In your opinion...?

I was going through questions to vote on best answers and someones answer caught my eye.

The question was dealing with the prominence of Christianity in the media, and why it seemed like no other religions were talked about very often.



One person's answer was basically stating that Christianity was the main religion focused upon, because our country was founded solely upon Christianity.



Which is exactly where I disagree with them.

The way I understand it, is that our country was founded upon the concept of freedom of religion.

The immigrants on the Mayflower came because they were being persecuted due to their religious views.



Again from what I gathered in history class, our country was founded upon freedom of religion, and that no one religion was the right one in our country, and that people couldn't persecute others because of their religious affiliations.



What do ya'll think?

In your opinion...?
"As the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion..."

- From Article 11 of the Treaty of Tripoli 1797. Unanimously ratified by the U.S. Senate and signed by President John Adams.





EDIT: You are wrong- The founding fathers were not, by any stretch of the imagination, Christian's. They were deists (Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Cornelius Harnett, Gouverneur Morris, and Hugh Williamson especially)- this is a rarely argued fact.

In fact, some seemed to really disliked Christianity.

http://www.ecis.com/~alizard/founding-fa... I suggest you read this, it goes into details about the founding fathers view on the religion.
Reply:I think and believe it was founded on Christianity. I go to a public school and they teach that.
Reply:Correct, it was founded on the belief to HAVE a freedom of religion...but the first settlers WERE Christian (Protestants).



They fleed because they were persecuted Christians. And they didn't want to persecute others ... so they set up the freedom to have religion.



Hope this helps!

Good luck, and may God continue to shine on you.

-Shalom
Reply:I think you are correct. The people who came here in the early sea crossing were in fact running from religious persecution. But, we must remember that when the formers of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence were a couple centuries removed from these Pilgrams. However, when you read into these documents you can see that these men were protecting the rights of people of all religions to worship as they pleased and that no law should be made against a person due to the religious background they come from and there should be no particular state or federally supported religion.
Reply:Well, yes, you're right. However, your reasoning is off. Not only did the Pilgrims have nothing to do with the founding of our country, but they actually came here because they weren't able to practice their form of religious intolerance in Europe. Your basic point is correct, however, in that this nation was not founded on Christianity or any other religion, but rather on religious freedom and tolerance.
Reply:I think you are half right...



The First Amendment states that Congress shall not pass any laws establishing religion. However, the Constitution also says that all men are created equal by God...



It is my understanding that our forefathers intended America to be founded on principles found in the Bible, but did not wish to establish favoritism for any certain denomination of Christianity. If you read some early Supreme Court decisions, you might encounter the same thoughts...
Reply:The founding fathers were wise enough to see that they needed to ensure religion was kept securely out of state and politics!!



Just try reading a small sample of Christian postings on here!!!



Intolerant, egotistical, hate filled and bigoted!! Eschewing education, science, evolution works of fiction and much, much more. Christians are the only religion opposing human rights and persecuting gays, pro choice and so much more - but far worse whilst they demand freedom of religion they deny it to all non Christians and persecute them!!!



Not just unchristian but so un American!!!!
Reply:a lot of persecution in europe drove many to immigrate to the america's your right.



though it amuses me when christians say they are among the most persecuted religions, meanwhile they also claim their religion make sup 80%+ of the population.



i think why its talked about so often can be for a number of different reasons. one reason being, that christianity tends to be the most oppressing religion (at least in the USA). I know when i went to see The Golden Compass and some of the Harry Potter movies, there were christians outside protesting it, handing out fliers. Homosexual marriage and relationships are constantly at war with the christians. the only thing keeping homosexuality as being accepted IS christianity. a lot of christians are constantly trying to implement their biblical laws into our society... i think it upsets those of us who still believe in freedom of (from) religion.



one part of the religious persecution that was happening was catholics persecuting the protestants.