on shaky ground

 The quality of government can be judged by the extent to which morality pervades politics. If the politicians observe morals, they constitute a healthy and sound society. If they disregard morals and are short sighted and selfish, they constitute an unhealthy society, which will collapse upon itself. Turning a deaf ear to the moral condition under the guise of democratic principle is the beginning of the end. Our politicians should also be moral agents. The purpose of law is to preserve freedom and moral agency. Moral agency being the ability to distinguish right and wrong.

 When our Republic was established the founders were deeply concerned with moral agency. That is why they insisted upon the separation of church and state. Key to understanding that is what they meant by church. Church is not a religion, or any denomination of faith. Church, you might say, is the administration of faith. That is the function of the church. The church directs our moral agency. It was understood that " natural law ' was the basis for all of that.

  And what is " natural law? "  Natural law is that law derived from man, basically, the golden rule applies. All men are created equal! The manner in which these men practice their faith should not be the basis of government. All agreed upon the rights of man. It was only the path to heaven that caused disagreements. For that reason. the church was separated from government. That didn't mean the abandonment of morality. That our morals are based in Judeo-Christian tradition can not be disputed. We are a government of the people and those who formed it were Christians and Jews. They still are, by a clear majority. 

 Morals are enforced by societies. It is society that decides upon moral behavior. It is only when religion forms the basis for government that troubles ensue. When a religion becomes an ideology. And that is what the founding fathers knew and prevented by that first amendment to the constitution. John Adams expressed that when he said, our constitution was made for a moral and religious people. Notice he mentioned both, morals and religion, as they are separate things! That is the distinction often lost in the discussion. The understanding is that all religious people believe in the natural law of man. Indeed, if one where to distill every major religion in the world today to its' essence, you would find that to be true. It is only in the practice, the administration of that religion, that the differences lie. The path to heaven, as it were. That old greek guy, Epictetus said, " all religions must be tolerated, for every man must get to heaven in his own way. 

 Somehow morals and religion have become an enemy to the state. When the founding fathers wrote that first amendment I'm quite certain there intent was not to remove morality or religious conviction from government. There sole intent was to prevent any religion from becoming the ideology of the United States of America. The prevalent ideology of the United States is Democracy. We have a constitutional republic based on democratic principles. You could compare that to being a Christian and then subdividing that by denomination. All believe the same basic premise, it is only in the administration that they vary. Religion and morals have become intertwined in the minds of many. You can't have one without the other. That is a fallacy. It is something those wishing to change the society would have you believe. You don't have to believe in God to know the natural law of man. I want to be treated equally. It is only in the way I hope to gain that equality that our methods differ. Only by the removal of religion and the redefining of morality can I act with impunity. Only through that can I get my way! A new ideology! 

 On a personal level I would say that is why the founding fathers asked for " divine providence " in the establishment of our nation. What did they request? Gods' intervention in the affairs of men. The implication was clear, man needs help. When they separated the church from state they didn't separate God from man! And it is man that governs the nation, a nation of moral and religious people. " Our constitution is wholly inadequate to the governance of any other!" ( John Adams )  When men  no longer strive to be closer to God, but to distance themselves from that moral authority, societies collapse. It has ever been so. You can attempt to rewrite that story, but it will always end the same, in collapse.