What Would George Washington Say About the 2012 Election?
asks
Jerry Newcombe.
George Washington, the father of our country, sent out in written form his Farewell Address (September 19, 1796). In this classic piece of American political writing, he gives some warnings to his fellow Americans (and us) just as a “parting friend” might do.
He said in that message: “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness.” When the founding fathers spoke of “religion,” they were speaking of Christianity, in a nation which at the time was 99.8 percent Christian …
Like the other founders, Washington believed that for the Constitution to work, the people needed to be virtuous. As he himself put it in the Farewell Address, “virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government.”
… Washington … basically asks, how can morality continue without faith? It cannot, Washington warns: “And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle” [Emphasis Newcombe's].
… George Washington also said that as a nation we should never expect God’s blessings if we continue to defy His Word. In his First Inaugural Address, he said: “The propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained.” (The Ten Commandments come to mind.)
Read more: http://godfatherpolitics.com/7950/what-would-george-washington-say-about-the-2012-election/#ixzz2Bs9KzkjS
