Principles of Good Gov’t (Pt. 2)
Religion as a Key Moral Compass
Liberty cannot endure unless those under its banner a) have a clear sense of right and wrong and b) in general choose to act in accordance with right.
But this leaves us with a dilemma: who defines “right.” Herein lies the critical role of religion. The definition of right must come from a higher, unchanging source. Why? If man by himself defines right, what man then is able to determine “right” for the remainder of mankind, especially if we truly espouse the notion that all men are created equal. If all are created equal, then each man’s definition is equally “right.” We are left with chaos and anarchy.
Religion and an appeal to the Almighty is the only way for us to find a clarity of right and wrong that can be applicable to all and to which all can be subordinate.
I know that much has been said and written about “the wall of separation of church and state,” which has no reference in the Constitution or Bill of Rights. Unfortunately, those who have sought to ban religion from the public sector fail to recognize that they are simply practicing and legislating another faith or religion: humanism or atheism.
Given the success of this movement, I am not surprised by the corporate scandals we have witnessed, nor the increase in divorce or the increase of a litenany of other social ills. We have removed the Source of truth. We have taken away the only compass proven over time to provide the public a sure way of discerning right from wrong, thus leaving the public to define right for themselves, and in the case of Enron the consequences were disasterous for thousands of individuals.
Good government is not freedom FROM religion but promoting the FREE exercise of religion in both private and public forums, thus recognizing the fundamental role religion plays in providing a compass for moral behavior that lines and lines of additional code and legislation can never provide.
