Can someone clear up this "We were founded as a christian nation" idea for me?

Great quote.
Gotta love Mark Twain.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Swanny1172 @ Aug 21 2007, 07:19 AM) [snapback]499716[/snapback]</div>

That's not really true. Many religions believe that a person's own path is the right one for him, and even among monotheistic religions, my Jewish friends tell me that they value any monotheistic religion for non-Jews (namely Islam or Christianity). According to them, the Jewish faith does not seek converts.



<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(JackDodge @ Aug 19 2007, 06:16 PM) [snapback]498897[/snapback]</div>

Huh?

From Thomas Jefferson's letter to Dr. Benjamin Waterhouse, a Unitarian, written on June 26, 1822:

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Swanny1172 @ Aug 19 2007, 03:34 PM) [snapback]498826[/snapback]</div>

You understand this statement refers to the common law of England, and not America, don't you?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(fshagan @ Aug 22 2007, 12:46 AM) [snapback]500120[/snapback]</div>

More blood has been spilled over religious dogma that anything else. As George Carlin once said, "Historically, most wars have been fought over the general dispute of who's God has the bigger dick."

No, I don't understand that. Please provide something more than conjecture.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(F8L @ Aug 19 2007, 06:23 PM) [snapback]498821[/snapback]</div>

Very well said. I just wish that this Bush Administration can read what you wrote. "Jesus please save us!" But I think we may have to wait for the next administration.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(fshagan @ Aug 22 2007, 12:46 AM) [snapback]500120[/snapback]</div>

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Swanny1172 @ Aug 22 2007, 06:55 AM) [snapback]500190[/snapback]</div>

Here's the entire quote in context:

You can read the whole piece here.
The piece seems to be centered on, as fshagan mentioned, the common law of England.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Proco @ Aug 22 2007, 09:05 AM) [snapback]500213[/snapback]</div>

Thanks for the clarification. I truly appreciate it. I just get a bit testy when someone challenges an assertion, yet provides absolutely no explanation or proof, which is what fshagan did.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Boulder Bum @ Aug 21 2007, 01:37 AM) [snapback]499628[/snapback]</div>

I don't mean to suggest that religion should be restricted.

I'm saying, at some point, speaking freely doesn't do any good any more.

Suppose I say, "There is no God!!" and someone else asserts there is. We both believe this to the core of our beings, and that will never change.

What's the point, then, of our exclaiming it over and over again?

I'm suggesting that one's right to exercise free speech ends where another's right to peace and quiet begins.

Does that make better sense?

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I agree, though, that the other instances don't quite work...do they?

 

Thomas Jefferson (aka scholar Clay Jenkinson) on NPR has made repeated efforts in "The Thomas Jefferson Hour," to clearly state that the founding fathers went to great efforts to avoid identifying as a "christian nation." The founder fathers were deists, not christians. The fundamentalists and evangelicles perpetuate this myth in order to further their interests, but the claim is clearly false.