Wednesday, April 06, 2005
America's Religious Right - Saints or Subversives? Part I: The Lure of Christian Nationalism
These are quotes to show that this new Christian Nationalism that has recently arisen in American politics is something new, as the founders of the US did not believe in Christianity or any other religion. What is going on is actually unconstitutional. The literal interpretation of religion does not make sense to a lot of people, in fact there are scholars such as
Barbara Thiering who did her PhD thesis dealing with this subject. In this day and age, with all the resources at our finger tips - no one should take religious teaching literally.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...-- First Amendment to the United States Constitution
The United States is in no sense founded upon the Christian doctrine. -- George WashingtonThe founders of the U.S. were men of the 17th and 18th Century Enlightenment, who consciously rejected any literal interpretation of the Bible. To the degree they had religious faith, and many did, they believed in a God who - like a cosmic watchmaker - created the world and its natural laws, and then played no further part.
Deism, as they called their belief, runs unmistakably through the Declaration of Independence, in which Thomas Jefferson wrote of the "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God"
To cite only one example:
I have recently been examining all the known superstitions of the world, and do not find in our particular superstition [Christianity] one redeeming feature. They are all alike, founded upon fables and mythologies. (Letter to Dr. Woods)
posted by Cynthia
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