-Caveat Lector- America's True Religious Tradition by Gipson Arnold The following essay is an adaptation of a speech presented by Gipson Arnold at a demonstration held by Atheist Network outside the Astrodome during the 1992 Republican National Convention. There has been a lot of rhetoric being broadcast by religious groups; a lot of tired old cliches like "one nation under God", "the Judeo-Christian tradition", and "our government is founded on Christian principles". These are all false claims. Our government is based on freedom of religion and freedom of speech, with those freedoms being protected by safe-guards in our constitution. Freedom of religion is not a Christian principle. Freedom to be a Christian is a Christian principle. The Christian Bible teaches that anybody not believing the Christian narrative will burn in hell forever. This is not freedom of religion. Christian theocracies have always punished people for the crime of holding and practicing non-Christian views. The United States government was not designed to uphold these Christian principles. And freedom of speech is not a Christian principle. The bible teaches that anybody blaspheming deserves ever-lasting punishment. This is not freedom of speech. In order for the founders of our country to establish freedom of religion and freedom of speech, they had to leave biblical and traditional principles behind. So the United States government was not founded on Christian principles. The United States government grew out of the principles of the monarchy mixed with the principles of Christianity in much the same way that a flower can grow out of dirt mixed with cow manure. It is the movement away from religious control that is America's true religious tradition. The United States government grew out of the various governments of the original 13 colonies, which were all Christian theocracies. Let's examine some of their laws: In Massachusettes in 1692, constables were ordered to patrol the countryside to arrest anyone who swam on the sabbath. A Connecticut law said "If any man shall kiss his wife on the Lord's day, he shall be punished at the discretion of the court". Another Connecticut law said "No food or lodging shall be afforded to a Quaker, Adamite, or other heretic". A New York law stated "If any man shall have or worship any god but the Lord God, he shall be put to death". A Virginia law said "To speak impiously of the Trinity or one of the Divine Persons, or against the known articles of the Christian faith is punishable by death". The U.S. Constitution spells out the basis of our government. What does it say? "We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." "We the people" does not sound to me like the opening salvo of a document designed to serve a god. "We the people" sounds to me like the opening statement of a document designed to serve people. Then, the founders of our country wrote the Constitution with no religious language in it at all. There are not even any religious ideas in the United States Constitution. There is nothing about sins or salvation, heaven or hell, blessings or cursings, and there is no mention of any god, devil, demon, or angel. Then, they went an incredible step further and included provisions in the document designed to keep religion and government separate. The ratification of the U.S. Constitution, with its provisions keeping government out of the business of dictating religion, was one of the first and most important steps in what has become a truly American tradition of growth away from religion. The decline of religion has been halted, and even reversed at times, but the setbacks in our progress toward freedom have been short and insignificant compared to the more steady and constant movement away from religious control. Our nation was founded during the Enlightenment, when freedom to question had reached a new plateau. After the churches got over the shock of being dis-established, they fought back in an era known as the great awakening when curcuit riders and missionaries brought new popularity to religious zeal. This minor setback was corrected toward the end of the Civil War when the American freethought movement began. Charles Darwin's theory of evolution dealt religion a severe blow, the slaves were freed, and women were on the verge of winning the right to vote. These changes all brought a level of freedom that had not been known during the Enlightenment. The freethought movement lasted until the Great Depression and World War II. The most severe curtailment of America's traditional march toward freedom of thought was no doubt the McCarthy era, where conformity was imposed through witch-hunting and black-listing. The religious control of the 1950's was more than reversed in the 60's and 70's when new Constitutional interpretations began challenging the many state/church entanglement violations that had become so deeply rooted in our culture. It was not until the latter 70's and the 80's that organized religion recovered from the shock of losing some of their most cherished examples of symbolic religious establishment. Today, in the 1990's, we stand poised to resume America's traditional movement from religion. And in the same way that the freethought movement out-progressed the Enlightenment, we can out-progress the freethought movement. There is a Judeo-Christian tradition here in the United States. But there is also a Moslem tradition, a Shinto, a Hindu, a Hari Krishna, a Rashneesh, as well as a humanist, agnostic, and atheist tradition. But none of these can be called America's most notable religious tradition. It is we, the godless people, who more than anybody, are the natural extension and result of the most truly American religious tradition of all; the steady growth away from religion. It is we, the non-sheep, who are the most fitting heirs and champions of the human-based government our founders established. DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! 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