Were Most Of America's Founding Fathers - Christians

[DriftingSand]

I came across a couple of Youtube clips not long ago that were truly enlightening (for me at least). Like most products of the Public School (fool?) System I was kept in the dark concerning the USA's Christian roots. If we (young, impressionable students) were told anything we were told that Jefferson and Franklin were deists but not Christians.

I've come to find out that the two least Christian founders were still sympathetic to and allied with the many devout Christians who helped create the great nation of the United States of America and signed her important, founding documents.

Anyway, please watch these very short videos and let everyone know what you think.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwvkcXBNm3Q]Mike Huckabee David Barton Founders of the Constitution 080109.flv - YouTube[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzGdHZDXxKI]U.S. Capitol Tour with David Barton.flv - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Chuckt]

A while back, a descendant of the Calvert family taught me about his heritage:

Maryland Toleration Act - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

They were strong Trinitarians which is probably why I think they were allowed to settle here.

 

[Chuckt]

I came across a couple of Youtube clips not long ago that were truly enlightening (for me at least). Like most products of the Public School (fool?) System I was kept in the dark concerning the USA's Christian roots. If we (young, impressionable students) were told anything we were told that Jefferson and Franklin were deists but not Christians.

Do you know the preamble for all 50 states?
It might surprise some people.

The Fifty States Reference God in their Constitutions-Truth!

 

[elektra]

Let me add a bit from John Adams.

Founding Fathers Quotes - Christian Quotes of the Founding Fathers

John Adams
2nd U.S. President and Signer of the Declaration of Independence

"Suppose a nation in some distant Region should take the Bible for their only law Book, and every member should regulate his conduct by the precepts there exhibited! Every member would be obliged in conscience, to temperance, frugality, and industry; to justice, kindness, and charity towards his fellow men; and to piety, love, and reverence toward Almighty God ... What a Eutopia, what a Paradise would this region be."
--Diary and Autobiography of John Adams, Vol. III, p. 9.

 

[amrchaos]

Wait

I was taught Franklin was a Quaker. Quakers are christians. I learned both of these facts in public school.

On the other hand, who is the "atheists" founding father?
I was taught that some fouders had strange and radical ideas about god and faith, but I have yet to find the atheists amongst them.

Who is the public school claiming is an atheist? Which public schools systems are teaching this?

 

[DriftingSand]

Wait

I was taught Franklin was a Quaker. Quakers are christians. I learned both of these facts in public school.

On the other hand, who is the "atheists" founding father?
I was taught that some fouders had strange and radical ideas about god and faith, but I have yet to find the atheists amongst them.

Who is the public school claiming is an atheist? Which public schools systems are teaching this?

I suppose it depends on which public school you went to. I went to one in a radically Liberal state.

Anyway, thanks for commenting on the videos.

 

[norwegen]

Wait

I was taught Franklin was a Quaker. Quakers are christians. I learned both of these facts in public school.

On the other hand, who is the "atheists" founding father?
I was taught that some fouders had strange and radical ideas about god and faith, but I have yet to find the atheists amongst them.

Who is the public school claiming is an atheist? Which public schools systems are teaching this?

I think Franklin was allied with the Quaker Party in England while living there, and Pennsylvania was a Quaker colony, and though he had slaves, he believed in abolition, a movement that the Quakers helped pioneer. But I think he was more of a Puritan than anything else. He was raised a Puritan and believed that organized religion was necessary for a virtuous society and that a virtuous society was necessary for republican government.

Franklin was a Rationalist for a while, but returned to the more evangelical tendencies of the Puritans/Congregationalists after he befriended George Whitefield, who spearheaded the First Great Awakening in the colonies.

I don't know who among the founders was an atheist. Maybe that idea developed later, after the Progressive Era, particularly with such revisionist ideas as Jefferson and Franklin being committed, life-long Deists. Maybe atheists were among them, but I don't know.

 

[DriftingSand]

I came across a couple of Youtube clips not long ago that were truly enlightening (for me at least). Like most products of the Public School (fool?) System I was kept in the dark concerning the USA's Christian roots. If we (young, impressionable students) were told anything we were told that Jefferson and Franklin were deists but not Christians.

Do you know the preamble for all 50 states?
It might surprise some people.

The Fifty States Reference God in their Constitutions-Truth!

Yes. I've posted the entire list several times on other forums. Every state preamble mentions and gives thanks or honor to a "Supreme Being." Not all the states use the same terminology but all give credit to a Divine God.

 

[DriftingSand]

Wait

I was taught Franklin was a Quaker. Quakers are christians. I learned both of these facts in public school.

On the other hand, who is the "atheists" founding father?
I was taught that some fouders had strange and radical ideas about god and faith, but I have yet to find the atheists amongst them.

Who is the public school claiming is an atheist? Which public schools systems are teaching this?

I think Franklin was allied with the Quaker Party in England while living there, and Pennsylvania was a Quaker colony, and though he had slaves, he believed in abolition, a movement that the Quakers helped pioneer. But I think he was more of a Puritan than anything else. He was raised a Puritan and believed that organized religion was necessary for a virtuous society and that a virtuous society was necessary for republican government.

Franklin was a Rationalist for a while, but returned to the more evangelical tendencies of the Puritans/Congregationalists after he befriended George Whitefield, who spearheaded the First Great Awakening in the colonies.

I don't know who among the founders was an atheist. Maybe that idea developed later, after the Progressive Era, particularly with such revisionist ideas as Jefferson and Franklin being committed, life-long Deists. Maybe atheists were among them, but I don't know.

Good information. Modern historians will claim that he was non-religious or, if anything, a deist. I've heard that argument many times. Thanks for the clarification.

 

[amrchaos]

When it comes to Franklin, whether he was a Quaker or Puritan, we can agree he was a christian in the general sense of the word.


I think the most radical founding father when it came to thoughts of god and faith was probably Thomas Paine.

I seriously doubt he was an atheist. Are these public school teaching Paine is an atheist? If they are not, who are the public schools accusing is an atheist?

 

[norwegen]

When it comes to Franklin, whether he was a Quaker or Puritan, we can agree he was a christian in the general sense of the word.


I think the most radical founding father when it came to thoughts of god and faith was probably Thomas Paine.

I seriously doubt he was an atheist. Are these public school teaching Paine is an atheist? If they are not, who are the public schools accusing is an atheist?

Of all the founders, I think Paine was the only one who was possibly Deist, and Deism, of course, includes a belief in God.

 

[DriftingSand]

Let me add a bit from John Adams.

Founding Fathers Quotes - Christian Quotes of the Founding Fathers

John Adams
2nd U.S. President and Signer of the Declaration of Independence

"Suppose a nation in some distant Region should take the Bible for their only law Book, and every member should regulate his conduct by the precepts there exhibited! Every member would be obliged in conscience, to temperance, frugality, and industry; to justice, kindness, and charity towards his fellow men; and to piety, love, and reverence toward Almighty God ... What a Eutopia, what a Paradise would this region be."
--Diary and Autobiography of John Adams, Vol. III, p. 9.

Wouldn't it be great if we had a Congress, White House, and Supreme Court full of John Adams. We'd be the most prosperous, generous, and blessed nation on earth (in my personal opinion).

 

[DriftingSand]

When it comes to Franklin, whether he was a Quaker or Puritan, we can agree he was a christian in the general sense of the word.


I think the most radical founding father when it came to thoughts of god and faith was probably Thomas Paine.

I seriously doubt he was an atheist. Are these public school teaching Paine is an atheist? If they are not, who are the public schools accusing is an atheist?

I didn't hear anyone in the videos teach that the public schools are teaching that any founders were atheists (though I might have missed it). I'll watch them again.

I think that the main point is the fact that our Christian roots are either ignored and not taught at all or the fact is under-emphasized. I would have to see a modern text book on American history to see what is being taught today. I graduated from public school in 1975 but I can say that I never once heard my history teachers emphasize America's Christian roots.

 

[Chuckt]

Let me add a bit from John Adams.

Founding Fathers Quotes - Christian Quotes of the Founding Fathers

John Adams
2nd U.S. President and Signer of the Declaration of Independence

"Suppose a nation in some distant Region should take the Bible for their only law Book, and every member should regulate his conduct by the precepts there exhibited! Every member would be obliged in conscience, to temperance, frugality, and industry; to justice, kindness, and charity towards his fellow men; and to piety, love, and reverence toward Almighty God ... What a Eutopia, what a Paradise would this region be."
--Diary and Autobiography of John Adams, Vol. III, p. 9.

Wouldn't it be great if we had a Congress, White House, and Supreme Court full of John Adams. We'd be the most prosperous, generous, and blessed nation on earth (in my personal opinion).

They preached like America was living in Old Testament times and believed that America or the Church became Israel.

 

[amrchaos]

When it comes to Franklin, whether he was a Quaker or Puritan, we can agree he was a christian in the general sense of the word.


I think the most radical founding father when it came to thoughts of god and faith was probably Thomas Paine.

I seriously doubt he was an atheist. Are these public school teaching Paine is an atheist? If they are not, who are the public schools accusing is an atheist?

I didn't hear anyone in the videos teach that the public schools are teaching that any founders were atheists (though I might have missed it). I'll watch them again.

I think that the main point is the fact that our Christian roots are either ignored and not taught at all or the fact is under-emphasized. I would have to see a modern text book on American history to see what is being taught today. I graduated from public school in 1975 but I can say that I never once heard my history teachers emphasize America's Christian roots.

In the first video, around 8:32 sec, the guests claims that now the public schools teach that all the founding fathers are atheists and agnostics...

Start around 8:00 and let it play.


There are some other claims that I find a bit curious. For instance, he shows us a document that has written on it "The year of our Lord Christ" and pushes the claim that Jefferson is a Christian because he signed this document. However, Jefferson signs the document, How do we know if it was Jefferson that drafted the document? Wouldn't this piece of evidence indicate that the drafter was christian? I don't think this document can be used to indicate the signatures faith without establishing a connection between the signatures and the draft type.

I just find that curious--did not catch it the first time I watch it.

 

[DriftingSand]

Let me add a bit from John Adams.

Founding Fathers Quotes - Christian Quotes of the Founding Fathers

Wouldn't it be great if we had a Congress, White House, and Supreme Court full of John Adams. We'd be the most prosperous, generous, and blessed nation on earth (in my personal opinion).

They preached like America was living in Old Testament times and believed that America or the Church became Israel.

The cool thing about early America is that Christians were free to practice and preach their particular or individual denominational views. Some preached an Old Testament doctrine including the 10 Commandments while others leaned more on New Testament doctrines. The one thing most had in common was a belief in Christ and a moral standard of biblical proportion.

 

[rightwinger]

Who cares?

It makes us a nation founded by Christians but not a Christian nation

 

[amrchaos]

Not just Christians every one.

Now how is that different from today? When you give an example, explain how that problem didn't exist back then...

 

[DriftingSand]

Who cares?

It makes us a nation founded by Christians but not a Christian nation

Does that mean that nations founded by Jews aren't Jewish States (Israel) or nations founded by Muslims aren't Muslim States (Syria, Iran, etc.)?

 

[rightwinger]

Who cares?

It makes us a nation founded by Christians but not a Christian nation

Does that mean that nations founded by Jews aren't Jewish States (Israel) or nations founded by Muslims aren't Muslim States (Syria, Iran, etc.)?

You don't understand the difference between those countries and the US?