freedom OF religion...or...freedom FROM religion..???

Question

when america was founded..wasnt the main precept freedom OF religion..not freedom FROM religion..??? whats happened with those with no moral values and tolerance of religions..??? why are groups trying to repress religion in america now..?? is there an agenda to this..???

Answer 1

Don't worry, Christianity works best under oppresion.
THose liberals won't do a damn thing ;)

Answer 2

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free excersize thereof..."
This is the first part of the first amandment.
One would think, that, seeing as the founding fathers put this first, it was pretty important.
It basically means that the government will not give us a national religion, so that everyone could worship as they please, and that they won't stop you from excersizing your religion for any reason.
But, wait. They do that.
Across the country, the government has over-protected the first part of the amendment, banning a national religion, so much, that the second part, allowing the freedom of worship, has been completely ignored and cast aside.
THEY ARE VIOLATING YOUR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS.
I do not know their reasons, and I do feel that liberal america is more at fault, but fear of religion is not an answer.
This is how they get away with it:
Libraries, Schools, Museums, Police stations.
What do they all have in common?
They are government funded.
That means that if, say, a school decided to have manditory prayer in the morning, the government would be funding the prayer, and therefore, funding a national religion. Okay.
HOWEVER...
They have somehow stretched that so far that it encompasses optional prayer and almost any show of religion. A speech made by a valedictorian in a Nevada school was even cut short because she had decided to thank god in it.

This is not what the founding fathers meant to happen.

Answer 3

The idea of the American Founding Fathers was indeed freedom OF religion, without any particular religion being better than any other.
But what we need nowadays is freedom FROM religion, because contrary to the US Constitution and to common sense, religion is now used as a political weapon.

You seem to assume that all those who have no religion do also have no moral values and tolerance of religions.
This is not the case. Quite the opposite, in fact. Most non-religious people are extremely tolerant and accept easily people with strong beliefs. But religious fanatics, who know everything, and everything better, are the ones who have no tolerance and no moral values. They can simply not accept that there are many others who don't agree with them. So they hate them and act in violent ways against them, no matter if they believe in something else or in nothing at all.

Answer 4

You are free to practice whatever religion you would like.
You are not free to cram your religion down my throat every chance you get.
The freedom of religion that you crave is the same freedom of religion that I crave.
No one is repressing religion in America. Church and State have always been separate entities and should remain so, otherwise you would be infringing on the religous rights of others to practice their religion freely.
The agenda is to uphold the constitution.
How would you like it if your kid was forced to read the Quran, or was forced to celebrate Kwanzaa instead of Christmas at their preschool. Maybe it would be okay with you if teachers tell your kid that the spirits are responsible for rain. How about we send some folks over to your kids school for Crystal Ball Reading instead of recess.
Freedom of religion includes all religion.
Now consider that your religion would be the one that isn't favored by the majority, and imagine that say Wicca is. Lets say that laws are all based upon the consideration of some religion other than your own. Would that be okay with you? If not, then get off of the "religion is so repressed" soap box and join your country.
You go to school for an education, you go to church for religion. That's it. There is no comporomise unless YOU are willing to go against the constitution, and take away the rights of others, in favor of what you want.

Answer 5

Separation of Church and State was an important issue for many of our Founding Fathers including George Washington (Mason), Ben Franklin (Deist), and John Adams (Christian). They wanted to ensure that the government would not endorse, nor be run by, one religion or branch of that religion (for example, at the time of the framing of the Constitution, a large part of the colonies were Evangelical. The Evangelical churches had set up religious tests for offices which help to exclude Jews and Catholics from running for office in any way. This is why the separation is important. To show, without a doubt, that we are Equal no matter Race, CREED, Sex, or RELIGION). Now, the Freedom of Speech protects you to speak your mind. Christians are seeing an influx of backlash now, because of the increase in Fundamentalist teachings. It's nothing personal, really. Every action gets an equal and opposite reaction and all that. Now, personally, I feel that in many ways, Religion is something that shouldn't be forced into a conversation. If I ask why you didn't like a movie, I don't want the response "because Jesus wouldn't have liked it". That's like saying "because my friend wouldn't like it, he's cool, so therefore it's cool not to like it." Think for yourself. And further, a Freedom OF Religion is to some a Freedom FROM Religion. Atheists could easily say that a belief in nothing is still a belief. And while you are free not to have Atheism shoved onto you, they have the same freedom from actual Religions.

Whatever you believe, do not for one moment think that this country was Christian at founding. There are a number of letters as well as Jewish Minute Men pointing to the contrary.

Answer 6

No, there is no Agenda from a giant conglomerate plotting to remove religion.

But it is rather unsettling how some people will take Political Correctness to the limit. And also how fundamentalists like Pat Robertson will call upon the "wrath of God" like he knows God personally

Believe it or not, most liberals do believe in freedom of religion (or lack thereof)! It's just a few PC activists that the media likes to use for shock value

BTW - most of Fox News's War on Christmas examples have since been proven to be untrue... search for it if you're interested

Answer 7

Who cares? And I am a Christian, but who cares if someone doesn't have religion? I'll be honest with you, I have met some of the most awesome people with awesome ethics and values that didn't believe in God. I have also met the most despicable, dirty, nasty people that go into church EVERY Sunday. How can you call someone that doesn't believe in a God that they cannot see or prove exists non-moral? You know what religion is? It is faith and a book, faith that people you love and trusted told you to have in this book that was written by men. You are telling me that a person is more moral if they believed in a pink and green flying cow that someone wrote a book about than if they didn't? If that is their religion that is their religion. Most of us Christians would say that person's religion is wrong and there is no such thing as that pink and green flying cow, when it is a fact that there is as much proof of it's existence as our God. IF people don't want to believe in something that should be fine. I think us Christians would be better Christians if we accepted more people's different choices for having religion or not, especially since there is no proof of our God existing other than our faith and a man-made book.

Answer 8

Freedom of religion implies Freedom from religion. They're one and the same, and only don't seem that way to you because you're not interested in being from from religion. The agenda is simple: freedom of religion is for everyone, not just for those who believe in gods. What looks to you like "trying to repress religion in america" is actually American liberty in action, and if you don't like it, don't let the door hit you on the way out of my country.

Answer 9

I'm the bad guy here becuase I'm not the darling of a naionalsitic religious right that cares more about make-up and looking good on camera than actual religion itself.

Freedom from religion all the way baby!

Yes there is an agenda.To spread religious hypocrisy!

Answer 10

I lean toward the notion that the founders wanted to be free OF religion. They had been drowning in religion for 300 plus years.

Believe in God sure OK but don't burn me at the stake because I don't go to your church.

But at the same time this was being written Catholics were banned. Remember Evangeline. When the Pope sent hundreds of French Canadians to New Orleans before the Louisiana Purchase was finalized. This opened the door to Catholicism in America.

Answer 11

A free society must have both Freedom OF and freedom FROM. One or the other isn't good enough.

Actually, the French expressed this principle better when they replaced the concept "religious toleration" with "universal liberty of conscience" after the Revolution of 1789.

Both religious and secular people have to be free to live their own lives in their own way. Anything else is unacceptable.