It is certainly true that a popular government cannot flourish without virtue in the people. 20 RICHARD HENRY LEE, SIGNER OF

[T]he Holy Scriptures. . . . can alone secure to society, order and peace, and to our courts ofjustice and constitutions of government, purity; stability, and usefulness. In vain, without the Bible, we increase penal laws and draw entrenchments [defenses] around our institutions. Bibles are strong entrenchments [protections]. Where they abound, men cannot pursue wicked courses. ²¹JAMES

[F]or avoiding the extremes of despotism or anarchy... the only ground of hope must be on the morals of the people. 22 ~ believe that religion is the only solid base of morals and that morals are the only possible support of free governments. 23 [T]herefore education should teach the precepts of religion and the duties of

man towards God. 24 GOUVERNEUR MORRIS, PENMAN AND SIGNER OF THE CONSTITUTION

Religion and morality. . . [are] necessary to good government, good order; and good laws, for "when the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice" [Proverbs 29:2]. ²⁵WILLIAM PATERSON, SIGNER OF THE CONSTITUTION; U.S. SUPREME COURT JUSTICE

Had I a voice that could be heard from New Hampshire to Georgia, it should be exerted in urging the necessity of disseminating virtue and knowledge among our citizens. On this subject, the policy of the eastern states is well worthy of imitation. The wise people of that extremity of the union never form a new township without making arrangements that secure to its inhabitants the instruction of youth and the public preaching of the gospeL Hence their chlldren are early taught to know their rights and to respect themselves. They grow up good members of society and staunch defenders of their

country's cause. 26 DAVID RAMSAY, REVOLUTIONARY SURGEON; MEMBER OF THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS

Without this [religion] there can be no virtue, and without virtue there can be no liberty, and liberty is the object and life of all republican governments. ²⁷Without the restraints of religion and social worship,

[C]herish and promote the interest of knowledge, virtue and Ireligion. They are indispensable to the support of any free

government. .. . Let it never be forgotten that there can be no

genuine freedom where there is no morality, and no sound morality

where there is no religion.... Hesitate not a moment to believe

that the man who labors to destroy these two great pillars of human

7 happiness... is neither a good patriot nor a good man. ²⁹JEREMIAH

SMITH, REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIER; JUDGE; U S. CONGRESSMAN;

GOVERNOR OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

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444

414,

4444

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The promulgation of the great doctrines of religion; the being and attributes and providence of one Almighty God; the responsibility to Him for all our actions; founded upon moral freedom and accountability; a fliture state of rewards and punishments; the cultivation of all the personal, social, and benevolent virtues;-these never can be a matter of indifference in anywell-ordered community It is, indeed, difficult to conceive how any civilized society can well exist without them. And, at all events, it is impossible for those who believe in the truth of Christianity as a Divine revelation, to doubt that it is the especial duty of government to foster and encourage it among all the citizens and subjects. 30 It yet remains a problem to be solved in human affairs whether any free government can be permanent where the public worship of God and the support of religion constitute no part of the policy or duty of the state in any assignable shape. 31 JOSEPH STORY, U.S. SUPREME COURTJUSTICE; FATHER OF AMERICAN JURISPRUDENCE

Shun all giddy, loose and wicked company; they will corrupt and lead you into vice and bring you to ruin. Seek the company of sober; virtuous and good people, who will always show you examples of rectitude of conduct and propriety of behavior which will lead to solid happiness. 32 THOMAS STONE, SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION

[R]eason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle. 33 Purity of morals [is] the only sure foundation of public happiness in any country. 34 [T] he [federal] government ... can never be in danger of degenerating... so long as there shall remain any virtue in the body of the people. 35 [T]rue religion affords to government its

surest support. 36 Religion and morality are the essential pillars of civil society. 37 GEORGE WASHINGTON

[T]he cultivation of the religious sentiment represses licentiousness ... inspires respect for law and order; and gives strength to the whole social fabric. 38 Moral habits . . . cannot safely be trusted on any other foundation than religious principle nor any government be secure which is not supported by moral habits.... Whatever makes men good Christians, makes them good citizens. ³⁹DANIELWEBSThR

Republican government loses half of its value where the moral and social duties are ... negligently practiced. To exterminate our popular vices is a work of far more importance to the character and happiness of our citizens, than any other improvements in our system of education. 40 [T]he moral principles and precepts contained in the Scriptures ought to form the basis of all our civil constitutions and laws.... All the miseries and evils which men suffer from vice, crime, ambition, injustice, oppression, slavery and war, proceed from their despising or neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible. 41 NOAH WEBSTER

Human law must rest its authority ultimately upon the authority of that law which is divine. . . . Far from being rivals or enemies, religion and law are twin sisters, friends, and mutual assistants. Indeed, these two sciences run into each other. ⁴²JAME5 WILSON, SIGNER OF THE CONSTITUTION; U.S. SUPREME COURT JUSTICE

He who makes a people virtuous makes them invincible. 43 Nothing is more certain than that a general profligacy [depravity] and corruption of manners make a people ripe for destruction. A good form of government may hold the rotten materials together for some time but beyond a certain pitch even the best constitution will be ineffectual. . . . What follows from this? That he is the best friend to American liberty who is most sincere and active in promoting true and undefiled religion and who sets himself with the greatest firmness to bear down profanity and immorality of every kind. Whoever is an avowed enemy of God, I scruple not [would not hesitate] to call him an enemy to his country.... God grant that in America true religion and civil liberty may be

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inseparable and that the unjust attempts to destroy the one may in the issue tend to the support and establishment of both. ⁴⁴joHN

The knowledge that the promotion of religion and morality was good public policy was a truth recognized not just by the Founders but even by early courts and Congresses. Notice:

A

Whereas true religion and good morals are the only solid foundations of public liberty and happiness ... it is hereby earnestly recommended to the several States to take the most effectual measures for the encouragement thereof 45 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS, 1778

Religion is ofgeneral and public concern and on its support depend, in great measure, the peace and good order ofgovernment, the safety and happiness of the people. 46 RUNKEL v. WINEMILLER, 1799

The morality of the country is deeply engrafted upon Christianity. ... [We are] people whose manners are refined and whose morals have been elevated and inspired with a more enlarged benevolence by means of the Christian religion. ~ PEOPLE v. RUGGLES, 1811

No free government now exists in the world unless where Christianity is acknowledged and is the religion of the country... Christianity is part of the common law.... Its foundations are broad and strong and deep.... It is the purest system of morality... and only stable support of all human laws. 48 UpDEGRAPH~ COMMONWEALTh, 1824

Why may not the Bible, and especially the New Testament... be read and taught as a divine revelation in the [school]~... Where can the purest principles of morality be learned so clearly or so perfectly as from the New Testament? ⁴⁹VIDAL~GIRARD'S EXECUTORS, 1844

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Christianity has reference to the principles of right and wrong;... it is the foundation of those morals and manners upon which our society is formed; it is their basis. Remove this and they would fall.... It [morality] has grown upon the basis of Christianity. 50

Laws will not have permanence or power without the sanction of religious sentiment-without a firm belief that there is a Power

above us that will reward our virtues and punish our vices. 51 HOUSE

[T]he happiness of a people and the good order and preservation of civil government essentially depend upon piety, religion and morality.... Religion, morality, and knowledge [are] necessary to good government, the preservation of liberty, and the happiness of mankind. 52 CHURCH OF THE HOLY TRINITYv. U.S., 1892

Consequently, the twin foundations of religion and public morality were long protected and zealously guarded in public policy. For example:

[W]hatever strikes at the root of Christianity tends manifestly to the dissolution of civil government ... because it tends to corrupt the morals of the people, and to destroy good order.... [O]ffenses against religion and morality... strike at the root of moral obligation and weaken the security of the social ties. ~ PEOPLEv. RUGGLES, 1811

The destruction of morality renders the power of the government invalid. ~ COMMONWEALTH v. SHARPLESS, 1815

[A] malicious intention... to vilify the Christian religion and the Scriptures. . . . would prove a nursery of vice, a school of preparation to quality young men for the gallows and young women for the brothel.... Religion and morality... are the foundations of all governments. Without these restraints no free government could long exist. ⁵⁵UPDEGRAPH COMMONWEALTH, 1824

What constitutes the standard of good morals? Is it not Christianity? There certainly is none other. Say that cannot be appealed to and... what would be good morals? The day of moral virtue in which we live would, in an instant, if that standard were abolished, lapse into the dark and murky night of pagan immorality. 56 CHARLESTON V. BENJAMIN, 1846

[Religion] must be considered as the foundation on which the whole structure rests. . .. In this age there can be no substitute for Christianity; that, in its general principles, is the great conservative element on which we must rely for the purity and permanence of free institutions. ~ HOUSEJUDICIARY COMMITTEE, 1854

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The great vital and conservative element in our system is the belief

A of our people in the pure doctrines and divine truths of the gospel

of Jesus Christ. 5s U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 1854

Our Founders-as well as subsequent courts and Congresses-believed intensely that religion in general, and Christianity in particular; produced the public morality without which civil government would not long survive. On this basis, they neither created nor tolerated acts diminishing Christianity's effect; to have done so would have been to invite the demise of good government. No rational government would intentionally commit suicide by destroying its very foundation.

While the overall effects of religion on a society were well understood, there were also specific benefits of Christianity which were enumerated by the Founders. For example, Thomas Jefferson noted:

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The precepts of philosophy, and of the Hebrew code, laid hold of actions only. [Jesus] pushed his scrutinies into the heart of man, erected his tribunal in the region of his thoughts, and purified the waters at the fountain head. ~

According to Jefferson, Christian principles, unlike those of other religions, went beyond merely addressing and attempting to regulate or restrain outward behavior. Consider murder as an example: civil law prohibits it; how can Christianity contribute anything more? Unlike civil statutes, Christianity addresses murder before it occurs-while it is still only a thought in the heart (see Matthew 5:22-28). Civil laws cannot address the heart, which is the actual seat of violence and of all crime. The true effectiveness of the teachings of Christianity were that, as Jefferson expressed it, they "purified the waters at the fountain head."

John Q~incy Adams, who served not only as a President but also as a U.S. Representative and Senator; similarly explained why this aid from Christianity was so necessary to civil government. He declared:

Human legislators can undertake only to prescribe the actions of men: they acknowledge their inability to govern and direct the sentiments of the heart; the very law styles it a rule of civil conduct, not of internal principles. . . . It is one of the greatest marks of Divine favor.. . that the Legislator gave them rules not only of action but for the government of the heart. 60

To hate is not legally a crime, yet it often leads to a crime (assault, murder, slander; etc.). Similarly, to covet is not legally a crime; yet it too often leads to a crime (theft, burglary, embezzlement, etc.). Only religion effectively provides what John Qi~~incy Adams termed urules for the government of the heart" and thus prevents the crimes which originate internally.

This aspect of personal, internal self-government was long understood to be a direct societal benefit resulting from the widespread teachings of Christianity. As Zephaniah Swift explained:

Indeed moral virtue is substantially and essentially enforced by the precepts of Christianity and may be considered to be the basis of it. But in addition to moral principles, the Christian doctrines inculcate a purity of heart and holiness of life which constitutes its chief glory When we contemplate it in this light, we have a most striking evidence of its superiority over all the systems of pagan philosophy which were promulgated by the wisest men of ancient times. 61

Signer of the Constitution Abraham Baldwin echoed this truth:

When the minds of the people in general are viciously disposed and unprincipled and their conduct disorderly, a free government will be attended with greater confitsions and evils more horrid than the wild, uncultivated state of nature. It can only be happy when the public principles and opinions are properly directed and their manners regulated. This is an influence beyond the reach of laws and punishments and can be claimed only by religion and education. 62

John Witherspoon similarly explained:

[V]irtue and piety are inseparably connected; then to promote true religion is the best and most effectual way of making a virtuous and regular people. Love to God and love to man is the substance of religion; when these prevail, civil laws will have little to do. 63

Disregarding these direct societal benefits which result from the promotion of religious principles, government utilizes extensive manpower and expends massive financial sums attempting to restrain behavior which is the external manifestation of internal chaos and disorder.

If human behavior is not controlled by the internal restraints provided through religion, then the only other means to restrain misbehavior is the

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threat of sheer force. As Founder James Otis querried:

When a man's will and pleasure is his only rule and guide, what

safety can there be either for him or against him but in the point

of a sword? 64

Perhaps Robert Winthrop (a speaker of the U.S. House and a contemporary ofjohn Quincy Adams and Daniel Webster) best summarized this

~ principle when he declared:

Men, in a word, must necessarily be controlled either by a power within

them or by a power without them; either by the Word of God or by

the strong arm of man; either by the Bible or by the bayonet. 65

Because of the civil benefits, it is little wonder that basic religious teachings on behavior and morality have been long promoted throughout society in general and were specifically inculcated through public education. As Daniel Webster noted:

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We regard it [public instruction] as a wise and liberal system of police by which property, and life, and the peace,. of society are secured. We seek to prevent in some measure the extension of the penal code by inspiring a salutary and conservative principle of virtue and of knowledge in an early age.. . . [W]e seek... to turn the strong current of feeling and opinion, as well as the censures of the law and the denunciations of religion, against immorality and crime. 66

In fact, so much were these religious teachings considered to be a fundamental part of a well-rounded education that the Founders feared what might transpire if education no longer included these teachings. As Benjamin Rush warned:

In contemplating the political institutions of the United States, I lament that we waste so much time and money in punishing crimes, and take so little pains to prevent them. We profess to be Republicans and yet we neglect the only means of establishing and perpetuating our republican forms of government; that is, the universal education of our youth in the principles of Christianity by means of the Bible. 67

Earlier generations understood that religion-which produced morality, internal restraints, and a basic knowledge of rights and wrongs-must

be publicly encouraged and supported to ensure national longevity. In fact, history provides frequent proof of the national elevation of behavior resulting from the public promotion of religion and morality. It is only sensible, therefore, to insist on a continuation of this policy. As political philosopher Montaigne (1533-1592) observed:

Were I not to follow the straight road for its straightness, I should follow it for having found by experience that, in the end, it is commonly the happiest and most useful track. 6~

Experience proves that in a nation such as ours, the promotion and encouragement of religion and morality allows government to concentrate on its primary function: serving, rather than restraining.

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