If Christianity were left to it's own devices, America would not have existed. There would be no freedom of religion. There would have been a theocracy, similar, in style, to that which controlled Europe during the Dark Ages. The New World would have been plagued by constant religious wars, fought between the factions of Christian beliefs, patterned after the Catholic and Protestant wars that ravished Europe. A modern example of this can be found in the barbarism of Islam and the fight between the Sunni and the Shiite.
America was not founded on Christian principles, as it's founding was on an absence of religious dogma and tenants. The Bill of Rights are the Founding Principles and, none, are rooted in any religious belief.
Where in history or in current events has Christianity or any theistic belief brought peace to the world? Freedom or prosperity?
There is value to Christianity, but only after it was de-fanged and de-calwed by The Bill of Rights, after it had become Americanized.
Although I think it is a wonderful thing that religion is defanged and declawed in America I think it is unfair to say if Christianity had been left to its own devices America would not exist. Many religious people worked hard to ensure the separation of church and state.
Here is a quote from a Baptist minister of the time. He wasn't the only Baptist pushing these ideas.
1790
"The notion of a Christian commonwealth should be exploded forever. ... Government should protect every man in thinking and speaking freely, and see that one does not abuse another. The liberty I contend for is more than toleration. The very idea of toleration is despicable; it supposes that some have a pre-eminence above the rest to grant indulgence, whereas all should be equally free, Jews, Turks, Pagans and Christians." John Leland, "A Chronicle of His Time in Virginia," The Writings of the Later Elder John Leland, published in 1845.
Emile
Was not familiar with that quote and it is a good one. There were many Christians who spoke of a conscience mandate, as opposed to a religious mandate. The most notable of the New Word theists, to my thinking, was Roger Williams of Rhode Island. John Locke, of course, was the most influential of European thinkers, with regard the Founders and the Constitution.
I would have to maintain my claim though, even with consideration of these men, that the zealots would have won out, as both Williams and Leland were victims of their religious counterparts. Even, John Locke with the great influence that he had, with the Founders was ignored at the time and even banned.
Are you involved in that endless merry-go-round on Dishonesty thing. I can't stop the endless email notifiations?
CJ, I agree with Emile. Not all Christians are the evil, destroy American ideals, that you make them out to be.
This non-denominational Christian believes strongly in a separation of church and state. I wouldn't want some versions of Christian dogma foisted on my own children or myself.
Too many take the Bible literally (atheists and believers, alike) and miss all the good stuff.
The value of Christianity to America is immense, if self-concern (ego) is removed. All too often, Ego corrupts the activities of man. Ego has corrupted the activities of government in America, too. Not just religion. The Bill of Rights and Constitution are slowly being shredded by the only true party in America -- the Corporate Party.
The psychopaths responsible for this are consummate egoists. They are the quintessence of selfishness. They would murder 3,000 Americans and blame it on innocent patsies just to gain greater power in the Middle East and to earn a few $Trillion extra dollars. They don't care about the "useless eaters" of the world -- you, Emile and me.
I wouldn't doubt if these same psychopaths are responsible for the corruption of biblical interpretation. Perhaps they didn't do the actual interpretation, but they may have cherry picked the people who had the most divisive interpretation to fit their plans to "divide and conquer." One take on their plans has atheists and Christians destroying each other after Armageddon has started. This leaves more of the world to their greedy hands.
These same psychopaths are likely responsible for the neutering of the two main political parties. During the 2012 presidential conventions, voting was entirely ignored. The script had to be followed. At the Democratic convention, the Mayor of Los Angeles was so flustered by the script and its mismatch with reality that he asked for another voice vote -- twice! One of the script caretakers whispered in his ear merely to ignore the votes and to follow the script. To our shame, he did.
The psychopaths don't own America, yet. But they're nailing the coffin shut.
If we would stop bickering with each other and help spread the word of Love and awareness, then the psychopaths wouldn't have a conspiracy to stand behind.
Ah, yes. They're good at corrupting our words to have meanings they never had before. "Conspiracy" merely means 2 or more people getting together to do something unethical or unlawful. This last semester, several of my students were guilty of conspiracy to commit cheating on their exams and quizzes. Conspiracies happen thousands of times a day. The only ones who would want to marginalize the idea are the conspirators themselves. "You don't see us. We're not here. Are you some kind of conspiracy nut?"
Another word -- "War" -- now means "peacekeeping" action, if America does it. Straight out of Orwell's 1984.
We share common goals. Let's start with that.
Love really is the answer. (And we can use reason, too.)
by MPChris 10 years ago
Do you think the Founding Fathers intended a Christian Nation?This question is in specific reference to two important pieces of legislative evidence. Both, the 1st Amendment and the Treaty of Tripoli (Article 11). Keep in mind that the Treaty was ratified by many of the original founding fathers,...
by Hokey 9 years ago
One of the many attacks on our country from the Religious Right is the claim that our country is a Christian Nation...not just that the majority of people are Christians, but that the country itself was founded by Christians, for Christians. However, a little research into American history will...
by cjhunsinger 9 years ago
Where are the Christian Principles?It is widely held that America was Founded upon Christian Principles, but what exactly are those principles? It is also agreed that the Founding Principles of the US are found in The Bill of Rights. In reading, again, those Rights I find done that reflect any...
by Susan Reid 10 years ago
Since when is America a "Christian" country? I challenge anyone to find a single mention of Jesus Christ in any of our founding documents."God" does not equal "Christ." I swear to God, yes. I swear to Jesus His son? No.One nation under God, ok. One nation under the...
by allweathersforum 13 years ago
Is America a Christian or pagan nation?I am studying this issue in America today and would like to have your honest opinion. You may be an atheist, Buddhist, Christian Muslim etc…, but I would like to have your answer according to your impression of the constitution, history, and how the government...
by Mick Menous 9 years ago
As far as this whole Separation of Church and State thing in the United States is concerned, I personally believe that it is necessary. For example, the words “Separation of Church and State” are not physically found in the US Constitution. Yet it does say that, quote:“No law shall be passed...
Copyright © 2024 The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers on this website. HubPages® is a registered trademark of The Arena Platform, Inc. Other product and company names shown may be trademarks of their respective owners. The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers to this website may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website.
Copyright © 2024 Maven Media Brands, LLC and respective owners.
As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.
For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy
Show DetailsNecessary | |
---|---|
HubPages Device ID | This is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons. |
Login | This is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service. |
Google Recaptcha | This is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy) |
Akismet | This is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy) |
HubPages Google Analytics | This is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy) |
HubPages Traffic Pixel | This is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized. |
Amazon Web Services | This is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy) |
Cloudflare | This is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy) |
Google Hosted Libraries | Javascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy) |
Features | |
---|---|
Google Custom Search | This is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy) |
Google Maps | Some articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy) |
Google Charts | This is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy) |
Google AdSense Host API | This service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy) |
Google YouTube | Some articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy) |
Vimeo | Some articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy) |
Paypal | This is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy) |
Facebook Login | You can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy) |
Maven | This supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy) |
Marketing | |
---|---|
Google AdSense | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Google DoubleClick | Google provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Index Exchange | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Sovrn | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Facebook Ads | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Amazon Unified Ad Marketplace | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
AppNexus | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Openx | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Rubicon Project | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
TripleLift | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Say Media | We partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy) |
Remarketing Pixels | We may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites. |
Conversion Tracking Pixels | We may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service. |
Statistics | |
---|---|
Author Google Analytics | This is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy) |
Comscore | ComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy) |
Amazon Tracking Pixel | Some articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy) |
Clicksco | This is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy) |