Why do people say America was founded upon Christianity?

Question

It wasn't. I just want to know why people think that. Most of the founding fathers unanimously agreed that this country was to focus mainly on secularism. If I have to, I will post quotes. But anyway, why do people think that?

Answer 1

Ignorance!





"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”



"The purpose of separation of church and state is to keep forever from these shores the ceaseless strife that has soaked the soil of Europe with blood for centuries." - James Madison



"I have recently been examining all the known superstitions of the world, and do not find in our particular superstition (Christianity) one redeeming feature. They are all alike founded on fables and mythology."

--Thomas Jefferson -3rd President



"God is an essence that we know nothing of. Until this awful blasphemy is got rid of, there never will be any liberal science in the world."

--John Adams -2nd President



"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



Lincoln's first law partner, John T. Stuart, said of him: "He was an avowed and open infidel, and sometimes bordered on atheism. He went further against Christian beliefs and doctrines and principles than any man I have ever heard."







"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.



"Paul was the first corrupter of the doctrines of Jesus"

-- Thomas Jefferson



"Is uniformity attainable? Millions of innocent men, women, and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined, imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity. What has been the effect of coercion? To make one half the world fools and the other half hypocrites. To support roguery and error

all over the earth." - Thomas Jefferson (Notes on Virginia, 1782; from George Seldes, ed., The Great Quotations, Secaucus, New Jersey: Citadel Press, 1983, p. 363.)



"During almost fifteen centuries has the legal establishment of Christianity been on trial. What have been its fruits? More or less in all places, pride and indolence in the Clergy, ignorance and servility in the laity; in both, superstition, bigotry and persecution." - James Madison (Memorial and Remonstrance against Religious Assessments, 1785.)



"Where do we find a precept in the Bible for Creeds, Confessions, Doctrines and Oaths, and whole carloads of other trumpery that we find religion encumbered with in these days?" - John Adams



"The civil rights of none shall be abridged on account of religious belief or worship, nor shall any national religion be established, nor shall the full and equal rights of conscience be in any manner, or on any pretence, infringed.'' - James Madison (Original wording of the First Amendment; Annals of Congress 434 (June 8, 1789).)



"It has been fifty and sixty years since I read the Apocalypse, and then I considered it merely the ravings of a maniac." - Thomas Jefferson



"We discover in the gospels a groundwork of vulgar ignorance, of things impossible, of superstition, fanaticism and fabrication ." - Thomas Jefferson



"Take away from Genesis the belief that Moses was the author, on which only the strange belief that it is the word of God has stood, and there remains nothing of Genesis but an anonymous book of stories, fables, and traditionary or invented absurdities, or of downright lies." - Thomas Paine

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Answer 2

The founding fathers were mostly Christian and God fearing human beings. Secularism was not their goal, but keeping the state out of the churches business was their goal. They wanted to worship as they pleased and not forced to be Catholics as the Church of England and the State of England was forcing catholicism on their people. They came from England where the Catholic Church was running the state and the state was the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church has always been very influential in politics. Even JFK was asked if he would follow the Pope or do what is best for the USA. JFK denounced the Pope for the USA. It was until JFK that a Catholic was allowed to be President. Most Protestants would not vote for a Catholic until we were being overran by Catholics. And today we wonder if we do not have an Islamic Muslim in the White House and if we aren't being overran by Islamic Muslims. It has been said that the Catholic Pope and President Reagan brought down the wall separating East and West Germany. The Pope is more powerful than an American President and he sits on many nations. The Jesuits were feared by our forefathers because of their influence in the nations of the world.



You sound as if our forefather were pushing atheism and they were not. They were trying to keep the influence of the Catholic Church and The Jesuits out of America. They wanted to allow men to worship as they pleased. Protestants poured into the United States but these were God fearing men and not atheists. The Lord was not denied on the Constitution, but the signers signed "In the year of our Lord." The Lord of America is Jesus Christ Our Lord.



Today, we are trying to keep the influence of Islamic Muslims out of the United States. In Islam it is convert or die, quite similar to Catholicism of old and the Crusades. Or you might ask yourself if Catholicism has changed. America thrives because she is Protestant Christian allowing the Holy Spirit to be her teacher and not any religion.



Why do you use the face of a cold blooded murderer as your avatar?



Do you not know that orthodox Christianity was the Orthodox (Eastern) Church which was dominant in E. Europe, W. Asia, and N. Africa. Research this church and know what Thomas Jefferson said.



George Washington knew the Lord and this man stayed on bending knees to Him. He wasn't happy with the churches and neither was Jesus happy with the churches. False doctrine has been taught in churches ever since their establishment and really thrives today. Because of false doctrine there has been a great falling away from going to Church. God has judged many a catholic church and brought the evil of the priest to the light. The same applies to protestant churches. The Judgment of God begins in the House of God. This is Scripture.

Answer 3

Because they don't know any better. The fact is, the founders created a secular, constitutional republic, with separation of church and state, and freedom of (and from) religion. It's values were derived not from some "holy" book, but from British Common Law, which predated the "introduction" of christianity to Britain. There is nothing in the U.S. Constitution about creating a "christian nation."



The U.S. Constitution mentions religion only in the negative: no religious test for government employees, no government-imposed religion. The founders understood that the imposition of religion is antithetical to individual liberty and freedom. There can be no freedom of religion if anyone is allowed to impose their religious beliefs on others.



The Declaration of Independence is often mentioned by those claiming the U.S. is a "christian nation," however, the Declaration is not *the* founding document, or even *a* founding document. The U.S did not exist at the time of the writing of the Declaration. The United States was created when the U.S. Constitution was ratified, and *it* is the *only* document that counts.

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http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_john_m___050916_a_christian_nation__.htm

[Excerpt]



"We continually hear how this nation was founded as a 'Christian' nation and that our forefathers certainly intended that the Judeo-Christian heritage of the United States be enshrined. Nothing could be further from the truth. This argument is not new, Jefferson and the other founders wrestled at length with this question. And luckily they were literate men and wrote down their thoughts and discussions."

* * *



http://www.exmormon.org/mormon/mormon179.htm

[Excerpt]



"Among the Founders were Deists, Unitarians and those who merely hoped for a life after death, the latter admitting that no physical evidence existed to prove eternal perpetuity.



"Many of the Founders were religiously unorthodox. Some had religious views that were doubtful or ambiguous. Others detested organized religion.



"Some hated Christianity."

* * *



http://www.earlyamerica.com/review/summer97/secular.html

[Excerpt]



"A few Christian fundamentalists attempt to convince us to return to the Christianity of early America, yet according to the historian, Robert T. Handy, 'No more than 10 percent-- probably less-- of Americans in 1800 were members of congregations.'



"The Founding Fathers, also, rarely practiced Christian orthodoxy. Although they supported the free exercise of any religion, they understood the dangers of religion. Most of them believed in deism and attended Freemasonry lodges. According to John J. Robinson, 'Freemasonry had been a powerful force for religious freedom.' Freemasons took seriously the principle that men should worship according to their own conscious. Masonry welcomed anyone from any religion or non-religion, as long as they believed in a Supreme Being. Washington, Franklin, Hancock, Hamilton, Lafayette, and many others accepted Freemasonry."

* * *



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

[Excerpt]



"The United States Constitution serves as the law of the land for America and indicates the intent of our Founding Fathers. The Constitution forms a secular document, and nowhere does it appeal to God, Christianity, Jesus, or any supreme being. (For those who think the date of the Constitution contradicts the last sentence, see note 1 at the end.) The U.S. government derives from people (not God), as it clearly states in the preamble: 'We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union....' The omission of God in the Constitution did not come out of forgetfulness, but rather out of the Founding Fathers purposeful intentions to keep government separate from religion."

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http://www.goatstar.org/were-the-founding-fathers-christian/

[Excerpt]



"The primary leaders of the founding fathers of our nation were not Bible-believing Christians; they were deists including: George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Thomas Paine, Ethan Allen, James Monroe"

* * *



http://www.stephenjaygould.org/ctrl/quotes_founders.html

[Excerpt]



"Thirteen governments [of the original states] thus founded on the natural authority of the people alone, without a pretence of miracle or mystery, and which are destined to spread over the northern part of that whole quarter of the globe, are a great point gained in favor of the rights of mankind." - John Adams'

* * *



What Do You Know About The Separation of State and Church? [Quiz]

http://www.ffrf.org/quiz/ffrfquiz.php

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Answer 4

No it was founded on Christianity in the 1600s. America declared their independence from Britian in 1776.

Answer 5

The founding fathers invoke a higher power in some of their documents and letters. Despite right-wing attempts to label the founding fathers as Christians, most of the founding fathers were deists or agnostics.

Answer 6

Quoting the Treaty of Tripoli, signed by President John Adams and ratified by the Senate in 1796:



Art. 11. As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion,—as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility, of Mussulmen,—and as the said States never entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mahometan 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.

Answer 7

Post some quotes please!



"Lighthouses are more helpful than churches."- George Washington

"I looked around for God's judgments, but saw no signs of them."- George Washington

"I do not find in orthodox Christianity one redeeming feature."- Thomas Jefferson



How does these prove Anything:...To weak try again...

Answer 8

Ignorance

Answer 9

They believe that because they jolly well want to.



They want to enact their religion into law, they want taxpayer subsidy for their churches, they want the govt to indoctrinate all children with their religion in the public schools. These things they want are unconstitutional and truly UnAmerican, so they've decided to believe that America was originally founded to be the sort of theocratic state they wish it was today, and only in recent decades got sidetracked into secularism by liberal Supreme Court decisions.

Answer 10

People haven't studied history and there aren't enough historical documents to sufficiently answer our questions. Another failure of our education.



America was not founded on religion. There were some Christians involved. Christian leaders in the national media have said this and other things that are down right false and misleading Christian people.



Deception.

Answer 11

Tyrants tell lies try force their beliefs upon everyone, preachers invent lie say America founded upon Christianity, they use this lie try force Christianity upon everyone at USA, Christians always lie long time try boost their religion since someone invent it, perhaps Paul.

Answer 12

Majority of people that came to America were pilgrims with Puritan belief's. They were actually the first that really settled here and they were basically hardcore Christians

Answer 13

I heard that pretty much everyone in America was Christian...like 80-90%.

I suppose when a citizen looks around and sees that the majority is Christian, he assumes that a nation of Christians means it was founded that way.

Answer 14

Wishful thinking, which is an integral basis of religion.



There is no basis for the claim because there is no part unique to Christianity that anyone can identify, which was used in the creation of the United States.

Answer 15

Indoctrination

Answer 16

Because the founders of this country believed in God and the bible.

Answer 17

Because this land was originally settled by christians trying to free themselves from the corruption of Catholicism. It was supposed to be a land for the free practise of religion and not a land run by atheists who try to limit spiritual rights by whining to the courts

Answer 18

People say that because religious vocabulary is used in many important documents

Answer 19

You don't really want to know why people think that; you just want to push your own ideas. That's quite hypocritical of you.



Quotes, by the way, aren't evidence.

Answer 20

Christians operate on what sounds good to them and rarely check out the source.

Answer 21

It was founded on a Judeo-Christian ethical system, which many people mistake for being founded on the Christian faith.

Answer 22

I think they are longing for the PURITAN foundation of America...not the one based upon principles of the Enlightenment.

Answer 23

All the founding fathers were 32nd degree freemasons: how is that Christian?

Answer 24

it makes them feel warm and fuzzy inside

Answer 25

It was. What God do you think they were talking about?

Answer 26

I DUNNO!