If you were to ask that question to every American citizen today, you would likely get a great variety of answers. Some might say terrorism, others economic inequality, and others still the breakdown of the Constitution. Some might answer that there is no real danger to freedom in a America. What would your answer be? This is a question that I have asked myself multiple times, and I have come to an answer, an answer which I believe to be correct and of which I am thoroughly convinced. That answer is: the loss of virtue in the personal lives of the people. I use the term "virtue" in the classical sense, meaning goodness, uprightness, and morality.
Freedom is only possible under conditions where self-governing does the vast majority of the work of maintaining order, protecting rights, and solving everyday problems justly within a society. Where self-governing does not exist, the government must make vast numbers of laws, spelling out every detail of life, delineating what people are allowed to do and what they are not allowed to do. In such a society, the average citizen would not be able to know the laws due to their multitude and complexity. Unsustainable amounts of people, effort, time and treasure would be spent in trying to enforce those laws. Elder D. Todd Christofferson said in a General Conference address, speaking about such a society, "there could never be enough rules so finely crafted as to anticipate and cover every situation, and even if there were, enforcement would be impossibly expensive and burdensome. This approach leads to diminished freedom for everyone" (Moral Discipline, Oct 2009).
The only kind of self-governing that is capable of sustaining freedom by doing the heavy lifting of maintaining societal order is a self-governing based on virtuous principles. The Founders understood that fact and they wrote the Constitution knowing that it's survival hinged entirely upon it. John Adams said, "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other" (First address to congress, 1797). The Virginia Declaration of Rights, drafted by George Mason in 1776, states, "That no free government, or the blessings of liberty, can be persevered to any people but by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality, and virtue and by frequent recurrence to fundamental principles." The Founders even wrote these principles into laws that were not part of core founding documents, such as in the Northwest Ordinance, which states, "Religion, morality, and knowledge [are] necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind." These are just a few of many examples of the Founders' deep understanding that the rule of law can only exist when the vast majority of people are personally committed to virtuous principles; when people care about obeying the law not because of the punishment affixed to its transgression, but because it is right.
But what leads to a personal commitment to virtue?
Starting largely in the early 1900's the size and scope of government in the United States has expanded dramatically. There has been a continual push since that time to diminish the role of religion and increase the role of government in teaching people about society and one's relationship to it. The concept of "separation of church and state" has morphed into something very different than what Thomas Jefferson ever intended. In its name nearly all religious influence has been eradicated from public education and most other areas controlled by the government. This same extinguishing force has significantly expelled religious influence, especially the Christian religion, from college campuses nationwide. Thus, government and "Higher Learning" have both assumed the role of chief moral educator in our country, with generous help from the media. If the use of pornography, drugs, and prostitution are any measure of their success in teaching virtue, if the content of acceptable movies and music is any measure, if the conduct of the housing and financial institutions in the country is any measure, if the prevalence of cheating in school is any measure, if the disintegration of the family is any measure, I would say they've done a great job. Wouldn't you? If you compare the relative quantity of any of those things, and many, many more, from today to the first century of our country's history, it becomes plain which approach is superior.
The truth is that virtue is best taught on a wide scale through religion, and, in particular, religion pursued through the traditional family. Belief in a loving God that is actively involved in people's lives, that gives commandments which give form to virtuous living, and to whom every individual will one day give account does far more to create virtue in people's lives than any government program or college ethics course ever could. If indeed just government's primary role is to secure the freedom of its citizens, as the Declaration of Independence states, then it should be promoting religion at every opportunity, short of establishing a state religion. Those that care about maintaining freedom ought to seek the advance of religion and religious influence in society at large because it is the only thing that can produce a virtuous people capable of sustaining the rule of law.
The only kind of self-governing that is capable of sustaining freedom by doing the heavy lifting of maintaining societal order is a self-governing based on virtuous principles. The Founders understood that fact and they wrote the Constitution knowing that it's survival hinged entirely upon it. John Adams said, "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other" (First address to congress, 1797). The Virginia Declaration of Rights, drafted by George Mason in 1776, states, "That no free government, or the blessings of liberty, can be persevered to any people but by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality, and virtue and by frequent recurrence to fundamental principles." The Founders even wrote these principles into laws that were not part of core founding documents, such as in the Northwest Ordinance, which states, "Religion, morality, and knowledge [are] necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind." These are just a few of many examples of the Founders' deep understanding that the rule of law can only exist when the vast majority of people are personally committed to virtuous principles; when people care about obeying the law not because of the punishment affixed to its transgression, but because it is right.
But what leads to a personal commitment to virtue?
Starting largely in the early 1900's the size and scope of government in the United States has expanded dramatically. There has been a continual push since that time to diminish the role of religion and increase the role of government in teaching people about society and one's relationship to it. The concept of "separation of church and state" has morphed into something very different than what Thomas Jefferson ever intended. In its name nearly all religious influence has been eradicated from public education and most other areas controlled by the government. This same extinguishing force has significantly expelled religious influence, especially the Christian religion, from college campuses nationwide. Thus, government and "Higher Learning" have both assumed the role of chief moral educator in our country, with generous help from the media. If the use of pornography, drugs, and prostitution are any measure of their success in teaching virtue, if the content of acceptable movies and music is any measure, if the conduct of the housing and financial institutions in the country is any measure, if the prevalence of cheating in school is any measure, if the disintegration of the family is any measure, I would say they've done a great job. Wouldn't you? If you compare the relative quantity of any of those things, and many, many more, from today to the first century of our country's history, it becomes plain which approach is superior.The truth is that virtue is best taught on a wide scale through religion, and, in particular, religion pursued through the traditional family. Belief in a loving God that is actively involved in people's lives, that gives commandments which give form to virtuous living, and to whom every individual will one day give account does far more to create virtue in people's lives than any government program or college ethics course ever could. If indeed just government's primary role is to secure the freedom of its citizens, as the Declaration of Independence states, then it should be promoting religion at every opportunity, short of establishing a state religion. Those that care about maintaining freedom ought to seek the advance of religion and religious influence in society at large because it is the only thing that can produce a virtuous people capable of sustaining the rule of law.
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