immoral and irreligious population.
As I see it, the choice for America is either a “Christianized” culture where most people respect biblical principles, and where differing opinions are tolerated, even some which contradict Christianity, or an atheistic culture, having an “anything goes” immorality and where an elite ruling class arbitrarily determines what is acceptable and punish any who disagree.
Those who claim that an atheistic society can be free and will be tolerant ignore the history of such societies. Every one of them has been oppressive.
With America’s annual Fourth of July celebration upon us, it is a good time to consider these things. No, America has not favored every viewpoint and opinion on every issue.
Some people have found themselves on the fringe because they chose a way of life that most Americans considered wrong, but it is impossible to create a culture where everyone feels accepted. There will always be a fringe!
The only question is who will occupy the fringe: the lawless and irreligious, or those who promote Christian law and order?
The so-called “Doctrine of Separation of Church and State,” such as it is, forbids the organic union between a church and the state, but in no wise forbids the promotion of virtues espoused by Christianity. Such principles are sorely lacking and desperately needed in America today.
No culture is perfect, and America has never gotten everything right. Some people have mistreated those who are “on the fringe,” but making the “fringe,” normal and mainstream is a bad idea and will ultimately doom the entire culture.
You can write that down!
