The U.S. was not founded as a Christian nation.

[lilithu]

Unfortunately, in the U.S. Congress, if you dare mention you don't believe in god, they'd probably haul you away in a paddy wagon. So much for religious tolerance.

uuworld.org : pete stark's untroubled humanism

 

[Sententia]

The founders were not anti-religion. Many of them were faithful in their personal lives, and in their public language they evoked God. They grounded the founding principle of the nation — that all men are created equal — in the divine. But they wanted faith to be one thread in the country’s tapestry, not the whole tapestry.
In the 1790s, in the waters off Tripoli, pirates were making sport of American shipping near the Barbary Coast. Toward the end of his second term, Washington sent Joel Barlow, the diplomat-poet, to Tripoli to settle matters, and the resulting treaty, finished after Washington left office, bought a few years of peace. Article 11 of this long-ago document says that “as the government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion,” there should be no cause for conflict over differences of “religious opinion” between countries.


The treaty passed the Senate unanimously. Mr. McCain is not the only American who would find it useful reading.

This country was not founded on the Christian Religion. Our forefathers were quite wise. Here is all of Article 11 of the Treaty of Tripoli:

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 tranquility of Musselmen,-and as the said States never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mehomitan 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.

 

[Starfish]

Unfortunately, in the U.S. Congress, if you dare mention you don't believe in god, they'd probably haul you away in a paddy wagon. So much for religious tolerance.

Do you know this for a fact, or just assume it?

 

[lilithu]

Do you know this for a fact, or just assume it?

He can't know it for a fact because it's not true.

 

[crystalonyx]

Jes - I think the message was allegorical only, there is a very strong prejudice generally against atheistic politicians. Also Unitarianism is still based upon Christianity, so this guy is not exactly a total theistic outcast.

 

[Tau]

Unfortunately, in the U.S. Congress, if you dare mention you don't believe in god, they'd probably haul you away in a paddy wagon. So much for religious tolerance.

I think Logician was making a point about the omnipresent influence of Christianity (or something like it) in the higher echelons of the US administration...and a valid one I think given the overtly theistic flavour of much of what the president and other american statesmen have to say on various matters.

Like Bush saying God supports america, a while back..

Ridiculous, everyone knows God is British...

 

[lilithu]

Jes - I think the message was allegorical only, there is a very strong prejudice generally against atheistic politicians.

It was not allegory. It was hyperbole.

Also Unitarianism is still based upon Christianity, so this guy is not exactly a total theistic outcast.

Unitarianism is not based on Christianity; it comes from Christianity. We have many non-theists in our congregations and some of the most prominent people in the atheist movement, signers of the Humanist Manifestos were/are UUs.

Not to mention the fact that Pete openly says he doesn't believe.

 

[lilithu]

I think Logician was making a point about the omnipresent influence of Christianity (or something like it) in the higher echelons of the US administration...and a valid one I think given the overtly theistic flavour of much of what the president and other american statesmen have to say on various matters.

The Congressional branch and the Executive branch of U.S. govt are separate.

Like Bush saying God supports america, a while back..

Ridiculous, everyone knows God is British...

So is Tony Blair.

 

[crystalonyx]

The point still remains that a politician in almost every area of the cannot claim he is an atheist and get elected, because of the tremendous prejudice against atheists in the U.S.

 

[lilithu]

The point still remains that a politician in almost every area of the cannot claim he is an atheist and get elected, because of the tremendous prejudice against atheists in the U.S.

That is what logician should have said, yes.

 

[Starfish]

The point still remains that a politician in almost every area of the cannot claim he is an atheist and get elected, because of the tremendous prejudice against atheists in the U.S.

I know the religion of only about three congressmen in the entire Senate, and that's only because they belong to my religion. The rest I have no clue, whether they're atheist or not.

We Christians aren't as bothered by what church, if any, they go to, as many of you think we are. At least, I'm not.

What DOES bother me, is anyone with a professed religious faith and a non-religious lifestyle. It's phony and we can all see through it.

 

[Kcnorwood]

Really, I haven't seen any. Maybe it's your interpretation that is at fault.

Some people just can't see what's in front of them......

 

[crystalonyx]

Some people just can't see what's in front of them......

I think the point here is that there are also many posts that indicate many of the founders did NOT believe in the divinity of Jesus, and certainly weren't Christians.

 

[rheff78]

I may be stepping on some toes here, but oh well. I'm sure the backlash will be severe. Was the US founded as a Christian nation? No. Is Christianity the prevelant religion in America? Yes. So, has America turned INTO a Christian nation....YES. Do we have religious tolerance of other religions....YES. I'm perfectly ok with that. You guys are right, the founding fathers knew enough to know that they didn't know everything, they wanted the US to continue to grow and we have, into a Christian nation with Christian ideals. I'm fine with that (obviously). Regardless of how it makes others feel, that's the truth.

 

[Magic Man]

Do we have religious tolerance of other religions....YES.

You mean as long as it doesn't interfere with Christianity. For instance, gay marriages (the hot topic of the day). We are tolerant only to the point that it doesn't interfere with the Christian majority's sensibilities.

 

[rheff78]

Muslim, Hindu, Judasim....all are against homosexuality and same-sex marriage. So no, you're point doesn't stand.

 

[Magic Man]

Muslim, Hindu, Judasim....all are against homosexuality and same-sex marriage. So no, you're point doesn't stand.

You're right, I forgot that they were the only other religions. My bad. What was I thinking that there were other religions such as Wicca and Buddhism, among others?

 

[lilithu]

Was the US founded as a Christian nation? No.

Agreed.

Is Christianity the prevelant religion in America? Yes.

Agreed.

So, has America turned INTO a Christian nation....YES.

Nope. Christianity was the prevalent religion in the U.S. when it was founded, and it was not a Christian nation at that time. Christianity is still the prevalent religion in the U.S. now, but less so than at our nation's founding. So if it wasn't a Christian nation then, on what basis is it a Christian nation now?

Do we have religious tolerance of other religions....YES.

In theory, yes. In practice, not particularly.

Our House and Senate start their sessions with prayers from clergy who are invited in. The vast majority of prayers have been led by Christian clergy of some form or another. A few by Jewish rabbis. Once by a Muslim, imam, I think. And last year, when a Hindu cleric led a prayer, he was heckled and booed by so-called "Christians" in the audience.

We are routinely dismissive of Native American religious traditions, passing laws that violate their right to practice. That border wall that the Dept of Homeland security is trying to build across the southwest cuts right through some Native American sacred lands. We don't care.

What does "tolerance" mean? I'm so magnanimous that I allow you to exist? What about respect?

 

[rheff78]

lilithu, I see what you are saying and I agree somewhat. Why are we more Christian now than then, my only answer would be because of the amount of professly Christian leaders in our nation today.

 

[Kcnorwood]

I may be stepping on some toes here, but oh well. I'm sure the backlash will be severe. Was the US founded as a Christian nation? No. Is Christianity the prevelant religion in America? Yes. So, has America turned INTO a Christian nation....YES. Do we have religious tolerance of other religions....YES. I'm perfectly ok with that. You guys are right, the founding fathers knew enough to know that they didn't know everything, they wanted the US to continue to grow and we have, into a Christian nation with Christian ideals. I'm fine with that (obviously). Regardless of how it makes others feel, that's the truth.

Here's something to think about all the religions that do not fall under the Judeo-Christian faith is consided a Pagan faith. Buddism, inclued. I'm not excatly sure what those number are but I bet they are closing in or past what Christianty is. One more thing just because someone cliams to be Christian does not mean they are.