1901-1909
Roosevelt joined the Dutch Reformed Church as a teenager in New York and wrote of his beliefs: "I know not how philosophers may ultimately define religion, but from Micah to James it has been defined as service to one's fellowmen rendered by following the great rule of justice and mercy, of wisdom and righteousness."
This emphasis on religion as service led Roosevelt to equate patriotism and religion. In his book Fear God and Take Your Own Part, he observed, "Unless we are thorough-going Americans and unless our patriotism is part of the very fiber of our being, we can neither serve God nor take our own part." He applied his understanding of Christianity to domestic and foreign policy: "We must demand honesty, justice, mercy, truthfulness, in our dealings with one another within our own borders. Outside of our own borders we must treat other nations as we would wish to be treated in return, judging each in any given crisis as we ourselves ought to be judged...."
Roosevelt attended church regularly and issued nine Thanksgiving proclamations. "For the very reason that in material well-being we have thus abounded, we owe it to the Almighty to show equal progress in moral and spiritual things," he urged fellow citizens. "Let us, therefore, as a people set our faces resolutely against evil, and with broad charity, with kindliness and good-will toward all men, but with unflinching determination to smite down wrong, strive with all the strength that is given us for righteousness in public and in private life. ... I recommend that the people ... meet devoutly to thank the Almighty for the many and great blessings they have received in the past, and to pray that they may be given the strength so to order their lives as to deserve a continuation of these blessings in the future.
Roosevelt joined the Dutch Reformed Church as a teenager in New York and wrote of his beliefs: "I know not how philosophers may ultimately define religion, but from Micah to James it has been defined as service to one's fellowmen rendered by following the great rule of justice and mercy, of wisdom and righteousness."
This emphasis on religion as service led Roosevelt to equate patriotism and religion. In his book Fear God and Take Your Own Part, he observed, "Unless we are thorough-going Americans and unless our patriotism is part of the very fiber of our being, we can neither serve God nor take our own part." He applied his understanding of Christianity to domestic and foreign policy: "We must demand honesty, justice, mercy, truthfulness, in our dealings with one another within our own borders. Outside of our own borders we must treat other nations as we would wish to be treated in return, judging each in any given crisis as we ourselves ought to be judged...."
Roosevelt attended church regularly and issued nine Thanksgiving proclamations. "For the very reason that in material well-being we have thus abounded, we owe it to the Almighty to show equal progress in moral and spiritual things," he urged fellow citizens. "Let us, therefore, as a people set our faces resolutely against evil, and with broad charity, with kindliness and good-will toward all men, but with unflinching determination to smite down wrong, strive with all the strength that is given us for righteousness in public and in private life. ... I recommend that the people ... meet devoutly to thank the Almighty for the many and great blessings they have received in the past, and to pray that they may be given the strength so to order their lives as to deserve a continuation of these blessings in the future.
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