Being that there will never be a real seperation between church and state, I was wondering what the...?

Question

political crew(you guys) thought about this quote regarding a person learning Christian ways of life?


"It is of note that the Indians of Peru, before we Christians had come to them, had certain and particular modes of swearing, distinct from ours. They had no assertive oaths, such as 'by God' or 'by heaven' but only execration or curses... e.g. 'if I am not telling the truth, may the sun kill me' they said mana checcanta niptiy, indi guanuchiuancmancha... Once when I asked a chieftain in a certain province if he was a Christian, he said 'I am not yet quite one, but I am making a beginning.' I asked him what he knew of being Christian, and he said: 'I know how to swear to God, and play cards a bit, and I am beginning to steal.'"

Fray Domingo Santo Tomas

Before my republican buddies go off on me, i am republican, BUT i do no believe in religion. I believe God is not a religion of any sort. It is merely a name for something greater then ourselves. It is idiotic to think we appeared out of thin air but equally as stupid to think that we owe something so much greater then ourselves anything in return such as praise, sacrifice, or the precious time we have left as conscience human beings.

For el Diablo:

If religion in politics doesn't matter, why has there never been an atheist president? Why are democrats and even a couple republicans against Romney for being a Mormon even though he doesn't practice polygamy? The reason most states (even blue ones) don't have gay marriage is based on religion. And most pro-lifers are that way because of religion. You can argue that the last two examples should not be a part of politics but its too late, they are, which means the religious reasons behind them are apart of our political system as well.

Answer 1

I am not particularly religious and do not consider myself a Christian, so I may be the least good person available to answer your question. However, here's my shot. I believe in a (for want of a better term) controlling force in this universe. The main reason I do so is that the probability of life (any life) occurring spontaneously here or anywhere else is, I believe, miniscule. Equally, I have a hard time believing that, out of the billions of planets and, one could suppose, people in this universe, this controlling force could devote even a small part of it's time and/or conciousness, if any, to this one tiny mudball in an unassuming place in a basically non-descript galaxy....one out of probably millions, possibly billions. That being said, I also believe that each of us must decide for himself how we are going to address this force and if playing cards, swearing and stealing is how you choose to do, go for it.

Answer 2

Ok, before I make this a religious debate, let me just clarify and say that I am a Republican and a Southern Baptist. I came to "religion"(I hate that word. Religion is rules and regulations. I don't have religion. I have a relationship with Jesus Christ.) on my own, at the age of 21, so it is not something that I was brainwashed into believing from a young age. To me, evolution is about as silly to me as creation is to you, so with that out of the way, let me say this. The founders of this country were White Anglo-Saxon Protestants. The people who wrote the Constitution were WASPs, and with one notable exception (JFK), every president of this country has been a male WASP. With that in mind, unless there was a dynamic shift in power and history, the United States is going to be characterized as a Christian nation. To me, the thing that makes Christians look like hypocrites is the fact that we are forgiven, which the world assumes sprang out of something WE did. Instead, our salvation was a work of God, and we are forgiven through our faith by grace alone. God did it, we just decided we wanted the free gift, end of story. I believe the quote is more related to the fact that, even though about all the people the natives met were Christians, they weren't good examples of how a Christian is supposed to act and try to stay away from sin.

Answer 3

I disagree with your premise that there will never really be a seperation of church and state. There was a seperation of church and state before Bush's "Faith Based Initiative" for over 200 years. Just because government members might have religious beliefs, that doesn't mean that there really isn't any seperation of church and state. There is a huge difference between individuals practicing religion and government endorsement of religion. In fact the seperation of church and state was conceived so that individuals would have the freedom to practice their religion of choice.
I simply cannot seriously answer a question that begins with a premise that is false.

Answer 4

I think the quote is kind of worthless, it implies that to be Christian is to swear, play cards and steal. But I'm totally with you on being a Republican and not having a religion, and how some of its ideas are idiotic.

Answer 5

welcome to the politics and govt section. if you are looking for a rational, well thought out, and informative answer you have come to the wrong place.

that being said, here is my rational, well thought out, and informative answer:

i find the quote interesting.

what is interesting is the impression the chief had of christianity. it makes me wonder what types of christians he had met in his lifetime.

beyond that i don't think much more of it. i don't think christianity is a religion full of people who swear to god, play cards and steal. i'm positive that there are a great many people who do fit that image but i don't think their hobbies are caused by their religious affiliation.

Answer 6

I cannot help but agree to accept parts of your logic. Had you thrown in a bit about the christians leaning towards drinking and adultry and sloth a nd greed and lust, then I would have acccepted it all.

The true religion should be Pagan.

Answer 7

well if it is "stupid to believe we appeared out of thin air" then where did god appear from? Was he mad by another god? Was he created by the spiritual "Big Bang"?

Answer 8

It replaced into Thomas Jefferson that got here up with the belief many for the time of his time seen him as being an Atheist yet he wasn't. the unique thought of separation of Church and State back then isn't something like it has substitute into at present. Early Colonial u.s. replaced into shaped by potential of persons leaving Europe because of fact of persecution and discrimination from those incredibly some governments in Europe. with the purpose to avert america government to alter into like between the ecu governments the government does not facet with any specific faith and hence does not create regulations that restrict somebody's non secular freedom (in fact it replaced into to maintain the affairs of the state break away the affairs of any specific faith). Now this is impossible to cut up someone's non secular ideals from their ethical judgements that they make in the government, someone's faith defines who they're as someone in all concerns in existence.

Answer 9

It's silly to pull this quote out, so as to portray anything. You sound very intelligent. I hope you use it to do some good someday.

Answer 10

I hate to break this to you but you can't be a Republican if you are an atheist. It's one of their rules.