Why do all the fundies think that the U.S. was founded on christian principles?

Question

Thomas Jefferson wrote the declaration of independance and he was far from a christian as a matter of fact he hatted christianity, I mean there were christian founding fathers but there were just as many atheist agnostic and deists as well am I correct

Answer 1

Fundies are notorious for completely ignoring the truth.







It's well known that most of the founding fathers were deists, not Christians. Some of the early Presidents had contrary views of Christianity, that are not well known to many:



"The day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the Supreme Being as his father, in the womb of a virgin, will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter."

- President George Washington



“Christianity is the most perverted system that ever shone on man”



“Religions are all alike -- founded upon fables and mythologies”



- Thomas Jefferson



"My earlier views of the unsoundness of the Christian scheme of salvation and the human origin of the scriptures have become clearer and stronger with advancing age and I see no reason for thinking I shall ever change them."

- President Abraham Lincoln





"The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason." — Ben Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanack, 1758.



"The Bible is not my Book and Christianity is not my religion. I could never give assent to the long complicated statements of Christian dogma." — Abraham Lincoln.



"What have been the fruits of Christianity ? Superstition, bigotry and persecution." — James Madison, 4th president of the U.S.



"This would be the best of all possible worlds if there were no religion in it." — John Adams, 2nd president of the U.S.

Answer 2

Just 3 points among the many out there - look at the US currency. See the words "In God We Trust"? Started w/coins due to increased religious sentiment during the Civil War, put on in bills in the 1950's.



Declaration of Independence - "\...that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights..."



Who left England to come to America? Puritans. The Plymouth colonists - ring a bell? Were you awake in grade school history?? They were fleeing religious persecution there, thought that the Church of England was corrupt and that true Christians must separate themselves from it.



God, Creator, Puritan Christians, think about it. Please, really, before you pass along such misinformation to others who may not know any better.

Answer 3

it's called revisionism... it's a common ploy to try to convince people that we should be a christian nation now because, as they claim, we were a christian nation at the outset.



The United States of America have exhibited, perhaps, the first example of governments erected on the simple principles of nature; and if men are now sufficiently enlightened to disabuse themselves of artifice, imposture, hypocrisy, and superstition, they will consider this event as an era in their history. Although the detail of the formation of the American governments is at present little known or regarded either in Europe or in America, it may hereafter become an object of curiosity. <<<>>>, more than those at work upon ships or houses, or laboring in merchandise or agriculture; it will forever be acknowledged that these governments were contrived merely by the use of reason and the senses. - John Adams (emphasis is mine)



Because religious belief, or non-belief, is such an important part of every person's life, freedom of religion affects every individual. State churches that use government power to support themselves and force their views on persons of other faiths undermine all our civil rights. Moreover, state support of the church tends to make the clergy unresponsive to the people and leads to corruption within religion. Erecting the "wall of separation between church and state," therefore, is absolutely essential in a free society.

We have solved ... the great and interesting question whether freedom of religion is compatible with order in government and obedience to the laws. And we have experienced the quiet as well as the comfort which results from leaving every one to profess freely and openly those principles of religion which are the inductions of his own reason and the serious convictions of his own inquiries.

-Thomas Jefferson





seems like the men that started this country and led it in it's infancy were pretty clear on the matter.

Answer 4

"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the to the government of any other. Statesmen may plan speculate for liberty, but it is religion and morality alone, which can establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand."......John Adams







"Bad men cannot make good citizens. It is when people forget God that tyrants forge their chains.".........Patrick Henry



"Almighty God, Who has given us this good land for our heritage, We humbly beseech Thee that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful ot Thy favor and glad to do Thy will............In time of prosperity fill our hearts with thankfulness, and in the day of trouble, suffer not our trust in Thee to fail. All of which I ask through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.".................Thomas Jefferson prayed this prayer on March 4, 1805



In 1779, Jefferson, as Governor of Virginia, decreed a day of "Public and solemn thanksgiving and prayer to Almighty God".



In 1774, while an assemblyman, Jefferson personall introduced a resolution calling for " A Day of Fasting and Prayer".



While President, Jefferson signed bills that gave financial support to the chaplains in Congress and the armed services.



I find it hard to believe that Thomas Jefferson HATED Christianity.

Answer 5

It is because:



1) The prevailing religions in the colonies were Christian sects and several founding fathers were Christians, so a Christian ethic is assumed.



2) The societal behavioural norms were typically consistent with western Christian teachings and the citizens of the colonies being under British rule would typically understand the same concept of God as the British do. As well many were of direct British ancestry.



3) Since none of the founding fathers were known to be Muslims or Jews, and some were known to be Christians and admitted to being such, by process of elimination when God is referred to, they are referring to the God of the Christians. This implies the intent to form the nation on Christian principles and binds the nation to uphold those same principles.



4) The Declaration of Independence was addressed to the Crown King of England who is also the head of the "Christian" Church of England. References to God in such a communication, unless they had been specifically qualified as having different meanings, must imply the same meaning of God as the Church of England holds as man and nature's sacred, Providential, Creator, and Supreme Judge.



5) The Declaration of Independence references God at least 5 times. Since it is addressed to the head of a Christian Church it specifically refers to the Christian God.



The inclusion of the following statements in the Declaration of Independence all clearly allude to the One True Living God of Abraham that is worshipped by Christians, Jews and Muslims alike, (which includes the Christian Church of England).



Five references to God that appear in the Declaration of Independence:



1) "natures God"

2) "endowed by their Creator"

3) "Supreme Judge of the world"

4) "the protection of divine Providence"

5) "sacred Honor"



Note the use of capital letters in; God, Creator, Supreme Judge, Providence, and Honor. In English, capitalization is a means of signifying a specific (person or place) as opposed to the general concept. eg god (general) vs God (specific) as in black horse (general) vs Black Horse (specific as in the town in Nevada). Capitalizing the first letter when referring to God is also a Christian and Jewish tradition of reverence. (probably Muslim also)



Specifically written right into the Declaration of Independence, the Christian God is proclaimed under the name of Creator as the giver of inalienable rights. It is thereby asserted that things given by the power of God, do ONLY by the fact that they are from God, surpass the power of the Crown of England to usurp them, and therefore independence is justly declared.



Summarised, the very rationale for declaring independence is that God's authority is greater than any government's authority.



Yes in plain Black and White in the Declaration of Independence the US was founded on Christian principles.





Peace

Answer 6

That would be because the U.S. was founded on christian principles.



Unlike answerers above, I'm indifferent to the beliefs of the actual "founding fathers," and for this question, you should be to. A group of Muslim scholars can look through Christian texts and develop principles from them, that doesn't make the principles Muslim. It would be just as absurd to say that, because I am a Christian, anything I read from Sagan or Asimov is also Christian. Now that that logical fallacy is out of the way...



To determine whether the U.S. was founded on christian principles, we should examine whether the fundamental principles of our political system were founded on (or were) christian principles. I will show that the founding principles of (what used to be) our political philosophy are christian in origin.



Our original political structure was very (very very) Lockean. Now, Locke wasn't a founding father, but he was the father of the political philosophy our founding fathers adopted. So, to determine whether the U.S. was founded on christian principles, we should look at Locke's political philosophy and see whether those ideas we adapted were "Christian."





The following is a section from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy's entry on John Locke:



"According to Locke, God created man and we are, in effect, God's property. The chief end set us by our creator as a species and as individuals is survival. A wise and omnipotent God, having made people and sent them into this world:



…by his order and about his business, they are his property whose workmanship they are, made to last during his, not one another's pleasure: and being furnished with like faculties, sharing all in one community of nature, there cannot be supposed any subordination among us, that may authorize us to destroy one another, as if we were made for one another's uses, as the inferior ranks of creatures are for our's.



It follows immediately that ”he has no liberty to destroy himself, or so much as any creature in his possession, yet when some nobler use than its bare possession calls for it.“ (II. ii. 5) So, murder and suicide violate the divine purpose.



If one takes survival as the end, then we may ask what are the means necessary to that end. On Locke's account, these turn out to be life, liberty, health and property. Since the end is set by God, on Locke's view we have a right to the means to that end. So we have rights to life, liberty, health and property. These are natural rights, that is they are rights that we have in a state of nature before the introduction of civil government, and all people have these rights equally."



So, we can look to the history and see that the arguments presented for the rights to life, liberty, health and property, are derived from the christian principles of God's Lordship over creation.



And, so the reader can determine how much of Locke's principles we adapted, I've included part of the declaration of Independence below. (See if you can point out the Locke!)



"When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature[ed: a phrase taken straight from Locke] and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.



We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."



In Love,



~ soulinverse (a "fundi")

Answer 7

Because it was.

http://www.eadshome.com/QuotesoftheFounders.htm



John Adams and John Hancock:

We Recognize No Sovereign but God, and no King but Jesus! [April 18, 1775]



John Adams:

“ The general principles upon which the Fathers achieved independence were the general principals of Christianity… I will avow that I believed and now believe that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God.”

• “[July 4th] ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.”

–John Adams in a letter written to Abigail on the day the Declaration was approved by Congress



John Quincy Adams:

• “Why is it that, next to the birthday of the Savior of the world, your most joyous and most venerated festival returns on this day [the Fourth of July]?" “Is it not that, in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior? That it forms a leading event in the progress of the Gospel dispensation? Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer's mission upon earth? That it laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity"?

--1837, at the age of 69, when he delivered a Fourth of July speech at Newburyport, Massachusetts.



“The Law given from Sinai [The Ten Commandments] was a civil and municipal as well as a moral and religious code.”

John Quincy Adams. Letters to his son. p. 61



Benjamin Franklin: | Portrait of Ben Franklin

“ God governs in the affairs of man. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured in the Sacred Writings that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this. I also believe that, without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel” –Constitutional Convention of 1787 | original manuscript of this speech



“In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for Divine protection. Our prayers, Sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered… do we imagine we no longer need His assistance?” [Constitutional Convention, Thursday June 28, 1787]



Alexander Hamilton:

• Hamilton began work with the Rev. James Bayard to form the Christian Constitutional Society to help spread over the world the two things which Hamilton said made America great:

(1) Christianity

(2) a Constitution formed under Christianity.

“The Christian Constitutional Society, its object is first: The support of the Christian religion. Second: The support of the United States.”



On July 12, 1804 at his death, Hamilton said, “I have a tender reliance on the mercy of the Almighty, through the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am a sinner. I look to Him for mercy; pray for me.”



"For my own part, I sincerely esteem it [the Constitution] a system which without the finger of God, never could have been suggested and agreed upon by such a diversity of interests." [1787 after the Constitutional Convention]



"I have carefully examined the evidences of the Christian religion, and if I was sitting as a juror upon its authenticity I would unhesitatingly give my verdict in its favor. I can prove its truth as clearly as any proposition ever submitted to the mind of man."

Answer 8

Fundies, like most Republicans, have no idea what they're talking about most of the time. They like to make serious claims about topics they know nothing about. It's not a coincidence the Republicans are intertwined with the church.



Not all Republicans are dumb, but ALL dumb people are Republican.



What's really sad is America was created due to the ideologies and theocracies in most European countries. Now the retarded right wing garbage of this country is trying to change it. These people should be shot.

Answer 9

My opinion, there were people here before the white man, so they hardly founded the US, They just set down a set of rules which was not what the Amerindians wanted. "All men are created equal" which at the time, meant as long as you were a white male!

But to answer your question, they think that out of arrogance and some sort of supremacy.

BB

)O(

Answer 10

People like to falsely identify themselves with success (and claim credit) and disavow any relationship to failure (and avoid censure).



Ask those same fundies what they think about an entire continent under christian principals such as most of Europe during the dark ages? Then ask them why they called it the dark ages?



Ask those same fundies what they think about the crusades.

Answer 11

During the early years, there had been state recognized Christian churches. That they were largely Christian, there can be no doubt whatsoever. Separation took place shortly after the beginnings, but had been founded on Judeo-Christian belief.

Answer 12

They say America was founded on faith in God. You have to realize that over 1/2 of the men that signed the Declaration were from the Free Masons. They serve a god but not God. There is a difference.

Answer 13

Twas not founded as a Christian state.

Answer 14

A question like this comes up a couple of times a week around here. I dont know where people who ask them get their information but it is odvious that they have not studied the words of the founding fathers. I always read what they wrote and not what others have wrote about them. I have never seen anything that Thomas Jefferson wrote about hating Christianity. I have also heard that many of them were deist but I havent seen that in my reading either. Here are some quotes taken from some of the founding fathers writings. You should check them out in detail sometime. You would be really suprised at what you find.



Thomas Jefferson

http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/jefferson/quotations/jeff0100.htm

"The evidence of [the] natural right [of expatriation], like that of our right to life, liberty, the use of our faculties, the pursuit of happiness, is not left to the feeble and sophistical investigations of reason, but is impressed on the sense of every man. We do not claim these under the charters of kings or legislators, but under the King of Kings." --Thomas Jefferson to John Manners, 1817. ME 15:124



"Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath?" --Thomas Jefferson: Notes on Virginia Q.XVIII, 1782. ME 2:227



"Our Saviour... has taught us to judge the tree by its fruit, and to leave motives to Him who can alone see into them." --Thomas Jefferson to Martin Van Buren, 1824.



http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/jefferson/quotations/jeff1650.htm

"The Christian religion, when divested of the rags in which they [the clergy] have enveloped it, and brought to the original purity and simplicity of it's benevolent institutor, is a religion of all others most friendly to liberty, science, and the freest expansion of the human mind." --Thomas Jefferson to Moses Robinson, 1801.



John Addams

http://www.masshist.org/adams/manuscripts_2.cfm##

Before I end my Letter I pray Heaven to bestow the best of Blessings on this House and all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise Men ever rule under this roof



Lets not forget George Washington on his birthday.



New York October 3 1789

http://gwpapers.virginia.edu/documents/thanksgiving/transcript.html

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor--and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me "to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness."



http://gwpapers.virginia.edu/documents/inaugural/final.html

First Inaugural address april 30, 1789 new york

it would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official Act, my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the Universe, who presides in the Councils of Nations, and whose providential aids can supply every human defect, that his benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the People of the United States,

No People can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand, which conducts the Affairs of men more than the People of the United States.



John Jay first cheif justice of the supreme court

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/digital/jay/biography.html



“ Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers. And it is the duty as well as the privilege and interest, of a Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers." First Chief Justice of Supreme Court John Jay to Jedidiah Morse February 28, 1797



First House of Representatives oath

Monday March 6, 1789

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llac&fileName=001/llac001.db&recNum=52



Resolved, That the form of the oath to be taken by the members of this House, as required by the third clause of the sixth article of the Constitution of Government of the United States, be as followeth, to “wit”: “I, A B, a Representative of the United States in the congress thereof, do solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be) in the presence of Almighty GOD, that I will support the Constitution of the United States, So help me God.”



Here is the Library of Congress Website that talks about religion and the founding fathers.



You can read stories about how congress had days set aside to fast and pray. You can read about congress ordered 20000 Bibles and much more about the founding of this great country.



You will notice that the links I have given you are links to government and universities. Not Christian websites. Take a look, you can see the truth if you really want to.

Answer 15

Are you familiar with the witch hunts? its because of things like that that we are where we are now. Many fundies would love to go back to that era. When the whites stole this country, they forced their beliefs on the Natives who were already here, and then on the blacks whom they kidnapped and forced into slavery. Because they got away with it then, they have gotten used to getting their way. The so called christian principles that they are referring to that they claim our nation was founded on are the murder and slavery of Natives and Blacks. Wow, something to really be proud of right?

Answer 16

Some televangelist made it up and pastors around the country picked up on it. Fundies don't question authority so the believe it wholeheartedly without ever checking the facts for themselves. I live in New England. You can go to museums around here and see original source material. What you won't see there is Fundies. You won't see them reading history books either.

"Alll I need is my Bible"

Answer 17

"The government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion."



-John Adams





"Christianity is the most perverted system that ever shone on man."



-Thomas Jefferson

Answer 18

Read a history book, focus on why the Putitans came to America. Oh, and Deists believe that GOD created the world.

Answer 19

Many of the "founding fathers" of the USA were Free Masons!

Answer 20

They assume that just because the Pilgrims were Christian, that the rest of the early immigrants were too.

Answer 21

T.J. wrote a Bibull that took away all of jesuse's divinity. Franklin was agnostic,and BI.I don't know why they think that. They most likely learn their history the same place they learn their science....church.

Answer 22

I don't think many of them actually believe it. They do claim it though because they are desperately looking for any advantage they can get because they know they are slowly losing their control over people, and they're afraid of not having power over peoples lives.

Answer 23

The Xian right is wrong.



http://www.nobeliefs.com/jefferson.htm



The founding fathers were some of the most public critics of Christianity. The equated the xian church to the worse plague on mankind.

Answer 24

Right you are and the majority ruled.

Answer 25

That's what they have been told to believe and they never bothered to pick up a history book to confirm it.



Recommended reading: Moral Minority: Our Skeptical Founding Fathers by Brooke Allen.

Answer 26

Religion and state needs to stay separate

Answer 27

By your choice of words you indicate that you would rather troll than receive an honest answer.



Edit

Judging from the number of Hades bound people responding here only seven thumbs down indicate that maybe some of them are whistling in the dark.

Answer 28

Cause British people want so...

Answer 29

because fundies make things up.

Answer 30

lol i know man



ths country was founded on freedom of religion

Answer 31

Nope your not correct and you can see the history of our Christian nation at: www.wallbuilders.com

Answer 32

They are trying to wish it so.

Answer 33

They never read neither bible nor constitution

Answer 34

you havent read history very much have you or studied much on the founding documents or discusions of this nation?





try again...

Answer 35

Well, in all seriousness and my personal beliefs aside. It was.

Answer 36

The fundamental orders of Connecticut



January 14, 1639



For as much as it hath pleased Almighty God by the wise disposition of his divine providence so to order and dispose of things that we the Inhabitants and Residents of Windsor, Hartford and Wethersfield are now cohabiting and dwelling in and upon the River of Connectecotte and the lands thereunto adjoining; and well knowing where a people are gathered together the word of God requires that to maintain the peace and union of such a people there should be an orderly and decent Government established according to God, to order and dispose of the affairs of the people at all seasons as occasion shall require; do therefore associate and conjoin ourselves to be as one Public State or Commonwealth; and do for ourselves and our successors and such as shall be adjoined to us at any time hereafter, enter into Combination and Confederation together, to maintain and preserve the liberty and purity of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus which we now profess, as also, the discipline of the Churches, which according to the truth of the said Gospel is now practiced amongst us; as also in our civil affairs to be guided and governed accordinbg to such Laws, Rules, Orders and Decrees as shall be made, ordered, and decreed as followeth:

Whereof one to be chosen Governor for the year ensuing and until another be chosen, and no other Magistrate to be chosen for more than one year: provided always there be six chosen besides the Governor, which being chosen and sworn according to an Oath recorded for that purpose, shall have the power to administer justice according to the Laws here established, and for want thereof, according to the Rule of the Word of God;



http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/D/1601-1650/connecticut/orders.htm



Constitution of Maryland - November 11, 1776 (1)



A Declaration of Rights, and the Constitution and Form of Government agreed to by the Delegates of Maryland, in Free and Full Convention Assembled.

A DECLARATION OF RIGHTS, &C.



THE parliament of Great Britain, by a declaratory act, having assumed a right to make laws to bind the Colonies in all cases whatsoever, and, in pursuance of Rich claim, endeavoured, by force of arms, to subjugate the United Colonies to an unconditional submission to their will and power, and having at length constrained them to declare themselves independent States, and to assume government under the authority of the people; Therefore we, the Delegates of Maryland, in free and full Convention assembled, taking into our most serious consideration the best means of establishing a good Constitution in this State, for the sure foundation and more permanent security thereof, declare,



XXXV. That no other test or qualification ought to be required, on admission to any office of trust or profit, than such oath of support and fidelity to this State, and such oath of office, as shall be directed by this Convention or the Legislature of this State, and a declaration of a belief in the Christian religion.



http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/states/ma02.htm



Constitution of South Carolina - March 19, 1778 (1)



An Act for establishing the constitution of the State of South Carolina.



Whereas the constitution or form of government agreed to and resolved upon by the freemen of this country, met in congress, the twenty-sixth day of March, one thousand seven hundred and: seventy-six, was temporary only, and suited to the situation of their public affairs at that period, looking forward to an accommodation with Great Britain, an event then desired; and whereas the United Colonies of America have been since constituted independent States, and the political connection heretofore subsisting between them and Great Britain entirely dissolved by the declaration of the honorable the Continental Congress, dated the fourth day of July, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-six, for the many great and weighty reasons therein particularly set forth: It therefore becomes absolutely necessary to frame a constitution suitable to that great event.



XXXVIII. That all persons and religious societies who acknowledge that there is one God, and a future state of rewards and punishments, and that God is publicly to be worshipped, shall be freely tolerated. The Christian Protestant religion shall be deemed, and is hereby constituted and declared to be, the established religion of this State. That all denominations of Christian Protestants in this State, demeaning themselves peaceably and faithfully, shall enjoy equal religious and civil privileges. To accomplish this desirable purpose without injury to the religious property of those societies of Christians which are by law already incorporated for the purpose of religious worship, and to put it fully into the power of every other society of Christian Protestants, either already formed or hereafter to be formed, to obtain the like incorporation, it is hereby constituted, appointed, and declared that the respective societies of the Church of England that are already formed in this State for the purpose of religious worship shall still continue incorporate and hold the religious property now in their possession. And that whenever fifteen or more male persons, not under twenty-one years of age, professing the Christian Protestant religion, and agreeing to unite themselves In a society for the purposes of religious worship, they shall, (on complying with the terms hereinafter mentioned,) be, and be constituted a church, and be esteemed and regarded in law as of the established religion of the State, and on a petition to the legislature shall be entitled to be incorporated and to enjoy equal privileges. That every society of Christians so formed shall give themselves a name or denomination by which they shall be called and known in law, and all that associate with them for the purposes of worship shall be esteemed as belonging to the society so called. But that previous to the establishment and incorporation of the respective societies of every denomination as aforesaid, and in order to entitle them thereto, each society so petitioning shall have agreed to and subscribed in a book the following five articles, without which no agreement fir union of men upon presence of religion shall entitle them to be incorporated and esteemed as a church of the established religion of this State:



1st. That there is one eternal God, and a future state of rewards and punishments.

2d. That God is publicly to be worshipped.

3d. That the Christian religion is the true religion

4th. That the holy scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are of divine inspiration, and are the rule of faith and practice.

5th. That it is lawful and the duty of every man being thereunto called by those that govern, to bear witness to the truth.



And that every inhabitant of this State, when called to make an appeal to God as a witness to truth, shall be permitted to do it in that way which is most agreeable to the dictates of his own conscience. And that the people of this State may forever enjoy the right of electing their own pastors or clergy, and at the same time that the State may have sufficient security for the due discharge of the pastoral office, by those who shall be admitted to be clergymen, no person shall officiate as minister of any established church who shall not have been chosen by a majority of the society to which he shall minister, or by persons appointed by the said majority, to choose and procure a minister for them; nor until the minister so chosen and appointed shall have made and subscribed to the following declaration, over and above the aforesaid five articles, viz: “That he is determined by God’s grace out of the holy scriptures, to instruct the people committed to his charge, and to teach nothing as required of necessity to eternal salvation but that which he shall be persuaded may be concluded and proved from the scripture; that he will use both public and private admonitions, as well to the sick as to the whole within his cure, as need shall require and occasion shall be given, and that he will be diligent in prayers, and in reading of the same; that he will be diligent to frame and fashion his own self and his family according to the doctrine of Christ, and to make both himself and them, as much as in him lieth, wholesome examples and patterns to the flock of Christ; that he will maintain and set forwards, as much as he can, quietness, peace, and love among all people, and especially among those that are or shall be committed to lids charge. No person shall disturb or molest any religious assembly; nor shall use any reproachful, reviling, or abusive language against any church, that being the certain way of disturbing the peace, and of hindering the conversion of any to the truth, by engaging them in quarrels and animosities, to the hatred of the professors, and that profession which otherwise they might be brought to assent to. To person whatsoever shall speak anything in their religious assembly irreverently or seditiously of the government of this State. No person shall, by law, be obliged to pay towards the maintenance and support of a religious worship that he does not freely join in, or has not voluntarily engaged to support. But the churches, chapels, parsonages, globes, and all other property now belonging to any societies of the Church of England, or any other religious societies, shall remain and be secured to them forever. The poor shall be supported, and elections managed in the accustomed manner, until laws shall be provided to adjust those matters in the most equitable way.



http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/states/sc02.htm



Constitution of Massachusetts

1780



Art. II. It is the right as well as the duty of all men in society, publicly and at stated seasons, to worship the Supreme Being, the great Creator and Preserver of the universe. And no subject shall be hurt, molested, or restrain