John Adams, that great American patriot (and my favorite president), asked this question of the American people in the 18th century: “Have you ever found in history one single example of a nation thoroughly corrupted, that was afterwards restored to virtue?”

An excellent question. I can’t think of one.

“And without virtue,” Adams continued, “there can be no political liberty.”

That is an interesting concept in today’s day and age. Virtue is defined in “The American Heritage Dictionary” thusly: moral excellence and righteousness; goodness. Liberty is defined as “the condition of being free of restriction or control; freedom;” or, “the right to act or believe as one chooses.”

On the face of it, these two concepts, virtue and liberty, seem completely at odds with one another. For if man is supposedly free, how can he or she be tied to a moral code by which that person must abide?

But deeper thought shows just how prescient Mr. Adams was.

Liberty without virtue gives us anarchy. No dictionary is needed to describe the peril that would bring. And virtue without liberty is impossible, for man is fallible, and to hope for a completely virtuous society is utopian at best, totalitarian at worst.

But the two of them together give us the perfect combination, and something that our founding fathers attempted to create with our government.

Just what went wrong with their creation?

For the United States today is anything but virtuous, neither individually nor collectively. Our 42nd president cheated on his wife, the current secretary of state, while serving our country. Sen. John Edwards committed adultery on his cancer-stricken wife and even had a child with his lover. Gov. Mark Sanford went all the way to Argentina to commit his act of infidelity.

Our country has tortured people, which, regardless of its effectiveness or necessity in a time of crisis, can hardly be regarded as virtuous. The legality of abortion celebrated its 27th anniversary last Friday, which, regardless of whether you believe in a woman’s right to choose or a baby’s right of birth, does not show moral excellence and righteousness.

Pornography is everywhere. Almost half of all marriages end in divorce. Drug and alcohol abuse destroys families across the country.

Sin has been with us since the fall of Adam, so it comes as no surprise that people sin in the United States. It’s been that way all throughout our history. We’ve never been perfect. Thomas Jefferson allegedly had a child with his slave Sally Hemings. The sitting vice-president, Aaron Burr, shot and killed former Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton in a duel. The corrupt have infected our government since the day John Hancock put his, well, John Hancock on the document that declared our independence from Great Britain.

But never has sin been committed with so much gusto and gained so much acceptance within a community.

The old cliché is true””the age of chivalry is dead. Virtue has left us. The acts that before received scarlet letters now garner badges of honor. Courage, valor, all remain obsolete in our culture of decadence and depravity.

It all makes one wonder if without virtue, we will lose our liberty. I pray to God that Mr. Adams is wrong. I fear he is not.