I think I kinda understand the words if and is. If I run into trouble, could I please ask you to help me figger 'em out? Like I said, "If you're gonna try anywayz though, feel free to talk down to me."
Now where were we? Ah yes, we are back here again. If Deism had prophets, Paine would be to Deists as Jesus is to Christians.
It's unfortunate that your beliefs have closed your mind so tightly that you seem unable to understand my response to you. Christianity recognizes many prophets. Jesus is not one of them. Trying to equate Paine to the prophets or to Jesus in any way is ignorant, less you wanna try to tell me that nature's god spoke to him or that people thought it did. That's not what you're trying to tell me, is it?
What's your point?
My point has to do with the fact that Paine's understanding of Christianity added to his understanding in general. Although he was a deist, his beliefs did not close his mind. That allowed him to argue his points to Christians in their own language, instead of looking as foolish as someone who tries to do the same from a position of ignorance. Modern deists & agnostics could learn something from Paine. Instead of running away screaming from every idea that comes from someone else's religious teachings, they might actually find truths that speak to them in the texts too.
Are you trying to instigate me into posting Paine quotes calling on Deists and Unitarians to unite against Christianity?
What makes you think I'm trying to instigate you into doing anything?
Shall we turn America into Bosnia with a religious war?
Why would we wanna do that?
Ever heard of the first amendment?
Okay, I'll bite. What is it?
How about the tenth?
Tenth verse, same as the first.
Don't debate me on the issue...Take it up with the Supreme Court...They have ruled on it numerous times in our history.
Send 'em over. I'd be more than happy to straighten them out. Still, you're starting to make me feel old here. SCOTUS never really got around to doing it until it was within my lifetime. How bout you? Were you born before or after 1961 & 1978, the years the mighty robed deities finally straightened out Maryland & Tennessee?
The "rejected text" you speak of was the Act for Establishing Religious Freedom, authored by Thomas Jefferson. It became law in Virginia on Jan 16, 1786.
Looks to me like that means he knew it was a state issue, less you're gonna try to tell me that states had to recognize all of the provisions of other state constitutions, through full faith or something like that...
The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution was based on that act.
Full faith & all that, right? LOL Looks almost like you're making all of this up as you go.
If the first amendment was the big fix, why didn't all of the states quickly drop the religious clauses from their state constitutions? Take a look. Every single state constitution has a religious protection clause. Instead of dropping the clauses, all of the states tightened up the religious clauses in their constitutions, generally towards more state protections, IE, "freedoms".
If things keep going in the direction they have been going, the states will be required to drop their clauses soon, because SCOTUS is heading in the direction of establishing "none of the above" as the official state religion.
Prior to the first and tenth amendments, religious discrimination was written into the constitutions of various colonies.
I got news for ya, a bunch of things on your list lasted past the ratification of the Bill of Rights. States generally disestablished without any help from big brother.