September 7, 2011 Due September 15, 2011
As usual, this is due by midnight of Thursday. DON’T wait until 10 pm and come tell me the next day you had problems. Also, copy the post before submitting in case there are errors. Remember, the rubric for grading blog replies in on the class website at http://www.gaston.k12.nc.us/schools/huss/faculty/dbnoblitt/Pages/CoursesandAssignments.aspx.
Many of us have been told that the United States was founded on Christianity and is a Christian nation. But, what did the Founding Fathers think about that? Did they consider themselves as founders of a Christian theocracy as some Americans believe? Why was the phrase “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . .” included in the First Amendment? Would it matter if the President, or any other American leader, were not a Christian but a Hindu, Muslim, Atheist, or whatever? What do you think about our country and religion? Opinions are welcome but they MUST be backed up with facts and evidence, not just an “I think so because it’s what I believe….” (Note: some of the sources below seem to contradict themselves so read carefully and try to determine what is “the truth.”)
Read
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_church_and_state_in_the_United_States
http://www.sullivan-county.com/nf0/dispatch/fathers_quote2.htm.
http://www.anotherperspective.org/advoc550.html
http://christianity.about.com/od/independenceday/a/foundingfathers.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deism
- 52 comments
- Posted under Uncategorized
hussibhoa 
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sorry4dawait
said
It says “no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States”(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_church_and_state_in_the_United_States). This is saying that it shouldn’t determine whether someone can get into an office or not by them knowing Christianity,because one might be an Hindu or Muslim and not believe in that and could possibly do things to help our state/world out. I think our country is an christian country because a lot of the presidents were majored in christian studies,and i think the founding fathers do consider themselves as of a christian theocracy.it also say that the founding fathers of the United States of America were men of deep religious convictions based in the Bible and their Christian faith in Jesus Christ nearly half (24) held seminary or Bible school degrees.(http://christianity.about.com/od/independenceday/a/foundingfathers.htm)
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Barbiiethugg/ A'lea P.
said
I think that its saying that a person’s religion shouldnt determine whether they should be in a certain office or position…….i also believe that over half of the U.S population is based upon christian beliefs and our founding fathers wanted the world to be based on christianity because thats what they believed in.
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petercipriano
said
I believe that even though this country was built upon Christian beliefs, the founding fathers wanted this country to be a cultural schmelting pot in which all religion could be welcome.
“We have solved, by fair experiment, the great and interesting question whether freedom of religion is compatible with order in government and obedience to the laws. And we have experienced the quiet as well as the comfort which results from leaving everyone to profess freely and openly those principles of religion which are the inductions of his own reason and the serious convictions of his own inquiries.” – Thomas Jefferson
I believe if the government and religion intertwined we would have a religious totalitarianism in which we would be controlled by one religious view. it would influence all law, and even lead to a probable religious holocaust.
Even some of the founding fathers had questioned his beliefs such as Thomas Jefferson when he said “I believe in one God, Creator of the universe…. That the most acceptable service we can render Him is doing good to His other children…. As to Jesus … I have … some doubts as to his divinity; though it is a question I do not dogmatize upon, having never studied it, and think it needless to busy myself with it now, when I expect soon an opportunity of knowing the truth with less trouble.”
So even though many of them were Christian, I think most of them thought the country could reach its full potential if it left religion out when it came to establishing it’s legislature, and there in the laws would be unbiased and we would have a country in which we were all truly created equal.
Sources:
http://www.sullivancounty.com/nf0/dispatch/fathers_quote2.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_church_and_state_in_the_United_States
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joshpickett
said
“At the time of the adoption of the Constitution and the Amendments, the universal sentiment was that Christianity should be encouraged, not any one sect. In this age there can be no substitute for Christianity. That was the religion of the founders of the republic, and they expected it to remain the religion of their descendants. The great vital and conservative element in our system is the doctrines and divine truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ.” (from http://www.sullivan-county.com/nf0/dispatch/fathers_quote2.htm.) Meaning our founding fathers believed in Christianity and hoped that later on in life it would still be that way, but as we all know there are more religions out there then just one. One the other hand religions are bounded while Christianity is free. For example in the Muslim religion there are rules that must be followed (u must do this, u cant do that..etc). While being a christian you are not bound to anything you can be your own person. And on the topic about a president being a different religion then me or whatever..i say who cares. As long as they know how to be a leader and be trustworthy and also dependable then they will be a good president. Saying that an Atheist cant be a president just based on his religion is a way of discrimination which isn’t right.
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southernbelle94
said
‘’Here is my Creed. I believe in one God, the Creator of the Universe. That He governs it by His Providence. That He ought to be worshipped.’’ –Benjamin Franklin (http://christianity.about.com/od/independenceday/a/foundingfathers.htm)
The quote above is one of many like it that some of the founding fathers of our country have said, some of them were Christians, some were not. Thomas Jefferson said “The clergy converted the simple teachings of Jesus into an engine for enslaving mankind … to filch wealth and power to themselves. [They], in fact, constitute the real Anti-Christ.” http://www.anotherperspective.org/advoc550.html
I think they put freedom of religion in the first amendment because they wanted America to be a free country; they wanted liberty, which is another form of free to stand tall in the United States. Many people fled England and Europe so that they could have a freedom of religion and the founding fathers did not want to take that right away from them, no matter what their personal beliefs. Having freedom of religion is a natural born right in my opinion and no one should have it taken away, but many do have that right taken away, and the founding fathers did not want it to be like that in the new country. No it would not matter to the president, or leader of a country what religion the people who live there are, it doesn’t affect him/her in any way that would harm them. Again, as Thomas Jefferson said “It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no God.” http://www.anotherperspective.org/advoc550.html
So there is no reason to have a religion that every single person in one country has to follow. People are different, and they always will be no one can change that whether they are a president, dictator, or any other kind of leader, different is simply different. Making one religion the absolute must is not letting the people be different. Our founding fathers made the government for the people, by the people and that’s the way it should always be, and having freedom of religion helps that.
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nikiafleshman
said
I have heard people say a lot that the United States was founded on Christianity, and that the founding fathers are the ones that wanted that put into the Constitution. But by reading these articles and analyzing the comments made by the founding fathers, it seems like they didn’t actually have a specific religion that they believed in themselves. They made comments, that to me, sounded like they just accepted contrasting religious views but didn’t actually have a single religion that they believed in. The article “One Nation….Under God?” states that the majority of founding fathers didn’t believe in a single religion because none of them (the religions) can actually be proven to be real; the bibles and other books, to the founding fathers, contained “wicked” stories of execution and other inhumane things that you wouldn’t think to associate with a God portrayed as the all divine and great. Which in some way can be understood. The phrase, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” most likely was included into the First Amendment only to allow people to religiously worship any way they may please without the thought of being persecuted in the backs of their minds. If that was not put into the First Amendment, people would probably be looked at different ways and stereotyped because of the things they believe and America does not believe in that. People that don’t believe in the Christian faith would be scared to practice their religions too. I don’t think that a person should have Christian beliefs as a qualification to run or obtain presidential status. But to be honest i don’t think (if I was eligible) that I would vote for someone with different beliefs than myself. The religion of a person doesn’t determine how well that the candidate can manage and run the country. I don’t think that our country is very open-minded to different religions. People just seem to tolerate but not really accept the thought of other religions being practiced, and in the back of their minds they are secretly condemning that particular group of people different from themselves. Which is not right for people to do, its discrimination and stereotypical and it shouldn’t be done even though it is.
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cojo249
said
Well what first spotted my eye in this assignment was “Would it matter if the President, or any other American leader, were not a Christian but a Hindu, Muslim, Atheist, or whatever?” I think the President of the United States of America should be Christian or some type of Christianity because Muslims and Hindu’s worship different Gods and in my opinion a president or any other leader should be a Christian. “They kill each other, they kill the Christian, the Jew, the foreigner, and the Muslim who does not see Islam through their bloodthirsty eyes” (http://wisdomofdave.blogspot.com/2011/04/radical-islam-religion-of-death.html.) By that saying i would not want any type of Radical Islam in office for the United States. The Radical Islam is the religion of death, they kill themselves and other people just for there own religion, which i think is absolutely crazy!
” Europeans came to America to escape religious oppression and forced beliefs by such state-affiliated Christian churches as the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England.” (http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h3787.html.) This quote is pretty much saying that Europeans came to America and founded our religion for us. This is a Christianity based religion in America and that’s how it should stay! I know other religions are in America but the first religion that came to america was Christianity.
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car1995
said
Technically the first religion to come to america was the religion of the native american ancestors that crossed the Bering strait land bridge
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Cavan Hoose
said
The founding fathers were absolutely not Christians. In fact, if they were Christian, it would defeat the purpose of “founding” anything in the first place. This is a common misconception, for reasons unknown. Maybe the fact that people would like to think their country was founded upon a stable religion. But the opposite is true. The country was founded to escape religious persecution. So it would be counteractive to found a country on a particular religion if the country is to be free of the religion in question.
The founding fathers were agnostics, and atheists, being that they had no concrete religion, or an individual interpretation of such, or none at all. The intentions were so that the people would not be bound to a religion, and given the freedom of choice. It was also the intention for the fathers that a nation not be run on religion alone, namely that a leader not make decisions based on their personal belief, but on what is best for the country. This is due to the fact that religion naturally calls emotion into decision, which is unwise, and dangerous for the running of a country free of such bias.
The country is a free nation after all, so it would be hypocritical to limit the leader to no religion. Having said that, it does not mean the leader need make decisions based on their religion. Where would the country be if all decisions by the leader were based on what they felt their God called them to do? It would not be in a very good place simply because decisions may not be based on logic and reason, but emotion and belief.
I do not believe a leader need forced to be one particular religion, or the lack thereof (though I would venture to say that an atheist leader would have the least bias, but that may be my own), but it would not be a good idea to call his or her beliefs into political action. However, then the notion of natural bias (and the inability to hide it) would come into play.
I believe that the focus on religion is completely out of proportion in the southern part of the country (ie the “bible belt”). The idea that one is a bad person for not believing in one particular religion is both immoral, and contradicting to the religion itself. For example, Christianity, one of a few major religions, is a very contradiction religion. This is because it mixes the two ideas of “God is a fair god that loves all of his children” with “All of God’s children should believe in him… or else”. People should not be looked down upon for being a different religion (have we forgotten everything the country stands for in the first place?). It is really not that big a deal.
Cavan Hoose (Hey Mr. Noblitt. Hope you have a good year of teaching, though the class of 2011 will always be the best!)
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madisonfalls4
said
“It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no God. “
Thomas Jefferson. ( http://www.anotherperspective.org/advoc550.html ) The First Amendment reads “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof ….” I think this is included because there are so many different religions and beliefs in this country. The country can’t just be based on one religion because not everyone would be happy with it and it would cause a lot of problems. Some people don’t vote for certain presidents because of their religion. People are very judgmental and would choose a different candidate just because they didn’t like the other’s beliefs. I think religion is a touchy subject in our country because everyone has their own opinions on it. They can’t agree and compromise their beliefs so it just causes problems when trying to discuss it. “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… Each of those churches accuse the other of unbelief; and for my own part, I disbelieve them all.”- Thomas Paine (http://www.sullivan-county.com/nf0/dispatch/fathers_quote2.htm)
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DeeDee Smith ♪♪ (@__DarkChocolate)
said
I agree with what article VI says (frohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_church_and_state_in_the_United_Statesm) that “no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.” This quote to me means that it shouldn’t matter what your religion is for you to be able to do anything.
In my opinion two of the founding fathers Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine were devils! Simply because Thomas Jefferson says “The christian God is a three headed monster, cruel,vengeful and capricorns. http://www.anotherperspective.org/advoc550.html God isn’t a monster, the devil is a monster! Then Thomas Paine is a devil because he says “my own mind is my own church” http://www.anotherperspective.org/advoc550.html And when he says “with which more than half the bible is filled, it would be more consistent that we called it the word of a demon, than the word of God. It is a history of wickedness, that has served to corrupt and brutalize mankind.” http://www.sullivan-county.com/nf0/dispatch/fathers_quote2.htm In my opinion he’s basically calling God’s word and him a demon!
I’m done enough said!!
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kristinacarpenter
said
“God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the Gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever; That a revolution of the wheel of fortune, a change of situation, is among possible events; that it may become probable by Supernatural influence! The Almighty has no attribute which can take side with us in that event.” – Thomas Jefferson. (http://christianity.about.com/od/independenceday/a/foundingfathers.htm)
This means that the founding fathers blieved in christianity and some of them was worried about the future of america. I personally dont think it matters whether the president is a christian or a muslim as long as they know how to run the country and be a good leader. Judging a president on his religious views isnt right because not everybody is the same, and not everyone has the same religious views. America is full of different religions and many of the people practice their religion on a daily bases. Many people that are Christians doesn’t like that their are different religions in America and they use discrimination against people of different religion. I think that people have the freedom of religion though and it really doesnt matter if somebody is a different religion than me.
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huntercochran
said
“No religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or
public Trust under the United States.”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_church_and_state_in_the_United_States)
This says that that you don’t have to be religious to be in office. You don’t
need to be a Christian, you don’t even need to know about Christianity, because
if someone else is of another religion there are potential conflicts that
could go on between the two people. “It cannot be emphasized too strongly or
too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists but by
Christians, not on religion but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We shall not
fight alone. God presides over the destinies of nations.” – Patrick Henry
(http://www.sullivan-county.com/nf0/dispatch/fathers_quote2.htm)
This states that the United States was founded by Christians and on the Gospel
of Jesus Christ, not some made up religion that makes no sense, but one that
we can rely on. But I believe that even though our nation was built on
Christianity, that’s not what the Founding Fathers intended.
“We have solved, by fair experiment, the great and interesting question whether
freedom of religion is compatible with order in government and obedience to the
laws. And we have experienced the quiet as well as the comfort which results
from leaving everyone to profess freely and openly those principles of religion
which are the inductions of his own reason and the serious convictions of his
own inquiries.”- Thomas Jefferson
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_church_and_state_in_the_United_States)
The way I interpret this is that if religion and government are bound together
the country would be in total chaos. You cannot mix the government and religion
everybody has a choice to make in what they believe, the government can’t tell
someone what to believe in, because then they would be believing for the wrong
reason. To sum this all up I would say that the United States was founded on
the Christian religion, but shall not be intertwined with government. It doesn’t
matter what religion you are. I believe that if any President were of a different
religion than Christianity, then he can’t tell the country what to believe in
because the whole country would revolt. I think the country is just fine the
way that it is right now, because you can believe in whatever you want to and
nobody can tell you otherwise.
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ravenwomic
said
Our founding fathers all have different beliefs when it comes to Christianity. John Hancock Stated “Resistance to tyranny becomes the Christian and social duty of each individual. … Continue steadfast and, with a proper sense of your dependence on God, nobly defend those rights which heaven gave, and no man ought to take from us.” http://christianity.about.com/od/independenceday/a/foundingfathers.htm . He was obviouslly a christian and he didn’t doubt God. He’s saying we have natural rights that heaven gave and we should defend them. On the Other hand , Thomas Paine said “Accustom a people to believe that priests and clergy can forgive sins … and you will have sins in abundance. I would not dare to dishonor my Creator’s name by [attaching] it to this filthy book [the Bible]. http://www.anotherperspective.org/advoc550.html . From this quote it seems as though he believes in God , but not the bible. But , how can you believe in him without reading the bible?.. Simple.. Our founding fathers didn’t necessarily want America to only be based on christianity. Some believed in Christianity, and others didn’t. The first amendment is basically saying congress doesn’t have to respect any religion, but the people have the right to Express it. It really wouldn’t matter if the president was any religion other than christian , as long as he didn’t straight out say it. Most American leaders back then said a lot of things that could be interpreted in different ways, and when it came to religion they kind of beat around the bush. But , I believe that many of our founding fathers thought that religion shouldn’t have anything to do with government , but it had everything to do with our right to express ourselves. They definitely wouldn’t say that they founded it, it’d be something more along the lines of partially spreading it.
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paviles2013
said
good one 🙂
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Shonee' Ferguson
said
I like the one patrick henry says that we the earth was not founded by religionists but by christians, because it doesn’t put christianity under the term religion. Because everyone has their own beliefs. Thomas Jefferson says he “believed in only on god and he governed the earth with his providence” and the others was stating that they didn’t follow a certain religion, they followed their hearts and minds. I think that congress wouldn’t force people to believe in other religion but they can practice is like , amoung themselves, like jefferson says ” the whole American people declared that congress shouldn’t make laws of religion. The president can be any anybody, because it wouldn’t be fair if barack obama wasn’t president because of his race or he’s muslim. I think our country as a whole would feel that religion is a big part of life just because of how it was used back in history. But every has different opinions and beliefs such as myself, and people would think that you don’t have to believe in my religion but you will respect it. Which brings me to the first amendment Freedom Of Speech”, people are going to say what they want, its a right as an American citizen, but doesn’t exactly mean its true.
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shannalynn18
said
I do think that the United States was founded on Christianity. Because on http://christianity.about.com/od/independenceday/a/foundingfathers.htm it says, “Of the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence, nearly half (24) held seminary or Bible school degrees.” This tells you that most of them were Christian. Benjamin Franklin said, “Here is my Creed. I believe in one God, the Creator of the Universe.” Thomas Jefferson also stated his direct beliefs, “I am a real Christian – that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus Christ.” So the Founding Fathers must have founded the United Statse based off Christian theocracy. This quote “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . .” just means that they wanted to allow any religion & culture to be welcome in our country. But the way the United States is today, I definitely think it would a problem if our government leaders were another religion; like Hindu, Muslim, Atheist or whatever. Because of the problems & issues we have with countries of those religions now.
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gabby13girl
said
Someone’s religious beliefs should not determine whether or not they can be the President. Someone’s faith doesn’t make them a good leader or a poor leader; it’s their moral. Even though, faith and morals are closely connected, they are not the same. “The men responsible for building the foundation of the United States were men of The Enlightenment, not men of Christianity. They were Deists who did not believe the bible was true. They were Freethinkers who relied on their reason, not their faith.” (http://freethought.mbdojo.com/foundingfathers.html) The following quote from this particular website clearly states that our founding fathers were not Christians! This provides proof enough to say that all good, substantial leaders do not have to be of the Christian faith at all. “When the Founders wrote the nation’s Constitution, they specified that “no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.” (Article 6, section 3)” (http://freethought.mbdojo.com/foundingfathers.html) Now, if the founding fathers of our great nation didn’t specify a certain religion or make it a necessity to be of a certain faith, then why should we base someone’s competence of leading off of religion merely? We shouldn’t as reasonalbe people. The founding fathers were eager to keep religion and law separate. This is why they wrote the first amendment, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” (http://www.usconstitution.net/xconst_Am1.html) separating the two. Frankly, I could careless what religion the President believes in as long as he/she has the righteous concern of the people of the US and humanity in general.
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lizadenicola5
said
Thomas Jefferson once siad this:
3rd U.S. President, Drafter and Signer of the Declaration of Independence
“God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the Gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever; That a revolution of the wheel of fortune, a change of situation, is among possible events; that it may become probable by Supernatural influence! The Almighty has no attribute which can take side with us in that event.”
–Notes on the State of Virginia, Query XVIII, p. 237.
“I am a real Christian – that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus Christ.”
If all people thought this way then the world today might be different but most people now a days would rather believ that God is not real. Ou founding fathers based this country on chrisitanity but i believe we all lost contact of that matter, which would be Jesus. I believe we all need to get back in touch with Him and then we might start seeing a difference.
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car1995
said
Ou founding fathers based this country on Christianity
I highly disagree with this statement because almost all of the founding fathers wanted to get away from the corruption found in the churches of that time and keep that corruption from spreading to the government. The didn’t want a repeat of the crusades or of religious intolerance in England
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Brittany Bell
said
Christianity in my opinion is what makes history. Even though our founding fathers were far from Christians. This I believe was for people at these times didn’t feel appointed to be one religion everyone else was, so most were said to be ‘atheists ‘. But one of our leading fathers,Benjamin franklin said ‘Here is my creed, I believe in one God, the Creator of the Universe.” Thomas Jefferson also said that he had religious beliefs. I go to church I read the bible where it states that‘’ we are all gods children’’ ‘’and we shall all believe in him’’ this is my opinion I can’t have judgment on someone just cause we are not the same religion as me, as they did back in history. They say there is no proof that Jesus ever existed which goes along with Mr. Nobblitt’s quote that ’’History is a set of lies agreed upon’’ which I believe a hundred percent. I believe it would make a difference if our president was atheist but in the Constitution states in the first amendment that ‘’We have freedom of speech, freedom of religion and freedom of press’’ in saying this Religion is this country is what we believe in and choose to believe in. But I just want to bring up that we have freedom of religion but in school we can’t wear religious clothing or symbols because it offends people and distracts them but when doing pledge people decide to just sit and not say the pledge and be respectful well that offends me so why is it right for them to offend me if I can’t wear something as simple as a necklace or something. Basically, the first amendment is school is unfair and not equal.
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car1995
said
The reason you can have religion in school is because two things cause fights religion and politics. to reduce this the school tries to keep religion out.Student religious or political messages may only be censored if the school can reasonably forecast a “substantial disruption” (Tinker v. Des Moines, 1969). Students may freely express their religious beliefs or carry a Bible, so long as they are not disruptive to the class and school day( The Free Exercise Clause). The reason some people don’t stand for the pledge is because it goes against their religion because they might view the pledge as a pledge to the Government and they might believe that they should pledge all their allegiance to god. Student have the right to not stand for the pledge as upheld by the supreme court case West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette. In that instance Failure to comply was considered “insubordination” and dealt with by expulsion. Readmission was denied by statute until the student complied. This expulsion, in turn, automatically exposed the child and their parents to criminal prosecution; the expelled child was considered “unlawfully absent” and could be proceeded against as a delinquent, and their parents or guardians could be fined as much as $50 and jailed up to thirty days. On the advice of an early attorney, the Barnettes had avoided the further complications by having their expelled girls return to school each day, though the school would send them home. The Free Exercise Clause Protects both of the above rights.
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dancan16
said
Separation of church and state. In the very first amendment it says freedom of religion.Where there is no set religion you have to be to be an American or a part of this nation.Our founding fathers built this nation on the idea of of God and the faith that they had in him to help this great nation succeed.They do give the people the right to freedom of religion but that doesn’t stop them from pressing down the theory of Christianity on society back then as well as today.Even if you don’t believe in God, that won’t stop you from seeing the theory of him or his name somewhere.As it says in(http://www.sullivan-county.com/nf0/dispatch/fathers_quote2.htm) it states that God is put on coins,paper money,or any sort of currensy just about.The phrases such as “In God We Trust” started being printed on coins during the Civil War.Even the majority of the men who signed the Declaration of Independence held bible school degrees as said in(http://christianity.about.com/od/independenceday/a/foundingfathers.htm).So yes the founding fathers put the rule of Separation of Church and state out there but,also put the idea of Christianity out there as well as freedom of religion.Even though the founding fathers said it was your choice as to whatever religion or beliefs you wanted to have,they still put all these ideas out there in front of society hoping to get everyone to accept God and the idea of “One Nation Under God.”It seems to me like they forced God upon society almost making it something that everyone should believe in instead of making it a choice.
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car1995
said
One Nation Under God didn’t get added to the pledge til 1954 long after the founding fathers. it didn’t appear on money till 1864 also long after the founding father originally it was just e publius unium
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dancan16
said
ok i never said anything about when the pledge got added idiot.if u wld actually read my blog i was just saying that religion is forced upon todays society by being put on money and things like that and i never said one nation under god was posted on money,i said it was an idea that the founding fathers wanted our nation to be built upon so yeh,get your facts straight before you comment on my blog.and i love how u said the founding fathers werent christian when they obviously were.they broke away from the english because they didnt support how the english went about christianity so they started their own concept of christianity basically.and get a life loser and quit commenting on everyones blog because you dont have anything better to do.
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calebbynum
said
Was our country founded on Christianity? This question has been an area of conflict for many years, and I think it will be an area of conflict for years to come. This is an area of conflict because as George Washington states “Religious controversies are always productive of more acrimony and irreconcilable hatreds than those which spring from any other cause.” I believe this because everyone has their own beliefs, and many of them are based on religion. This makes it almost impossible not to have arguments when it comes to religion.
The founders of our country, known as the founding fathers, weren’t necessarily all Christians. This was an idea that I myself believed for many years, but now I know that some had other beliefs that may not line up with Christianity as we see it today. This is because all of the founding fathers may have had differing beliefs. As Thomas Jefferson said, “Is uniformity attainable? Millions of innocent men, women, and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined, imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity. What has been the effect of coercion? To make one half the world fools and the other half hypocrites. To support roguery and error all over the earth.” I think separation of church and state was created because the founding fathers realized that it is an impossible feat to get large numbers of people to agree on one religion. This is especially hard when there is a mix of multiple cultures in a unified area. I think this is what led to the separation of church from state.
I think the phrase “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” was included in the First Amendment because our country was based on a search for religious freedom. This part of the First Amendment also insures that this freedom won’t be taken away. I think that this should also apply to our presidents. I believe this because if all citizens have the freedom of religion then why shouldn’t our president. However, I think that Christianity has had an effect on our country and always will.
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kelsieehrlich
said
“God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the Gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever; That a revolution of the wheel of fortune, a change of situation, is among possible events; that it may become probable by Supernatural influence! The Almighty has no attribute which can take side with us in that event.” – Thomas Jefferson. http://christianity.about.com/od/independenceday/a/foundingfathers.htm The Founding Fathers believed in Christianity, which of course, I’m a christian, but I also believe if your President is doing good for this country, it shouldn’t matter if he is a christian or not, Everyone has the freedom or religion, so therefore our president has the right to believe in whatever religion he wants, nobody should judge him for that; as long as he is doing his job and taking care of our country. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof ….”, was included in the First Amendment because the First Amendment (RAPPS) is the freedom of religion, assembly, press, petition, and speech. I remember learning that in Civics. Seperation of church and state; you don’t have to be a American and believe in God, you have freedom of religion, people should respect whatever religion you believe in, they don’t have to like it, but they should respect it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_church_and_state_in_the_United_States#The_First_Amendment
Our country can’t just be one religion, not everyone believes in the same thing, if everyone didn’t have the right to believe in whatever belief they wanted this country would be a terrible place. Nobody is going to agree on the same thing, everyone has an opinion and is entitled to there opinion;
It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no God. -Thomas Jefferson http://www.anotherperspective.org/advoc550.html
Every man “ought to be protected in worshipping the Deity according to the dictates of his own conscience.” -http://www.sullivan-county.com/nf0/dispatch/fathers_quote2.htm
The First Amendment is one of the many things that makes this country a wonderful place to live in, Religion is something people argue about everyday, and will continue to forever.
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cubanaaa
said
John Hancock stated “Resistance to tyranny becomes the Christian and social duty of each individual. … Continue steadfast and, with a proper sense of your dependence on God, nobly defend those rights which heaven gave, and no man ought to take from us.” http://christianity.about.com/od/independenceday/a/foundingfathers.htm To me this quote is saying that he believed in God / Christianity and that he would not doubt it. Also from the reading that i have done i can also make an accusation that more of the founding fathers were Christians right along with him. I’ve heard since middle school that our country was based off of Christianity. It makes since for it to be. Why else would the founding fathers have wanted that put into the Constitution. I don’t think it would really matter if our president was Hindu or Muslim. You can’t really judge them because of they’re religion. Atheist would be different for me though, because I’m a christian and i don’t discriminate but the country should be ruled by someone that has some faith in “something” , But i don’t believe i would vote for a Hindu or Muslim president. Even if a person was to run for president and was of a different religion than Christianity I don’t believe anyone would vote for that person because people nowadays are stuck in there ways on what they think is right and wrong. Basically what I’m trying to state is that I believe the country was based off Christianity and that everyone should have freedom of religion .
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emilykiser
said
If our country was founded on Christianity, then our nation’s religion would be just that; Christian. The phrase, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion…” was included in the First Amendment because our nation has no select religion. It was not founded on Christianity. “As the government of the United Sates is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion…” -Treaty of Tripoli. (http://www.sullivan-county.com/nf0/dispatch/fathers_quote2.htm) But I think if we were to ask most of America’s founding fathers if our nation was founded on Christianity, they would say yes. The founding fathers were “men of deep religious convicitions.”(http://christianity.about.com/od/independenceday/a/foundingfathers.htm) Benjamin Frankiln, for example, said “Here is my creed. I believe in one God, the Creator of the Universe.”(http://christianity.about.com/od/independenceday/a/foundingfathers.htm) It should not matter if the President, or any other American leader were not Christian. Congress can not favor one religion, as stated by the first amendment. Our country has many different people with many different religions. It will probably always be that way. To say the United States was founded on Christianity is not true. Even Thomas Jefferson stated that he questioned God: “Question with boldness even the existence of god.” (http://www.sullivan-county.com/nf0/dispatch/fathers_quote2.htm) America’s founding fathers had their own beliefs on religion, as we do today.
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calebross
said
well in the first amendment it states our freedom of religion
“God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the Gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever; That a revolution of the wheel of fortune, a change of situation, is among possible events; that it may become probable by Supernatural influence! The Almighty has no attribute which can take side with us in that event.” – Thomas Jefferson. (http://CHRISTIANITY.ABOUT.COM/OD/INDEPENDENCEDAY/A/FOUNDINGFATHERS.HTM) what i get from that is that our founding fathers believed in God and did what they did based on there belief. but they belived in freedom of religion and it doesnt matter if someone is not a christian to run for president they can be any religion but the princliples of our nation is based on christianity
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kalebrostmeyer
said
After reviewing and doing extensive research i have learned that the founding fathers had no religious intentions when creating the United States of America. They were in fact deists. Deists are people that do not believe the bible to be true, but they rely on free will and free thinking to do what is right. All of the false ideas that are stated about our founding fathers creating a ” Christian Nation” are indeed incorrect. http://freethought.mbdojo.com/foundingfathers.html With that being said, the first amendment was written because the American people do have the right to believe in what they want and at no point in time should the government or any place of employment request any person to tell what religion they are to obtain employment. In a perfect society, it would not matter what religion someone was but we know through history that if you are not representing the christian faith then your chances or obtaining a presidential spot is very slim. out of the 44 presidents that we have had in our existence of a nation only 6 have had no religious affiliation. The last president that was elected and did not have any affiliation was Chester Arthur. Even though it says that there is no discrimination against the non religious or the non christians but there has not and probably never will be another non religious nor non Christian president again http://www.america.gov/st/washfile-english/2007/January/20070104165847mlenuhret0.8249933.html
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fly4awhiteguy
said
The First Amendment reads “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof ….”. With that sentence the first amendment on the bill of rights was written by Thomas Jefferson and friends, otherwise known as our founding fathers. Being a fact that they did indeed write the first amendment, I do not believe they had any intention of creating a Christian aristocracy, but in fact only stating that religion was a choice made by each person. Otherwise saying if they did intend to create a Christian aristocracy they wouldn’t have created freedom of religion. Besides just as George Washington stated, “If there are good workmen, they may be from Asia, Africa or Europe; they may be Mahometans, Jews, Christians of any sect, or they may be Atheists”, otherwise saying that it does not matter what religion you wish to better yourself with, but only that you succeed in getting the job done. I also feel that religion is not important. However, it is important that you follow what you believe in, just as long as the presidents do not let their religion (if they have one) combine with their leadership and try to influence others by it.
Saying that there are more important things to concern ourselves with other than religion, just as George Washington said, “There is nothing which can better deserve our patronage than the promotion of science and literature. Knowledge is in every country the surest basis of public happiness”, is telling the heartfelt truth in my opinion. To me religion, no matter which one is no more than overstepping its boundaries with science. Until the day that the two coincide, there will never be a true understanding of either.
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wendyburris2013
said
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof ….” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_church_and_state_in_the_United_States)
This to me means that it doesn’t matter what religion you are. I don’t think it should matter what religion you are if you are president. Not everybody believes in the same exact thing as being right. We all have different beliefs. Running a country has nothing to do with what religion you are.
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caylaherscher42
said
Was our country found on Christianty? That question has been asked and asked time and time again. But noone has had a real answer to it and honestly noone ever will in my opinion. After reading these articles: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_church_and_state_in_the_United_States, and http://christianity.about.com/od/independenceday/a/foundingfathers. It help me understand that question a little better than before and by reading these articles it specificly says “no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States” so therefore in my opinon our country was not founded on just Christainty it was found on a lot of different relgions and i believe that is a correct answer to that question because if you read it it never said that our founding fathers were under just Christianty they were probably different religion. Also another reason we was not founded on Christianty is in our Constitution the very first amendment says freedom of relgion and i believe that means you can believe what you want or who you want. But one thing that bugs me is when they wrote “one nation under god” i not saying that’s bad by all means because i believe in god myself but to me it makes it seem like they are pushing a religion on them when they specificly said you could be any religion you wanna be. So now i think i got an answer for my question Was our country founded on Christianity? I can honestly say i thing it wasn’t found on Christianty if they can believe anything they want, and hey who knows one of our founding farthers could be a different religion.
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car1995
said
The US is not a nation of any specific religion we are a melting pot of all religions. The reason the founding fathers included in the constitution that the government and church where to be separate came about because they didn’t want it to be like England where not belonging to the church of England marked you out for persecution and discrimination. The founding Fathers most where not Christian’s they where Diest’s. Most of them disapproved of the church and the way that they where intertwine with the government and how they distorted thing and used their power to be the puppet master as they say this quote show Thomas Jefferson’s opinion
The clergy converted the simple teachings of Jesus into an engine for enslaving mankind … to filch wealth and power to themselves. [They], in fact, constitute the real Anti-Christ.
Thomas Jefferson
They didn’t want religious tyranny in their nation so they separated the church. The founding father believed that morality could be achieved with out religion therefore since morality does not depend on your religion if you have one or not anyone can be president no matter there religious affiliations as long as you don’t let it mix with government. When JFK was elected many were afraid that he would answer to the pope instead of the people. Religion doesn’t matter as long as the president or other leaders don’t allow it to mix with Government.
On the other side of the argument many consider the US a Christian nation because we for the most part live by the guide lines in the bible. Also the us is predominately Christian. Some of the founding fathers where Christian’s such as Benjamin Rush who said
“The gospel of Jesus Christ prescribes the wisest rules for just conduct in every situation of life. Happy they who are enabled to obey them in all situations!”
–The Autobiography of Benjamin Rush, pp. 165-166.
“Christianity is the only true and perfect religion, and that in proportion as mankind adopts its principles and obeys its precepts, they will be wise and happy.”
–Essays, Literary, Moral, and Philosophical, published in 1798.
Even among some of the Christian who where founding father knew that the bible states the religion should never mix with secular government the following is a excerpt from Common Sense by Thomas Paine
The children of Israel being oppressed by the Midianites, Gideon marched against them with a small army, and victory thro’ the divine interposition decided in his favour. The Jews, elate with success, and attributing it to the generalship of Gideon, proposed making him a king, saying, “Rule thou over us, thou and thy son, and thy son’s son.” Here was temptation in its fullest extent; not a kingdom only, but an hereditary one; but Gideon in the piety of his soul replied, “I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you. THE LORD SHALL RULE OVER YOU.”
In my opinion the US was created on the basis of religious tolerance. The US was created to protect the rights of the people among those rights the right to practice a religion of your choosing not the governments choice. Also that no matter your religion it shouldn’t be a factor in a public election and that a religious test shouldn’t be conducted before you are allowed to take office. When a religion mixes with the government it corrupts both the religion and the government.
Works Cited:
“Common Sense by Thomas Paine.” Ushistory.org. Web. 15 Sept. 2011. .
“Deism.” Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 15 Sept. 2011. .
“The Founding Fathers Speak Out on God, Religion and the First Amendment.” Social Apartheid in Tri-Cities Bristol Virginia-Tennessee. Web. 15 Sept. 2011. .
“Our Founding Fathers Were NOT Christians.” The Bible, Christianity, God, Jesus, Trash. Web. 15 Sept. 2011. .
“Religion and the Founding Fathers.” Religion and the Founding Fathers. Web. 15 Sept. 2011. .
“Religious Test.” Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 15 Sept. 2011. .
Waldman, Steven. “Separation of Church and State in the United States.” Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 15 Sept. 2011. .
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Red aka Bryan Lopez
said
In my own opinion I don’t believe that America was founded by Christianity. In the Separation of church and state in the United states web page I have found a information that supports my opinion. “Many early immigrant groups traveled to America to worship freely, particularly after the English Civil War.” This proves that there were not just Christianity, but there were other religions were in America. Technically America was founded by a lot of religions since immigrants from some country immigrated to America. In the first amendment, it states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof” The two parts, known as the “establishment clause” and the “free exercise clause”. So that statement shows that congress couldn’t tell people that they have to follow Christianity. “As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion” This statement shows that the United States senates even admits that America was not founded by Christianity. Also this statement “No religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.” is saying that a person that wants to be in office doesn’t need to be a religious person, also they don’t need to be a specific religion to be in office. In other words anyone that want’s to be in office could be in office regardless of their religion.
In the webpage “The Founding Fathers Speak Out on God, Religion and the First Amendment” There are a lot of quotes from our founding fathers. This quote “The civil rights of none shall be abridged on account of religious belief or worship, nor shall any national religion be established, nor shall the full and equal rights of conscience be in any manner, or on any pretence, infringed.” – James Madison (Original wording of the First Amendment; Annals of Congress 434 (June 8, 1789). shows that your equal rights would not be damaged because of your religion. It also shows people to not be afraid that their rights as an American citizen would be effected by their religion. Religion doesn’t have a negative impact to our nation, they put the name of God to some of our American way of life. Like the coins that we use to buy a drink, it has the words ‘In God We Trust’ on the coins itself. Also in the pledge of allegiance it has ” One nation, Under God”, religion has impacted our American way of life that we use the name God everyday.
These quotes and history of the religion shows that religion would not affect a person that want’s to be in office. Let say if our future president religion is Muslim, people would be worried about it so much that there would be some protesters would protest about it because of his religion. But he has rights to be presidents because of quotes from former presidents, and statements that are in articles. So my conclusion is that religion wont hurt any Americans rights. This country was not founded by Christianity, it’s founded by a lot of religions.
Sources:
http://www.sullivan-county.com/nf0/dispatch/fathers_quote2.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_church_and_state_in_the_United_States
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invitingodin
said
If they are good workmen, they may be from Asia, Africa or Europe; they may be Mahometans, Jews, Christians of any sect, or they may be Atheists….
George Washington, to Tench Tighman, March 24, 1784, when asked what type of workman to get for Mount Vernon, from The Washington papers edited by Saul Padover http://www.anotherperspective.org/advoc550.html this quote explains my opion perfectly b/c it doesn’t matter were your from or what religion u pratice as only has do your a respectful person and do your share of hard work.
i don’t really care what the religion the president as long as he don’t try to push it on others
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sadie rankin
said
Did they consider themselves as founders of a Christian theocracy? The awnser to this is no. Most of the Founders of the unties states were Deists. This means thought the universe had a creator, “but that he does not concern himself with the daily lives of humans, and does not directly communicate with humans, either by revelation or by sacred books.”(http://freethought.mbdojo.com/foundingfathers.html) So
In the constitution it states “no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.” (Article 6, section 3) (http://freethought.mbdojo.com/foundingfathers.html)
Should it matter if the present is anything other than christian? It should not, but unfortunately in the world we live in today it dose. Most people in the unites states are not very toleration of religion. After 9-11 many people believe have become prejudice towards Muslims. “43 percent acknowledged at least “a little” prejudice against Muslims”. (http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9019976) After Mr.Obama was elected to office newspapers and magazines began printing that he was not a christian, but a Muslim. That should not change how people view him as a person, or as the leader of our country, but it does. After all, American’s belief America is mostly Christian. Even though we have many people here that practise many different religions. This just shows how america over all is prejudiced and intollerent toward anyone who dose not share the same belives.
_sadie rakin
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giiirrrlll
said
I believe that if a president isn’t Christian that it shouldn’t matter because the founding fathers weren’t Christian to begin with. If the president was ever to be from the Muslim faith it shouldn’t matter. Even though most of us see the Muslim faith as a terrorist thing we can also argue that the Christian faith hasn’t been all that perfect and has involved killing as it says “Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned.” in the article “Religion and the founding fathers”. A nation in my opinion should be led by someone who is willing to put the people before themselves and is able to lead the country for the better. Faith is important, because it gives you something to look forward to …but an atheist or whatever can very well believe in making the better. Like Thomas Jefferson also said “It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no God.“There are many people in a community. All the people in there aren’t going to be the same religion, but not because they believe in other things or don’t believe in anything doesn’t necessarily mean that a specific kind of religion is bad. The founding fathers were obviously not Christian by some of the comments they did like “Accustom a people to believe that priests and clergy can forgive sins … and you will have sins in abundance. I would not dare to dishonor my Creator’s name by [attaching] it to this filthy book [the Bible].” By Thomas Jefferson. If they were to be Christian Thomas Jefferson wouldn’t have expressed that the bible is a filthy book.
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jackrosemond
said
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”(www.sullivan-county.com), this phrase has been around sense the founding of this country. Its included in the 2nd anemdment and has sparked much questioning over the years. Our country was founded with the right that you can worship whoever you pleased. England forced there people to one religion and we had just fought a war to not have to do what England said. I believe that the government of our time is all about the religion you are. If you were running for president and worship satin do you think you would get elected? according to a recent poll over 99% of congress is christian. Americans are all about there religion, why is there no compromise in congress anymore, religion. How many catholic democrats do you know, aborton is a huge deal and its all about how you church looks at it. I am catholic and my church has always been extreemely against abortion. I think that the seperation of church and state is like the gaston county grading scale, it looks good on paper.
Work Cited:
-I had out others but my computer is messed up, ive written this thee times, sorry.
-http://www.sullivan-county.com/nf0/dispatch/fathers_quote2.htm.
-Jack Rosemond
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christianfralick
said
To be any American leader you shouldn’t have to be christian, or any other religion. It shouldn’t even be mentioned in politics because it makes people who are of a religion favor the candidate of the same one. while many people in politics are christian, you should not have to be. The first amendment gives us the right to freedom of religion, meaning that Americans should follow any religion, or no religion, that they want. “no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States” was stated in article six of the United States Constitution. If the founding fathers wanted only christians to be leaders then they wouldn’t have put this in the constitution. The only thoughts or beliefs voters should worry about are the thoughts and beliefs for their country. Noone should judge others for their religious views in the first place. Everyone says that they do not care about the religious views of their leaders as long as they are doint the right thing for their country but that isn’t true for most people. Many people will not vote for someone if they know they are of a different religion.
“Is uniformity attainable? Millions of innocent men, women, and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined, imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity. What has been the effect of coercion? To make one half the world fools and the other half hypocrites. To support roguery and error
all over the earth.” – Thomas Jefferson
Differing religions have caused many problems because people do not agree with others and think that they are wrong. this leads to people throwing out a candidate without even listening to their political outlook. I my slef am not big on politics and I am an athiest. But if i were to run for president i would want people to listen to my plans about the country and not worry about me not believing in a religion.
For example when pictures released false images of Obama not standing and saying the pledge many people were angered. even my family, who are christian, were offended. Me being an athiest, I didn’t see the problem even if he really had not stood for the pledge.
Anyone who wants to help their country and has great aspirations should be able to run for it no matter their views. As long as they are doing good for the people, and is not trying to make them believe in what he belives, then it should be all good. But unfortunately most Americans will never go for it.
@cubanaaa
If someone is running for president, athiest or not, they obviously do have faith in “something”. They have faith in the future of their country and believe that they can help it. So why not give the a chance and listen to their opinion?
@Brittany Bell
When I don’t stand for the pledge I personally am not trying to be disrespectful. while some others might, I don’t interupt it or anything I let them do their thing and im respectful of that. If you wore religious clothing or jewelry id never be disrespectful of it.
Also some teachers at the school aren’t respectful of my opinion not to stand and have threatened to give me asd and suspend me but im not going to change my ways just because a teacher is being disrespectful and ignorant. So whatever it is you belive in,my opinion is, don’t change your ways to satisfy others.
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Kiera K'mia Love
said
I think this phrase“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . .” was included in the first amendment because is is a form of expressing yourself and it also ties in with the others such as freedom of speech,assembly, and petition.www.law.cornell.edu/wex/First_amendment i don’t think that it matter what religion that the president or any american leader has. the founding father wanted this country to be were freedom of religion was excepted. The religion shouldnt matter as long as they were doing the right things to better the country.When Franklin says “But I apprehend it has received various corrupting changes, and I have, with most of the present dissenters in England, some doubts as to his divinity; though it is a question I do not dogmatize upon, having never studied it, and think it needless to busy myself with it now, when I expect soon an opportunity of knowing the truth with less trouble. I see no harm, however, in its being believed, if that belief has the good consequence, as probably it has, of making his doctrines more respected and more observed; especially as I do not perceive, that the Supreme takes it amiss, by distinguishing the unbelievers in his government of the world with any peculiar marks of his displeasure.”
http://christianity.about.com/od/independenceday/a/foundingfathers.htm. He is only saying that he know that others believe in something different and that something may be right about what they believe. He says that he know what he believes in and that there is no harm if other people believe in something else as long as it doen’t bring any trouble. I agree with this 100%.
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Damaris Jimenez
said
“The men responsible for building the foundation of the United States were men of The Enlightenment, not men of Christianity. They were Deists who did not believe the bible was true”. http://freethought.mbdojo.com/foundingfathers.html”
This article that I was reading explains that the people who spread this lie were known as Christian Revisionists. They were attempting to rewrite history and make everyone believe the untied states was a Christian nation.
In the articles of confederation (article 6, section 3) says that “no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.” http://freethought.mbdojo.com/foundingfathers.html What is trying is tell us is that you don’t need to have a specific religion to run as a candidates, you can be any religion and still run. People will/can tolerate someone’s beliefs but it doesn’t mean that they will accept your moral beliefs . I myself wouldn’t choose someone with different religion, just because I would be afraid of what they could turn out be because most of our presidents have been Christians. I know this this like stereotype and it discriminating other religion but that’s how my mind set of to do. But in reality I don’t care what religion they are, just if there doing what there suppossed to do….I’am fine with it.
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Savana Childers
said
Thomas Jefferson said, “The Christian god can easily be pictured as virtually the same god as the many ancient gods of past civilizations.” This quote sparked my attention right away. When i read it, it made a lot of sense. I believe that through this quote, Jefferson is trying to say that no matter what god/goddess is being worshiped, everyone is still thinking of that higher power. Buddhist and Hindus don’t believe the same things as we do, but it doesn’t matter, because within being president, religion usually relates more with everyone else in the country. I don’t believe that all of the founding fathers were Christians considering the phrase “separation of church and state” (sometimes “wall of separation between church and state”), in attribution to Thomas Jefferson and others, and since quoted by the Supreme Court of the United States. My reasoning behind this is that if they were all Christians at first, then why would they have made a law splitting the church and the government? I feel that Christianity was in close relation to what the founding fathers were displaying at the time.
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . .” This phrase makes me think that Congress is trying to treat everyone fair. This is definitely a good starting off topic, because it makes people think that the Congress is actually taking in consideration, their beliefs and ideas.
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chelseaclark2013
said
After reading these articles, i was shocked to find out that our founding fathers were NOT religious as i had assumed. Some of the most influential people to help establish America , Such as Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin , had such strong oppositions to Christianity. Both of them believed that Christianity was kind of an nuisance rather than something that should be praised upon. Thomas Jefferson said, ” “Is uniformity attainable? Millions of innocent men, women, and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined, imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity. What has been the effect of coercion? To make one half the world fools and the other half hypocrites. To support roguery and error
all over the earth.” – Thomas Jefferson (Notes on Virginia, 1782; from George Seldes, ed., The Great Quotations, Secaucus, New Jersey: Citadel Press, 1983, p. 363.) ( From http://www.sullivan-county.com/nf0/dispatch/fathers_quote2.htm) From that quote ( and others similar to that ), I believe that the reason why in our Constitution gives us freedom of religion is to prevent any problems that people believe comes with Christianity. I myself do not think that being Christian or what ever religion you may be affects your leadership. I think that anyone with good leadership can be president.
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car1995
said
the constitution gives us freedom of religion to keep the coercion to be of one approved religion that happened in Europe from happening in the US. it was to promote the ideals fought for such as individual freedom. Problems arise from religion when we don’t respect each others differences
“Tolerance implies no lack of commitment to one’s own beliefs. Rather it condemns the oppression or persecution of others.”
John Fitzgerald Kennedy
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korilipscomb
said
Our Founding fathers did not believe that they were the founders of Christianity. If they believed that they were the founders of Christianity they would have based our nation on this religion they’ve founded that only makes sense. Our founding fathers actually believed that congress and religion should not mix. “The First Amendment reads “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof ….” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_church_and_state_in_the_United_States) “the motto ‘In God We Trust’ came about not at the time of the Constitutional Conventions, but due to increased pressures to recognize God on coins and money during the Civil War. In April 22, 1864, Congress passed an Amendment authorizing the motto to be placed on the two-cent coin. It appeared on various coins throughout the years, and appeared on paper money in 1957. The phrase was eventually printed on all paper bills, superseding the motto “E Pluribus Unum” (From Many, One) adopted by the Union in 1782.” (http://www.sullivan-county.com/nf0/dispatch/fathers_quote2.htm.) The founding fathers seem like the wanted religion included by this but they did not want congress and religion mixed. It doesn’t matter to me what religion the president is but I’m almost certain that a person running to the the president wont get elected if he is not of the christian faith. Other people don’t think the way i do everyone will believe that hes not right to be the president because hes not Christian. I think our country does focus on religion a lot but that’s not right and not what our founding fathers wanted us to do.
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fly4awhiteguy
said
Works Cited
Kyvig, David E. “Dry Manhattan: Prohibition in New York City.” The Historian 71.1 (2009): 119+. Questia. Web. 16 Sept. 2011.
Lerner, Michael A. Dry Manhattan: Prohibition in New York City. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2007. Questia. Web. 16 Sept. 2011.
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Red aka Bryan Lopez
said
In my own opinion I don’t believe that America was founded by Christianity. In the Separation of church and state in the United states web page I have found a information that supports my opinion. “Many early immigrant groups traveled to America to worship freely, particularly after the English Civil War.” This proves that there were not just Christianity, but there were other religions were in America. Technically America was founded by a lot of religions since immigrants from some country immigrated to America. In the first amendment, it states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof” The two parts, known as the “establishment clause” and the “free exercise clause”. So that statement shows that congress couldn’t tell people that they have to follow Christianity. “As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion” This statement shows that the United States senates even admits that America was not founded by Christianity. Also this statement “No religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.” is saying that a person that wants to be in office doesn’t need to be a religious person, also they don’t need to be a specific religion to be in office. In other words anyone that want’s to be in office could be in office regardless of their religion.
In the webpage “The Founding Fathers Speak Out on God, Religion and the First Amendment” There are a lot of quotes from our founding fathers. This quote “The civil rights of none shall be abridged on account of religious belief or worship, nor shall any national religion be established, nor shall the full and equal rights of conscience be in any manner, or on any pretence, infringed.” – James Madison (Original wording of the First Amendment; Annals of Congress 434 (June 8, 1789). shows that your equal rights would not be damaged because of your religion. It also shows people to not be afraid that their rights as an American citizen would be effected by their religion. Religion doesn’t have a negative impact to our nation, they put the name of God to some of our American way of life. Like the coins that we use to buy a drink, it has the words ‘In God We Trust’ on the coins itself. Also in the pledge of allegiance it has ” One nation, Under God”, religion has impacted our American way of life that we use the name God everyday.
These quotes and history of the religion shows that religion would not affect a person that want’s to be in office. Let say if our future president religion is Muslim, people would be worried about it so much that there would be some protesters would protest about it because of his religion. But he has rights to be presidents because of quotes from former presidents, and statements that are in articles. So my conclusion is that religion wont hurt any Americans rights. This country was not founded by Christianity, it’s founded by a lot of religions.
Sources:
http://www.sullivan-county.com/nf0/dispatch/fathers_quote2.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_church_and_state_in_the_United_States
PS: I had posted this on Thursday (9-15-11), but for some strange reason my post wasn’t submitted so I had to post it again today (9-18-11). Please don’t count this late.
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kenziekiser
said
I do not believe our nation was founded on Christianity. Yes, most of our founding fathers were men of deep religious faith, because many of them have quoted towards religion. For example, “God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis…I am a real Christian – that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus Christ.” -Thomas Jefferson http://christianity.about.com/od/independenceday/a/foundingfathers.htm
And, “Here is my Creed. I believe in one God, the Creator of the Universe. That He governs it by His Providence. That He ought to be worshipped.” -Benjamin Franklin http://christianity.about.com/od/independenceday/a/foundingfathers.htm
But because of other quotes easily makes me believe the founding fathers never found christianity for our nation:
“I have examined all the superstition of the world and I do not find in our particular superstiotion of Christianity one redeeming feature.” -Thomas Jefferson
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_church_and_state_in_the_United_States
I personally think it shouldn’t matter if you are running for president, and you are muslim, or athiest, or so on. But because most Americans are Christian, or perfer a christain “leader”, there is little chance for an athiest or muslim to be president.
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quayla15
said
I believe that peiople should be able to be any religion that they want to be and should be able to establish any religion that they wish to have. The first amendment states that we have religious freedom , yet the government has strict laws about certains that deal with religion.A certain religion shouldn’t matter to anyone except those who follow it. It none of anyone’s businnes what religion people practice unless they are trying to harm you. No religiojn doesnt matter when it comes to someone being president. Everyone jumped to conclusions when Obama became president because people belived that he was a muslim and he’s not.
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dasiaboo95
said
I think you can be a good leader and your religion doesn’t matter because http://christianity.about.com/od/independenceday/a/foundingfathers.htm it says, “Of the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence, nearly half (24) held seminary or Bible school degrees.” Therefore you cannot say most of our leaders was of Christian beliefs , I believe it doesn’t matter what religion you are to make you a good leader as long as you have good leader qualities. I don’t think it matter if you Christian , Muslim, or any kind of religion to be a good leader because if your Christian you still can be a bad leader so why does it matter. Just because some people say the country was based on Christian beliefs doesn’t mean you have to be a leader to be a leader of this country.