2008-06-04 - Update. Also see this article:
Update - Separation of Church and State. A quick attempt to clarify how some folks seem to be misinterpreting this article below.
Question:
You seem like a religious guy (or gal), talking about Jesus and giving Bible references. Are like you one of those people I see on TV who seem to claim all the "founding fathers" were Christians, and that it was founded on Christianity?
Answer:
Short answer, "no".
Slightly Longer Answers
Here's a quick overview of what our historic documents have to say with regard to religion.
I searched for the word "church" and it was not found.
I re-searched for both "religion" and "religious" at the same time by using "religio". Not sure of what other words might turn up, I used it anyway. :-)
Source Documents
Suggestions
US Constitution
Article 6
The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the members of the several state legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both of the United States and of the several states, shall be bound by oath or affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.
Bill of Rights
Amendment 1
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
My Opinions
I think both of the sentiments in those writings are usually summed up by saying "separation of church and state".
It is best to keep church and state as separate as possible. Obviously this leaves some questions open. Feel free to use the comments section.
My Reasoning on This Matter
Christians, or others, who work to infuse religion in government are doing themselves, us fellow citizens, future generations, and others on the planet a disservice. I think it is a mistake.
That is not meant to be a repudiation of Christianity or any other religion that claims to be the most popular in the USA.
They may currently be the largest population, but what will happen when another religion becomes more popular is they (the newcomer) will remove the old religion and replace it with the new one because they disagree with the religious premises of the former.
It is important to keep the focus on the underlying ideals and goals the government designers put in place to prevent conflict of interest, and harm to the constituency.
Many people seem to claim the so-called founding fathers were devout Christians, and I can't really say too much because I didn't know them. Here is a web site from a school of theology that claims, in so many words, that the folks you see on TV saying that stuff are not correctly informed. http://www.Theology.edu/journal/volume2/ushistor.htm
I happen to like the quote attributed to Thomas Paine:
"I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish Church, by the Roman Church, by the Greek Church, by the Turkish Church, by the Protestant Church, nor by any church that I know of. My own mind is my own church." (Richard Emery Roberts, ed. "Excerpts from The Age of Reason". Selected Writings of Thomas Paine. New York: Everbody's Vacation Publishing Co., 1945, p. 362)
Thomas Paine's explanation is somewhat exclusionary, and I won't go so far as to say I don't believe in their creeds, because, I can't quote their creeds; I'm sure my beliefs overlap with theirs in areas. If you wish to leave pointers to them in the comments section, feel free to do so. :-) But I think Mr. Paine is brilliant when he says "My own mind is my own church."
That corresponds very well with many places in scripture, that our body is a temple, that there are no earthly buildings humans can build that can hold God, that what we sow is what we reap, and even what Jesus is reported to have said about himself, that he only does what "the Father" tells him to do, that "the Father is in me and I am in the Father", etc...
I believe, we either make it easy for God to move in and live in our hearts and minds, or we make it hard. Spiritual hard heartedness, like hardening of the arteries, takes place over time and is not healthy.
Logical Extrapolations
I will even go so far to say that even people who don't consciously believe in God can still have him in their hearts and take his advice AND be pleasing to God. However, in my opinion, they could be making more of the relationship. :-)
There is another saying, "They worship me with their lips but their hearts are far from me." So just because people say they worship God, doesn't mean they're telling the truth. However, I do not mean to imply "doubt everything".
In Conclusion
Clearly the designers of our government did their best to use common sense and establish fair boundaries to allow religion to exist, but not dictate how one should worship, if at all.
My conclusion is not that these folks didn't believe in God, clearly many of them did. In another piece I am writing now, I scan those documents for "God" and "Creator" and it's obvious that all, or most of, the authors and signers did believe in a "Creator God".
This was a 4th of July piece. So, peace. Sow peace. :-)
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