that freedom of religion also means freedom from religion?
2006-09-30 14:14:08 · 16 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
The believers want you to suffer like they are.
2006-09-30 14:16:39 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 4⤋
The founders pretty clearly believed that government should not sanction any religion. Many of the original pilgrims where Puritan Christians were fleeing the Church of England which was a CHRISTIAN church!
This is one of the things that really bugs me about the Christians in the U.S. today who seem to act as if there is one true Christian church that they are all part of. There are Christians who think that Catholicism isn't Christian, and that Mormonism isn't Christian. But it seems that they are willing to overlook that now for the sake of political unity. If this trend continues to the point that the 1st ammendment freedoms are weakend, then it is only a matter of time before some Christian sect begins to feel persecuted by other Christians.
It is possible that the founders assumed that everyone would believe in God. Many of the founders were Deists: John Quincy Adams, Ethan Allen, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Thomas Paine, and (by most accounts) George Washington.
Deists were definitely NOT Christian!! They believed in God, but they rejected the notion of divine revelation and holy books!
If Deism was the promient religion in America today, we would be a much saner country.
2006-09-30 22:44:30 · answer #2 · answered by Jim L 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I have to concur with what someone else wrote - I don't think the forefathers of the U.S. believed that people should be free to not have religion - just that they would have some (very narrowly defined) choice about which one they pursued. (Sadly, I'm having trouble finding documents that will back this up.)
However, I also agree with you - freedom of religion should mean freedom from religion.
As for why many refuse to accept it, it's probably because they're religious. In the situation I was raised in, the very idea of not being Christian was threatening - something to be shunned, suspicious of, and stamped out like a silverfish crawling in the kitchen. It was a very clannish situation: questioning of the pastor's interpretation of the Bible, for example, was tantamount to blasphemy and would very quickly get one harrassed by the members of the church. In addition, religions other than Christianity were thought to be only mildly preferable to atheism.
If one has such a set of beliefs, the concept of freedom from religion is dead wrong and unthinkable.
2006-09-30 21:26:23 · answer #3 · answered by IrritableMom 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
because there are lots of morons in the world. The problem comes in when people think freedom from religion means they should never have to deal with anyone elses religion as well.
2006-09-30 21:17:04 · answer #4 · answered by WitchTwo 6 · 4⤊ 1⤋
FREEDOM...such a simple word & yet so difficult for some to accept. :) Any choice that promotes the person to be the best that they can be is what they should practise.
2006-09-30 21:23:43 · answer #5 · answered by Ivyvine 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
What religion do belong to?
What does so many people refuse to accept?
2006-09-30 21:16:55 · answer #6 · answered by A follower of Christ 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
because the latter is also a highly defended religion for some.
2006-09-30 21:16:06 · answer #7 · answered by Joe Cool 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
No, its your choice to be around us, look where your posting your questions,
So its my choice of freedom to answer you,
Jesus died on the Cross
for you, Jesus died on the Cross for me.
he bled all the way out for you, and me
If you don't change your ways,
you will, you will
in a day, I pray, you will
Not going to vote me best answer are you????
2006-09-30 21:24:15 · answer #8 · answered by cadac1946@sbcglobal.net 1 · 0⤊ 2⤋
The ones whom don't respect the right of others to have their own beliefs take and us against them philosophy. For them it becomes a spiritual battle and they always see themselves as being right. Unfortunately for them, many of us see them as being deluded.
2006-09-30 21:18:25 · answer #9 · answered by genaddt 7 · 3⤊ 1⤋
Because believers don't seem to be happy unless everyone believes like they do. Someone that believes represents the fact that they may be wrong, and if they are wrong they have no reason to live.
GID
2006-09-30 21:16:00 · answer #10 · answered by tsavo 2 · 3⤊ 2⤋
Each person has the responsibility of choosing for themselves who they believe Jesus to be. Will I speak with them regarding the benefit of reconsidering, should they decide not to believe? You bet. *smile*
2006-09-30 21:21:14 · answer #11 · answered by Esther 7 · 0⤊ 3⤋