Even IF the founding fathers had been Christian (many weren't), so what? The had slaves too!?

Question

Their idea of freedom, justice, and equality took several amendments to spruce up. I'm saying that it is by no means an excuse to put God into public affairs EITHER WAY because it is not equality and not freedom of religion to do so. There is no freedom of religion without freedom from public religion. Now, who is willing to take turns with pledging allegiance to Allah, Buddah, Odin, and the Great Spirit? No one? Then take it all out of the public arena!

Answer 1

Separation of church and state. Wish it actually was true.

Answer 2

First of all, I don't think Christianity was tied to having or not having slaves, because it was not an issue of religion but of understanding that they were people too. Second of all, although we pronounce religious freedom, we have to get our laws from somewhere, and laws are based on ethics which in this country were primarily based on Biblical laws. For example, in other cultures, killing to get back at someone (even if the crime was just mean words) is ethically correct. Where do you suppose we get our laws, then, if we took all religion and all Christianity out of America?

Oh yeah, and separation of church and state was created to protect the church, not the government and/or public. A little knowledge changes things, huh?

Answer 3

"I pledge allegiance, to the FLAG, of the United States of America,
"and to the republic, for which it stands,
"one nation, under GOD, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all"

I can recite that from memory, as can most people of my generation and older, because 'back in the day', that was a staple in school classrooms. Today... because of idiots that have such a strong aversion to the word God that they're willing to write off our nation's history, traditions, and ideals to not hear it - most people don't know the words.

Those words have always been a reminder to me that we are a great nation, that we should stand undivided, that despite all our cultural, racial, and economic differences - we all stand for the ideals of liberty, freedom, and opportunity.

'God' says just that... God. It could be Jesus, it could be Jehova, it could be Muhammed, it could be Buddha, or, to an athiest, it could be himself. It's a non-denominational term. Why the hell some people have such a problem with it is beyond me. If you don't believe in God - fine - don't! The word 'God' rolling off your tongue isn't going to convert you.

Answer 4

what's your point? you bring up several issues. i think you make good points. but where are you going w/ this?

maybe we're expecting all Christians to be mistake-free. that culture had slaves. was it an imperfect culture? yes. was the Roman/Hebrew culture imperfect? yes. they also had slaves. i sin all the time (accidentally. sometimes even on purpose, sad to say). but does that discredit EVERYTHING that i stand for? if so, then the same rule applies to all people of all beliefs. Meaning that no one can give an opinion.

What if the (insert overused, misapplied concept....on both sides....of "Christian founding fathers") didn't have slaves. But let's say that they liked to drink wine. (insert shocked expression and "OH MY GOSH"). Maybe you and i don't think that's bad. but someone, somewhere will try to discredit their message because "drinking wine is evil". Don't look for fault or ways to discredit their message, unless the message itself has fault. Do you live under the blanket of freedom that they founded? if so, that doesn't make American culture perfect. and it certainly has morphed since 1776, but would you rather live under colonial British rule? (rhetorical question). Look for validity, application, and improvement from the previous environment. I.E. Did their notions make the colonies a better place for the people who came over? They didn't claim to be perfect. They just generally wanted freedom from the King. (yes, i realize that is a very general statement. work w/ me here).

bottom line: imperfections don't make us bad statesmen/politicians/founding fathers. They just make us imperfect. let's work on one improvement at a time.

Answer 5

You cannot change the fact that the United States was founded by Christians on Christian principles, and it works.
They should never have had slaves - it was cultural but it was wrong.
A theocracy ( national religion) does not work, so I am glad for that - but you go on to want to force other religions as an example - the legacy in The United States is Christian.

Answer 6

We don't "pledge allegiance" to God. We pledge allegiance under God to the USA.

Name a none Christian founding father.

Which founding fathers had slaves? Most didn't.

Now stop being a misinformed person.

Answer 7

Well, the designation "God" is very generic. It translates to Allah in Islam. We don't say "one nation under Yahweh"...a specific reference to God, but use the generic, so other religions should view this as inclusive.

Second, who prays to Buddha? Historic Buddhism didn't include belief in deity.

Answer 8

I dont know what to say other than the idea of slaves was seen in the Bible also. Either you were a slave or not. God used slaves just as He used kings. Because they had slaves doesnt mean they werent Godly.

Answer 9

Hey, god loves slaves! All the cool people in the bible owned slaves - or were slaves.

I asked a question last night asking people to list the great christian values our country was based on - values specific to christianity. Surprise surprise, not a one.

Answer 10

I agree. Well said.