Which came first? The chicken or the egg. The chicken did. This article isn’t about a chicken or egg, but centered on a concept John Adams felt strong enough to write down and leave to his countrymen.
We need to understand which constitution Adams is referencing:
After we understand the difference between the two constitutions, we can see which one Adams is referencing and which one is gaining momentum in America.
The above quote by John Adam’s was posted on Defending Utah’s Facebook page and contributed to a discussion.
Ron was referencing John Adam’s quote.
A question was asked:
This question got me thinking to articulate why John Adams was right and I replied as a contributor to Defending Utah’s Facebook page.
I wanted to add another sincere comment that was added to the conversation.
Bartolome de las Casas is referencing the second/Progressive Constitution.
This was in part my response with follow-up adjustments for the article.
I would say the Founding Fathers understood that a moral code is a strength or a lack of one is a weakness. If everyone lived the same moral code, there would be unity. If everyone lived their morality (moral relativism), there would be immediate and long-term issues.
I have studied other religions/moral codes, but Christianity is the one that is the highest in morality and is a great foundation for fairness, justice, and mercy. It is a great guideline to live a fulfilling life by being selfless and serving others.
In Lawrence Kohlberg’s 6 Stages of Moral Development, most of society ever reached Level 2: Conventional.
“Stage 4 refers to “social concern and conscience.” At this stage, individuals are concerned with respecting authority, maintaining social order, and doing their duty within society. In this stage, an act is considered wrong if it harms others or violates a rule or law.”
Stage 4 is where society makes the rules. It describes 1940s Germany, the Third Reich.
Unfortunately, our current generation because of the current educational system is where we are at because of who controls and the materials consumed.
- John Rockefeller is the founder of our current educational system.
- Jordan Peterson explains the purpose of the educational system.
Before our educational system was hijacked, our country’s morals were stronger and attached to character as Stephen Covey addresses in his book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
John Adams and the founding generation understood the importance of Christianity as a moral code as our country was founded on God as a foundation.
Those generations were living Lawrence Kohlberg’s 6 Stages of Moral Development Level 3: Post-Conventional, Stage 6 (until the Rockefeller takeover of the education system).
“In Stage 6, individuals are more concerned with the “morality of universal ethical principles.” In this stage, individuals do what they think is right, even if it is in conflict with the law. At this stage, people act according to their internalized standards of morality.”
I would even argue the founding generation and our fathers were what Lawrence Kohlberg’s “seventh stage, which he described as the “cosmic” stage, in which individuals are able to consider the effect of their actions on the universe as a whole.”
“Posterity! you will never know how much it cost the present generation to preserve your freedom! I hope you will make a good use of it. If you do not, I shall repent in Heaven that I ever took half the pains to preserve it.” — John Adams
They were in Stage 6 morality. They placed God’s Law above Man’s Law. This was all based on internal compasses used to check themselves first. If it contradicts the 10 commandments (Christianity), an individual shouldn’t do it. If an individual shouldn’t do it, society shouldn’t do it.
Aristotle understood stage 6 morality (universal principles) over stage 4 morality (social concern and conscience).
“In matters of conscience. the law of the majority has no place; it is the moral duty of individuals to uphold what is right. despite societal norms.” ~ ARISTOTLE
The first restraint and discipline was living universal/God’s morality. This would bleed from the individual and family out into the community as an internal check on their external behavior and passions.
The morality and religious code of the people of their time were tempered by stage 6, “morality of universal ethical principles.” Again, the first law was to God, found in the Bible. It was written in their hearts, and they were loyal to God’s laws, first and foremost.
Plato understood stage 6 morality in this comment.
“Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly. while bad people will find a way around the laws.” — Plato
The good people are living in stage 6 and stage 7 as moral absolutists.
Today, our present generation’s morality is moral relativism (which is no internal code at all, a license to do what feels good in the moment), and man’s law, which is secondary to an internal compass has lost its universal principles as referenced to the Bible and governing the internal drive of mankind. The morality of an individual and a nation go hand in hand with the external and man’s laws that govern the people.
“Men must be governed by God or they will be ruled by tyrants.” — William Penn
William Penn acknowledges Stage 6 morality over Stage 4, a slow, steady, and gradual decline into tyranny as men are no longer attached to universal morality and attached to man’s laws.
Today, man’s laws of government are based on whose morality?
I would rather be guided by Christian morality rather than man’s moral relativism.
“The reason we have 17000 pages in our law books is because we cannot follow 10 lines on a tablet made of stone.” ~ Ravi Zacharias
We need our morality to parallel to man’s laws to the highest extent. If not, then there will be consequences.
“When law and morality contradict each other, the citizen has the cruel alternative of either losing his moral sense or losing his respect for the law.” — Fréderic Bastiat
It is my desire for mankind to reach Stages 6 and 7 of morality. It doesn’t begin with the (Civil & men’s) laws. It starts with what is at the core of our morality and what is written on man’s hearts and what he serves. It started from internal values and reflects on his external designs.
“All men, among themselves, are by nature equal. The inequality we now discern hath it’s spring from Civil Law.” — Thomas Hobbes
Again, touching on Stages 4 and 6 of morality.
“Man as a creature must necessarily be subject to the laws of his Creator. This will of his maker is called the law of nature. No human laws are of any validity if contrary to this.” — Sir William Blackstone
Sounds familiar as laws of nature are referenced in the Declaration of Independence one of our foundational documents in creating a moral and ethical America.
So was John Adams Wrong that Our Constitution Was Designed Only For Moral & Religious People?
