What do the religious right in the US think of these quotes from the greats of US history ?

Question

Religious bondage shackles and debilitates the mind and unfits it for every noble enterprise."

- James Madison


"Ecclesiastical establishments tend to great ignorance and corruption, all of which facilitate the
execution of mischievous projects."

- James Madison


"The purpose of separation of church and state is to keep forever from these shores the ceaseless
strife that has soaked the soil of Europe in blood for centuries."

- James Madison


"Shake off all the fears of servile prejudices, under which weak minds are servilely crouched.
Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call on her tribunal for every fact, every opinion. Question
with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the
homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear.

- Thomas Jefferson


"In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty. He is always in
alliance with the despot.... they have perverted the purest religion ever preached to man into
mystery and jargon, unintelligible to all mankind, and therefore the safer engine for their
purpose."

- Thomas Jefferson


"...religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none
other for his faith or his worship, that the legislative powers of government reach actions only,
and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people
which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion,
or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between church and
State."

- Thomas Jefferson



"Lighthouses are more helpful than churches."

- Benjamin Franklin



"In the affairs of the world, men are saved, not by faith, but by the lack of it."

- Benjamin Franklin



"This would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it."

- John Adams


The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason."

- Benjamin Franklin


"If we look back into history for the character of the present sects in Christianity, we shall
find few that have not in their turns been persecutors, and complainers of persecution. The
primitive Christians thought persecution extremely wrong in the Pagans, but practiced it on one
another. The first Protestants of the Church of England blamed persecution in the Romish Church,
but practiced it upon the Puritans. They found it wrong in Bishops, but fell into the practice
themselves both here (England) and in New England."

- Benjamin Franklin


"Of all the tyrannies that affect mankind, tyranny of religion is the worst."

- Thomas Paine


"I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish Church, by the Roman Church, by the Greek
Church, by the Turkish Church, by the Protestant Church, nor by any Church that I know of. My own
mind is my own Church. Each of those churches accuse the other of unbelief; and for my own part,
I disbelieve them all."

- Thomas Paine


"All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Turkish, appear to me no other
than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit."

- Thomas Paine


"The Bible is not my book, nor Christianity my profession."

- Abraham Lincoln

http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quotes_by/james+madison

http://nobeliefs.com/jefferson.htm

http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quotes_by/benjamin+franklin

Every statement can be researched very easily, but above I have provided a few links which I believe accurately quote these great men who made the US what it used to be.

Answer 1

hazeltine4 –

Article VI of the US Constitution states:

•The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.

The only oath taken is to the US Constitution; not the Bible or any religious document.

Even having a Congressional Chaplain is a violation of the ‘establishment’ language of the Constitution – but then, that is only the opinion of the men who wrote and signed the document.

James Madison (Father of the US Constitution) addressed the issues of Congressional Chaplains and the separation of Church and State:

•“Is the appointment of Chaplains to the two Houses of Congress consistent with the Constitution, and with the pure principle of religious freedom? In strictness the answer on both points must be in the negative."

•"The Constitution of the U. S. forbids everything like an establishment of a national religion. The law appointing Chaplains establishes a religious worship for the national representatives”

•“The establishment of the chaplainship to Congs is a palpable violation of equal rights, as well as of Constitutional principles”

•Strongly guarded as is the separation between religion and & Gov't in the Constitution of the United States the danger of encroachment by Ecclesiastical Bodies, may be illustrated by precedents already furnished in their short history (Detached Memoranda, circa 1820).

•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).

http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/amendI_religions64.html
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This is reaffirmed by the unamimous vote of the 1797 US Congress and the signing into law by President John Adams of:

•“As the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion,…”

http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/diplomacy/barbary/bar1796t.htm

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Gremlingts –


"Unlike Thomas Jefferson -- and Thomas Paine, for that matter -- Washington never even got around to recording his belief that Christ was a great ethical teacher. His reticence on the subject was truly remarkable. Washington frequently alluded to Providence in his private correspondence. But the name of Christ, in any correspondence whatsoever, does not appear anywhere in his many letters to friends and associates throughout his life."

-- Paul F Boller, George Washington & Religion (1963) pp. 74-75, quoted from Ed and Michael Buckner, "Quotations that Support the Separation of State and Church."

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"Dr. Rush told me (he had it from Asa Green) that when the clergy addressed General Washington, on his departure from the government, it was observed in their consultation that he had never, on any occasion, said a word to the public which showed a belief in the Christian religion, and they thought they should so pen their address as to force him at length to disclose publicly whether he was a Christian or not. However, he observed, the old fox was too cunning for them. He answered every article of their address particularly, except that, which he passed over without notice."

-- Thomas Jefferson, quoted from Jefferson's Works, Vol. iv., p. 572. (Asa Green "was probably the Reverend Ashbel Green, who was chaplain to congress during Washington's administration.")

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"I have diligently perused every line that Washington ever gave to the public, and I do not find one expression in which he pledges, himself as a believer in Christianity. I think anyone who will candidly do as I have done, will come to the conclusion that he was a Deist and nothing more."

The Reverend Bird Wilson, in an interview with Mr. Robert Dale Owen written on November 13, 1831, which was published in New York two weeks later

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I do not believe that any degree of recollection will bring to my mind any fact which would prove General Washington to have been a believer in the Christian revelation further than as may be hoped from his constant attendance upon Christian worship, in connection with the general reserve of his character."

The Reverend Doctor Bird Wilson, in a letter to the Rev B C C Parker, dated December 31, 1832, from Wilson, Memoir of Bishop White, pp. 189-191, quoted from Franklin Steiner, The Religious Beliefs of Our Presidents, pp. 28

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"The founders of our nation were nearly all Infidels, and that of the presidents who had thus far been elected [Washington; Adams; Jefferson; Madison; Monroe; Adams; Jackson] not a one had professed a belief in Christianity....
"Among all our presidents from Washington downward, not one was a professor of religion, at least not of more than Unitarianism."

The Reverend Doctor Bird Wilson, in a sermon preached in October, 1831, first sentence quoted in John E Remsberg, "Six Historic Americans".

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"The Bible is not my book nor Christianity my profession. I could never give assent to the long, complicated statements of Christian dogma."

- Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865).

Answer 2

It shows that our forefathers of this great country had a great vision, that it is establishment of a RELIGION by GOVERNMENT, or the endorsement of same, that is deadly. Yet, in all things, they had prayer, they all went to churches, the Congress even has it's own ordained person to give prayer, so they did NOT separate themselves from God, only wanted to keep any centralized power from forcing a certain religious conformity on others.

There are many spurious claims made by Liberals and atheists, that it is wrong to have church-related activities in public places, on public grounds. THAT is a red herring, it is NOT wrong, as long as all religions may use the public property, then it's ok, but as usual, Liberals have twisted it to try to mean that anyone with a firm belief in God with any organized religion is somehow perverting the good by being able to use taxpayer-funded buildings or property in their show of faith. Denial of all religious activities was NOT meant by our forefathers in the 1st Amendment rights, only that the Governement should not ENDORSE one above the other. The liberals have tortured the meaning out of all context, so they can have their gay rights, or sex-with-animals movements allowed on public property, but Libs forbid any religious activity! Oh, no, that would PERVERT everything!

- The Gremlin Guy -

Answer 3

I think they are great quotes. Representative of the fear of a government could could be controlled and dominated by any church. You have to remember the circumstances they had witnessed in Europe. The influence of the Catholic Church on the Monarchs of France, England, Spain, Germany. and Italy. Look back at the origin of the Church of England as a way to rid itself of dictates from the Pope. They saw these things and wanted complete separation of Church and State, regardless of their religious beliefs.On this Thankdsgiving, it is a good time to remember, those that came to Plymouth Rock in 1620 from England, did so to escape religious persecution.

Answer 4

Hi,

I'm not American nor Christian, but I was curious...

Why do address your question to the religious right and not the left? After all, the religious left do believe in religion.

Answer 5

all of these great men, and many others, knew that religion is a deadly poison and said as much in their private correspondence. they ESPECIALLY knew this of christianity, but they were also men of their time and as such, said the right things to the right people at the right times because that was what was politically and socially expedient for them.

btw, thanks for trying, but you will never change the thinking of the brainwashed religious zealots who infest this country.

Answer 6

Talk about taking quotes out of context! Religious freedom, and separation of Church and State was ONLY put in place to allow all of us to make our choices, and that the Governmant could not tell us which church (Roman Catholic) that we had to follow, or risk persecution or death. England tried to force Roman Catholicism on all people, as did other countries, and that's one of the many reasons the new Americans wanted freedom from England.

Answer 7

Those guys were talking about liberals like Clinton who pretended to be religious just so they could expand their dictatorial power.

Answer 8

You should hear the way I talk about my wife SOMETIMES But I would kill anyone who would try too hurt her,But sometimes I want to kill her..alittle

Answer 9

Wise men.
However this will not change my beliefs.

Answer 10

we live by them.