“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”—John Adams
What did Adams mean and why do Leftists hate him and our Founders so much?
To our Founders, there is only so much “power” in a political system, a true “zero sum” situation. People “power” is called “freedom.” Government “power” is called “tyranny.” And because only so much power is available, the only place government obtains power is by taking freedoms from the people. The more “power” government has, the less “free” the people are.
As they viewed history, our Founders perceived that the constant, unchanging tendency of governments was to gain more and more power, thus leaving their people less and less free. This was virtually an absolute to them. Remember their own situation. They rebelled against a government they believed was doing just that—growing in tyranny at the expense of its citizens, especially in the American colonies. This was anathema to our Founders. They hated tyranny, and loved freedom. And before someone shouts “Slavery!”, never, ever forget it was the principles they established that eventually eradicated slavery in America and around the world. History doesn’t happen overnight, but the collapse of slavery, in the 19th century, is one of the most rapid dissolutions of any system in human history. Would that abortion would fall as quickly.
Government exists to protect the property of its citizens—to “secure” the natural rights given to them by God. Thus, “people power” trumps “government power.” Indeed, the only “powers” government has are those the people give it. The citizens do realize that (theoretically) there are a few matters government can handle more effectively than individuals—war, police, a national currency—thus, the people are willing to sacrifice some of their individual rights so that collectively, through government, various matters can be handled more efficiently. But any right the people give the government can be taken back. This is, of course, exactly contrary to modern Leftist dogma which holds that all our rights come from government. Government giveth, and government taketh away. Such is 100% opposite the thinking of America’s Founders and is precisely why Leftists hate them so much.
Because they believed the universal, constant tendency of government was to grow and abuse power, thus becoming tyrannical and enslaving their population, the American Founding Fathers gave very little power to the national government they created. They specified EXACTLY what legislative power that government had (Article 1, Section 8). Laws are what restrict freedom so the Founders were very specific about what the legislative branch could do. Then, the Bill of Rights tells Congress what it CANNOT do. These are the powers the people gave, and forbade, to Congress. By exactly defining the powers of government, the people thus knew exactly what it could and could not do, giving them protection and thus great freedom. Most governmental powers were placed in the hands of the states and local governments, which were closer to the people, and thus (hypothetically) more controllable. Congress had very few, and very defined powers.
Incidentally, have you ever wondered why political parties are not mentioned in the Constitution? Parties are divisive, and it was not the role of the federal government (which was to be totally neutral) to benefit one section of the populace over another. Again, read Article 1, Section 8. Every power given to Congress was to benefit every American equally—the “general welfare.” Political parties thus weren’t needed. Tragically, they began almost immediately after the Constitution was ratified when Alexander Hamilton pushed for a national bank which would (Southerners believed) benefit Northern industry over Southern agriculture. This was actually the first step on the road to our “civil war.”
Advertisement
But back to Adams’ quote. Because of the nature of humanity, humans must be restrained or many of them will do evil. Thus, some system must be enacted to restrict the wickedness of the uncivilized. Government can do that, of course, but too much government power is called “tyranny.” The Founders wrote a Constitution to limit that very tendency. Thus, in the Founders’ system, religion was essential for restricting men. That gives humans as much freedom as possible because they are not being tyrannized by government into moral virtue and civilization, they FREELY choose to do it of their own volition! Government power is limited by the Constitution—the people are protected from government tyranny. Man’s vileness is limited (freely, voluntarily) by religion, thus allowing humans the greatest freedom possible. Our Constitution was indeed made only for a moral and religious people because it severely limited the power government has over its citizens. But, in order to have a civilized society, man’s basest instincts must be restrained—”a moral and religious people” are essential.
I cannot emphasize this strongly enough. The Founders deliberately limited the power the national government had over its citizens by defining precisely what powers the federal government could, and could not, exercise. That left the American people free from (most) government tyranny. But by doing so, it was absolutely imperative to have a “moral and religious people” who would curtail themselves from harming others, be virtuous, industrious, concerned for others, and practice all the enlightened attributes their religion taught them. No one did it perfectly, of course, and murderers and thieves, etc. existed in early America. Government, mainly state and local laws, does play a role here. But very limited.
The system didn’t work as well as the Founders wanted for the very reason they feared—the desire of men for power over others.
But indeed, “that book (the Bible) [was] the rock upon which this republic rests” (Andrew Jackson). Since government tyranny is the goal of the Left, the Bible and the Constitution must be vilified or revised to meet their pleasure. And that is exactly what they are doing today.
Iain's Blog 