Great article, as usual, Deda. Thanks for putting this together.
#1A - The Separation of State and Church (I like to put State before church in this common phrase).
The USA is NOT a Christian nation.
The U.S. Constitution is a secular document. It begins, "We the people," and contains no mention of "God" or "Christianity." Its only references to religion are exclusionary.
Except..."because they and our first British settlers were only too aware of religious persecution in England."
In fact, religious persecution already had a good start in the colonies generations before our band of revolutionaries began thinking about how to order government.
The very first colonists in Massachusetts kicked out Roger Williams from their "Bay Colony" for "speaking out against the right of civil authorities to punish religious dissension and to confiscate Native American land."
Add to this the fact that our founding revolutionaries were themselves a hodgepodge of Protestants, Quakers, and Diests, the later two groups outside of mainstream Anglicism and subject to religious discrimination themselves. The greatest among them were Enlightenment Humanists, with moments of genius that surpassed their own compromises (slavery being the obvious example).
Today's "Christian Nationalists" would be perfectly at home listening to the fire and brimstone righteousness of Jonathan Edwards and George Whitestone, condemning all who strayed from the narrow path they described, and that our founders rejected.
Jeb, this is marvelous background for explaining why "today's Christian Nationalists would be perfectly at home". There are many intriguing details here to put on one's reading list!. Thank you for your perspective!
I have to believe that a reasonable, well-intended person, who has been influenced by rhetoric from the far right, might begin to question at least some of their views based on writing like yours here. (For that reason I have shared this postcard on my FB page.)
Thank you for sharing my post! Countering deep-rooted and wide-spread propaganda does take time, so your words "might begin to question" seem realistic to me. We must not be discouraged by partial results.
Excellent explanation!
👍👍👍!!!
Great article, as usual, Deda. Thanks for putting this together.
#1A - The Separation of State and Church (I like to put State before church in this common phrase).
The USA is NOT a Christian nation.
The U.S. Constitution is a secular document. It begins, "We the people," and contains no mention of "God" or "Christianity." Its only references to religion are exclusionary.
https://ffrf.org/component/k2/item/23731-is-america-a-christian-nation
And #VoteBlue
Thank you!
Agree 99.9%.
Except..."because they and our first British settlers were only too aware of religious persecution in England."
In fact, religious persecution already had a good start in the colonies generations before our band of revolutionaries began thinking about how to order government.
The very first colonists in Massachusetts kicked out Roger Williams from their "Bay Colony" for "speaking out against the right of civil authorities to punish religious dissension and to confiscate Native American land."
Add to this the fact that our founding revolutionaries were themselves a hodgepodge of Protestants, Quakers, and Diests, the later two groups outside of mainstream Anglicism and subject to religious discrimination themselves. The greatest among them were Enlightenment Humanists, with moments of genius that surpassed their own compromises (slavery being the obvious example).
Today's "Christian Nationalists" would be perfectly at home listening to the fire and brimstone righteousness of Jonathan Edwards and George Whitestone, condemning all who strayed from the narrow path they described, and that our founders rejected.
Jeb, this is marvelous background for explaining why "today's Christian Nationalists would be perfectly at home". There are many intriguing details here to put on one's reading list!. Thank you for your perspective!
Thanks Deda.
Sigh.
I have to believe that a reasonable, well-intended person, who has been influenced by rhetoric from the far right, might begin to question at least some of their views based on writing like yours here. (For that reason I have shared this postcard on my FB page.)
Thank you for sharing my post! Countering deep-rooted and wide-spread propaganda does take time, so your words "might begin to question" seem realistic to me. We must not be discouraged by partial results.