My daughter says ..

[piece-itpete]

I'm not going to get in a long winded and pointless argument about this, but once again I find myself saying the obvious - of course the US was a Christian nation.

The founders just didn't want a FACTION of the Church to grap power, or the government to use a church to consolidate its' own power.

As far as teaching in public school, it was done for most of our history.

Pete

[BlueStreak]

A lot of things were done for most of our history that weren't right and had to be corrected in latter years.

It's called social progress, Pete. The opposite of repressive dogma.

Dave

[finnbow]

... of course the US was a Christian nation.

To which I respond, so what?

I suppose it depends on what you mean by "Christian nation." If you mean that it was a nation whose inhabitants were mostly Christian at the time of its founding, maybe so (the Native Americans were not Christian back then, BTW (nor were the slaves fresh off the boats)).

If you're saying that the nation was founded as a quasi-theocracy, but that a few words in the First Amendment were massaged to hoodwink the less devout, I believe you're wrong. The First Amendment is what it is and IAW with the system prescribed under the rest of the constitution (i.e., judicial review), it can be very convincingly argued that we are today exactly where the founders wanted us to be with regard to religion.

If you feel so strongly about the need to codify Christianity as the nation's creed, do what you can to amend the constitution to reflect that belief. In the meantime, accept the first amendment as it is and as the constitutionally prescribed courts say it is. 'Nuf said.

[noonereal]

Originally Posted by BlueStreak

A lot of things were done for most of our history that weren't right and had to be corrected in latter years.

It's called social progress, Pete. The opposite of repressive dogma.

Dave

+1


.
.

[piece-itpete]

Originally Posted by BlueStreak

A lot of things were done for most of our history that weren't right and had to be corrected in latter years.

It's called social progress, Pete. The opposite of repressive dogma.

Dave

Revising the Constitution is supposed to use the amendment process.

Pete

[noonereal]

Originally Posted by piece-itpete

Revising the Constitution is supposed to use the amendment process.

Pete

Where in the constitution does it say Christianity is the state religion?

[piece-itpete]

They never supposed we wouldn't be, of course. But forget that and look at their actions.

These are the guys that wrote the Constitution. Who do you think knows better as to what they meant?

Pete

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by piece-itpete

I'm not going to get in a long winded and pointless argument about this, but once again I find myself saying the obvious - of course the US was a Christian nation.

No, it wasn't. It was established by people who professed, in varying degrees, a Christian faith but that isn't the same as saying that the nation they established was a Christian one.

Is China a Buddhist nation? Russia an Orthodox nation? France a Christian nation?

The founders just didn't want a FACTION of the Church to grap power,

You mean like now!

or the government to use a church to consolidate its' own power.

You mean like now?

As far as teaching in public school, it was done for most of our history.

Never in my lifetime.

John

[piece-itpete]

Originally Posted by Boreas

No, it wasn't. It was established by people who professed, in varying degrees, a Christian faith but that isn't the same as saying that the nation they established was a Christian one.

Is China a Buddhist nation? Russia an Orthodox nation? France a Christian nation?



You mean like now!



You mean like now?



Never in my lifetime.

John

So the US was an atheist nation?

Are you saying Obama is trying to force his Islamic religion on us? lol.

And I didn't know you knew the founders John

Pete

[d-ray657]

It's one thing to have a belief that many early citizens were Christians. It's quite another thing to falsify and distort history to make a point. I am a Christian, but I do not want to live in a theocracy. The collaboration of secular authority with religious authority has resulted in some bad things. As a student of the Bible might realize, those who become powerful within the church can tend to become Pharisees. Religious prejudice can lead people to show a side of themselves that is far from Christ-like, or for that matter, does not bear any resemblance to how Buddah or Mohammad would have behaved.

Regards,

D-Ray