What did John Adams mean about our Constitution only being adequate for a moral and religious people?

 

“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other”. ~ John Adams

What did Adams mean by that? Why cannot the US Constitution be used to govern immoral people? Let us explore that.

Today, there are laws against rioting and burning down buildings that do not belong to you. There are laws against killing others. There are laws against stealing, assault, fraud, perjury and more.

Look around you. Watch television and listen to the radio. Check out any news site on the internet. Obviously, the laws are not effective. Why?

Why do you not kill folks you are mad at? Why do you not steal? Why are you not burning down Planned Parenthood offices? Why are you not stealing money, food, cars and guns? Because there  are laws against that sort of behavior? I think not. There must be another reason. After all, there are those breaking laws all around you. Why do you not follow suit?

Why do some act civilly and others not? Therein lies the question. Therein lies the reason John Adams wrote what he did.

Our Constitution was written so that citizens of the United States of America could self-govern. There are other forms of government, Monarchies, where the king rules absolutely. Break his rules and you hang. Communist states, where the politburo rules. Cross them and you are going to be disappeared.

If a people are to govern themselves, they must govern their individual selves. By that I mean, I must govern my behavior, and you must govern yours. A society cannot exist where people are killing and robbing each other. There must be some sort of order. The question is: what sort of people are we? Are we thinking, reasoning adults that can regulate ourselves? Are we capable and willing to create order in our own lives? Or, are we in need of some authority to force us into compliance? Do we need some one, or some group of some ones to tell us when to get up, when to eat, when to work and at what? Or, are we able to direct our own behavior?

This is a fundamental question.

If a people are to govern themselves, it means on an individual basis. You must impose discipline upon yourself. I must impose discipline on myself.

Once we get past to where we can and do govern our individual selves, we might be able to look at actually attempting to build a society. But, not until then. We can look around at what people who fail to rule themselves, create.

For myself, I do not burn down buildings because there is a law against it, I do not burn down buildings because I know it is wrong. I do not kill everyone that aggravates me because there is an angry God that is waiting to punish me for having committed murder. I do not kill people because I know it is wrong.

We must all discipline and govern ourselves before our efforts at governing our country will bear fruit. We have individual work to do.

At least, I know I do.