Interesting Ron Paul video

[soonerwings]

Err...the founding fathers criticized religion, like, all the time. Jefferson, Madison, Paine, Franklin, Adams...all had pretty radically dissenting views from the norms of the time, and weren't shy about it.

They skipped that part when I attended Oklahoma public schools, too.

Did they skip lessons in reading comprehension as well? If you'll re-read the sentence of mine that you take issue with you'll notice that I did not make any statement as to the particular religious beliefs of the founding fathers. My point is simply that they believed that everyone has the right to freely practice religion as they see fit without ridicule. This can be seen in Jefferson's famous separation of church and state letter by simply reading the first sentence of the following quote:

Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legislative powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between church and State.

Madison is widely recognized as the framer of the first amendment. I think the fact that he believed in freedom of religion is fairly obvious.

Paine was definitely a self professed deist, but after reading some of his works, I haven't read anything to make me believe that he would deny the right of any individual to have their own beliefs.

In a letter to the President of Yale, Franklin wrote:

I have ever let others enjoy their religious sentiments, without reflecting on them for those that appeared to me unsupportable and even absurd. All sects here, and we have a great variety, have experienced my good will in assisting them with subscriptions for building their new places of worship; and, as I never opposed any of their doctrines, I hope to go out of the world in peace with them all.

"

In summary, it should be abundantly clear that the founding fathers respected the right of every man to practice his own religion. Ridiculing others for practicing this right does indeed fly in the face of what they believed.

 

[soonerwings]

The History Channel sucks, by the way.

Agreed.

 

[soonerwings]

"All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian, or Turkish, appear to me no other than human invention set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit." - Thomas Paine

This quote deals with NATIONAL INSTITUTIONS of religion and does not imply that Thomas Paine begrudged the right of the individual to worship/believe however he/she sees fit.

 

[dutchwrangler]

Ridiculing anyone for anything is something any of us are free to do. The Constitution is only binding on the powers of the .gov... not the people. Having said that, all religions are cults. I've told this to my devout Christian mother, my Christian wife and Christian siblings.

 

[soonerwings]

The establishment media is such a joke.

I think we all agree on this.

 

[soonerwings]

Ridiculing anyone for anything is something any of us are free to do. The Constitution is only binding on the powers of the .gov... not the people. Having said that, all religions are cults. I've told this to my devout Christian mother, my Christian wife and Christian siblings.

Is deism a cult?

 

[dutchwrangler]

Is deism a cult?

Deism is a philosophy. The same as atheism.

 

[cjjtulsa]

The establishment media is such a joke.

No doubt. And for the record, his reaction immediately after playing the clip of the moron saying that “Huntsman is the true second” is priceless. Funny as hell.

 

[soonerwings]

Deism is a philosophy. The same as atheism.

Let's see what dictionary.com has to say.

Religion is defined as:

1. a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.
2.
a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects: the Christian religion; the Buddhist religion.
3.
the body of persons adhering to a particular set of beliefs and practices: a world council of religions.
4.
the life or state of a monk, nun, etc.: to enter religion.
5.
the practice of religious beliefs; ritual observance of faith.

While deism is defined as:

1.
belief in the existence of a God on the evidence of reason and nature only, with rejection of supernatural revelation ( distinguished from theism).
2.
belief in a God who created the world but has since remained indifferent to it.

It looks to me like deism meets the requirements of being a religion, but that its followers prefer to label it as a philosophy so they can label other religions as cults. I'll agree that atheism is a philosophy since it stipulates that there is no creator or supernatural power.

Ooh..this is from Deism.com:

Deism is therefore a natural religion and is not a "revealed" religion.

 

[soonerwings]

Ridiculing anyone for anything is something any of us are free to do. The Constitution is only binding on the powers of the .gov... not the people. Having said that, all religions are cults. I've told this to my devout Christian mother, my Christian wife and Christian siblings.

Granted. Ridiculing someone is a right. However, ridiculing someone for enjoying their individual liberty while carrying on about the importance of liberty is sheer hypocrisy.