On Wed, Jun 9, 2010 at 9:25 AM, Jerry Barnes <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> "What this means is that, yes, we have a Christian stone or three in the
> foundation of this nation. That's a big difference from being 'built on
> Christianity'."
>
> Now that is a great statement to examine.
>
> Obviously, we are not built on Christianity in terms of a theocracy.  The
> question is, did the founding fathers, being predominantly Protestant,
> assume Christian principles and ideals should be a continuing influence on
> the government or a guiding force for the government?  Of course, in order
> to debate the question, one has to assume the founding fathers were
> predominantly Protestant which some have a problem with.

Who cares if they were predominantly Protestant and made assumptions?
You know what happens when you make an assumption, you make an ass out
of you and umption. They laid out a governing document. A lot of it
has stayed the same. Some of it has changed. Outside that governing
document, assumptions have changed as society has changed. Those old
dudes had some good ideas. I'm bound by the ones that they turned into
law and that we haven't changed. I'm not bound by any others and no
one else is either.

As for the founding fathers being Protestant, lets look at the first
Presidents...

George Washington - Episcopalian
John Adams - Unitarian Universalist
Thomas Jefferson - Deist
James Madison - Episcopalian
James Monroe - largely unknown, considered deist
John Quincy Adams - Unitarian Universalist

Episcopalians are of the Anglican church which considers itself both
Protestant and Catholic. Laregly Catholic but not acknowledging the
supremacy of the Pope. Certainly not the type of Protestant you'd find
on the Mayflower. Unitarian Universalists are frequently not even
considered Christian by many sects as they deny the Trinity and don't
necessarily acknowledge the divinity of Jesus. Deists often don't go
in for organized religion at all.

First 6 Presidents, not a single one of them what you would identify
as a main stream Protestant. No Methodists, no Lutherans, no
Puritan/Baptists. I would suggest that your assumptions about the
religious foundations of our country and misguided.

Jud

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