Hunter

I guess I've gotten off to a bad start, huh? As to being the object of ridicule, I couldn't care less....and it would be pointless to post the quotes I have of John Adams referring directly to the Christian religion or to point you to the sites that show it because you'll turn right back around with another link of your own. Bottom line is that it's likely I agree with what most everyone in this group thinks about religion and it's place in society. It's just that I've seen this little power-tug being acted out with the Founding Fathers so many times that it's really a laughably exhausted subject. How someone could have even a limited knowledge of Western history and think the Founding Fathers weren't by a vast majority Christian is beyond me, but so be it. It doesn't make this a "Christian nation", only a nation founded overwhelmingly by Christians. The seperation being clear in the Bill of Rights, it seems an overrated subject. I really came into this group to ask some questions about Objectivism, so I'm not likely to post anything else on this topic. I probably should have gotten the questions answered before I pissed everyone off, huh? That's what I get for coming directly to the Politics forum.

RationalEgoist, I agree completely with the bulk of what you said, for instance: "Also, I would contend that many Christians today are CLEARLY attempting to blur the line between religion and state if not down right trying to destroy it! " No doubt about that. I don't think that the majority of them are...I guess I would say "actively pursuing" blurring that line, like the majority of Muslims. If it were up for a vote, I have no doubt that the majority of people, being Christians, would probably blur it to a degree although I'm not sure how far they would be willing to go with it. I think most people in this country are passively Christian. They'll say they believe, but show no real interest in either reading the Bible or following what they've been told it means. I couldn't be happier about that. As to the Founding Fathers and the term "Deist" vs. "Christian", which of those two do you think they would have used to describe themselves? I can't imagine John Adams claiming to be a Deist rather than a Christian. I think you're exactly right in saying they were profoundly liberal...but profoundly liberal Christians.

It would be safe to say that the Founding Father's were, for instance, not Muslims. To say that they weren't really Christians though is I think to try and twist the truth into what we would like for it to be. "Evil people are out to destroy themselves. Why not help them?" I like that quote, by the way.