"Of the liberty of conscience in matters of religious faith, of speech and of the press, of trial by jury, to keep and bear arms...If these rights are well defined and secured against encroachment, it is impossible that government should ever degenerate into tyranny."
James Monroe, 5th President, 1817-1825
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
November 28
"The purpose of separation of church and state is to keep forever from these shores the ceaseless strife that has soaked the soil of Europe with blood for centuries."
James Madison, 4th President, 1809-1817
James Madison, 4th President, 1809-1817
November 27
Say nothing of my Religion. It is known to God and myself alone. Its evidence before the world is to be sought in my life: if it has been honest and dutiful to society, the religion which has regulated it cannot be a bad one."
Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President, 1801-1809- from a letter to John Adams, January, 11, 1817.-Jefferson and Adams had been friends before and during the Revolution but became political rivals in the formation of the new Republic, as Adams was elected to be the second President after Washington, and Jefferson defeated Adams and was elected the third President. Jefferson had retired from politics in 1809 after his Presidency, which he deemed to be "splendid misery." Jefferson and Adams renewed their friendship and generated volumes of letters to each other until their deaths; both on July 4, 1826, 50 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. They wrote on various and numerous subjects; here religion. Jefferson's biographer had asked if he had had a change in religious beliefs.Jefferson comments..."The result of your fifty or sixty years of religious reading, in the four words, “Be just and good,” is that in which all our inquiries must end; as the riddles of all the priesthoods end in four more, “ubi panis, ibi deus.” What all agree in, is probably right. What no two agree in, most probably wrong...Now this supposed that they knew what had been my religion before, taking for it the word of their priests, whom I certainly never made the confidants of my creed. My answer was “say nothing of my religion. It is known to my God and myself alone. Its evidence before the world is to be sought in my life; if that has been honest and dutiful to society, the religion which has regulated it cannot be a bad one.” Affectionately adieu. "The Works of Thomas Jefferson, Federal Edition (New York and London, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1904-5). Vol. 12."
Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President, 1801-1809- from a letter to John Adams, January, 11, 1817.-Jefferson and Adams had been friends before and during the Revolution but became political rivals in the formation of the new Republic, as Adams was elected to be the second President after Washington, and Jefferson defeated Adams and was elected the third President. Jefferson had retired from politics in 1809 after his Presidency, which he deemed to be "splendid misery." Jefferson and Adams renewed their friendship and generated volumes of letters to each other until their deaths; both on July 4, 1826, 50 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. They wrote on various and numerous subjects; here religion. Jefferson's biographer had asked if he had had a change in religious beliefs.Jefferson comments..."The result of your fifty or sixty years of religious reading, in the four words, “Be just and good,” is that in which all our inquiries must end; as the riddles of all the priesthoods end in four more, “ubi panis, ibi deus.” What all agree in, is probably right. What no two agree in, most probably wrong...Now this supposed that they knew what had been my religion before, taking for it the word of their priests, whom I certainly never made the confidants of my creed. My answer was “say nothing of my religion. It is known to my God and myself alone. Its evidence before the world is to be sought in my life; if that has been honest and dutiful to society, the religion which has regulated it cannot be a bad one.” Affectionately adieu. "The Works of Thomas Jefferson, Federal Edition (New York and London, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1904-5). Vol. 12."
November 26
"If we ever forget that we are One Nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under."
Ronald Reagan, 40th President, 1891-1989-Remarks at an Ecumenical Prayer Breakfast in Dallas, Texas, August 23, 1984"...I believe that George Washington knew the City of Man cannot survive without the City of God, that the Visible City will perish without the Invisible City. "Religion played not only a strong role in our national life; it played a positive role. The abolitionist movement was at heart a moral and religious movement; so was the modern civil rights struggle. And throughout this time, the state was tolerant of religious belief, expression, and practice. Society, too, was tolerant. "But in the 1960's this began to change. We began to make great steps toward secularizing our nation and removing religion from its honored place..."Today there are those who are fighting to make sure voluntary prayer is not returned to the classrooms. And the frustrating thing for the great majority of Americans who support and understand the special importance of religion in the national life -- the frustrating thing is that those who are attacking religion claim they are doing it in the name of tolerance, freedom, and openmindedness. Question: Isn't the real truth that they are intolerant of religion? They refuse to tolerate its importance in our lives...Without God, there is no virtue, because there's no prompting of the conscience. Without God, we're mired in the material, that flat world that tells us only what the senses perceive. Without God, there is a coarsening of the society. And without God, democracy will not and cannot long endure. If we ever forget that we're one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under."
Ronald Reagan, 40th President, 1891-1989-Remarks at an Ecumenical Prayer Breakfast in Dallas, Texas, August 23, 1984"...I believe that George Washington knew the City of Man cannot survive without the City of God, that the Visible City will perish without the Invisible City. "Religion played not only a strong role in our national life; it played a positive role. The abolitionist movement was at heart a moral and religious movement; so was the modern civil rights struggle. And throughout this time, the state was tolerant of religious belief, expression, and practice. Society, too, was tolerant. "But in the 1960's this began to change. We began to make great steps toward secularizing our nation and removing religion from its honored place..."Today there are those who are fighting to make sure voluntary prayer is not returned to the classrooms. And the frustrating thing for the great majority of Americans who support and understand the special importance of religion in the national life -- the frustrating thing is that those who are attacking religion claim they are doing it in the name of tolerance, freedom, and openmindedness. Question: Isn't the real truth that they are intolerant of religion? They refuse to tolerate its importance in our lives...Without God, there is no virtue, because there's no prompting of the conscience. Without God, we're mired in the material, that flat world that tells us only what the senses perceive. Without God, there is a coarsening of the society. And without God, democracy will not and cannot long endure. If we ever forget that we're one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under."
November 25
"He who loves the workman and his work, and does what he can to preserve and improve it, shall be accepted of Him.'
John Adams, 2nd President, 1797-1801- from a letter to Thomas Jefferson, June 18, 1812. Adams had apparently inquired about the Indians (Native Americans) and the theories of their origins and religious practices-Jefferson states the theories of two or three European historians. Adams replies:"...The watch-maker has in his head an idea of the system of a watch, before he makes it. The mechanician of the universe had a complete idea of the universe before he made it, and this idea, this logos, was almighty, or at least powerful enough to produce the world; ... I am weary of philosophers, theologians, politicians, and historians. They are immense masses of absurdities, vices, and lies. Montesquieu had sense enough to say in jest, that all our knowledge might be comprehended in twelve pages in duodecimo; and I believe him in earnest. I could express my faith in shorter terms. He who loves the workman and his work, and does what he can to preserve and improve it, shall be accepted of him."The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States: with a Life of the Author, Notes and Illustrations, by his Grandson Charles Francis Adams (Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1856). 10 volumes. Vol. 10.""http://oll.libertyfund.org/"
John Adams, 2nd President, 1797-1801- from a letter to Thomas Jefferson, June 18, 1812. Adams had apparently inquired about the Indians (Native Americans) and the theories of their origins and religious practices-Jefferson states the theories of two or three European historians. Adams replies:"...The watch-maker has in his head an idea of the system of a watch, before he makes it. The mechanician of the universe had a complete idea of the universe before he made it, and this idea, this logos, was almighty, or at least powerful enough to produce the world; ... I am weary of philosophers, theologians, politicians, and historians. They are immense masses of absurdities, vices, and lies. Montesquieu had sense enough to say in jest, that all our knowledge might be comprehended in twelve pages in duodecimo; and I believe him in earnest. I could express my faith in shorter terms. He who loves the workman and his work, and does what he can to preserve and improve it, shall be accepted of him."The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States: with a Life of the Author, Notes and Illustrations, by his Grandson Charles Francis Adams (Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1856). 10 volumes. Vol. 10.""http://oll.libertyfund.org/"
November 24
"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, Religion and Morality are indespensible supports...Can it be that Providence has not connected the permanent felicity of a Nation with its virtue?"
George Washington, 1st President, 1789-1797
George Washington, 1st President, 1789-1797
November 23, 1804, Birthdate of Franklin Pierce
"You have summoned me in my weakness; you must sustain me by your strength.
14th President, 1853-1857-Pierce was a cohort and fellow student at Bowdoin College along with writers, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Only two months earlier, in January, 1853, the Pierce's last surviving son had died in a railroad accident. He had been nominated on the 49th ballot as a northerner at the Democratic Party convention.-from his Inaugural Address, Friday, March 4, 1853"... I repair to the post assigned me not as to one sought, but in obedience to the unsolicited expression of your will, answerable only for a fearless, faithful, and diligent exercise of my best powers...You have summoned me in my weakness; you must sustain me by your strength... It is no paradox to say that although comparatively weak the new-born nation was intrinsically strong. Inconsiderable in population and apparent resources, it was upheld by a broad and intelligent comprehension of rights and an all-pervading purpose to maintain them, stronger than armaments...With the Union my best and dearest hopes are entwined... I hold that the laws of 1850, commonly called the "compromise measures," are strictly constitutional and to be unhesitatingly carried into effect...within reach of the tomb of Washington, with all the cherished memories of the past gathering around me like so many eloquent voices of exhortation from heaven, I can express no better hope for my country than that the kind Providence which smiled upon our fathers may enable their children to preserve the blessings they have inherited."
14th President, 1853-1857-Pierce was a cohort and fellow student at Bowdoin College along with writers, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Only two months earlier, in January, 1853, the Pierce's last surviving son had died in a railroad accident. He had been nominated on the 49th ballot as a northerner at the Democratic Party convention.-from his Inaugural Address, Friday, March 4, 1853"... I repair to the post assigned me not as to one sought, but in obedience to the unsolicited expression of your will, answerable only for a fearless, faithful, and diligent exercise of my best powers...You have summoned me in my weakness; you must sustain me by your strength... It is no paradox to say that although comparatively weak the new-born nation was intrinsically strong. Inconsiderable in population and apparent resources, it was upheld by a broad and intelligent comprehension of rights and an all-pervading purpose to maintain them, stronger than armaments...With the Union my best and dearest hopes are entwined... I hold that the laws of 1850, commonly called the "compromise measures," are strictly constitutional and to be unhesitatingly carried into effect...within reach of the tomb of Washington, with all the cherished memories of the past gathering around me like so many eloquent voices of exhortation from heaven, I can express no better hope for my country than that the kind Providence which smiled upon our fathers may enable their children to preserve the blessings they have inherited."
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