James McHenry Quotes

My conscience is captive to the Word of God

One of the great tragedies of mankind is that morality has been hijacked by religion.

If Truth is taken away from us, then Right and Wrong are taken from us as well. If we don't know Right and Wrong, then we can't, we won't control ourselves, but will look to someone else to bring order through brute force and raw power. We will be controlled by a tyrant, and we will no longer be free.

There was no other God, religion, or lawful magistracy, than conscience, which teaches all men the precepts of Justice, to do no injury, to live honestly, and give everyone his due.

The proper office of religion is to regulate the heart of men, humanize their conduct, infuse the spirit of temperance, order, andobedience; and as its operation is silent, and only enforces the motives of morality and justice, it is in danger of being overlooked, and confounded with these other motives.

The law is a great thing,--because men are poor and weak, and bad. And it is great, because where it exists in its strength, no tyrant can be above it. But between you and me there should be no mention of law as the guide of conduct. Speak to me of honour, and of duty, and of nobility; and tell me what they require of you.

In vain, without the Bible, we increase penal laws and draw entrenchments around our institutions.

There is a higher law than the law of government. That's the law of conscience.

From my example learn to be just, and not to despise the gods.

In civilized life, law floats in a sea of ethics.

The Bible must be considered as the great source of all the truth by which men are to be guided in government as well as in all social transactions.

In a chaotic world, fundamentalism can be a moral compass.

The world would have peace if the men of politics would only follow the Gospel.

Justice cannot take root amid rage.

I do my research, and if I'm supporting something, then it's because it aligns with me morally and ethically.

Faith is the framework for living. It gives us the spirit and heart that affects everything we do. If gives us hope each day. Faith gives us purpose to right wrongs, to preserve our families, and to teach our children values. Faith gives us conscience to keep us honest, even when nobody is looking. And, faith can change lives; I know first hand, because faith changed mine.

Duty is a better guide than stars or statutes.

The obscene and vulgar stories in the Bible are as repugnant to our ideas of the purity of a Divine Being, as the horrid cruelties and murders it ascribes to Him are repugnant to our ideas of His justice.

Counsel involving right and wrong should never be sought from a man who does not say his prayers.

I'm no saint but I do believe in what is right.

There is no better motto which it [culture] can have than these words of Bishop Wilson, "To make reason and the will of God prevail."

It is impossible to maintain freedom and order and justice without religious and moral sanctions.

Mahavira, the Jain patriarch, surpassed the morality of the Bible with a single sentence: Do not injure, abuse, oppress, enslave, insult, torment, torture, or kill any creature or living being. Imagine how different our world might be if the Bible contained this as its central precept.

Conscience is but a word that cowards use, devised at first to keep the strong in awe

A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law, or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law.