Well Founded
This is a great article. I'm an ardent supporter of the separation of Church and State. After reading this I feel more certain that our nation was not founded on "Christian principles" and that government has its role to play, but it does not include dictating our religion or our morals. This country was meant to be a safe haven for all, despite what they believe or what they look like.
…Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. The latter was a truly radical document that would eventually influence the separation of church and state in the U.S. Constitution; when it was passed by the Virginia legislature in 1786, Jefferson rejoiced that there was finally "freedom for the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and the Mohammeden, the Hindu and infidel of every denomination" -- note his respect, still unusual today, for the sensibilities of the "infidel."
This article also propped up my growing belief that the basic, original tenants of Christianity have been lost and corrupted over the last two thousand years. I believe that God and spirituality are important and shouldn't be discounted, but that they also shouldn't be used to manipulate, condemn, persecute or take advantage of others. That's exactly what Christianity has been used for and I'd say it began not too long after Jesus ascended back to heaven.
In their fascinating and eloquent valetudinarian correspondence, Adams and Jefferson had a great deal to say about religion. Pressed by Jefferson to define his personal creed, Adams replied that it was "contained in four short words, 'Be just and good.'" Jefferson replied, "The result of our fifty or sixty years of religious reading, in the four words, 'Be just and good,' is that in which all our inquiries must end; as the riddles of all priesthoods end in four more, 'ubi panis, ibi deus.' What all agree in, is probably right. What no two agree in, most probably wrong."
When the truth is evident, it is impossible for parties and factions to arise... Well, to what dogma do all minds agree? To the worship of a God, and to honesty. All the philosophers of the world who have had a religion have said in all ages: 'There is a God, and one must be just.' There, then, is the universal religion established in all ages and throughout mankind. The point in which they all agree is therefore true, and the systems through which they differ are therefore false."
Make of it what you will. I found this very engaging and thought provoking. I stole the link from SEB's website.
I admit I find myself lately not really knowing where I stand spiritually, especially after so much I had strived for in my life slipped away. As always, in times of crisis I slip back to a solid foundation of simple beliefs and begin to reexamine everything. In the end, on in the beginning I guess you could say, I know only two things for certain: There is a God, and I am not Him (or Her).
Be Just And Good