5th
Principle
All things were created by God,
therefore upon Him all mankind are
equally dependent, and to Him
they are equally responsible.
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The Founders vigorously affirm throughout their
writings that the foundation of all reality is the existence of
the Creator, who is the designer of all things in nature and
the promulgator of all the laws which govern nature.
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The American Founding Fathers agreed with Locke.
They considered the existence of the Creator as the most
fundamental premise underlying ALL self-evident truth. It
will be noted as we proceed through this study that every
single self-evident truth enunciated by the Founders is
rooted in the presupposition of a divine Creator.
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The Founders considered the whole foundation of a just
society to be structured on the basis of God's revealed law.
These laws constituted a moral code clearly distinguishing
right from wrong. This concept was not new with the
Founders. This was the entire foundation of all religious
cultures world-wide. It was particularly emphasized in the
Judeo-Christian structure of the English law.
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The Founders did not look upon God as some mysterious teleological force
operating automatically and indifferently in nature (as
modern Deists claim), but they believed in a Creator who is
both intelligent and benevolent and therefore anxious and
able to respond to people's petitions when they are deserving
of needed blessings and engaged in a good cause. Days of
fasting and prayer were commonplace in early America. Most
of the Founders continually petitioned God in fervent
prayers, both public and private, and looked upon his divine
intervention in their daily lives as a singular blessing. They
were continually expressing gratitude to God as the nation
survived one major crisis after another.
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"In God We Trust"
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From all of this it will be seen that the Founders were
not indulging in any idle gesture when they adopted the
motto, "In God we trust." Neither was it a matter of
superfluous formality when they required that all witnesses
who testify in the courts or before Congressional hearings
must take an oath and swear or affirm before God that they
will tel] the truth.