Have You Ever Thought of the Constitution as Sin Management?

“Alone in the woods, it’s possible to go a whole day without sinning, nutty as that may sound. Walking alone in the fields and praying, watching the game running up and down the pig trails, it’s unlikely you’ll use the Lord’s name in vain or worship some other god. In the woods there’s no one to steal from, no women to lust after. There’s no one to lie to either, and you can’t murder someone who’s not around. See? Sin management in isolation is easy. [But] I suspect our Founding Fathers knew most people wouldn’t participate in sin management by making their way to the woods. 

They knew that our great America wouldn’t be forged in isolation, and that most people would congregate down the wider roads. They knew folks would rub shoulders as they built society. And as I wrote in the previous chapter, they hoped these folks -- together with all their children and grandchildren -- would build a strong and virtuous nation. They knew, though, that any community of people hoping to build a virtuous society would need a teacher. And so, they left us a grand instructor: a canon of biblically based law.” (Phil Robertson, The Theft of America’s Soul: Blowing the Lid Off the Lies that are Destroying Our Country, page 115)