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REPORT of the manner of proceedings in the
General assembly convened at James City in Virginia, July 30, 1619, consisting of
the Governor, the Council of Estate and two Burgesses elected out of each
incorporation and plantation, and being dissolved the 4th of August next ensuing.
Be it enacted by this present assembly that for laying a surer foundation of the
conversion of the Indians to Christian religion, each town, city, borough, and
particular plantation do obtain unto themselves by just means a certain number of
the natives children to be educated by them in the true religion and civil
course of life of which children the most towardly boys in wit and graces of
nature to be brought up by them in the first elements of literature, so to be
fitted for the college intended for them that from thence they may be sent to that
work of conversion. |
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Hobbes, Leviathan, (1651) Part III, Chapter XXXII
Nevertheless, we are not to renounce our senses and experience, nor that which is
the undoubted word of God, our natural reason. For they are the talents which he
hath put into our hands to negotiate, till the coming again of our blessed
Saviour; and therefore not to be folded up in the napkin of an implicit faith,
but employed in the purchase of justice, peace, and true religion. For
though there be many things in God's word above reason; that is to say, which
cannot by natural reason be either demonstrated or confuted; yet there is nothing
contrary to it; but when it seemeth so, the fault is either in our unskillful
interpretation, or erroneous ratiocination. |
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- Though state and church ought never to be separate entities, true
religion is not merely an expression of national spirit; it rises far
superior to earthly law, being, indeed, the source of all law. [p.36] With
Cicero and Philo, Burke enunciates the doctrine of the jus naturale,
the law of the universe, the creation of the divine mind, of which the laws of
man are only the imperfect manifestation. "All human laws are, properly
speaking, only declaratory; they may alter the mode and application, but have
no power over the substance of original justice." Men have no right to
alter the laws as their fancy suggests; the superior law is not in the power
of any political community to amend.
-
The Conservative Mind: From Burke to Eliot
by Russell Kirk
Seventh Revised Edition
Regnery Publishing, Inc. Washington, D. C.
II: Burke and the Politics of Prescription
3. Providence and veneration
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- This world is a battle-ground, and we are put into it that we may contend
for the good. In his most enduring work, his treatise on the Will, [Jonathan]
Edwards argued that even God is bound by God's own will to pursue the good; no
man is free from constraint to obey the divine will. Sin is only a negative, a
vacuum-in short, sin is the absence of God, from whom all goodness radiates.
"True religion in a great measure consists in holy
affections," Edwards wrote in his discourse on Religious Affections.
"A love of divine things, for the beauty and sweetness of their moral
excellency, is the spring of all holy affections."
-
The Roots of American Order
by Russell Kirk
THIRD EDITION
REGNERY GATEWAY Washington, DC
Chapter IX: Salutary Neglect-The Colonial Order
The New World's Christianity
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Debates in the Convention of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, of the Adoption
of the Federal Constitution,
Wednesday, January 30
Jonathan Elliot, Debates on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution,
Vol. 2, p.118
Rev. Mr. SHUTE. Mr. President, to object to the latter part of the paragraph
under consideration, which excludes a religious test, is, I am sensible, very
popular; for the most of men, somehow, are rigidly tenacious of their own
sentiments in religion, and disposed to impose them upon others as the standard
of truth. If, in my sentiments upon the point in view, I should differ from some
in this honorable body, I only wish from them the exercise of that candor, with
which true religion is adapted to inspire the honest and well-disposed
mind.
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[Note the argument below against a test oath in the federal constitution.
The argument in favor of the testoath was that without it the Pope could become
President.]
Debates in the Convention of North Carolina
Jonathan Elliot, Debates on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution,
Vol. 4, p.1
At a Convention, begun and held at Hillsborough, the 21st day of July, in the
year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-eight, and of the
Independence of America the 13th, in pursuance of a resolution of the last
General Assembly, for the purpose of deliberating and determining on the
proposed Plan of Federal Government,-
A majority of those who were duly elected as members of this Convention being
met at the church, they proceeded to the election of a president, when his
excellency, Samuel Johnston, Esq., was unanimously chosen, and conducted to the
chair accordingly.
Wednesday, July 30, 1788
Jonathan Elliot, Debates on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution, Vol. 4,
p.198
Gov. JOHNSTON expressed great astonishment that the people were alarmed on the
subject of religion. This, he said, must have arisen from the great pains which
had been taken to prejudice men's minds against the Constitution. He begged
leave to add the following few observations to what had been so ably said by the
gentleman last up.
I read the Constitution over and over, but could not see one cause of
apprehension or jealousy on this subject. When I heard there were apprehensions
that the pope of Rome could be the President of the United States, I was greatly
astonished. It might as well be said that the king of England or France, or the
Grand Turk, could be chosen to that office. It would have been as good an
argument. It appears to me that it would have been dangerous, if Congress could
intermeddle with the subject of religion. True religion is derived from a
much higher source than human laws. When any attempt is made, by any government,
to restrain men's consciences, no good consequence can possibly follow. It is
apprehended that Jews, Mahometans, pagans, &e., may be elected to high
offices under the government of the United States. Those who are Mahometans, or
any others who are not professors of the Christian religion, can never be
elected to the office of President, or other high office, but in one of two
cases. First, if the [p.199] people of America lay aside the Christian religion
altogether. it may happen. Should this unfortunately take place, the people will
choose such men as think as they do themselves. Another case is, if any persons
of such descriptions should, notwithstanding their religion, acquire the
confidence and esteem of the people of America by their good conduct and
practice of virtue, they may be chosen. I leave it to gentlemen's candor to
judge what probability there is of the people's choosing men of different
sentiments from themselves.
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Proclamation
by George Washington
Messages and Papers of the Presidents, Richardson, ed., George
Washington, vol. 1, p.56
Fitzpatrick 30:427. (1789)
Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of
Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to
implore His protection and favor; and
Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me
"to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public
thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts
the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an
opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and
happiness:"
Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November
next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great
and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that
is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our
sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this
country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies
and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion
of the late war; for the great degree of tranquillity, union, and plenty which
we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have
been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and
happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted; for the
civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of
acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and
various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.
And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and
supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations, and beseech Him to pardon
our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or
private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and
punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by
constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly
and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and
nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with
good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice
of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us;
and, generally, to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity
as He alone knows to be best.
Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3d day of October, A. D. 1789.
GO. WASHINGTON.
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Messages and Papers of the Presidents, John
Adams, vol. 1, p.295
Journal of the House of Representatives, vol. 3, p. 724
Fourth Annual
Address, November 22, 1800.
Gentlemen of the Senate and Gentlemen of the House of Representatives:
Immediately after the adjournment of Congress at their last session in
Philadelphia I gave directions, in compliance with the laws, for the removal of
the public offices, records, and property. These directions have been executed,
and the public officers have since resided and conducted the ordinary business
of the Government in this place.
I congratulate the people of the United States on the assembling of Congress at
the permanent seat of their Government, and I congratulate you, gentlemen, on
the prospect of a residence not to be changed. Although there is cause to
apprehend that accommodations are not now so complete as might be wished, yet
there is great reason to believe that this inconvenience will cease with the
present session.
It would be unbecoming the representatives of this nation to assemble for the
first time in this solemn temple without looking up to the Supreme Ruler of the
Universe and imploring His blessing.
May this territory be the residence of virtue and happiness! In this city may
that piety and virtue, that wisdom and magnanimity, that constancy and
self-government, which adorned the great character whose name it bears be
forever held in veneration! Here and throughout our country may simple manners,
pure morals, and true religion flourish forever!
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The American Jewish Committee
Commentary Magazine, January 1995, p.32
God and the Americans
Paul Johnson
2. The Moral Theology of the Melting Pot
Alexis de Tocqueville in his Democracy in America, published in 1835, said that
the first thing which struck him in the United States was the attitude of, and
toward, the churches. At first he found it almost incredible:
In France I had almost always seen the spirit of religion and the spirit of
freedom pursuing courses diametrically opposed to each other: but in America I
found that they were intimately united, and that they reigned in common over the
same country.
He added: "Religion must be regarded as the foremost of the political
institutions of [the United States]; for if it does not impart a taste for
freedom, it facilitates the use of free institutions." And Americans, he
concluded, held religion "to be indispensable to the maintenance of
republican institutions."
America's most typical churches tended to look back from the 19th century straight
to the New Testament, dismissing the totalitarianism of the Middle Ages and the
age of religious wars as nightmares which had little to do with true religion.
They refused to associate Christianity with compulsion in any form. The assumption
of the voluntary principle, the central tenet of American Christianity, was that
the personal religious convictions of individuals, freely gathered in churches and
acting in voluntary associations, would gradually and necessarily permeate society
by persuasion and example. Thus the world was seen primarily in moral terms. |
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Letter to the Chief of Chaplains of the War Department.
February 13, 1934
Public Papers of the Presidents, F. D. Roosevelt, 1934, Item 25
Chaplains of the military and naval services and clergymen everywhere who by word
and life are advancing the cause of idealism and true religion are doing a
commendable work, one that is absolutely essential to the life of the Nation.
It doesn't matter that Roosevelt was not a Christian, or even that he was a
shyster. He knew there was no doctrine of "separation of church and
state" which kept him from pretending that he endorsed the true religion in
order to gain the support of a gullible once-Christian public. |
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James Madison did not practice what The US Supreme Court preaches. In the case
of Everson v. Board of
Education, the Court claims:
The movement toward this end reached its dramatic climax in Virginia in
1785-86 when the Virginia legislative body was about to renew Virginia's tax
levy for the support of the established church. Thomas Jeffer- [330 U.S. 1, 12]
son and James Madison led the fight against this tax. Madison wrote his great
Memorial and Remonstrance against the law. In it, he eloquently argued that a true
religion did not need the support of law; that no person, either believer or
non-believer, should be taxed to support a religious institution of any kind;
that the best interest of a society required that the minds of men always be
wholly free; and that cruel persecutions were the inevitable result of
government-established religions.
The original Virginia Charter read in part:
'We, greatly commending, and graciously accepting of, their Desires for the
Furtherance of so noble a Work, which may, by the Providence of Almighty God,
hereafter tend to the Glory of his Divine Majesty, in propagating of Christian
Religion to such People, as yet live in Darkness and miserable Ignorance of
the true Knowledge and Worship of God, and may in time bring the Infidels
and Savages, living in those parts, to human Civility, and to a settled and
quiet Government; DO, by these our Letters-Patents, graciously accept of, and
agree to, their humble and well-intended Desires.'
Madison's language in his Memorial and Remonstrance was taken from the
original Virginia Charter:
12. Because, the policy of the bill is adverse to the diffusion of the light
of Christianity. The first wish of those who enjoy this precious gift,
ought to be that it may be imparted to the whole race of mankind. Compare the
number of those who have as yet received it with the number still remaining
under the dominion of false Religions; and how small is the former! Does
the policy of the Bill tend to lessen the disproportion? No; it at once
discourages those who are strangers to the light of (revelation) from coming
into the Region of it; and countenances, by example the nations who continue
in darkness, in shutting out those who might convey it to them. Instead of
levelling as far as possible, every obstacle to the victorious progress of
truth, the Bill with an ignoble and unchristian timidity would circumscribe it,
with a wall of defence, against the encroachments of error.
It might be recalled that legislators in southern states which were motivated
to advance Christianity and have said pretty much EXACTLY what Madison said, have
had their legislation struck down as "unconstitutional" by the Secular
Humanist Court on the sole ground that it was motivated to spread
Christianity. (Jaffree, Aguillard)
And this "separationist" logic claims to be based on Madison. The same
Madison that urged legislative action based on the need to turn back "false
religions." |
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This is not to say that the Founding Fathers were vicious Christian bigots who
persecuted non-Christian religionists. They gave all religions rights within
Christian social norms. But it was clear that one religion was preferred.
On October 9 the Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church in North America sent an
address to Washington, the answer to which is undated, but recorded immediately,
following the address in the "Letter Book" in the
Washington Papers. In the answer Washington stated:
- "I readily join with you that 'while just government protects all in
their religious rights, true religion affords to government
its surest support.'"
-
Sparks. ed., 12:167. (1789)
- Such is my veneration for every religion that reveals the attributes of the
Deity, or a future state of rewards and punishments, that I had rather see the
opinions of Confucius or Mohammed inculcated upon our youth than see them grow
up wholly devoid of a system of religious principles. But the religion I mean
to recommend in this place, is that of the New Testament.
-
Benjamin Rush, Essays, Literary, Moral and
Philosophical
(Philadelphia: Thomas and William Bradford, 1806), p. 8
- I now make it my earnest prayer, that God would have you, and the
State over which you preside, in his holy protection, that he would
incline the hearts of the Citizens to cultivate a spirit of
subordination and obedience to Government, to entertain a brotherly
affection and love for one another, for their fellow Citizens of the
United States at large, and particularly for their brethren who have
served in the Field, and finally, that he would most graciously be
pleased to dispose us all, to do
Justice, to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with that Charity,
humility and pacific temper of mind, which were the Characteristicks of
the Divine Author of our blessed Religion, and without an humble
imitation of whose example in these things, we can never hope to be a
happy Nation.
- George Washington to New Hampshire Founding Father Meshech
Weare, June 8, 1783, a Circular Letter of Farewell to the
Continental Army, containing "my final blessing to that Country, in
whose service I have spent the prime of my life."
Inscribed on a bronze tablet adjoining the Washington pew in St.
Paul's chapel in New York City.
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[20 March 1779] |
WHEREAS, in just Punishment of our manifold
Transgressions, it hath pleased the Supreme Disposer of
all Events to visit these United States with a calamitous
War, through which his Divine Providence hath hitherto in
a wonderful Manner conducted us, so that we might
acknowledge that the Race is not to the Swift, nor the
Battle to the Strong: AND WHEREAS, notwithstanding
the Chastisements received and Benefits bestowed, too few
have been sufficiently awakened to a Sense of their Guilt,
or warmed with Gratitude, or taught to amend their Lives
and turn from their Sins, that so he might turn his Wrath:
AND WHEREAS, from a Consciousness of what we have
merited at his Hands, and an Apprehension that the
Malevolence of our disappointed Enemies, like the
Incredulity of Pharaoh, may be used as the Scourge of
Omnipotence to vindicate his slighted Majesty, there is
Reason to fear that he may permit much of our Land to
become the Prey of the Spoiler, our Borders to be ravaged,
and our Habitations destroyed:
RESOLVED,
THAT it be recommended to the several States to
appoint the First Thursday in May next to be
a Day of Fasting, Humiliation, and Prayer to Almighty God,
that he will be pleased to avert those impending
Calamities which we have but too well deserved: That he
will grant us his Grace to repent of our Sins, and amend
our Lives according to his Holy Word: That he will
continue that wonderful Protection which hath led us
through the Paths of Danger and Distress: That he will be
a Husband to the Widow, and a Father to the fatherless
Children, who weep over the Barbarities of a Savage Enemy:
That he will grant us Patience in Suffering, and Fortitude
in Adversity: That he will inspire us with Humility,
Moderation, and Gratitude in prosperous Circumstances:
That he will give Wisdom to our Councils, Firmness to our
Resolutions, and Victory to our Arms: That he will bless
the Labours of the Husbandman, and pour forth Abundance,
so that we may enjoy the Fruits of the Earth in due
Season: That he will cause Union, Harmony, and mutual
Confidence to prevail throughout these States: That he
will bestow on our great Ally all those Blessings which
may enable him to be gloriously instrumental in protecting
the Rights of Mankind, and promoting the Happiness of his
Subjects: That he will bountifully continue his paternal
Care to the Commander in Chief, and the Officers and
Soldiers of the United States: That he will grant the
Blessings of Peace to all contending Nations, Freedom to
those who are in Bondage, and Comfort to the Afflicted:
That he will diffuse Useful Knowledge, extend the
Influence of True
Religion, and give us that Peace of Mind which
the World cannot give: That he will be our Shield in the
Day of Battle, our Comforter in the Hour of Death, and our
kind Parent and merciful Judge through Time and through
Eternity.
Done in CONGRESS, this
Twentieth Day of March, in the Year of Our Lord One
Thousand Seven Hundred and Seventy-Nine, and in the Third
Year of our Independence.
JOHN JAY,
President.
Attest. CHARLES THOMSON,
Secretary.
PHILADELPHIA: PRINTED
BY HALL AND SELLERS.
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