America was not founded on Christianity From Americas very inception it was never created explicitly as a Christian nation. The constitution does not reference God, Christ, or Christianity. It does not identify America as Christian. Article VI actually bans the requirement of adhering to a particular religious text. The first Amendment isnt exclusive to Christianity only. Rather it applies to all religions. The Declarations reference to Creator is merely deistic, it does not refer to one particular religion -- neither Islam, Judaism, nor Christianity. And the fact that Christian conceptualizations arent addressed supports this point. James Madison and Thomas Jefferson were against the notion of a Christian-state. They recognized that the Christian government of Europe crush human rights, and they had witnesses Christian oppression in colonies. The founders wrote constantly about the danger detrimentality of the state and religion becoming too close. Jefferson observed, “The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.” The founding fathers were not Christian conservatives; the many writings of the founding fathers clearly present deistic notion, not theistic. George Washington saw God as the first cause, that is it. Washington never saw religion as necessary for morals, and he didnt accept all of Christian doctrine. John Adams was a Unitarian, he reject the deity of Christ, and consequently rejected the Trinity. He found the deity of Christ to be incomprehensible. Thomas Jefferson actually gutted the miracles of Jesus out of the New Testament and kept Jesus moral teaching in. He was most definitely skeptical of Christianity. Though his religion is debated, Madison was a strict proponent of separation of church and state. He opposed chaplains in Congress, and in the military. He contested government prayer proclamations. The Constitution was actually attacked by ministers because it lacked references to Christianity. They knew it did not officially deem America as a Christian nation. Reverend John M. Mason of New York stated concerning the omission of God and Christianity: an omission which no pretext whatever can palliate. In 1811, the Reverend Samuel Austin thundered that the Constitution “is entirely disconnected from Christianity. [This] one capital defect [will lead] inevitably to its destruction.” 1845, the Reverend D. X. Junkin wrote, “[The Constitution] is negatively atheistical, for no God is appealed to at all. Ministers in the Nineteenth century knew of the un-Christian nature of the constitution sought an amendment that would rewrite the permeable in the Constitution. The National Reform Association (NRA) led this charge. If this was such a Christian nation, then why would there be a need to rewrite the Constitution?
Posted on: Wed, 19 Mar 2014 21:51:52 +0000
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