Does the freedom of religion guarantee a freedom from religion?

Question

Did the founding fathers intend a freedom to be atheist?

I understand that the government was never meant to endorse any one religion. However, our money and many other things testify "In God We Trust". So prove the contrary!

Answer 1

Absolutely!
"A society with morals has no need of laws"
"A society without morals ; laws cannot be enforced anyway!"
The founding fathers had deep morals, values and principles. They knew that people had to be allowed to choose for themselves to believe or not believe and to act accordingly. It matters not what a person worships (a chair, tree, yo-yo) as long as their heart is kind and charitable. I will shed my blood to defend that individuals right to choose. That is what the founding fathers intended. A religious leader was once asked how he governed his people. He replied , " I don't! I teach them correct principles and let them govern themselves!" That is how we must teach our children!

Answer 2

Yes, it does. Think of it this way. If the founders had intended religion to play a part in government they had every opportunity to make that crystal clear and form a theocracy and not a democratic republic. They chose not to do so. Part of the reason was the very example of their differing religious beliefs (for instance Jefferson was Deist, not Christian) and the historical knowledge they were well acquainted with when it came to church and government mixing. If you check out some of their writings it is easy to see this was a very well debated and thought out subject. People tend to cherry pick their quotes for their own purposes, but they can do that because the founders left writings that explored almost every aspect of religion in government. Just as when I have a difficult problem, I write a pro and con list and look at opposing solutions - they examined this problem exhaustively in their private writings and their public debates. They never intended Christianity, Atheism, Deism, or any particular form of religious thought to be an arm of the government. They instead provided a document that allows citizens to choose their own religion safe from government interference, and in reverse it also provides that government would be safe from any specific religious interference. It can only work for us all if it works both ways. A good example of this is how churches are not taxed. That is a very clear message showcasing the intended separation.

"In God We Trust" was added to our money long after the founders were in their graves. Just as the phrase "Under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance. Being a nation of Christian majority, these things have come about without much resistance. But they are a sign of the times that they came about in, not a sign of what the founders intended. What they intended is what they wrought - a document that makes it near impossible for religion to interfere in government and vice versa.

Answer 3

Actually, that's precisely what the Founding Fathers meant.

The men of their generation came of age during the Enlightenment, a historical period that sought to free men from the tyranny of religion and the centuries of wars fought over it - from the Crusades through the Elizabethan wars against Catholics and right up to the burning of witches in Salem that took place just a few decades before Adams, Jefferson, Hancock and the rest were born.

Despite the dim-witted assumption that references to "God" and "Divine Providence" meant the Founding Fathers intended the United States to be a "Christian nation" nothing could be further from the truth. They sought the spiritual guidance of right versus wrong, not the hand of an invisible deity that picks sides, the way people think God actually chooses one football team over another.

This nation has been free and strong for 230 years precisely because people are as free to believe in a Christian God as they are to believe in Judaism as they are to believe in a giant spaghetti monster as they are to believe in nothing at all. The problem has never been whether or not someone believes, the problem is whether or not you decide to make someone else believe.

Answer 4

Courts have ruled that "in God we trust" on the money is not endorsement of religion because - and I forget the exact terminology - the term is trivialized by being on all the money that is thrown around, and not really read or looked at, hence the phrase is meaningless on the money.

I think that the founders meant us not to be coerced in any way by or for any religion.

Answer 5

YES

People are free to practice their religion (or no religion) and cannot be compelled by the state to adhere to any particular belief.

That does not mean that people can force others to take their religious cepebrations and displays away from the public square. No one has a "freedom from religion" that allows them to refuse to suffer the sight of any religious activity.

Answer 6

You can be whatever you want. Society does not impose a need for you to follow any religion. Those who want to diminish the influence of religion on society forget that it is what holds countries together. There are enough negatives around and picking religion as a rallying point to protest is dumb.

Answer 7

You can be atheist if you want.

What their goal was not to have a state religion, such as many European countries have. In England, you have the Church of England. Those who believed differently were generally persecuted (even if they were Christians) and there were even laws against them.

That was the point.

What I see as wrong is attempts by atheists to stamp out public reference to faith in God. (like Michael Newdow)

Answer 8

No. If you read the constitution (something most people on here have never done", it never states the "separation of church and state". Instead, it only states that the gov't shall not establish laws setting up a state-based religion.

If you want to pray out loud in Public school, you should be able to. If you want to celebrate Christmas in public school, you should be able to. However, the school should not force you to do this.

Now, we have changed this to be "you just can't do it, no matter what".

Answer 9

I'm sure that by the constitution anyone is free to be an athiest but you can't be protected from the effects of others practicing their religion of course.

Answer 10

You are free to believe in how you want to believe. But remember the founding fathers were all christians, but practiced under different faiths, so they most likely weren't thinking in those exact terms when they wrote that.