- Assure salvation
- Believe in a precise theology
- Convert nonbelievers
"My friends, don't get me wrong, our forefathers were deeply religious men, but they were Deists - men who believed in God, but in a universal and open-minded way. The only religious ideal that they put forth was religious freedom... America's forefathers had a vision of a spiritually enlightened utopia, in which freedom of thought, education of the masses, and scientific advancement would replace the darkness of outdated religious superstition."
Well said on both counts.
I haven't read The Lost Symbol but now you have me intgrigued. I'm adding it to my reading list.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteSee, it should have been Freedom FROM religion, not Freedom OF religion.
ReplyDeleteSemantics.
@ Bob... and semantics carry a lot of weight when you choose to manipulate the intended meaning of something. Allows for people to make their own assertions and claim what they will.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more. I find it somewhat amusing our forefathers came here because they didn't wanted freedin of religion. Yet so many profess to be following those same guidelines, while twisting the arms of those who don't believe likewise.
ReplyDeleteSeems truncated, bias and removed to me. (Hugs)Indigo
Ugh..that would be freedom. My hands tend to type faster than the thought process apparently.
ReplyDeleteI think there will always be darkness of superstition as long as there are people who want it that way. To join all of our founding fathers and mothers together in a lump and claim to know what they thought about religion is a fools game. They disagreed with each other on a number of topics, I doubt they agreed with each other about religious issues. What group ever does?
ReplyDeleteDB
The very people who say that our forefathers were religious people like them, are the very kind of person our forefathers were trying to escape. I'd hate to think what they might do to that bunch, if brought back to clarify the issue.
ReplyDeleteNo, to our forefathers, in their world and their time there was but one true God and only one real credible religion....Christianity. What they wanted was freedom for each man to choose how he would honor and worship God and not have thier doctrines dictated to them by the state.
ReplyDelete