What Good is Religion?

“Law should not be based on faith.” -Sunny Hostin ABC’s Legal Analyst Why do we have law? What purpose does it serve? Is it to compel good behavior or is it meant to persuade?

John Adams wrote, “We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion…Our constitution was made for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

John Adams understood it is impossible for any government to compel good behavior. Good behavior, or the golden rule of how we treat each other, is exactly what God gave us in his law. He does not compel us into submission. He invites us to come and reason with him. He invites us to learn and discover wisdom and understanding.

“For the Lord gives wisdom; From his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” (Prov 2:6)

Our system of government, that is our system of law, does have penalties which serve to compel compliance. But it is designed for a people of virtue who govern themselves, as Adams said, a religious people who will freely conform to the laws of God.

Where do our laws come from? And what makes a good law? When we renounce religion, we have no standard from which to derive our morality, or what is right and wrong. The government cannot make us good, which only leaves them with the option of tyranny. God invites us into faith which in turn teaches us how to live virtuous lives, which depends upon being a free people who choose to live by faith. There is no other way.