Commonwealth Policy Center

Tomorrow we’ll celebrate our nation’s 243rd birthday. The founders threw off the chains of tyranny from King George and introduced the idea of the rule of law and self-government. And they appealed to God. As a result we have incredible political, religious and economic freedom. But a component to freedom that’s often forgotten is a moral requirement. Our nation’s second president, John Adams spoke to the Massachusetts militia and reminded them of the idea of ordered liberty. He said, “We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”