The random political thoughts thread (Part Deux)

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by scaeagles

The list of such quotes is virtually endless. I would believe that from such quotes it is not unreasonable to assert that Christianity was the faith of a large portion of the founding fathers and that it came into play in the documents they were creating (though some of the quotes are indeed dated after the Constitution was written).

There is no doubt that the framing of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were informed by their Christian beliefs. However there is equally small doubt that they went through great pains to diminish the presence of actual religious language and doctrine in the final document. It's precisely the preponderance of personal religious rhetoric from the framers in contrast to the complete dearth of it in the Constitution that indicates a very conscious effort to keep religious belief as a personal guide to upholding law, rather than an in-built component of the law.

And of course let us not forget Article 11 of the Treaty of Tripoli which, in part, states, "As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion;", read before congress, ratified unanimously, signed by President John Adams.