Quotes From the Founding Fathers Regarding Religion
Last edited Sun Oct 7, 2012, 01:49 PM - Edit history (1)
Catering and appealing to the “Christian Right” and Dominionist Christianity, Mitt Romney has continued to damage the precious “wall of separation between church and state” which Thomas Jefferson explained was the intent of the freedom of religion clause in the First Amendment. And Romney has also simply ignored Article 6, which prohibits any religious test or requirement for office. Instead, he has appealed to Theocrats.
For example, Mitt Romney has resorted to misleading and hypocritical rhetoric in his campaign, saying: "I don't think we've seen in the history of this country the kind of attack on religious conscience, religious freedom, religious tolerance that we've seen under Barack Obama."
That remark was simply absurd, and it reveals much about Romney, Republicans, and dirty partisan politics in general. But it was merely one inappropriate comment among many about religion. Another example was that in his campaign Romney invoked the Pledge of Allegiance, and in doing so he perverted and distorted the American tradition of secular government and separation of church and state.
In at least one speech Romney did not merely do that, he practically recited the Pledge of Allegiance using specific lines to attack President Obama. Romney said: "The promises that were made in that pledge are promises I plan on keeping if I am president," And Romney also said. "That pledge says ‘under God,’ and I will not take ‘God' out of the name of our platform."
Mr. Romney either forgets of ignores that the "under God" phrase in the pledge was not written by the Founding Fathers. It was added in 1954, imposed by Christian fundamentalists. And they did that despite the fact that in writing the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution the Founding Fathers purposely used the terms like “Creator” and “Nature’s God” and “Divine Providence” to ensure that no certain religion was favored, and that the U.S. Government would be neutral regarding religion and respect all as equal.
Therefore, it is clear that Americans need to learn the actual intent of the Founding Father regarding religion, and fortunately, there is an article that addresses that. It's titled Quotes From the Founding Fathers Regarding Religion, and here are the beginning paragraphs:
If we consider the words written by the Founding Fathers regarding religion, we find that most of them were men of faith in the Deity, in the "Creator," in "Nature's God," and in "Divine Providence." For even though many of them were or had been Protestant Christians, most of them identified with the principles of Deism, which is belief in the Deity or God but without superstition or dogma associated with any particular religion.
That is why in the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution they used generic religious terms like Creator and Nature's God and purposely did not use words specific to one religion --- because they understood that a nation cannot have freedom of religion unless government is neutral regarding religion and shows no favoritism.
That is why Thomas Jefferson wrote the following:
“Where the preamble declares, that coercion is a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion, an amendment was proposed by inserting ‘Jesus Christ,’ so that it would read ‘A departure from the plan of Jesus Christ, the holy author of our religion," the insertion was rejected by the great majority, in proof that they meant to comprehend, within the mantle of its protection, the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and Muslim, the Hindu and Infidel of every denomination.” -Thomas Jefferson, Autobiography, in reference to his Virginia Act for Religious Freedom
Most of the rest of the article is direct quotes from the Founding Fathers, which shows very clearly how they felt about religion, and Christianity.
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