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| The United States Of America Was Not Founded On Christian Principles. |
| It is asserted by some that the United States of America was established as a “Christian Nation”. Honestly, I have no idea where people get this ludicrous idea from. If someone would like to believe the contrary of what this debating topic’s heading states, please explain to me, and everyone else, why you are doing so. |
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Hehe...kinda funny
The US was founded on many principles.
Again, the word "christian" means many things.
People need to understand colonization of the US was European based. The European masses had been
under a combination of royalty/religion rule for over a 1000 years.
The marriage of the Roman Catholic church and its offshoots to royalty and aristocracy had little
mercy for the masses. The masses were slaves to both. Freedom did not exist.
Expressions of freedom, whether religious or otherwise would get you some of histories most brutal
torture or burned at the stake. And this was not isolated to Pagans, Jews and Islams. Any deviation
from what the "church" claimed was gods will for the church would get you the same. Didn't matter if
you were part of the "church". The "church" was decreed blameless.
In the 1500's, thanks in large part to a disgruntled priest and invention of the printing press,
freedom to explore ones individual spirituality outside the decrees of the "church" began to take
hold.
So a lot of people died.
Kings declared themselves head of the "church" in their country. Queens came into power and changed
the "state" religion to a different form of the "church". Different king came into power and changed
it back to the other form. Each time this happened, a lot of people died.
Europe was a sick, sick, sick, place.
Most of the Europeans that came to the Americas were sick of the sickness. When they had their
chance, they did the best they could to set up a government free from kings and queens and heads of
the "church".
Jesus had nothing to do with politics. He wasn't involved in the politics of the day. He was no
threat to the Romans who controlled the region he was in. He was not a part of the organized
"church" in his region. Jesus was about as seperation of church and state as you can get.
The word "christians" should be used with caution in debates. "Christians" have killed each other
since the "church" took hold in Rome. To use the word "christian" to define a certain group of
people is akin to saying truck to define molecule. |
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Many of the framers of the constitution and the bill of rights were Christians or at least had a
strong Christian heritage and certainly the people of America were largely Christian at the time,
but the beauty of the American Revolution over most revolutions in history is that after being
oppressed by the British rather than make the government into something that supported their own
opinions they were insightful enough to try to set up a government that protected people’s right
to have any opinion. A not so subtle difference that many people today seem to have a tough time
accepting. Also the inherent weakness of religion as pertaining to protecting the freedoms of the
people is that if you are religious you are sure you are right, which means that anyone who
disagrees with you is simply wrong, and of course god is more important than any government. So
with that mentality how can you truly respect other people’s opinions as if they were you own and
give them as much protection under the law as you would wish for your own beliefs? I think that the
framers of the constitution were intrinsically aware of that dynamic and tried their best to protect
law of the land from that religious influence. |
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Your right the u.s. Was actually founded by free masons and the free masons are a type of cult.(i
saw it on the history channel.) |
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In the original draft of the Declaration of Independence, it said, "We hold these truths to be
sacred". This was amended to "We hold these truths to be self-evident" in order to remove the hint
of religiosity.
The U.S. Is supposed to be a secular nation. It even says so IN A TREATY with Libya around 1800.
A secular nation founded on Enlightenment thinking was the POINT of the USA, for chrissake.
The Founders were a mix of Christians, deists, and atheists. Their intention was for people to learn
their morals and/or religion at home and at church, and to enter the public arena with those
principles SILENTLY guiding their secular choices. |
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Historic evidence suggests that the founders of America were secularists. |
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I can say, for a fact, that The United States was not founded on Christian principles. The founding
fathers of the nation wanted it to be a secular nation and prominent figures in USA's history like
Thomas Jefferson were atheists. He advocated the idea of separating the church and state. |
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I would actually agree with this statement. It is not founded on principles espoused by Christ, or
any of his disciples. It is not a Gospel based constitution or even society. However it was
founded by Christians, for a vastly Christian population who held Christian ethics and morals. But
the actual formation of the government is not Christ based. |
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The United States was essentially founded on French Enlightenment principles, including that of
individualism, classical liberalism, as well as inalienable rights and freedoms. The key is
definining characteristics of the ideologies that formed the basis of the US can be summed up as
anti-British and staunchly republican. Like all 'good' Englightenment thinkers, the Founding Fathers
looked back to classical civilizations, like Greece and Rome, for inspiration. In fact, this is
absolutely evident in the imperial, neo-classical architecture that characterizes almost every
public building in Washington, DC. This was no coincidence--these structures were meant to symbolize
a clear and stark break with the neo-gothic styles so strongly present in Britain and, as such,
stress just how different Americans and Britons were.
Nevertheless, one has to ask if it is even relevant what the Founding Fathers thought about whether
or not the US is a Christian nation. A majority of Americans today clearly believe that the US is
essentially a Protestant nation in a cultural sense, and a vocal minority (incorrectly) thinks that
this is also a legal reality. |
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The country was not founded on Christianity. In the Treaty of Tripoli, presented by George
Washington himself, it states clearly "The United States is, in no way, founded upon the principles
of Christianity". The treaty was ratified unanimously by Congress and printed in all the newspapers
of the day, apparently without any public outcry. That means that not only the government, but the
people of the early U.S. Found no problem with that idea.
Further, they had many chances to adopt Christian doctrine into law and it was voted down in every
single case.
Not only was the country not founded on Christianity, but it was specifically and repeatedly founded
on the concept of separation of church and state. |
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I don't know what religion they were, I know they were freemasons..But our county was established
with the right to freedom of religion, so why would they try to influence it one way or the other? |
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Heck yeah it was. Maybe try checking facts like the fact that they had a CATHOLIC MASS before every
continental congress! |
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Most of the founding fathers were stood on Christian principles. If not, they took a complete
anti-clerical position, Jefferson. Otherwise, they were all Christian people. How are their
principles and the founding of the United States not based on Christian principles?
**EDIT
In fact, the Constitution has no relationship to any religion and I understand the "separation of
church and state". I did say MOST of and if not, they took a complete anti-clerical position. I did
not say they all were Christian but most in their personal life had Christian beliefs. This may not
have transferred over directly into the Constitution, but did have some effect I'm sure.
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 For and Against Recent Activity
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07 Apr 2008 19:46
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