{"id":143837,"date":"2026-03-10T08:53:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=143837"},"modified":"2026-03-10T15:08:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T19:08:18","slug":"rcr-andrew-fowler-george-washingtons-warning-about-religion-still-matters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=143837","title":{"rendered":"(RCR) Andrew Fowler–George Washington\u2019s Warning About Religion Still Matters"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Although private<\/a> in his own religious convictions and skeptical of fanaticism, in his Farewell Address<\/a><\/em> (1796), Washington\u2019s clarion, prescient warning to contemporary and future Americans \u2014 on national and international affairs \u2014 definitively emphasized that \u201c[o]f all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.\u201d Moreover, to \u201csubvert\u201d such \u201cgreat pillars of human happiness\u201d \u2014 like the freedom of religious expression \u2014 would be considered unpatriotic.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, Washington believed religiosity served as a bedrock for national stability and individual virtue, and a lack thereof would cripple cohesion, writing: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cAnd let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

He was not the only Founding Father to stress religion\u2019s intrinsic importance to the new republic. John Adams once reflected<\/a>, \u201cOur Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.\u201d Benjamin Franklin, likewise, considered <\/a>religious practice important for developing virtue, and believed \u201c[God] ought to be worshipped\u201d and \u201cthe most acceptable service we render to him is doing good to his other children.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even Thomas Jefferson, the most notable deist among the Founding Fathers, warned<\/a> about the consequences of abandoning religious conviction entirely. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>

George Washington\u2019s Warning About Religion Still Matters https:\/\/t.co\/Wlhmss8SoB<\/a> #history<\/a> #religion<\/a> #usa<\/a> #worldviews<\/a> #faith<\/a> #ethics<\/a> #presidency<\/a> #culturewatch<\/a><\/p>— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) March 10, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote>