And all those philosophers and religous men of the world are looking to one figure in the center. Who is that?
Immaterial, and the figurines are equally sized. If you've seen the actual thing, they are not all looking in one direction... most are looking at one another; some to the left, the others to the right. The very fact that Muhammad is there, as a "law-giver" disproves your "Judeo-Christian-based government" mythology.
The prominent Founding Fathers, including George Washington, were Deists. I also recall reading the latter having rarely
"The rights [to religious freedom] are of the natural rights of mankind, and ... if any act shall be ... passed to repeal [an act granting those rights] or to narrow its operation, such act will be an infringement of natural right."
-- Thomas Jefferson, Statute for Religious Freedom, 1779. Papers, 2:546
"... the common law existed while the Anglo-Saxons were yet pagans, at a time when they had never yet heard the name of Christ pronounced or knew that such a character existed."
-- Thomas Jefferson, letter to Major John Cartwright, June 5, 1824
"Christianity neither is, nor ever was, a part of the common law."
-- Thomas Jefferson, letter to Dr. Thomas Cooper, February 10, 1814, responding to the claim that Chritianity was part of the Common Law of England, as the United States Constitution defaults to the Common Law regarding matters that it does not address.
[When] the [Virginia] bill for establishing religious freedom ... was finally passed, ... a singular proposition proved that its protection of opinion was meant to be universal. 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 the word "Jesus Christ," so that it should read "a departure from the plan of Jesus Christ, the holy author of our religion." The insertion was rejected by a great majority, in proof that they meant to comprehend within the mantle of its protection the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and Mahometan, the Hindoo and infidel of every denomination.
-- Thomas Jefferson, Autobiography, 1821
It is the heart of a man that determines the outcome.
If a heart is evil, has it’s own agenda and needs no God other then itself....that heart can take the Bible and twist it to meet its own agenda. The same holds true for our Constitution.
Generations have waxed colder and more wicked since both were written. Hearts are evil and cold with an agenda for self and not an agenda for the Kingdom of God.
We will reap the consequences of that...we will watch what happens when we choose that wide path than can and only will lead to destruction.
A broken repentant heart will change the nature of a man/woman. Until that happens..it is ALL legalism and religiosity. The ink and paper of either document...Bible or Constitution will mean nothing. The spirit of it has been lost...the nature of it is wrong....producing a people in rebellion against God, most not even realizing it.
Immaterial, and the figurines are equally sized. If you've seen the actual thing, they are not all looking in one direction... most are looking at one another; some to the left, the others to the right. [...]
My mistake, in part- I was confusing the conversation to some degree- You are speaking of the friezes on the interior courtroom walls- and you are correct in your description. I was recalling the exterior eastern pediment, which does, btw, have Moses as the central figure, flanked by Solon and Confucius.
[...] The very fact that Muhammad is there, as a "law-giver" disproves your "Judeo-Christian-based government" mythology.
On this bit I will not waver at all.
Find for me a single historical instance where the Sharia Law, or even Muhammad generally (or any other religion for that matter), was used as a basis in court or in law. American law is replete with reference and precedence linked directly to the Holy Bible, both Old and New Testaments, and I will repeat, it is the only holy writing ever given that regard, at least historically, in these United States.
Furthermore, without much effort, I can easily find established law directly related to writings of the founders of the Protestant movement, and even Catholic and Anglican traditions, certainly in the state houses. But you will find *nothing* based on Muhammad, Buddha, or anyone else for that matter.
It is a matter of *fact* that the lion's share of our early law was based in English precedence, and upon the Holy Bible. There was no American precedence to go by, so the primary method of establishing law came from Christian ethics as argued from the Bible and Blackstone...
The pivotal codices used in the formation of our law and even our Constitution was in fact Sir William Blackstone's "Commentaries on the Laws of England":
Wikipedia.org "Commentaries on the Laws of England" : Legacy[...] Blackstone's text answered an urgent need in the developing United States. [...] The four volumes of Blackstone put the gist of that tradition in portable form. They were required reading for most lawyers in the Colonies, and for many, they were the only reading. Blackstone's Whiggish but conservative vision of English law as a force to protect people, their liberty, and their property, had a deep impact on the ideologies that were cited in support of the American Revolution, and ultimately, the United States Constitution.
[emphasis mine]
Now, while my interest is not based in law, nor my expertise, it has been my good pleasure to have read Blackstone's Commentaries, and it's foundations in Hebrew and Christian thought are absolutely undeniable.
It is within Blackstone that you will find the rights of man granted by God, sovereigns and the states limited by the natural law, that being those things which God has set forth as right and wrong. Sovereign and state are beneath the courts of God, as are their subjects. It clearly defines the duties of all men before God in law. I really do suggest you read it to broaden your view on the founding of our country.
No, without a doubt, all the documents leading to the formation of this country were indeed mindful of God, and I mean Israel's God, Jehovah particularly- And the foundations of America itself are steeped in the Spirit and founded in Christianity by Christian men.
It is the French Declaration of the Rights of Man that is the godless version you desire. It is the foundation on which socialism began it's unwholesome stain.
The prominent Founding Fathers, including George Washington, were Deists. I also recall reading the latter having rarely [attended church (as per your revision in a later post)]
Here, again, I challenge you. Name them. I will knock over your assertions one-by-one. The closest you will get is likely to be Jefferson, as he abhorred the structure of the Church, and was convinced that the New Testament had been altered to promote the Church hierarchy. But he was undoubtedly a Christian too, albeit one much different from his fellows.
As for Washington, I will deny your accusation outright. He was a vestryman (elder) in the Episcopalian Church, one of the founders of a particular Church in both money and commitment, and rode to church two hours each way while in the service of his country as the president.
There is a letter from his adopted daughter, Kelley Custis-Lewis (??), written after his death to an inquiring historian doing a biography which addresses his (and Martha's) Christian faith quite completely. There are also reams of public papers in which he professes his faith, and his private secretary speaks in a matter-of-fact way about interrupting him in devotion at his office while kneeling in prayer with his Bible opened before him.
I will happily provide you with links to this information at your request, but the hour is late, and it would take me some time, as this is not something that I have in my bookmarked electronic files, but rather in actual books, and I am transmitting this information to you from my rather fallible memory.
In closing this missive, I will encourage you to remove yourself from the current age of sophistry, and place yourself in this place a mere fifty years hence, or anytime before that time. Pick up histories, school primers, college level books, law books, even social commentary and music from those times past, and you will find without a doubt that Christianity entwines it all. Anyone can throw a quote out there, taken out of context, but a whole, well rounded, and arbitrarily selected package of media from any given time (say, written within a decade or two) will give a very clear picture of the culture of the day.
History is best viewed closer/closest to it's source- Those who come after are the revisionists always.
Lastly this quote:
"Take away the heritage of a people, and they are easily persuaded." -Karl Marx
Regards.
“If you’ve seen the actual thing, they are not all looking in one direction... most are looking at one another; some to the left, the others to the right. The very fact that Muhammad is there, as a “law-giver” disproves your “Judeo-Christian-based government” mythology.” ... We appreciate you exposing so much of your fundamentals, n00b. Your posts have been most instructive, and you will not hide among us any longer.