First and foremost, our state and nation were founded as a place of religious diversity and refuge: a land where anyone could practice their religion free from persecution or fear of being forced to practice the tenants of another religion. Given my experience growing up as a Christian in a Muslim-majority country, I am especially sensitive to religious freedoms for minority religious groups and will never abuse legislative authority to force my Christian faith on others.
With that in mind, it is also true that our nation and state were founded on the belief that God is the one who designed and empowers government as His servant, that He ordained government for the sole purpose of serving the taxpayers as a rewarder of good and a punisher of evil, and that governing officials are to acknowledge and fear Him.
This viewpoint is reflected in our state’s pledge (“one state under God, one and indivisible”), constitution (it invokes “the blessings of Almighty God” in the Preamble and states in the Bill of Rights that none shall be excluded from holding public office on account of their religious sentiments, provided that they acknowledge the existence of a Supreme Being), the Declaration of Independence (naming the Creator as the source of our unalienable rights and government as the one responsible to God for protecting them), the Founding Fathers’ most cited source (the Bible – especially Psalm 2 and Romans 13), and the remarks of our nation’s founders (for example, Samuel Adams declared as the Declaration of Independence was being signed, “We have this day restored the Sovereign to Whom all men ought to be obedient. He reigns in heaven and from the rising to the setting of the sun, let His kingdom come”).
This principle is ultimately important because it attaches moral significance to keeping the oath of office, serving the best interests of constituents rather than pursuing selfish or corrupt ends, and passing moral and ethical legislation.