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Can a Nation Be Good without God?
According to the father of the United States of America, the answer is an emphatic “NO”
Can people be good without God? This is a question that arouses great emotion and controversy, even here on Medium. Yet, at least when it comes to statecraft, it’s a question that was repeatedly answered in the negative by the father of the United States of America.
Let’s quickly define our terms. By “people,” I’m referring to a community or group of people — in this case, a nation of people, namely the United States.
As for “good,” I decided to look up a version of Webster’s Dictionary that takes us back closer to Washington’s time. I think that’s only fair. Washington, after all, knew Webster — as in Noah Webster. So, I went with the 1828 version of Webster’s Dictionary, the earliest one I could find online.
Mr. Webster’s 1828 dictionary has about forty (40) definitions of the adjective “good” (yikes!), so I just focused on the first six.
1. Valid; legally firm; not weak or defective; having strength adequate to its support; as a good title; a good deed; a good claim.
2. Valid; sound; not weak, false or fallacious; as a good argument.
