We live in a great nation. Part of our greatness is that we are governed by some grand laws. Even so, we are getting more little laws every day. Why? Well, this is what happens to a nation when big laws are broken.
The Englishman, G.K Chesterton, writes: “When you break the big laws, you do not get liberty, you do not even get anarchy, what you get is the small laws.”
When the big laws are broken the moral underpinnings of a culture erode. What comes into the vacuum is an endless barrage of small laws that gobble up freedoms. What we are left then is endless legalism.
John Adams, our 2nd president, who was not a Christian in the fullest sense, but a deist (as were the first 3 presidents), reflected the moral consensus of his day.
Adams said: “Our constitution was designed for a moral and religious people only. It is wholly inadequate for any other.”
Our constitution assumes so much of us. That is why there were so few laws in those early decades of our country.
Our country was founded with the idea of “the best control is self-control.”
So, our best freedoms are born in the simple areas of honesty, decency and fair play, civic duty, good sportsmanship and good manners, and living with moral obligation.
Let’s enjoy the best of our true freedoms. Happy 4th!
