GUEST EDITORIAL: One Again, the Sacred Fire of Liberty Is Preserved
By Tony Perkins Executive Editor • The Washington Stand
On Nov. 5, on election day, Americans spoke loudly and clearly to keep the American experiment alive.
A few years back, I visited the National Archives here in Washington, D.C., with a Member of Congress. We had the rare privilege of seeing some of our nation’s founding documents — papers not typically on public display. It wasn’t a “National Treasure” adventure, but it was an unforgettable moment for a student of history like me. One of those documents was the original U.S. Senate’s markup of the Bill of Rights, sent over from the House in 1789.
Another document was a simple but profound page — George Washington’s inaugural address, delivered on April 30, 1789. His speech was only about 10 minutes, but the words were powerful. As he took his first steps as the leader of a new nation, Washington said:
“Since we ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which Heaven itself has ordained: And since the preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the Republican model of Government, are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally staked, on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.”
From the very beginning, our republican form of government — placing the power to govern into the hands of the people — was viewed as an “experiment.” Why? Because nothing like it had ever been tried before. Self-government, grounded in the rule of law and crafted for a nation this vast and diverse, was unprecedented. The Constitution was new, untested, and the Founders knew that true power now rested with the people, not a monarchy or ruling elite. They also understood that this experiment depended not only on good laws but on a bedrock of virtue and morality, rooted in timeless truth.
John Adams captured this reality in 1798. “Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people,” he insisted. “It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
Washington had previously stated this point in his Farewell Address in 1796. This grand experiment of ours, he reminded us, could not survive if truth and morality were ignored or discarded.
And thank God, there are still Americans who understand that reality today — who saw that what the other option offered was an agenda that would have aborted this experiment and snuffed out our hard-won freedoms.
But we can’t be lulled into complacency. The American experiment isn’t on autopilot; it is not “safe and secure.” Our work is far from over. Right now, we have an opportunity, a window, to fortify the moral foundation of this experiment — to restore, promote and protect what Washington called the two great pillars of our political prosperity — religion and morality.
If America is to thrive, if we are to pass this precious experiment down to future generations, we must remember this — political and economic greatness cannot survive without moral goodness.
As Scripture declares: “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord” (Psalm 33:12).
— Tony Perkins is president of Family Research Council (FRC)and executive editor of The Washington Stand, FRC’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview.
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