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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 17:04, September 6, 2008
, 17:04, September 6, 2008→Yes, they intended to establish the U.S.A. as "One nation under God"
''Two historians at the University of Houston did a 10-year study of the ideas that shaped our republic. They started with 15,000 documents from the Colonial era, which were boiled down to 3,154 statements. The three most quoted individuals were French philosopher Montesquieu (8.3 percent), English jurist William Blackstone (7.9 percent) and English philosopher John Locke (2.9 percent). But Biblical citations dwarfed them all. Ninety-four percent of the founding fathers quotes were based on the Bible, 34 percent directly from its pages and 60 percent from men who had used the Bible to arrive at their conclusions.''
''Two historians at the University of Houston did a 10-year study of the ideas that shaped our republic. They started with 15,000 documents from the Colonial era, which were boiled down to 3,154 statements. The three most quoted individuals were French philosopher Montesquieu (8.3 percent), English jurist William Blackstone (7.9 percent) and English philosopher John Locke (2.9 percent). But Biblical citations dwarfed them all. Ninety-four percent of the founding fathers quotes were based on the Bible, 34 percent directly from its pages and 60 percent from men who had used the Bible to arrive at their conclusions.''
-- [[Image:50 star flag.png|14px]] [[User:Jpatt|jp]] 12:20, 6 September 2008 (EDT)
-- [[Image:50 star flag.png|14px]] [[User:Jpatt|jp]] 12:20, 6 September 2008 (EDT)
:That's a good reference, but the premise of the debate does not suggest that religion did not influence the ideas behind the founding of this nation. What is in question is whether the founders made religion and the concept that this is "a nation under God" part of the ''institution'' of the country itself. That's the basis of why some want the phrase "under God" reverted from the pledge of allegiance, and "in God we trust" removed from the currency. Those phrases reflect the principle that this nation was formally established under the auspices of the Judeo-Christian God, when it was not. It was founded by men who were free to pursue their religious faith without the government endorsing any religion over any other as shown below. When we incorporate references to the Judeo-Christian God in the currency and pledges to our nation we are no longer adhering to the principle of the First Amendment. We can have a secular government without it being implied as an attack on Christianity. --[[User:DinsdaleP|DinsdaleP]] 13:04, 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"==