Patrick Henry the firebrand patriot perhaps said it best when he made this statement: "It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great country was founded not by religionists but by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ." Every signer of our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution agreed For example, Samuel Chase was the son of an Anglican clergyman. He said: "My beloved country has been founded by Christians, and Christians should always be in positions of trust, both elected and otherwise." "By our form of government, the Christian religion is the established religion; and all sects and denominations of Christians are placed upon the same equal footing, and are equally entitled to protection in their religious liberty." Abraham Clark said: "Since we have a Christian country, it's the duty of every citizen to select only Christians for their leaders." Elbridge Gerry made his view clear: "The Christian religion is the one that America has been designed to follow, and should the people fail in this, our new nation shall certainly fall."