America founded on Secularism??
I have found where liberals take a wrong term on their analysis of our nation...At the beginning. Richard Dawkins proudly states:
What is he on? The first settlers came over for religious freedom but still practiced religion. All 206 "Founding Fathers" had a religious affiliation. I don't think that any of the Founding Fathers, even deists Jefferson & Franklin, ever thought that the existance of God was something to be truly doubted. It is obvious that American society, from the beginning, is based on the Judeo-Christian principals. Women weren't even allowed to decide on pregnancy (ie, avoid or try for) because it was "playing God". Now am I saying that the Founding Fathers were all good christians? No. Am I saying that I believe that all the society stood for at that point? No. But to say that the ideals held were all secular is a mistake. Did the Founding Fathers implement seperation of church and state? Yes, but to keep the state out of religion and not the religious out of the state. They wanted to avoid issues that had existed like religious requirements to vote or hold office and tax supported churches. They didn't want the United States to be a theocracy but there is no dening that is was founded as a Christian nation. Built on Christian doctrine and a belief in God. No one demands that you hold Christian doctrine to be truth but to deny its position in our history can distort every view you hold.
America, founded in secularism as a beacon of eighteenth century enlightenment, is becoming the victim of religious politics, a circumstance that would have horrified the Founding Fathers.
What is he on? The first settlers came over for religious freedom but still practiced religion. All 206 "Founding Fathers" had a religious affiliation. I don't think that any of the Founding Fathers, even deists Jefferson & Franklin, ever thought that the existance of God was something to be truly doubted. It is obvious that American society, from the beginning, is based on the Judeo-Christian principals. Women weren't even allowed to decide on pregnancy (ie, avoid or try for) because it was "playing God". Now am I saying that the Founding Fathers were all good christians? No. Am I saying that I believe that all the society stood for at that point? No. But to say that the ideals held were all secular is a mistake. Did the Founding Fathers implement seperation of church and state? Yes, but to keep the state out of religion and not the religious out of the state. They wanted to avoid issues that had existed like religious requirements to vote or hold office and tax supported churches. They didn't want the United States to be a theocracy but there is no dening that is was founded as a Christian nation. Built on Christian doctrine and a belief in God. No one demands that you hold Christian doctrine to be truth but to deny its position in our history can distort every view you hold.
posted by NerdMom at
5:16 PM
2 Comments:
"Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear." -Thomas Jefferson.
By
Anonymous, at 7:09 AM
"The first settlers came over for religious freedom but still practiced religion." I don't this is right. The New England founders didn't come to American out of any sense of wanting religious freedom. They came here to set up a theocracy every bit as despotic as the Established Church in England. Some of the New England colonies forcibly expelled or executed people that dissented from Congregationalism. The first settlers were opposed to religious freedom.
"They wanted to avoid issues that had existed like religious requirements to vote or hold office and tax supported churches." Again, this isn't quite right. Most of the colonies had laws that expressly required people to be theists (and, frequently, to have a belief in a future state of reward and punishment) to hold public office. These laws substantially carried over to the early Republic. The Constitution negated these laws only with respect to federal offices.
By
Anonymous, at 11:11 AM
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