Quote:
Quote by: malachiwillcox  For starters... Here are two things which this Nation was not founded on and were most likely never even comprehensible.
1. Legalized killing of babies.
2. The gradual removal of GOD or any acknowledgment of HIM from the facets of our Nation.
I just wish this "one nation under God" would come together - screw it's head on straight and be a better role model for the rest of the world. |
speaking of the founding of the country, here's the original pledge of allegiance:
"i pledge allegiance to my flag and the republic for which it stands- one nation indivisible-with liberty and justice for all."
no mention of god there at all..
james madison, one of the constitution's co-authors, was a strong proponent of secularism. thomas jefferson also supported a secular state..
Separation of church and state - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Quote:
James Madison, the principal drafter of the United States Bill of Rights, who often wrote of "total separation of the church from the state" (1819 letter to Robert Walsh). "Strongly guarded . . . is the separation between religion and government in the Constitution of the United States," Madison wrote, and he declared, "practical distinction between Religion and Civil Government is essential to the purity of both, and as guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States" (1811 letter to Baptist Churches). This attitude is further reflected in the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, originally authored by Thomas Jefferson, but championed by Madison, and guaranteeing that no one may be compelled to finance any religion or denomination.
... no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinion in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish enlarge, or affect their civil capacities.
|
of course, today's politicians act as if these words were never uttered - and they are fortunate that most americans are unaware of their own country's history.
but i digress... by uniting together, does that mean that we need to agree to the worldview held by christian fundamentalists - or, is there another worldview that americans can agree to?