The reason that Christianity is the best friend of government is because Christianity is the only religion that changes the heart.
Interpretation
Christianity's emphasis on inner transformation makes it uniquely supportive of government.
Thomas Jefferson suggests that Christianity holds a special place in relation to government because it promotes profound personal change within individuals. This change, which comes from the heart, is perceived as foundational for creating a just and moral society, thereby making Christianity a vital ally for governance.
In practice
In a speech about the role of faith in public life, one might say, 'As Thomas Jefferson remarked, Christianity is the best friend of government because it changes the heart.'
The firmness with which the (American) people have withstood the... abuses of the press, the discernment they have manifested between truth and falsehood, show that they may safely be trusted to hear everything true and false and to form a correct judgment between them.
I, place economy among the first & most important republican virtues, & public debt as the greatest of the dangers to be feared
We must make our choice between economy and liberty or confusion and servitude...If we run into such debts, we must be taxed in our meat and drink, in our necessities and comforts, in our labor and in our amusements...if we can prevent the government from wasting the labor of the people, under the pretense of caring for them, they will be happy.
Very many and very meritorious were the worthy patriots who assisted in bringing back our government to its republican tack. To preserve it in that, will require unremitting vigilance.
A nation, as a society, forms a moral person, and every member of it is personally responsible for his society.
Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty.
I know some of my memories are made up and they are far more powerful than the things that actually happened. For example, I always remember my brother posting me a copy of 'Dubliners' from Africa, but he says he never did.
It's all now you see: tomorrow began yesterday and yesterday won't be over until tomorrow.
Envy creates the beginning of strife.
NOT, I’ll not, carrion comfort, Despair, not feast on thee; Not untwist—slack they may be—these last strands of man In me ór, most weary, cry I can no more. I can; Can something, hope, wish day come, not choose not to be.
Great men are always of a nature originally melancholy.
Enlightenment is ego's ultimate disappointment.
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