Some of the early British, Dutch and Swedish settlements had official religions designated by their home countries. The founders simply did not want to limit religious practice by the establishment of a national religion.
Can you show a single example of an individual saying the cross has no meaning but is fighting to have them removed? The state of Oregon said it had no religious meaning in this instance — the SCOTUS agreed that it represents more than religion.
So why did the SCOTUS have to waste their time with this frivolous case? There is no constitutional right for atheists not to be offended.
I would tell Ginsburg the SCOTUS building itself has six depictions of Moses the Lawgiver. Does that imply official recognition of Judaism's paramountcy?
The Founding documents don't say we are secular, in fact one of them discusses the rights our Creator endows us with.
Oregon? This case was out of Maryland. SCOTUS specifically said the cross has religious meaning in this case.
Correction: Maryland officials had argued that the cross, sometimes called the “Peace Cross,” doesn’t violate the Constitution because it has a secular purpose and meaning.
Yep...as well as a religious one obviously....but because it's purpose isn't to establish a religion it's perfectly fine.
American was not created as a religious nation, it was created as a free nation for the human soul to freely exercise its mind in pursuit of its own happiness, whatever it may be. Mysticism is not the fountainhead of our founding principle, the rights of the individual. This is a secular principle derived from John Locke's theory of Natural Rights. While it is true many of the Founding Fathers were deists and theists, it is also true that there were those who were atheists. Such diversity in religious and philosophical viewpoints led the Founding Fathers to create the Establishment Clause, not to enshrine faith, but to protect the rational mind from an irrational tyranny of mystical beliefs and deities, no matter whose God was the source of the tyranny. Freedom from religion is freedom of religion. Furthermore, being a deist is nothing more than calling the Universe, God, which meant that God was then compelled to follow the laws of nature. Needless to say, this did not please many Christians and resulted in the "Great Awaking", which was a Christian theological protest against the Aristotelian principles of reason, reality, and logic; principles that Locke used to establish his theory of Natural Rights. "The founding fathers were a mixture of deists, Christians, and possibly one atheist. Assigning beliefs to the founding fathers collectively, however, is a difficult task. As a group, the founders stopped short of religious establishment because of their own diversity and experience with state sponsored religion in Europe. However, they broadly recognized a “Creator” or “Nature’s God” without ascribing to one particular religion. Their belief systems were products of ancient philosophy, the Enlightenment, and the Reformation. Their diverse beliefs, however, refute any exclusive claim to one religion or belief system."--https://worldhistory.us/american-history/beliefs-of-the-founding-fathers.php I would disagree with this assesnment on this basis, there was one thing that untied the Founding Fathers--reason as the means to understanding the universe.
Including for many, Christianity. I wouldn't even call Franklin or Jefferson deists. Deists believe God has no hand in our affairs, something both those men disagreed with.
I would make one correction. It was actually the Church of England, not the Roman Catholic church. There are some major differences.
Was it not Jefferson that advised the human mind to call even God to the altar of reason? Was it not Thomas Paine who belittled and scoffed at Christianity, calling it a fantastic fable of fantastic proportions? America is of a product of the Enlightenment, the Age of Reason; not the creation of a "Great Awakening" by the prostrate writhing masses. Though it is true the majority of American's are Christian, I suspect, more like hope, most of them would not demand others to bow before their God.
A metaphysical error. One might argue they were merely referring to Aristotle's Prime Mover as the Creator. But it does beg the question: who created the Creator? Additionally, the Founding Fathers viewed this Creator, for the most part, as nothing more than a hands-off benevolent force. BTW: It is a metaphysical error concerning Axiomatic Concepts that Ayn Rand corrected. And for which, therefore, there is no longer a justification in a belief in a Creator.
When the Founders discussed a Creator or religion, they meant Christianity. Their intention was to foster Christianity as much as possible, without imposing on others.
Paine was a PITA who wasn't representative of the Founders, he didn't even like Washington. The Enlightenment arose out of a Judeo/Christian society, and many enlightenment figures had Calvinist upbringings. I don't know anyone who is asking that. Christians have just as much right to involvement in public policy questions as anyone else.
I don’t have to justify anything. I can read. I can also see past rulings on scripture being removed across the country.
Nah. It's not polite to rob the delusional of their delusions--they take it harshly, experience has taught.
