| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"" |
| Date: |
19 Feb 2006 11:00:37 AM |
| Object: |
History lesson Religion 3 |
On the one hand, the historian might assume that religion was the most
important social and cultural force in pioneer life; on the other, he might
reason that the men of religious calling, like the abolitionists, troubled
the world all out of proportion to their real importance, and dismiss them
with a nod. Between these extremes there is no specific point of certain
validity. To many people religious conviction was the most powerful force
in life and it ruled their lives; to others it was acknowledged as a vital
thing theoretically, but was not permitted seriously to interfere with
other aspects of life. To many others it was of no direct concern whatever.
It is futile to try to estimate the relative number of sincere believers in
the pioneer period as compared with our times; it is impossible to prove or
to disprove that it differed materially. Nor is it possible statistically
to separate, in either period, those primarily interested in salvation by a
certain formula from those interested in religion as a moral force, in
church as a means of social control.
The story of religion in the Old Northwest is at times a story of high
purpose, wisdom, heroic personalities, sacrifice, and service; it is also
the story of ignorance, selfishness, bigotry, sectarian ambition, vested
interests, conflicting personalities, and mean and petty politics. In other
words, religion, despite its lofty aims and purposes, presented the same
features as did the politics, business, and other human activities of the
time.2
Interest in religion, which climbed to a high pitch in the American
colonies at the time of the Great Awakening after 1734, had declined by the
time of the War for Independence. The war, politics, the establishing of
the nation all served to distract interest from religion; further, the
rationalistic philosophy of eighteenth-century Europe was taking firm root
in the American mind. Many people became indifferent to religion or scoffed
at it; fewer outstanding men, in comparison to the earlier period, were
attracted to the ministry. Historians of religion described the succeeding
period as "a very wintry season" or as one characterized by suspended
animation in religious affairs. Conditions in the East were reported as
bad;3 in the West they were said to be even worse. Whole communities were
characterized by early ministers as assemblages of rogues, robbers,
counterfeiters, ganging outlaws, and intemperate reprobates.
SOURCE: The Old Northwest, Pioneer Period, 1815-1840 By R. Carlye Buley,
Vol 2, Indiana University Press , Indiana Historical Society (1950) pp.
419-420
***************************************************************
You are invited to check out the following:
The Rise of the Theocratic States of America
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocracy.htm
American Theocrats - Past and Present
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocrats.htm
The Constitutional Principle: Separation of Church and State
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
[and to join the discussion group for the above site and/or Separation of
Church and State in general, listed below]
HRSepCnS · Hampton Roads [Virginia] SepChurch&State
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HRSepCnS/
[Its not just Hampton Roads folks who are members, there are members from
all over the US and a couple from overseas as well]
***************************************************************
.. . . You can't understand a phrase such as "Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion" by syllogistic reasoning. Words
take their meaning from social as well as textual contexts, which is why "a
page of history is worth a volume of logic." New York Trust Co. v. Eisner,
256 U.S. 345, 349, 41 S.Ct. 506, 507, 65 L.Ed. 963 (1921) (Holmes, J.).
Sherman v. Community Consol. Dist. 21, 980 F.2d 437, 445 (7th Cir. 1992)
.. . .
****************************************************************
USAF LT. COL (Ret) Buffman (Glen P. Goffin) wrote
"You pilot always into an unknown future;
facts are your only clue. Get the facts!"
That philosophy 'snipit' helped to get me, and my crew, through a good
many combat missions and far too many scary, inflight, emergencies.
It has also played a significant role in helping me to expose the
plethora of radical Christian propaganda and lies that we find at
almost every media turn.
*****************************************************************
THE CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLE:
SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
****************************************************************
.
|
|
| User: "fred" |
|
| Title: Re: History lesson Religion 3 |
19 Feb 2006 03:02:36 PM |
|
|
wrote:
On the one hand, the historian might assume that religion was the most
important social and cultural force in pioneer life;
And the historian would probably be right about religion based on
Jefferson's remarks about our religious freedoms and the 1st A.:
"The constitutional freedom of religion [is] the most inalienable and
sacred of all human rights." --Thomas Jefferson: Virginia Board of
Visitors Minutes, 1819. ME 19:416
"One of the amendments to the Constitution... expressly declares that
'Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of
speech, or of the press,' thereby guarding in the same sentence and
under the same words, the freedom of religion, of speech, and of the
press; insomuch that whatever violates either throws down the sanctuary
which covers the others." --Thomas Jefferson: Draft Kentucky
Resolutions, 1798. ME 17:382
on the other, he might
reason that the men of religious calling, like the abolitionists, troubled
the world all out of proportion to their real importance, and dismiss them
with a nod. Between these extremes there is no specific point of certain
validity. To many people religious conviction was the most powerful force
in life and it ruled their lives; to others it was acknowledged as a vital
thing theoretically, but was not permitted seriously to interfere with
other aspects of life. To many others it was of no direct concern whateve=
r=2E
It is futile to try to estimate the relative number of sincere believers =
in
the pioneer period as compared with our times; it is impossible to prove =
or
to disprove that it differed materially. Nor is it possible statistically
to separate, in either period, those primarily interested in salvation by=
a
certain formula from those interested in religion as a moral force, in
church as a means of social control.
The story of religion in the Old Northwest is at times a story of high
purpose, wisdom, heroic personalities, sacrifice, and service; it is also
the story of ignorance, selfishness, bigotry, sectarian ambition, vested
interests, conflicting personalities, and mean and petty politics. In oth=
er
words, religion, despite its lofty aims and purposes, presented the same
features as did the politics, business, and other human activities of the
time.2
Interest in religion, which climbed to a high pitch in the American
colonies at the time of the Great Awakening after 1734, had declined by t=
he
time of the War for Independence. The war, politics, the establishing of
the nation all served to distract interest from religion; further, the
rationalistic philosophy of eighteenth-century Europe was taking firm root
in the American mind. Many people became indifferent to religion or scoff=
ed
at it; fewer outstanding men, in comparison to the earlier period, were
attracted to the ministry. Historians of religion described the succeeding
period as "a very wintry season" or as one characterized by suspended
animation in religious affairs. Conditions in the East were reported as
bad;3 in the West they were said to be even worse. Whole communities were
characterized by early ministers as assemblages of rogues, robbers,
counterfeiters, ganging outlaws, and intemperate reprobates.
SOURCE: The Old Northwest, Pioneer Period, 1815-1840 By R. Carlye Buley,
Vol 2, Indiana University Press , Indiana Historical Society (1950) pp.
419-420
***************************************************************
You are invited to check out the following:
The Rise of the Theocratic States of America
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocracy.htm
American Theocrats - Past and Present
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocrats.htm
The Constitutional Principle: Separation of Church and State
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
[and to join the discussion group for the above site and/or Separation of
Church and State in general, listed below]
HRSepCnS =B7 Hampton Roads [Virginia] SepChurch&State
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HRSepCnS/
[Its not just Hampton Roads folks who are members, there are members from
all over the US and a couple from overseas as well]
***************************************************************
. . . You can't understand a phrase such as "Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion" by syllogistic reasoning. Words
take their meaning from social as well as textual contexts, which is why =
"a
page of history is worth a volume of logic." New York Trust Co. v. Eisne=
r,
256 U.S. 345, 349, 41 S.Ct. 506, 507, 65 L.Ed. 963 (1921) (Holmes, J.).
Sherman v. Community Consol. Dist. 21, 980 F.2d 437, 445 (7th Cir. 1992)
. . .
****************************************************************
USAF LT. COL (Ret) Buffman (Glen P. Goffin) wrote
"You pilot always into an unknown future;
facts are your only clue. Get the facts!"
That philosophy 'snipit' helped to get me, and my crew, through a good
many combat missions and far too many scary, inflight, emergencies.
It has also played a significant role in helping me to expose the
plethora of radical Christian propaganda and lies that we find at
almost every media turn.
*****************************************************************
THE CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLE:
SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
****************************************************************
.
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