A government, almost by definition, cannot help but endorse religion; a religion, at least, that is defined broadly enough. Religion is an explanatory world view or perspective on meaning based on essentially improvable axioms. Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and even atheists arrive at their positions based on faith. Political systems, too, have their faith components and the two are subtly related and even interdependent.
The United States is a particularly instructive example since its establishment was not the result of the gradual accretion of tribal groups, but rather of a self-conscious political decision on the nature of man. The beliefs behind the decision to institute a new country are explicitly embodied in the Declaration of Independence. The document asserts on faith "...these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." This assertion by the Founders was undoubtedly informed by their experience. These truths were so obvious to them that they believed them "to be self-evident." It was certainly the product of an emerging political philosophy, but the Declaration was also a statement of faith about the nature of man. In a very fundamental sense, the Declaration of Independence is a religious document underpinned by those articles of faith. For a government to pass on its political beliefs to children and to nurture the acknowledgment of these articles of political faith are, in a broad sense, religious enterprises.
Indeed, the Founding Fathers explicitly asserted that the acceptance of the notion that God grants rights was essential to the long-term stability of the country. Thomas Jefferson asked rhetorically "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 of the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath?"
Moreover, the Founders believed that those governments that did not honor the inherent rights of man would ultimately suffer and that there was a Providence that was calling Americans to a higher moral and political duty. In 1776, George Washington wrote in his general orders, "the peace and safety of the Country now depends, under God, solely on the success of our arms."
Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg, consciously believing that the carnage of the Civil War was perhaps retribution for the sin of slavery, vowed that "this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth."
| Here's the follow-up discussion on this article: | View all related messages |
For a complete listing of article comments, questions, and other discussions related to Frank Monaldo's Conservative Politics topic, please visit the Discussions page.