| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"" |
| Date: |
16 Dec 2006 07:38:46 AM |
| Object: |
Myths about Founding Fathers’ faiths abound |
The only myth is the myth this guy is advancing by his very selective use
of the historical record
Myths about Founding Fathers’ faiths abound
http://www.thecitizen.com/node/12816
[excerpt]
Myths about Founding Fathers’ faiths abound
Tue, 12/12/2006 - 5:18pm
By: The Citizen
By Dr. Paul Kengor
Editor’s Note: The “V&V Q&A” is a monthly e-publication from The Center for
Vision & Values at Grove City (Penn.) College. This month’s “V&V Q&A”
features an interview by Dr. Paul Kengor, executive director of The Center
for Vision & Values, with Dr. Gary Scott Smith. Dr. Smith is a Fellow for
Faith and the Presidency with The Center for Vision & Values, chairs the
History Department, and coordinates the Humanities Core at Grove City
College. His latest book is “Faith and the Presidency: From George
Washington to George W. Bush” (Oxford University Press, 2006).
Q: Why did you write this book?
Dr. Gary Scott Smith: Americans are fascinated by the lives of presidents.
Hundred of biographies of American presidents are available, but few of
them examine their faith. Few studies discuss what presidents believed
about God, Jesus, prayer, the Bible, and many other religious topics.
Scholars have especially neglected the ways in which presidents’ faith
influenced their policies.
Q: Which presidents did you profile?
Smith: The book includes chapters on George Washington, Thomas Jefferson,
Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt,
Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and George
W. Bush.
Q: Isn’t the common perception that the American founders were a bunch of
deists, including Washington and Jefferson?
Smith: A small number of the founders were probably deists. Considerably
more founders were Christians than most scholars or the general public
recognizes. Washington and Jefferson were not deists according to the usual
definition of this term. Deists believe that God created the world and then
left it alone to run by natural laws. Thus, deists do not believe in
prayer, providence, or divine intervention. Both Washington and Jefferson
prayed and repeatedly emphasized God’s providential direction of American
affairs.
Q: Were Washington and Jefferson Christians?
Smith: It depends how one defines the term Christian. Both of them
worshipped in Episcopal churches most of their lives. Although they both
greatly valued Jesus’ moral teachings, neither explicitly professed faith
in Christ as his savior. Jefferson claimed he never accepted “a specified
creed” and referred to himself as “a sect by myself.” I think both
presidents are best labeled theistic rationalists. This belief system mixes
elements of natural religion, Christianity, and rationalism, with
rationalism predominating. To theistic rationalists, God is active in human
affairs, and prayer therefore is effectual. They see religion’s primary
role as promoting morality, which is indispensable to society.
Q: What did Thomas Jefferson mean by a wall of separation between church
and state? What are the origins of that phrase?
Smith: The origin of the phrase is Jefferson’s 1802 letter to the Danbury
Baptist Association. In this letter he strove to explain why, unlike the
first two presidents and state governors, he refused to proclaim days for
public prayer, fasting, and thanksgiving. Jefferson believed the First
Amendment prohibited the president from issuing religious proclamations of
any kind. Jefferson argued, however, that state and local governments,
religious organizations, and private citizens could properly issue such
proclamations, and he had earlier supported issuing religious proclamations
in Virginia. Several factors indicate that Jefferson used the wall of
separation metaphor in a limited, not absolute, sense.
Throughout his two terms Jefferson often attended religious services at the
Hall of the House of Representatives. He allowed Washington congregations
to hold services in the Treasury and War office buildings, and he signed a
federal law that provided tax exemption for churches in the District of
Columbia. As president, Jefferson approved the use of federal funds and
land to support missionaries who worked to evangelize Indians in the West.
Thus, using the words, “high,” “impregnable,” and “complete” to describe
Jefferson’s wall, as many commentators do, is at odds with what he what he
said and contradicts what he did.
[end of excerpt]
***************************************************************
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
****************************************************************
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