Great American secular humanists — John Quincy Adams

Sixth in a series:

The world, the flesh, and all the devils in hell are arrayed against any man who now in this North American Union shall dare to join the standard of Almighty God to put down the African slave-trade. [See:] . . .

Three points of doctrine, the belief of which, forms the foundation of all morality. The first is the existence of a God; the second is the immortality of the human soul; and the third is a future state of rewards and punishments. Suppose it possible for a man to disbelieve either of these articles of faith and that man will have no conscience, he will have no other law than that of the tiger or the shark; the law of man may bind him in chains or may put him to death, but they never can make him wise, virtuous, or happy. [See:]

- John Quincy Adams, sixth U.S. president and son of John Adams, the second U.S. president.

Earlier: James Madison, Harry S. Truman, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Patrick Henry

Great American secular humanists — Patrick Henry

Fifth in a series:

"Bad men cannot make good citizens. It is when a people forget God that tyrants forge their chains. A vitiated state of morals, a corrupted public conscience, is incompatible with freedom."



"No free government, or the blessings of liberty, can be preserved to any people but by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality, and virtue; and by a frequent recurrence to fundamental principles.”"

- Patrick Henry, known for his speech before the American Revlution with the rallying cry: "Give me liberty or give me death"

Earlier: James Madison, Harry S. Truman, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams

Great American secular humanists — John Adams

Fourth in a series:

"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other."

- John Adams, First vice president and the second president of the United States.

Earlier: James Madison, Harry S. Truman, Thomas Jefferson

Great American secular humanists — Thomas Jefferson

Third in a series:

"Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just.

- Thomas Jefferson, Drafted the Declaration of Independence, third president of the United States.

Earlier: James Madison, Harry S. Truman

Great American secular humanists — James Madison

Second in a series:

It is the duty of every man to render to the Creator such homage and such only as he believes to be acceptable to him. This duty is precedent, both in the order of time and in degree of obligation, to the claims of Civil Society. Before any man can be considered as a member of Civil Society, he must be considered as a subject of the Governour [sic] of the Universe.

- James Madison, Founding Father, sometimes called "Father of the Constitution" and the fourth president of the United States.

Earlier: Harry S. Truman

The N.Y. Philharmonic does Pyongyang

The Financial Times provides a reporter's notebook/photo display that does about as much journalistically as is possible under the highly-controlled circumstances.

For the L.A. Times' take, click here.

And the International Herald Tribune, here.

Great American secular humanists — Harry S. Truman

First in a series:


"The fundamental basis of this nation's law was given to Moses on the Mount. The fundamental basis of our Bill of Rights comes from the teaching we get from Exodus and St. Matthew, from Isaiah and St. Paul. I don't think we emphasize that enough these days. If we don't have the proper fundamental moral background, we will finally end up with a totalitarian government which does not believe in the right for anybody except the state."
— Harry S. Truman, thirty-third president of the United States and a Democrat.