America's Religion

America's "Religion"

"Only virtuous people are capable of freedom.
As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters."
- Benjamin Franklin

These five "self-evident" truths, which the Founders accepted as basic beliefs, run like a golden thread
through the constitutional classics. These beliefs are also the common denominator in the world's major religions: Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism.

1. Respect for the Creator as the Supreme Power in the universe.
2. The Creator has revealed a moral code for happy living which clearly distinguishes right from wrong.
3. The Creator holds mankind responsible for the way we treat each other.
4. There is a future life.
5. There will be a Day of Judgment in the next life for what was done in this life.

The Founders sometimes referred to these five fundamental beliefs as the Religion of America which could be taught in school without any danger of interfering with the personal religious beliefs taught by parents in any child’s home. Religion is defined as a person's basic beliefs concerning the relationship between himself and the universe. Since people's actions are determined by their beliefs, the intent was to perpetuate the spirit of liberty for future generations of Americans.

The Founders said they all belonged to the same religion, and this refers to their basic religious philosophy rather than a particular church. They referred to churches as buildings or "establishments" of religion. And the First Amendment in our Bill of Rights prohibits the establishment of a national religion, i.e. Church of England—
It does not prohibit the acknowledgment of the Creator.

These basic beliefs which constitute "the religion of America is the religion of all mankind."
--Samuel Adams

"Here is my creed. I believe in one God, the Creator of the universe. That he governs it by his Providence.
That he ought to be worshipped. That the most acceptable service we render to him is in doing good
to his other children. That the soul of man is immortal, and will be treated with justice in another life
respecting its conduct in this. These I take to be the fundamental points in all sound religion ..."
--Benjamin Franklin

These beliefs are the "general principles" on which the American civilization is founded.
--John Adams

These basic beliefs are the principles "in which God has united us all."
--Thomas Jefferson

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Perpetuate Liberty for Future Generations

Lesson 3, "The Founding Fathers’ Basic Beliefs," explains that in the Northwest Ordinance document of 1787, the same year the Constitution was ratified, the Founders listed
the three things that should be taught in all America’s schools in order to perpetuate liberty for future generations: Religion, Morality and Knowledge.

1. Religion
This encompasses the five basic ideological beliefs listed above which the Founders discerned to be the common denominator in the world's major religions: Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism.

2. Morality
The 10 Commandments, The Golden Rule, etc.

3. Knowledge
These were the subjects taught in America's schools until changes started to take place in the early 1900s.
Basics in Reading;
Writing--both Oral and Written Communication--which is also known as the "Active Literacies;"
Arithmetic;
Literature--both classical and contemporary;
Music--with everyone participating in singing or playing an instrument;
Art forms--painting, drawing, sculpture;
Nature study--plant, animal, astronomy;
History--particularly American history and its Constitutional form of government;
Geography and the world's natural resources;
Hygiene--both physical and mental;
Civics and how the American system works.