by Neil Heath » Sun Jul 04, 2010 6:03 pm
I support Bruce's reading of the historical issues in this discussion. I'm sure there were varying levels of faith among the founders, and that their own faith may have grown or ebbed over the years. Either way, we have to separate the faith of the founders from their intentions for the institutions of government they crafted. The institutions they created were designed to be secular in nature, though they may have hoped the electorate would be deeply religious.
I also noticed that all but one or two of the references cited could have come from a Jewish stance as easily as a Christian one. They reference a Creator, a Supreme Being, God, Providence, etc. But they don't refer to Christ, the Gospel, or the Savior. It's easy to read into them what isn't there. I suspect other faiths could affirm those quotes pretty easily as well. And that's the point I think Ed was trying to make. While the founders might want the citizenry to be a strongly religious people, they were careful to craft a government that was completely secular in its operations, lest any faith be favored or helped to the detriment of other faiths. If I read you wrong, Ed, I apologize.
Neil
Neil Heath