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Two sites I found have some information on the religious makeup and backgrounds of the American Founding Fathers. For example, here is for the Declaration of Independence:Religious Affiliation # of signers % of signersEpiscopalian/Anglican 32 57.1%Congregationalist 13 23.2%Presbyterian 12 21.4%Quaker 2 3.6%Unitarian or Universalist 2 3.6%Catholic 1 1.8%TOTAL 56 100%http://www.adherents.com/gov/Founding_Fathers_Religion.htmlAnd this is a forum post with some good information. For example:
# Adams, John - Congregationalist and later a Unitarian (he did not accept the Trinity). He said, "To enable me to maintain this declaration I rely, under God, with entire confidence on the firm and enlightened support of the national legislature and upon the virtue and patriotism of my fellow citizens." (Signer of Declaration of Independence)# Adams, Samuel - Congregationalist. "We have this day restored the Sovereign to Whom all men ought to be obedient. He reigns in heaven and from the rising to the setting of the sun, let His kingdom come." Also: "The rights of the colonists as Christians...may be best understood by reading and carefully studying the institutes of the Great Law Giver and Head of the Christian Church, which are to be found clearly written and promulgated in the New Testament." (Signer of Declaration of Independence)# Baldwin, Abraham - Chaplain in the American Revolution (Delegate to Constitutional Convention, Signer of Constitution)# Bartlett, Josiah - Bartlett was a Congregationalist. (Signer of Declaration of Independence)# Bassett, Richard - Participated in writing the Constitution of Delaware, which states: "Every person who shall be chosen a member of either house, or appointed to any office or place of trust... shall... make and subscribe the following declaration, to wit: 'I, ____, do profess faith in God the Father, and in Jesus Christ His only Son, an din the Holy Ghost, one God, blessed for evermore; and I do acknowledge the holy scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be given by divine inspiration.'" (Delegate to Constitutional Convention, Signer of Constitution)
http://www.dwerden.com/talk/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=95&threadid=2702
If all signers were Christians of one stripe or another–how is this explained? Expediency, lies,big change it attitude between Declaration of Independence and a Federalist government?What is the Conservative view--I am confused. See below:In 1797 our government concluded a "Treaty of Peace and Friendship between the United States of America and the Bey and Subjects of Tripoli, or Barbary," now known simply as the Treaty of Tripoli. Article 11 of the treaty contains these words: "As the Government of the United States... is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion -- as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquillity of Musselmen -- and as the said States never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mehomitan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries."This document was endorsed by Secretary of State Timothy Pickering and President John Adams. It was then sent to the Senate for ratification; the vote was unanimous. It is worth pointing out that although this was the 339th time a recorded vote had been required by the Senate, it was only the third unanimous vote in the Senate's history. There is no record of debate or dissent. The text of the treaty was printed in full in the Philadelphia Gazette and in two New York papers, but there were no screams of outrage, as one might expect today.
If all signers were Christians of one stripe or another--how is this explained? Expediency, lies,big change it attitude between Declaration of Independence and a Federalist government?What is the Conservative view--I am confused. See below:....
Separation of Church and State... just the POV of this conservative.
If all signers were Christians of one stripe or another--how is this explained? Expediency, lies,big change it attitude between Declaration of Independence and a Federalist government?What is the Conservative view--I am confused. See below:In 1797 our government concluded a "Treaty of Peace and Friendship between the United States of America and the Bey and Subjects of Tripoli, or Barbary," now known simply as the Treaty of Tripoli. Article 11 of the treaty contains these words: "As the Government of the United States... is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion -- as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquillity of Musselmen -- and as the said States never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mehomitan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries."This document was endorsed by Secretary of State Timothy Pickering and President John Adams. It was then sent to the Senate for ratification; the vote was unanimous. It is worth pointing out that although this was the 339th time a recorded vote had been required by the Senate, it was only the third unanimous vote in the Senate's history. There is no record of debate or dissent. The text of the treaty was printed in full in the Philadelphia Gazette and in two New York papers, but there were no screams of outrage, as one might expect today.
That was just a Public Relations ploy to appease Muslims nothing more. The United States was not founded on Christianity, but on the Judeo-Christian model of a Creator as the Supreme Lawgiver and Author of our inalienable rights as put forth in the Declaration of Independence.
I am not sure that it was a PR ploy, but it is an interesting concept and perhaps similar to the “all menare endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights"--sounds good, even if not really ourpractice at the time.As to the Judeo-Christian model--I accept this, but then is it correct for politicians to claim that we area Christian nation? When did this happen? Also: what Judeo-Christian laws were we founded upon?Did Christian monarchies or Jewish statelets promulgate any of the principles stated in ourseminal documents. I cannot see the influence.
Not so much Judeo-Christian law as tradition… equality in the eye of God (ergo gov't as well)… the Divine Spark (we are all created in His image or in His image, depending on your school of thought)… and while Judaism is rather clannish at times, generally the J-D tradition is based on outreach to the unconverted (ala Lady Liberty and the open door to all, or most-all these days ::))How's that?
Not so good. Neither the Jews nor the Christians were paragons of virtue when it came to toleranceof other religions. In fact, you can make a good case that Islam was more tolerant in that they did not necessarily kill you for worshipping other gods. Pay your tax and worship as you please seems muchmore humane than convert or die as was the case in Christian nations from time to time.As to being created in his image--I have no idea what this means and I never did.
willy, I'm not sure what you want here but the items that I listed are the talking points that I used when demonstrating the connection of the J-D tradition and the roots of American democracy… the influences of said J-D tradition. Not talking about paragons of anything, just influences.As far as the image issue, I gave the waffle view (I personally don't know what Big G had in mind either....); hard to say if it was that we look like Him or that we look like He wanted us to look) and better minds than we are still at odds over this, eh?
Our laws came from English Commonwealthman laws and Roman legal codes…the rest is Judeo-Christian tradition. Culturally, we were a Christian nation though, and this cannot be debated seriously.
