5000 Year Leap by W. Cleon Skousen

origin and relationship to the cosmic universe as well as his relationship with his fellowmen."
       2. Morality, which may be described as "a standard of behavior distinguishing right from wrong."
       3. Knowledge, which is "an intellectual awareness and understanding of established facts relating to any field of human experience or inquiry (i.e., history, geography, science, etc.)."
Washington Describes the Founders' Position

The Teaching of Religion in Schools Restricted to Universal Fundamentals

Franklin Describes the Five Fundamentals of "All Sound Religion"

The "Fundamental Points" to Be Taught in the Schools

Statements of the Founders Concerning These Principles

Alexis de Tocqueville Discovers the Importance of Religion in America

European Philosophers Turned Out to Be Wrong

A New Kind of Religious Vitality Emerges in America

De Tocqueville Describes the Role of Religion in the Schools

De Tocqueville Describes the Role of the American Clergy

The Clergy Fueled the Flame of Freedom, Stressed Morality, and Alerted the Citizenry To Dangerous Trends

The Founders' Campaign for Equality of All Religions

Why the Founders Wanted the Federal Government Excluded from All Problems Relating to Religion and Churches

Justice Story Describes the Founders' Solution

Jefferson and Madison Emphasize the Intent of the Founders

The Supreme Court as Well as Congress Excluded from Jurisdiction over Religion

The Federal "Wall" Between Church and State

Religious Problems Must Be Solved Within the Various States

Affirmative Programs to Encourage All Religions on the State Level

Religious Principles Undergird Good Government

    Washington Describes the Founders' Position
       The position set forth in the Northwest Ordinance was re-emphasized by President George Washington in his Farewell Address:
       "Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.... And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion ... Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail to the exclusion of religious principle.
       "It is substantially true that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government. 69

    The Teaching of Religion in Schools Restricted
   to Universal Fundamentals
       Having established that "religion" is the foundation of morality and that both are essential to "good government and the happiness of mankind," the Founders then set about to exclude the creeds and biases or dissensions of individual denominations so as to make the teaching of religion a unifying cultural adhesive rather than a divisive apparatus. Jefferson wrote a Bill for Establishing Elementary Schools in Virginia and made this point clear by stating:
       "No religious reading, instruction, or exercise shall be prescribed or practiced inconsistent with the tenets of any religious sect or denomination." 70
       Obviously, under such restrictions the only religious tenets to be taught in public schools would have to be those which were universally accepted by all faiths and completely fundamental in their premises.

    Franklin Describes the Five Fundamentals of "All Sound Religion"
       Several of the Founders have left us with descriptions of their basic religious beliefs, and Benjamin Franklin summarized those which he felt were the "fundamental points in all sound religion." This is the way he said it in a letter to Ezra Stiles, president of Yale University:
       "Here is my creed: I believe in one God, the Creator of the universe. That he governs it by his providence. That he ought to be worshipped. That the most acceptable service we render to him is in doing good to his other children. That the soul of man is immortal, and will be treated with justice in another life respecting its conduct in this. These I take to be the fundamental points in all sound