“The early fathers of our country did not believe that the federal government had any religious role. Jefferson declared days of prayer and fasting as governor of Virginia but resisted doing so as President. He did not believe that was a Presidents job. That all the Founders were God-fearing men is a given. That few in DC today even know who God is is also a given. What’s there to discuss?”
You actually articulated a cogent thought that bears some relation to actual history! Congratulations.
When Jefferson was Governor of Virginia he passed the “religious freedom act” - previous to that the Church of England was the official religion in Virginia.
Back then, religion had political influence (It took two tries to pass it) - today, not so much.
Which was my point that got you and your buddies all excited - as you took it as a treatise against Christianity, which it was not. It was a statement of observational fact - when “gay marriage” can be declared a “constitutional right” by a federal judge, it means that Christianity, indeed religion in general, has no practical influence, politically, at the federal level - hence my view that a “revival of limited government” must occur before a “Christian revival” can occur.
So I accept your apology on behalf of you and your friends.
You aren't as smart as you think you are. That was not what our debate was about.
Bye.
Which puts you in direct opposition to the Founders. I agree with them, not you.
"(T)he foundation of our national policy will be laid in the pure and immutable principles of private morality; ...the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained..." George Washington, First Inaugural, April 30 1789
"Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." John Adams
"Can the liberties of a nation be sure when we remove their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people, that these liberties are a gift from God? Thomas Jefferson