Friday, February 5, 2010

Winner of The Silent Governess and another founding father principle!

Grace Thorson!  Congratulations, Grace! And thank you all for entering. 
Sorry  I didn't post something Wednesday like I usually do but it was my birthday! Another year closer to being with my Lord.

And now our Founding Father's Principle number 3
The most promosing method of securing a virtuous and morally stable people is to elect virtuous leaders.

Here are some quotes from the greatest:
"But neither the wisest constituion nor the wisest laws will secure the liberty and happiness of a people whose manners are universally corrupt."  Samual Admas

"There is a natural aristocracy among men. The grounds of this are virtue and talents...there is also an artificial aristocracy, founded on wealth and birth, without either vituue or talents." Thomas Jefferson

 "Politics are the divine science, after all. How is it possible that any man should ever think of making it subservient to his own little passions and mean private interests? Ye baseborn sons of fallen Adam, is the end of politics a fortune, a family, a gilded coach, a train of horses and a troop of livery servants, balls at court, spendid dinners and suppers?" John Adams

"In America, salaries, where indispensible, are extremely low, but much of public buisness is done gratis. The honor of serving the public ably and faithfully is deemed sufficient." Ben Franklin

Our founding fathers advocated that public office not be attached to a large salary. These men who served our country in the beginning accepted little money for the privilege, but were more desirous of serving their country than obtaining wealth and power. They knew that when wealth and power became attached to public office, then public office would attract men and women who only wanted wealth and power. Sound familiar?

11 comments:

  1. Happy belated birthday! Hope it was wonderful! :)

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  2. Congrats to Grace!

    HAPPY belated BIRTHDAY MARYLU!!! Now you have to make up skipping a day by having a post just about you on your birthday! =D Im going to have to remember that your birthday is Feb 3rd for next year.

    Have a wonderful weekend!

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  3. Oh no... now I let the cat out of the bag! Thanks for the birthday wishes... I didn't do enough to post about. I actually spent the day researching. I know.. how boring!

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  4. Yes, a little late but happy birthday!
    Is the last picture you posted of your next book the official cover now? I think people in politics were a lot smarter back then, and had much better morals...Also I think Washington was correct when he left office and said not to have separate parties, and that it would divide or weaken our country...
    -Abigail

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  5. Thanks Abigail! I agree. This country seems so divided now between conservative and liberal, republican and democrat, that we forget we are all Americans!

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  6. Thank you so much for the book, MaryLu and *Happy Belated Birthday!* =)

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  7. Happy Belated Birthday! I actually grinned when I read "Another year closer to being with my Lord" - I've been pondering lately the verse that says "For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain," and it thrills me whenever I come across someone who fully believes in it!

    I think that one of the biggest reasons we don't elect "virtous and morally stable" leaders anymore is that the voter base is not morally stable. Our society has become solely based on "What's in it for me," so I don't think a lot of people care about the greater good anymore.
    -Sapphire

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  8. Thank you Sapphire! It also thrills me when I meet someone who is "all in" for Christ. I agree that our culture has become Me centered. But I also believe that when you make government positions pay high salaries and have great power, they will attract those who want only those things. Can you imagine if Senators and Congressmen made $10 an hour and got the same benefits most of us did and didn't have the power they had? Only decent people who loved their country would run!

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  9. I want to add that all people who have high positions would not tell you that they are strived for power or paycheck. But people want the power over others that comes with money.

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  10. Happy belated birthday MaryLu! Sorry for not posting it earlier.
    You know, a lot of the democrats and the republicans have a lot in common. IF they could just take a break from arguing so much and see this, a whole lot more could be accomplished. I'm a conservative myself, but hey, at least I'm willing to give the other side a chance.If money and power were out of the equation, then washington would be swept clean out.And though I wish honest people who love our country could take their place immediately, the change would have to be gradual. America doesn't like to be vulnerable even in the slightest moments to its enemies.

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  11. Gulp! You've given me goose pimples and a great deal to think about.

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