08 hawk Posted February 4, 2007 Share Posted February 4, 2007 Yeah, so I was watching this thing on HBO about Christianity in America and there was this Christian comedien who kept on ranting about how America was founded on Christian beliefs. I was like "Does he know anything?? Our funding fathers were deists (sp?), and the Declaration of Independence does not talk about how America is a Christian nation in no way, shape or form." He needs to check up on his history. I had to rant about that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodsmoke Posted February 4, 2007 Share Posted February 4, 2007 It was actually the Treaty of Tripoli in which it was stated that the U.S. was "in no way founded on the Christian religion." The Declaration of Independence was basically a formal letter to King George saying "Hey, we don't like you anymore so we're not going to obey your orders. Here's why..." Still stands as a valid point, of course, I just thought you might like to be informed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taphophilia Posted February 5, 2007 Share Posted February 5, 2007 Authored by American diplomat Joel Barlow in 1796, The Treaty of Tripoli was sent to the floor of the Senate, June 7, 1797, where it was read aloud in its entirety and unanimously approved. John Adams, having seen the treaty, signed it and proudly proclaimed it to the Nation. Here is the entire Article 11 of the treaty: As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquillity, of Mussulmen; and, as the said States never entered into any war, or act of hostility against any Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties, that no pretext arising from religious opinions, shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trancelation Posted February 5, 2007 Share Posted February 5, 2007 There would be nothing finer to our theocratic enemies than to watch this country implode from becoming a theocracy itself. By declaring the US a Christian nation, that opens up the Gates of Hell for civil war amongst different Christian groups and individuals trying to force their specific interpretation on every other Christian. so go ahead: let's make it a Christian nation. If we want a giant, charred spot on the map where people used to live before the crucifix-wearing suicidie bombers ruined it, go ahead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R. S. Martin Posted February 5, 2007 Share Posted February 5, 2007 In his text A History of Christianity in the United States and Canada, Mark A. Noll, an evangelical teaching at Wheaton College (I think) clearly states who of the Founding Father of the United States believed what. There might have been a Christian or two among them. The system whereon the country was built is undeniably related to Christian beliefs. Noll does not say that but I say it. Western civilization as it exists today grew out of West European culture. And Christianity had a powerful influence on West European culture. Western Europe was The Birthplace of Christianity as we know it. After the Dark Ages, the Medieval European Church hammered out its doctrines on the cruel benches of witch hunts and other persecutions. I argue that this European church looked vastly different in about 1200-1500 than did Constantine's Christianity a millenium earlier. This latter is the brand of Christianity Columbus brought with him when he "sailed the ocean blue in fourteen hundred and ninty-two." The church that developed in North America differed in important ways from what it looked like in Europe at that time. However, people came to North America for different reasons. Some people came because they had large grants of land that needed to be settled and turned to profit. Some came because they had nothing and land was free. Whatever the case, these people were not necessarily religious. During and after the Enlightenment, when scientists were no longer being killed or put under house arrest for believing the wrong things, a lot of educated men came out of the closet as being other than Christian. These were well represented among the Founding Fathers of the United States of America. They were not Christian but they probably looked, dressed, and lived much the same as the Christians did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts