Moral Leaders in Public Office

June 30, 1999

This Sunday we celebrate the Fourth of July. It's a time when we celebrate our freedom. But we should ask a fundamental question: How can we keep our freedom? Well, there are many answers to that question. Keep the military strong. Enact fair and just laws. Teach civic values and patriotism. Those are all good answers.

But let me propose another answer. Elect moral leaders. You see, the founders of this country believed that the future of the republic rested on moral principles. And those moral principles were best exercised in the hands of godly leaders. Consider just a few of the comments from the founders of this country.

John Adams said that "Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. So great is my veneration of the Bible that the earlier my children begin to read it, the more confident will be my hope that they will prove useful citizens of their country and respectful members of society." John Jay, our first Supreme Court Justice said, "Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest, of a Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for its rulers." And Daniel Webster said, "Our ancestors established their system of government on morality and religious sentiment. . . . Whatever makes men good Christians, makes them good citizens."

The founders of this country understood that the republic rested upon moral government, and that moral government rested on moral leaders. Let us, therefore, follow in their tradition and elect moral leaders to office and make this republic strong and free.

I'm Kerby Anderson of Probe Ministries, and that's my opinion.