What are your thoughts on this.?

Question

This is in regards to the questions asked about the Constitution and God earlier. Obviously, this is a popular debate. What are your thoughts on the following quotes;
James Madison, the fourth president, known as "The Father of Our Constitution" made the following statement:
"We have staked the whole of all our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government, upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God."

Patrick Henry, that patriot and Founding Father of our country said:
"It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists but by Christians, not on religions but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ".

Fifty-two of the 55 founders of the Constitution were members of the established orthodox churches in the colonies.

And your thought is what?

Phoenix, I just read these quotes this morning. I am not trying to trick anyone. Let me go see where I got them from. I was just asking for thoughts, not saying yes or no one way or the other. I just found it interesting. . .sheesh.

http://www.quotedb.com/quotes/2141

http://www.math.jmu.edu/~jim/JamesMadisonQuotes.htm

You guys get upset don't you, lol.

Answer 1

I happen to know that your facts are CORRECT. All of the quotes you posted are accurate. It is well documented throughout history that our founding fathers were Christians and that they established this country on CHRISTIAN principles.

"America's Providential History" by Stephen McDowell
"Original Intent" by David Barton


I have been to George Washington's home AND our nation's capital and SEEN original letters and documents on display that VERIFY the fact that the founding fathers intended this to be a nation based on Christian principles, while allowing it's citizens freedom to choose which religion (if any) they want to practice. I had to memorize Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address" in 7th grade. The last sentence says (caps mine) "It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, UNDER GOD, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

Mypublicident - those quotes must be taken IN CONTEXT. Jefferson was making the point that it is extremely bold of someone to question the existence of God because He will not let it go unpunished.

Answer 2

The first four of the ten are in direct contradiction to the right we have of 'freedom from religion' and the other six are general rules any society would follow. Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, not to mention others, were Freemasons.
Patrick Henry's statement could easily be proven wrong. He is correct in saying the country was not foiunded by religionists, but he's wrong saing that it was foundsed by the Gospel of Christ. Nowhere in the Constitution or anywhere in our other government laws, does it say anything about the Bible.
From history, we know this country was founded on the principle of self-government b/c the founding fathers weren't satisfied with the job England was doing.
Jefferson was a deist but very much opposed to Christianity.
If you look up to the founding fathers so much, you should read Thomas Jefferson's 'Common Sense' pamphlets or 'The Jefferson Bible'.

Answer 3

'The inaccurate Madison Ten Commandments quote was circulated among the Religious Right chiefly by David Barton, a Texas man who peddles a revisionist history arguing that the United States was founded as a "Christian nation." In 1996, Barton admitted that the quote is bogus and recommended that people stop using it.'

Answer 4

"As the Government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility, of Musselmen; and as the said States never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mehomitan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries." - (Treaty of Tripoli, 1797 - signed by President John Adams.)

Answer 5

"The religion that approaches the nearest of all others to true deism, in the moral and benign part thereof, is that professed by the Quakers … though I revere their philanthropy, I cannot help smiling at their conceit; … if the taste of a Quaker had been consulted at the Creation, what a silent and drab-colored Creation it would have been! Not a flower would have blossomed its gaieties, nor a bird been permitted to sing."

Thomas Paine

Answer 6

Treaty of Tripoli, article 11
"As the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion,-as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility of Musselmen..."

You see, them there founding fathers were smart enough to realize that part of rendering unto Caesar is because god and government cannot be interlinked...it cheapens both.

"Have you considered that system of holy lies and pious frauds that has raged and triumphed for 1500 years." Adams

Millions of innocent men, women, and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burned, tortured, fined, and imprisoned, yet we have not advanced one inch toward uniformity. What has been the effect of coercion? To make one half of the world fools and the other half hypocrites."
Jefferson

"Lighthouses are more helpful than churches."
Franklin

Answer 7

The Madison and Henry quotes are bogus. Snopes as a large description of how these became attributed to them.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/capital.asp

Here's another James Madison quote:

"Every new and successful example, therefore, of a perfect separation between the ecclesiastical and civil matters, is of importance; and I have no doubt that every new example will succeed, as every past one has done, in showing that religion and Government will both exist in greater purity the less they are mixed together" Letter to Edward Livingston, July 10, 1822

Notice the citation of where it is stated, important to tracing the validity of statements.

Answer 8

Based on US history, the government is not a democracy but a republic. Elected representatives do the deciding of government. They went to great lengths to make sure no religion could take over influence of the country. How individuals thought was to be their own business.

They had European examples of churches trying to take over undue influence on government and worked to prevent it here.

Answer 9

my thoughts are that at such as these things were written it would have been very difficult for anyone who did not agree with the church to become a highly regarded politician due to the control the church had. Therefore there would have been few non-christians present. I howvere, know of tennyson and others who were atheist or deist... so not everyone was religious, but it was a difficult path to choose....

Answer 10

good for them, but this is 2007. We may have been founded on Christianity, but that does not make it the absolute truth. You have to remember that they lived in a time where people who spoke out against Christianity were burned at the stake.