Editing Jesse Helms (section)

==Personal life==
===Family===
Helms and his wife Dot had two daughters, Jane and Nancy, and adopted a nine-year-old orphan with [[cerebral palsy]] named Charles after reading in a newspaper that Charles wanted a mother and father for Christmas.<ref name="times background" /> The couple had seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild.<ref name="times background" /> One of his grandchildren, Jennifer Knox, later became a judge in [[Wake County, North Carolina]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/wake-county/article10117976.html|title=Wake County Clerk of Superior Court: Knox wins narrow victory
|date=November 4, 2014|first=Josh|last=Shaffer}}</ref>

===Religious views===
{{quote|Atheism and socialism – or liberalism, which tends in the same direction – are inseparable entities: when you have men who no longer believe that God is in charge of human affairs, you have men attempting to take the place of God by means of the superstate. The all-provident government, which these liberals constantly invoke, is the modern-day version of [[Baal (demon)|Baal]].|Jesse Helms|''When Free Men Shall Stand''<ref name="The Right Hand of God" />}}

Helms was well known for his strong Christian religious views.<ref name="Telegraph July 6, 2008">{{cite news |title=Jesse Helms |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/2247518/Jesse-Helms.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/2247518/Jesse-Helms.html |archive-date=January 12, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=July 6, 2008 |access-date=July 7, 2009 | location=London}}{{cbignore}}</ref> He played a leading role in the development of the [[Christian right]],<ref name="The Right Hand of God">{{cite journal|last=Guillory |first=Ferrel |date=January 27, 1995 |title=The right hand of God: Jesse Helms's political theology |journal=[[Commonweal (magazine)|Commonweal]] |volume=122 |issue=2 |pages=4–6 |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1252/is_n2_v122/ai_16233117/ |access-date=July 7, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090102202429/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1252/is_n2_v122/ai_16233117 |archive-date=January 2, 2009 }}</ref> and was a founding member of the [[Moral Majority]] in 1979. Although a [[Southern Baptist Convention|Southern Baptist]] from his upbringing in a strictly [[Biblical literalism|literalist]], but hawkishly [[secularism|secularist]],<ref>{{cite news |first=Tom |last=Wicker |title=The Baptist Switch |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=June 22, 1982 |page=27 }}</ref> environment, when in Raleigh, Helms worshipped at the moderate Hayes-Barton Baptist Church,<ref name="The Right Hand of God" /> where he had served as a [[deacon]] and [[Sunday school]] teacher before his election to the Senate.<ref name="Telegraph July 6, 2008" />

Helms was close to fellow North Carolinian [[Billy Graham]] (whom he considered a personal hero),<ref>{{cite news |first=Marjorie |last=Hunter |title=Not So Vital Statistics on Mr. Helms |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=January 6, 1982 |page=16 }}</ref> as well as [[Charles Stanley]], [[Pat Robertson]],<ref>{{cite book |title=The Religious Right: a Reference Handbook |last=Utter |first=Glenn H. |author2=Storey, John Woodrow |year=2001 |publisher=ABC-Clio |location=Santa Barbara, CA |isbn=978-1-57607-212-7 |page=[https://archive.org/details/religiousrightre00utte_0/page/16 16] |url=https://archive.org/details/religiousrightre00utte_0/page/16 }}</ref> and [[Jerry Falwell]], whose [[Liberty University]] dedicated its Jesse Helms School of Government to Helms. Helms helped found Camp Willow Run, an [[Interdenominationalism|interdenominational]] Christian [[summer camp]], sitting on its board of directors until his death, and was a Grand Orator of the Masonic [[Grand Lodge]] of North Carolina.<ref name="Telegraph July 6, 2008" />

Equating [[Left-wing politics|leftism]] and [[atheism]], Helms argued that the downfall of the U.S. was due to loss of Christian faith,<ref name="Telegraph July 6, 2008" /> and often stated, "I think God is giving this country one more chance to save itself".<ref name="The Right Hand of God" /><ref>{{cite news |first=Bill |last=Welch |title=Former Sen. Jesse Helms dies at 86 |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-07-04-helms-obit_N.htm |work=[[USA Today]] |date=July 4, 2008 |access-date=July 7, 2009}}</ref> He believed that the morality of capitalism was assured in the Bible, through the [[Parable of the Talents]].<ref name="The Right Hand of God" /> He believed, writing in ''When Free Men Shall Stand'', that "such utopian slogans as Peace with Honor, Minimum Wage, Racial Equality, Women's Liberation, National Health Insurance, Civil Liberty" are ploys by which to divide humanity "as sons of God".<ref name="The Right Hand of God" />

===Awards===
[[File:Jesse Helms Center, Wingate, NC IMG 4252.JPG|200px|right|thumb|The [[Jesse Helms Center]] is located next to the [[Wingate, North Carolina|Wingate]] Town Hall.]]

Helms held honorary degrees from several religious universities including [[Bob Jones University]], [[Campbell University]], [[Grove City College]], and Wingate University which he attended but did not receive a degree.
* [[Taiwan]]: [[Order of Propitious Clouds]] with Grand Cordon (2002)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.roc-taiwan.org/us_en/post/342.html|title=Republic of China honors Senator Jesse Helms|date=November 12, 2002|access-date=April 3, 2020|website=[[Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States]]|quote=On behalf of Republic of China (ROC) President Chen Shui-bian, Representative [[Chen Chien-jen|C. J. (Chien-Jen) Chen]], the ROC's chief representative in the United States, presented Senator Jesse Helms (R-NC) with the Order of Propitious Clouds with Grand Cordon October 24 at the senator's office in recognition of his contributions to promoting friendly relations between Taiwan and the United States.}}</ref>