This idea of Christian “rewards and punishments” is peppered throughout the writings of our early officials. They understood that government leaders, as well as their constituents, would be more self-governed, honest, hard working citizens if these same people believed there was a God who would reward them in the afterlife for their deeds. They also understood that while no one is perfect, Godliness and virtue generally follow one another.

“If men are so wicked with religion, what would they be if without it?” #55 -Benjamin Franklin

This belief was absolutely key in creating a government and society that was moral, peaceful, and productive. Christian ideas and statements were not incidentally placed throughout our founders’ writings, documents and monuments. They were in fact, representative of the founding fathers deep and abiding belief that a free society cannot ultimately survive without God’s Higher Laws as its foundation!

As was stated before, the First Amendment assured citizens that there would be no “establishment of religion” on a national basis. To be more specific: Since our nation was and is predominantly a Christian society, the directive assured that there would be no specific “Christian” denomination chosen as our national denomination. Even though there were several faiths represented in early America (including Native American religion, Judaism, Islam, and Buddhists), the great majority of the population was Christian, and Christianity was the preferred religion of the founding fathers.

These Christians, represented by varying sects, deeply cherished and guarded their beliefs. Many years prior, a large portion of early Americans’ ancestors had left their European homes with a few small possessions and crossed the treacherous Atlantic Ocean in order to escape religious persecution. This was a response to the nations in Europe that had established national Christian denominations, which in essence drove these dissenting sects onto the shores of America in hope of finding a new freedom to worship in their own way. It is important to note that these were Christians who were earnest enough about their religion to leave their homes and all they knew, oftentimes risking their lives enroute to a new and unknown world. They were not nominal Christians...they were serious about their faith.

This Christian “establishment” tradition of European nations (the formation of national denominations), including Great Britain’s, therefore became repugnant to the American forefathers … and in part resulted in some of the extreme views that were, at times, expressed by statesmen such as James Madison. Most of our founding fathers, however, held much more traditional and moderate views with regard to government and Christianity. And while all basically agreed on establishing no particular national Christian denomination, many believed that government should be allowed to sanction religious practices (such as days of prayer and fasting); if not on a national level, most certainly on a state level. It is very important to note that the First Amendment was drafted to limit Federal Government with regard to religion, but this amendment had no jurisdiction over state religious laws and practices! Religious establishment and officially sanctioned practices was left to the power and preference of each state.