Category Archives: Character

James Madison Advises Virtue

Posted on by July 25, 2017

James Madison, the Father of the Constitution, wrote a message to the States complete with a dire warning that still holds true today. It’s quite a long sentence and paragraph (I took the liberty of dividing the paragraph in two for easier reading). Nevertheless, I’m going to repeat it here for you:

“The citizens of the United States are responsible for the greatest trust ever confided to a political society. If justice, good faith, honor, gratitude and all the other qualities which ennoble (mark the word, ennoble) the character of a nation and fulfill the ends of government be the fruits of our establishments, the cause of liberty will acquire a dignity and luster, which it has never yet enjoyed, and an example will be set, which cannot but have the most favorable influence on the rights of Mankind. read more

The Founding Fathers and Religion

Posted on by July 21, 2017

In the early years of our American nation, religion fared very well even in the Supreme Court. Joseph Story (1779-1845) served as a Supreme Court Justice at the age of 32. He was the youngest to serve in that position. Her served from 1811 to 1845. He wrote several remarkable decisions of the High Court. The most memorable was the Amistad decision (now a movie), which he read out loud in the Court.

Here is a remarkable statement that he made during his tenure on the Court.

“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 future state of rewards and punishments; the cultivation of all the personal, social, and benevolent virtues;–these never can be a matter of indifference in any ordered community. It is indeed difficult to conceive, how any civilized society can well exist without them.” read more

Founding Fathers on Kindness

Posted on by July 19, 2017

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is quoted as saying: “Hard times have a way of teaching us lessons that we refuse to learn in good times. That is the one university we all get to attend—tuition free.”

I have learned to be nice to everyone. You don’t really know what others are going through at any particular time. Someone may cut you off in traffic because they must get to the hospital in time. Someone may be a little short with you because they are late for an urgent meeting or date or happening. You never really know. It’s just better to be nice and let little things go. read more

Alexander Hamilton and Laws

Posted on by July 18, 2017

I saw an interesting quote about Law today, and thought I’d pass it along. It’s from a man named Coleman Cox. I don’t know anything about him, but I love his thought:

“If we could make a great bonfire of the thousands of laws we have in this country, and start all over again with only the Golden Rule and the Ten Commandments, I am sure we would get along much better.”

It reminded me of a cartoon I once saw where a man was in a law library and was looking at the shelves full of law books. The caption read: “And to think in all started with 10 Commandments!” read more

Virtue Discussed by Adams and Washington

Posted on by July 15, 2017

John Adams, our second President, believed adamantly in Virtue and Religion. He said: “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

In other words, a virtuous people can maintain our best Constitutional form of government. But without virtue, no written document can protect the people from themselves

George Washington underscored this thought in his First Inaugural Address’ “. . . No Wall of words, no mound of parchment can be so formed as to stand against the sweeping torrent of boundless ambition on the one side, aided by the sapping current of corrupted morals on the other.” read more

The Founding Fathers and Education

Posted on by July 10, 2017

The Founding Fathers agreed that education was the most important way to teach virtue, shape character, and mold citizens. The “best means of forming manly, virtuous, happy people, will be found in the right education of youth.” And as George Washington wrote: “Without this foundation, every other means, in my opinion must fail.”

Moral education should begin when the first habits and manners were established. That’s why they supported public education. “Children should be educated and instructed in the principles of freedom. The education here intended is not merely that of the children of the rich and noble, but of every rank and class of people, down to the lowest and poorest. It is not too much to say that schools for the education of all should be placed at convenient distances, and maintained at the public expense.” (John Adams, “A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America”, a two volume work which was next to the Bible the most often quoted work at the Constitutional Convention.) read more

John Adams and Faith

Posted on by June 28, 2017

The Founding Fathers were men of wonderful and noble faith. You only have to read a selection of some of their writings to get a glimpse into this. John Adams was one who believed that the new nation should be an example of piety and righteousness to the world. He relied on Providence for help in his career. Providence was a popular appellation for the Heavenly Father out of respect for his name.

John Adams wrote in a letter to Abigail: “But I must submit all my Hopes and Fears, to an overruling Providence, in which, unfashionable as faith may be, I firmly believe.” read more

Thoughts on Our Founding Fathers

Posted on by June 28, 2017

In light of the debate that continues about the status of health care in the United States, I’ve been considering some of the thoughts of our Founding Fathers. They founded this nation on freedom, self-reliance, and accountability. Those are character traits that were important to them. Now we are considering how everyone can have adequate health care at the cost of the whole citizenry.

In my reading this week I came across an article that was printed around 1950. I found it astonishing in light of our current debates. I thought you might enjoy the feelings of our patriots in the 1950’s. read more

Morality, Freedom, and Liberty

Posted on by June 23, 2017

The Founding Fathers of our nation established a republic, a democracy that turned the power to the people. It was a new nation that said that the citizens, the people, would come first and would therefore choose their own leaders for the new nation.

In and around this rich new culture, there was faith and morality. The Founders hoped that culture would continue to allow America to become a light on the hill for the whole world.

The combination of the Spirit of the Revolution, Declaration of Independence, the new U.S. Constitution, The Bill of Rights, and the foundation in law was new in the world. As Benjamin Franklin said: “It’s a Republic—if you can keep it. The most fervent desire of the Founding Fathers was that we, as a people, would watch over this nation, with these founding documents, culture, and faith, and keep it strong forever. read more

Founding Fathers’ Light

Posted on by June 10, 2017

Here’s a quote from a recent religious gathering. It caught my attention because it seemed to me to teach just what our Founding Fathers believed according to their own writings.

“Each of us was given a portion of God’s light, called ‘the Light of Christ,’ to help us distinguish between good and evil, right and wrong. This is why even those who live with little or no knowledge of the Father’s plan can still sense, in their hearts, that certain actions are just and moral while others are not. read more