Replies

Excellent post with great citations. Interesting to note that many claim America to be a Christian-founded country, but “Christ” is found no where in our Declaration or Constitution. The word “Creator” is used, but sounds rather generic. It could be read as an effective way to convey the abstract concept of “inalienable rights” to those more familiar with Judeo-Christian concepts than to advanced political concepts. Great topic with many great replies.

To go a little further with Jefferson, who was in some (unconventional) ways a religious man: TJ made quite a study of the idea that America was a nation founded in the Judeo-Christian heritage as a consequence of the claim that the English Common Law was so founded. And he explicitly denied this claim. Jefferson made the argument that the Common Law began in the Saxon Law, which predated the introduction of Christianity to England by two hundred years. This in turn was founded in Roman Law, which predated Christianity as well. I think he was right. The civilization of the West is Hellenistic, a tradition from which the Roman citizen Saul of Tarsus did not escape, his vision on the road to Damascus notwithstanding.

I'm not trying to pick a fight with anyone. Many of the founders were men of faith, but some very important ones really were not. Many were politicians who recognized the political value of conventional religious positions. And even many who were orthodox Christians would not have understood the Fideism espoused by some FReepers. The God of Nature appealed to in the Declaration might have been the God of Abraham, but he came to the Founders through the Enlightenment, and He could just as easily be a God embraced by the likes of, say, Barry Lynn. A pretty broad audience, that.

And then there's the Treaty of Tripoli...