pretty great site. one thing though. under your response section: The founding fathers intended the United States to be a Christian nation. Atheists aren’t welcome. “Are you sticking with the whole ‘slavery’ thing, too?” Actually. George Washington said “The United States is in no sense founded by the Christian Religion” i like your answer too, but i feel its just letting them get away with the other. anyway. keep doing what you’re doing.

Well, it’s not intended to be a good answer (more of a flip one), but you’re right that it does let the point slide. There is a significant difference between saying that the country was intended to be Christian, saying that the country’s morality was informed by Christianity, and saying that the founding fathers were Christians — and I didn’t want to get into all of that when I was just writing something intended to be silly.

“Shake off all the fears of servile prejudices, under which weak minds are servilely crouched. Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call on her tribunal for every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear.” -Thomas Jefferson

I love Jefferson. Thanks for the quote!

Hey dude not a bad site, but a couple of points….

Hitler was a Jew/christian. WWII was a war for christianity.

Einstein was an athiest.

Your US founding fathers intended religion to be sererate from the state, the United States was never meant to be a Christian nation. I beleive some of them were athiests themselves, and the whole war was about the US gaining religious freedom from the UK.

Your second and third statements are true, but I’d say your first and last ones are a little shakey. I don’t know that it has been proven that Hitler was Jewish (although I’ve heard that myself), and it’s extremely debatable that WWII was a war for Christianity as opposed to a war for German nationalism (or for Hitler’s ego).

I don’t know that any of the founding fathers were atheists, although many were certainly deists. And the American civil war was much more about political independence than religious independence.

Re “The founding fathers intended the United States to be a Christian nation. Atheists aren’t welcome.”

Actually a number of the founding fathers were probably deists and certainly not Christians. They didn’t hardwire the separation of church and state into the constitution on a whim. THEY REALLY MEANT IT!

Thomas Jefferson: “I have examined all the known superstitions of the word, and I do not find in our particular superstition of Christianity one redeeming feature. They are all alike founded on fables and mythology. Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned. What has been the effect of this coercion? To make one half the world fools and the other half hypocrites; to support roguery and error all over the earth.”

John Adams: “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?”

Thomas Paine: “I would not dare to so dishonor my Creator God by attaching His name to that book (the Bible).” “Among the most detestable villains in history, you could not find one worse than Moses. Here is an order, attributed to ‘God’ to butcher the boys, to massacre the mothers and to debauch and rape the daughters. I would not dare so dishonor my Creator’s name by (attaching) it to this filthy book (the Bible).” “It is the duty of every true Deist to vindicate the moral justice of God against the evils of the Bible.” “Accustom a people to believe that priests and clergy can forgive sins…and you will have sins in abundance.” And; “The Christian church has set up a religion of pomp and revenue in pretended imitation of a person (Jesus) who lived a life of poverty.”

James Madison: “What influence in fact have Christian ecclesiastical establishments had on civil society? In many instances they have been upholding the thrones of political tyranny. In no instance have they been seen as the guardians of the liberties of the people. Rulers who wished to subvert the public liberty have found in the clergy convenient auxiliaries. A just government, instituted to secure and perpetuate liberty, does not need the clergy.” Madison objected to state-supported chaplains in Congress and to the exemption of churches from taxation. He wrote: “Religion and government will both exist in greater purity, the less they are mixed together.”government will both exist in greater purity, the less they are mixed together.”

Excellent quotes. A minor point, though: it might be said that at least some of the founding fathers were Christians in a very specific, technical sense. Jefferson, for example, thought that Jesus was a wise man and a good example, even though he didn’t believe any miracles were involved. So if one were to define “Christian” as “someone who follows the example of Jesus,” then Jefferson would be a Christian.

I have met some Christians who try and say that Jefferson is a Christian just like them by using this type of logic, but of course that is not the case at all. Jefferson didn’t think that the parts of the Bible that spoke of magic were true, as his creation of The Jefferson Bible demonstrates. He certainly didn’t intend for religion to have anything to do with government, as your quotes readily demonstrate.