God and other famous liberals: reclaiming the politics of America by F. Forrester Church

Author:F. Forrester Church
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Current Events, Church And Government, Conservatism & Liberalism, Christianity and politics, General, United States, Religion, Religion and politics, Political Ideologies, Political Science, Fundamentalism, Politics, Liberalism (Religion), Sociology, Right and left (Political scie, Liberalism
ISBN: 9780671761202
Publisher: New York ; Simon & Schuster, c1991.
Published: 1991-08-15T05:00:00+00:00

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5

We Hold These Truths

As Mankind become more liberal, they will be more apt to allow that all those who conduct themselves as worthy members of the community are equally entitled to the protections of civil government. I hope ever to see America among the foremost nations in examples of justice and liberality.

—George Washington

Scholars seek to separate the man from the myth, but at one level the myth matters more. Truth-teller; citizen-soldier; reluctant leader who esteemed his country's needs above his own; devoted husband; teacher of children; square-jawed; independent-minded; gentle-hearted; unutterably wise; and possessed of a generous spirit: George Washington stands together with our flag, Liberty Bell, Statue of Liberty, and Declaration of Independence as one of this nation's most evocative and inspirational icons.

The story of a boy holding an axe next to a fallen cherry tree while confessing to his father "I cannot tell a lie" has surely inspired as much youthful truth-telling as any in our national canon. That he was a far better president than general (in sharp contrast to Ulysses S. Grant and Dwight David Eisenhower) subtracts nothing from the stirring image of a wind-blown hero standing in a tiny boat spiriting his men across the Delaware. Nor should we care that his classic jaw resulted from a bad set of wooden false teeth, or even that his fidelity to Martha may well have been exaggerated.

On the other hand, given the power we invest in his image, it does matter that Washington's beliefs not be misrepresented. Anyone who cashes in on "the father of our country" to advance narrow, sectarian values desecrates his memory and our history. The truth is that George Washington, together with Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, should rank near the top of anybody's list of famous liberals.

Here we could do with a few facts. Given the recent upsurge of religious bigotry, Washington's oft-stated concern that "Of all the animosities which have existed among mankind, those which are caused by a difference of sentiments in religion appear to be the most inveterate and distressing, and ought most to be deprecated" is prescient. He was referring to his own neighbors. Upon leaving office, Washington's deepest regret concerned sectarian Christian rivalries. Invoking the liberal spirit (Washington employed the L word more often than any of our founders), he sadly confessed, "I was in hopes, that the enlightened and liberal policy, which has marked the present age, would at least have reconciled Christians of every denomination so far, that we should never again see their religious disputes carried to such a pitch as to endanger the peace of society." In this respect, he stands at the source spring of our experiment in freedom and democracy, and should be numbered not only among our nation's founders but also among its most avid protectors. As one early biographer put it, "As long as the ideals and principles championed by George Washington hold a dominant place in the hearts of the American people, religious liberty will remain secure."

During

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