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Debate: Did the Founding Fathers intend to apply their personal faith to the nation "As an institution"? (view source)
Revision as of 01:36, September 7, 2008
, 01:36, September 7, 2008→Yes, they intended to establish the U.S.A. as "One nation under God"
:: ''"was founded by men who were free to pursue their religious faith without the government endorsing any religion over any other as shown below."'' It is not about endorsing any religion. It was about the right of religious faith without government interference aka Church of England. You want history to show that "Under God" wasn't meant to mean the nation was a Christian state. You want to seperate the ideas and inspirations of the Founders from the countries formation. You can disregard state constitutions of the era because it is not federal. I am trying to input that Judeo-Christianity WAS the Founder's intentions. Though, they didn't form The Church of America, they had every intention of combining scripture and government.-- [[Image:50 star flag.png|14px]] [[User:Jpatt|jp]] 19:17, 6 September 2008 (EDT)
:: ''"was founded by men who were free to pursue their religious faith without the government endorsing any religion over any other as shown below."'' It is not about endorsing any religion. It was about the right of religious faith without government interference aka Church of England. You want history to show that "Under God" wasn't meant to mean the nation was a Christian state. You want to seperate the ideas and inspirations of the Founders from the countries formation. You can disregard state constitutions of the era because it is not federal. I am trying to input that Judeo-Christianity WAS the Founder's intentions. Though, they didn't form The Church of America, they had every intention of combining scripture and government.-- [[Image:50 star flag.png|14px]] [[User:Jpatt|jp]] 19:17, 6 September 2008 (EDT)
:::I appreciate the reply, jp, but this keeps going in the same circles. I ''never'' tried to separate the ideas and inspirations of the founders from the formation of the nation - when you read my comments here and in related threads, I state the opposite. However, there's a difference between the inspiration one has, and what one does once inspired. The founders never used the phrase "under God" or included Biblical scripture in the Constitution, and explicitly removed tests of faith as a prerequisite for service in the Government.
:::Did the faith of the founders inspire them? Certainly. Did their faith lead to the intention to architect a government of based on morals, fairness, tolerance and respect? I'm sure it did. Did the each of the Christian founders believe that God was the ultimate authority under who's providence this nation was founded? I'm certain that was their stated belief ''as individuals''. However, when they had the chance to formalize this acknowledgment with something as simple as a mention of God in the preamble to the Constitution, they did not. "In God we trust" was added to currency years later by others, and the Pledge of Allegiance was altered in the 1950's. The actions of later generations doesn't alter the fact the in the actual, final establishment of the U.S. government, the founders intended that government to be secular in nature because of a belief in the principle that religion may inspire good government, but should not be institutionalized in government. I'm open to being convinced otherwise, so please show me evidence of the founders making religion part of the operating framework of the U.S. government. --[[User:DinsdaleP|DinsdaleP]] 21:36, 6 September 2008 (EDT)
==No, they did not intend to establish the U.S.A. as "One nation under God"==
==No, they did not intend to establish the U.S.A. as "One nation under God"==