It’s January 3rd, and another winter “holy” day season is coming to a close. This year, the simultaneous Christmas and Hanukkah celebrations started me thinking about our religious traditions and their importance as stressed by our nation’s founders. John Adams and George Washington both declared the need for religion to produce a “virtuous” citizenry. Michigan’s Constitution starts with, “We, the people of the State of Michigan, grateful to Almighty God…” We celebrate national holidays around religious traditions, and yet, there is a very distinct bright line between religion and governments.

Our Founding Fathers set out to create a new “experiment” in governing powers directed by, and for, the people. Our founding principles needed to be broad enough to accommodate change but specific enough to maintain essential freedoms. That, in my opinion, is where the emphasis on religious traditions comes into play.

Individuals who are committed to their respective faith beliefs have a vision of universal existence greater than themselves. Recognition of, and subordination to, a power greater than oneself is essential to maintaining and extending valuable virtues into the future. A citizenry, committed to long-established religious beliefs and customs, will be well-positioned to pass along political principles to future generations.

Moses and Jesus taught values that have endured for thousands of years. Take the Ten Commandments, for example. Eliminate, if you’d like, those commandments regarding who God is and how to respect and worship God, and the remaining commandments provide excellent advice: honor your parents, don’t murder / commit adultery / steal / lie / lust / envy. That’s an excellent recipe for leading an honorable life that has stood the test of time. Jesus, just after Judas walked out to betray him, gave the remaining disciples a new commandment: Love one another. A citizenry that can apply and carry-forward these and similar religious principles will be more than capable of adhering to the first principles written by our founders.

Today, too many of us are scrutinizing our ancestors through the lens of modern sensibilities and understanding. Slavery, ecological abuse, corporal and capital punishments, and other ancestral practices are seen as grotesque and ignorant. We must remember, however, that we, as a nation, have matured beyond these unenlightened visions of how humans are to treat each other. The question is, how will our descendants, decades or centuries from today, view our current practices and behaviors? Our nation’s founders, and those who wrote our Michigan Constitution, knew that a faithful adherence to principles thousands of years old could build a “virtuous citizenry” capable of exercising grace.

We, collectively and individually, will all be in a position to be judged. Living a life subordinate to a greater power — an ancient authority that provided wisdom — will temper the judgement that we will receive and, perhaps, deserve. We will all be in need of grace, several times over. Our faith traditions teach that we will reap what we sow.

This New Year, let us all remember that history did not begin, and will not end, with our own understanding of how the world works. Look to the teachings our national and state founders respected and consider how you/we will be judged while behaving in ways we see as “normal.”

Honor your mother and father. Have respect and grace for your ancestors. Lead a life, and leave a cultural inheritance, that will benefit your descendants. It’s a new year. Resolve to live your life in a way that, should it become the norm, would be beneficial to all.

State Rep. Mark Tisdel, R-Rochester Hills represents Michigan House District 55, which includes the cities of Rochester and Rochester Hills, and part of Oakland Township. You can reach him by calling 517-373-1792 or by sending an email to [email protected]