In vain they claim

Independence Day requires dependence upon God | Marvin Olasky

As our article on the recent rash of atheistic best-sellers in this week's issue notes, the hills are alive with the sound of musings about the purportedly increased role of religion in American public life. But, contra the alarmists, George W. Bush and others have merely tried to return Washington to the principles enunciated by George Washington.

The earlier George had two excellent, bedrock principles regarding religion and public policy. First, as he wrote in 1789, "Every man, conducting himself as a good citizen, and being accountable to God alone for his religious opinions, ought to be protected in worshipping the Deity according to the dictates of his own conscience." Second, if Americans stopped believing in God, the nation was in big trouble.