LIBERTY UNIVERSITY ONLINE
AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM: RELIGIOSITY
Govt 329 –D02
Spring 2020
Tim Hall
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Running head: Topic Brief – Religiosity
Religiosity Defined
Of the four traits to discuss in preparation for the final research paper that helps to define
American Exceptionalism the trait this topic brief will define is Religiosity. Religiosity is
defined as being an “religious feeling or devotion; an intense, excessive, or fervent
religiousness” [ CITATION 20ht1 \l 1033 ] and it is etched in the fabric of America dating back
to the first settlers who fled persecution from Europe and desired to freely practice their faith.
Religiosity is more than just having a passionate devotion to religious faith or behavior. It is
more than just a nod toward faith or a less than passionate understanding of faith in one’s life.
Our forefathers knew that as our country was being formed it needed to stay devoted to a “moral
and religious principle, to an authority and law higher than our own” [CITATION Gri11 \p 79 \l
1033 ].
G. K. Chesterton said that “America is the only nation in the world that is founded on a
creed.” Creed is “a system of Christian or other religious belief; a faith”[CITATION Cre20 \l
1033 ]. This creed that G.K. Chesterton spoke of was the Declaration of Independence as the
founders stated self-evident truths that are given to man by the Creator that come from “the Laws
of Nature and of Nature’s God” [ CITATION Mat10 \l 1033 ]. Our Founders from the start of
this nation’s independence called on God “with a firm reliance” in order to establish and testify
that they are independent of tyrannical rule and that every man is “endowed by their creator with
certain unalienable rights” that are only given by the Creator (US, 1776). Religiosity is
ultimately of firm reliance on the Law of Nature and on Natures God and an understanding that
that reliance births a total self-governance and true independence.
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Running head: Topic Brief – Religiosity
Nothing Else Can Stand
I choose this topic because there is no other trait that can survive without Religiosity.
Religiosity is the “cornerstone principle of American government, society, and independence”
[ CITATION Mat10 \l 1033 ]. The other traits that contribute to American Exceptionalism are
weak without this trait and cannot stand without a strong footing in faith and virtue. Our
Founding Fathers understood this and for this new nation, that was experimenting with the
notion that man could govern themselves, virtue and morality was of the utmost importance. In a
letter to the Massachusetts Militia a Founding Father and the second President of the United
States confirmed the need of virtue in our government. John Adams told the militia that out
Government could not compete with human passions. That these passions of immorality would
“break the strongest Cords of our Constitution as a Whale goes through a net.” So how does our
Constitution defend itself from these human passions of immorality? John Adams says, “our
Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the
government of any other” [ CITATION Ada98 \l 1033 ].
Therefore, the need for a religious, virtuous, and moral people was needed in this
experiment of self-governance for it to prosper and to keep the government in check from
becoming too powerful much like that of the government of Great Britain. For that to be the
case than “the faith and virtue of the American people” was needed to make America “the most
free nation in the history of the world” [ CITATION Eri16 \l 1033 ]. The freest nation that
offered the world the opportunity to break the mold of a tyrannical history and to forge a new
path, one that celebrated ingenuity, integrity, equality, and a devoted love for one’s neighbor. If it
was not for a fervent devotion and “a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence”
would America be exceptional today?
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Running head: Topic Brief – Religiosity
Bibliography
Adams, John. "Letter to Massachusetts Militia." Founders Online. October 11, 1798.
https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/99-02-02-3102 (accessed April 24,
2020).
Editors of the English Oxford Dictionary. Creed. n.d.
https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/creed?q=creed
(accessed April 24, 2020).
Gringirch, Newt, and Vince Haley. A Nation Like No Other: Why American Exceptionalism
Matters. Washington D.C. : Regnery Publishing INC, 2011.
Matthew Spalding, PH.D. "Why Is America Exceptional? ." The Heritage Foundation. October 1,
2010. https://www.heritage.org/american-founders/report/why-america-exceptional
(accessed April 22, 2020).
Merriam-Webster. n.d. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/religiosity (accessed April
23, 2020).
Metaxas, Eric. If You Can Keep It: The Forgotten Promise of American LIberty. New York: Penguin
Random House LLC, 2016.
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