The one-minute patriot.

The American patriot understands and upholds These fundamentals of our nation:

1. The fountainhead of American government and society--the most fundamental idea of all--is this: God is the mighty author of our being and the moral authority for our laws. Our Founders declared it was "self-evident" truth. The Declaration of Independence contains four references to deity: "Nature's God," "Creator," "Supreme Judge of the world," and "Divine Providence." These make clear that in the political theory articulated by the Founders of America, God, not government, is the source of our freedom, our sovereignty, our rights, our justice, our human dignity, and all else which creates a good society. Therefore, patriots recognize that we are "one nation under God" and honor it in word and deed.

2. The corollary idea to that, which our Founders likewise held, is this: We are made in the image and likeness of God, and by virtue of our spiritual nature, every human being is sacred, sovereign, and inviolable. Therefore patriots recognize that "all men are created equal" and honor it in word and deed.

3. Freedom applies to all aspects of our existence, from the physical through the intellectual-emotional and the social-political to the spiritual. Liberty, a subset of freedom, refers to the social-political aspect of freedom. John Adams called God "the Spirit of Liberty."

4. Freedom is indivisible, so its various aspects are intimately related. Any diminishment of freedom in one aspect of our lives diminishes freedom in all other aspects.

5. God's purpose in granting us freedom is to use it to show forth His glory in our entire existence.

6. Because all freedom comes from God, it carries an inherent responsibility to use it properly--i.e., morally and lawfully--to fulfill our obligation to our Creator. Freedom and responsibility are therefore intimately related. Without responsibility, liberty becomes libertinism or immoral, destructive behavior. Freedom is never license to do as we please, but only as we ought.

7. Our political experiment in self-government is predicated on each citizen governing himself morally and taking personal responsibility for his or her words and deeds. The more we obey God's laws, the less need there is for man's laws. The result is a godly society dedicated to glorifying our Creator. However, an immoral people is incapable of self-government.

8. Government has always been the greatest enemy of freedom, and therefore our Founders wrote a Constitution that established a minimal government for what was deemed necessary at the federal level, leaving all other powers and rights to the states and to the people themselves. "We the people" delegated authority to the federal government, and its powers were strictly enumerated and defined. Our Founders wanted freedom from government, not dependence on government. The Constitution and the Bill of Rights are, in simplest terms, a carefully devised system to govern the government, not the people. They were not written to restrict the citizens of America; they were written to restrict the government and to protect our inherent liberties and rights. They would, as Jefferson put it, bind down with chains those who govern to keep them from mischief.

9. The principles expressed in the Declaration of Independence provided the philosophical framework for the system of ordered liberty established by the Constitution. Elected officials are required to take an oath affirming that they will support the Constitution. Obviously, supporting the Constitution means upholding and honoring the fundamental principles that it embodies. An official who egregiously violates that understanding is subject to impeachment, whether his or her misconduct involves high crimes (violations of law) or misdemeanors (grossly immoral misbehavior). Patriots recognize and honor the Constitution as the supreme law of our land, requiring office holders to protect, defend, and uphold it.

10. Our Founders separated church and state, not God and state. We have a secular government but a religious society. Without public recognition that God is the transcendental basis of our government, our social order, and our moral character as a people, this nation will not stand. The First Amendment prohibits any denomination from becoming the established, official religion of America; likewise it prohibits government from interfering with religious freedom and thereby allows full public expression of religion.

John White, author-editor of 15 books, lives in Cheshire, Connecticut. This essay is adapted from his forthcoming book The Pledge of Allegiance & the Star-spangled Banner.