If this is not a Christian country, why have we allowed the bible to affect our laws?

Question

According to the Treaty of Tripoli of 1797 :

Article 11 , with its famous phrase, ‘the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion,’

Than why is the bible being used as an excuse to deny gay marriage? I am an American who is not Christian.


We have to make sure that anyone who would put the bible anywhere near our laws does not have an elected job in our
government. To do that we have to vote!

TO REGAIN OUR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM WE HAVE TO VOTE

Answer 1

The largest part of the Bible is not "Christian". Still, it is an extremely historically important source of law that prevents chaos and anarchy ( not to criticise anarchy here. That's another issue, and chaos, too, has it's points if every one is ready at all times to defend themselves from any one else, and accept existence as meaningless).
Basically, the laws of this country(USA) are based on the ideas that:
You don't have the right to stop another human's life.
You must accept the ownership of another person to property.
You can be held accountable for your actions if you deceive, steal, kill, cheat, or tell lies that adversely affect another human.
You can be held accountable if you violate a contract, or lead another to do so, ie. adultery, Wills and last testaments.

Many laws have been passed that have nothing to do with the Bible. Those against animal cruelty, child abuse, speed limits, and the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes, border laws, zoning restrictions, come to mind, to mention just a few.

The basics of tribal law, so that we can coexist peacefully and with legal recourse for our grievances, with one another, are the basics of law repeated in non Biblical Greek, Roman, and Celtic.
You want to throw the baby out with the bath water (a possibility that truely occurred when one tub of water was used for the whole family by rank, starting with men by age down to women by age and ending with infants, with water so dirty that you could truely lose a baby in it's murk).
I am truely against the interferrence of previously mentioned, Bible thumping bozos. They simply feed to the best way they can think of to increase donations by alarming their TV and radio audiences.
I thought that denying gay marriage was idiotic and ignorant. I voted against that amendment in VA and was appalled that it passed when everything else seemed to go liberal. The only way for marriage to be threatened, in my book, is for the parties involved to violate their vows. It was a stupid witch hunt to no purpose. I'm straight and conservative(not republican, there is a difference). The issue was and is used as a diversionary tactic.
I am one who believes that if you don't stand up for your neighbors, then there will be no one left to stand up for you. WE are in this together. In my home, gay couples who have made a commitment, are recognized as married. There are still ways of making contracts and assigning responsibilities legally, that will hold up. Unfortunately, it costs a whole lot more than a marriage license. Dissolution is usually cheaper than divorce, however.

Answer 2

Well, I voted against it in spite of being an atheist. There isn't a law against gay marriage. What there is, is a lack of recognition of it by the government and other people. The real agenda is to infringe on everyone else's freedom and force them to say it is OK.

I personally don't have a problem with people who think an action is immoral from discriminating against the person who does it. I personally wouldn't, but I think that they should have the right. If you think someone is immoral, that would be cause not to want them as an employee. And yes I do realize that this could be used against atheists, which would include me.

I also think that study after study has shown that what is best for children is a normal family with a mother and father. Sure you can find exceptions, but overall that is what is best. So I don't have a problem with the government encouraging that with tax breaks, etc. since the kids are really the most important things for the future.

Answer 3

Because sadly they have been the majority, so those of us who are not Christian have been unable to check their power for a very long time. Just look at what happened in the 1950s, when "God" ended up on the pledge of allegiance and our money. Anyone accused of Communism ended up out of work for decades, since Communism indicated a veering from the norm (which included being Christian). The careers of many a Hollywood actor, director, producer and script writer were absolutely ruined by the Black List, and this was a much more public and well documented time in history than previous persecutions I'm sure many non-Christians underwent before that. Except, of course, the Native Americans. It's pretty clear what happened to non-Christians in the expansion Westward, and it's only just now that we're really beginning to acknowledge what the pioneers did to the native peoples. Just look at what happened during the Salem Witch Trials - in which no one was a witch - and you can see why we non-Christians have been hesitant to speak up before now.

Fortunately it is now far more difficult to prove that someone is in league with Satan than it used to be, but it's still a powerful tool to keep people from listening to we non-Christians.

)O(

Answer 4

The bible used as a social argument against gay marriage is just that - a social argument. Our laws, once made, can be contested but this usually takes some time. Our law is reactive, not proactive, so while the culture and society change steadily and sometimes rapidly, it does take a while for our laws to follow suit. Gay marriage rights will occur one day when the law does finally catch up but until that time occurs, I agree with you that the key is to stay vigilant and vote.
Peace.

Answer 5

Voting.... the Majority are Christians - and the leader/Pres now uses that to his advantage. If you remember, Gay Marriage was not an issue to this extent till Bush wanted in for his 2nd term. And just as soon as he got it, he dropped the Gay Marriage issue - everyone else picked it up.

Judges are not voted in.... they are appointed. It is also those Judges which help bring in these laws. There's always loopholes. *wink* And I am beginning to wonder if our vote really does count anymore. Seems to me, it doesn't.

Answer 6

Having some Christian aspects doesnt make anyone a Christian, let alone a country. Muslims are against gay marriage too and they're not Christians, Jews also. The fact is there are many people in the country who are opposed to homosexuality and they arent all religious either, however, there isnt another argument except "I dont like it" if you dont bring some kind of authority (like the Bible) into it.

Answer 7

Technically it isn't the bible, only the apparent majority belief in either the bible's words, or homophobia. As unfortunate as it is in this case, while America can make no law respecting a religion, it's free to make laws respecting the beliefs of its citizens that happen to correspond with a religion.

Answer 8

It's time to fight back. I think that was shown decently well in the midterm elections, but it needs to continue.

The America I know is a land of freedom, where happiness can be pursued. From smoking bans to breast-feeding bans to cuss word bans to gay marriage bans, regulation is out of control!

Answer 9

Damn good question and I agree with you completely. It's very hypocritical. Unfortunately, I don't know why politics and government are still 'run" by religion. It would be interesting to see a non-religious individual run the white house one day, and see what changes occur.

Answer 10

53 million Americans voted for Bush, 90% of these voters were Christian fundamentalists. Now look where we are in this world. You decide.