tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6059095776066394557.post2935662637897226097..comments2023-10-25T03:22:30.728-06:00Comments on Ragamuffin Studies: Declaration! The Pursuit of HappinessElisheva Hannah Levinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16061377724926154037noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6059095776066394557.post-32183035376183521322009-07-13T15:48:11.894-06:002009-07-13T15:48:11.894-06:00Miriam,
I look forward to any comments that are m...Miriam,<br /><br />I look forward to any comments that are made thoughtfully, whether the commenter agrees with me or not. <br /><br />Thoughts on Part 1 Comment:<br />You and I do not differ on our understanding of the history of the founding of this country, but we do disagree about the full expression of the philosophy under which it was founded. Certainly, I understand that the Enlightenment values of which I speak are Western, and were heavily influenced Christianity. (I do not accept that there is anything called "Judeo-Christian", being a Jew, I am well aware of great differences between Christian universalism and Jewish particularism . . . but's that's another discussion. Christians, being the dominant religion in the culture are often blind to these differences). <br /><br />The Constitution, in the First Amendment forbids the establishment of any particular religion. Although the predominantly Christian founding fathers believed that their own cherished beliefs were right and correct, enough of them had also seen the great strife in Europe caused by religious warfare to want to prevent that on our shores. That the Constitution recognizes the predominant dating system of the West does not imply the establishment of Christianity as the religion of the United States. That the Constitution recognizes the Sabbath day customs of the vast majority of citizens at that time, also does not imply the establishment of any religion. The Bill of Rights ennumerates certain individual rights.<br /><br />With respect to your comment about homosexuality, all such laws have been enventually struck down as unconstitutional, and with good reason. Society is not a human being, and has no particular interest. Society is a collection of individual human beings, each of whom has his or her own interests. Each individual has the right to pursue those interests so long as she does not violate the individual rights of others. If you do not like homosexuals, you are free not to live among them. And they are equally free to disdain you. What you are not free to do is force them to see things your way. <br /><br />In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson very deliberately set about to use the much more generic term 'Creator' than to use words that would imply adherence to any sectarian confession in order to make his words as broadly interpretable as possibleElisheva Hannah Levinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16061377724926154037noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6059095776066394557.post-4580480661056871642009-07-12T21:01:28.338-06:002009-07-12T21:01:28.338-06:00“Although the founders understood the need for a v...“Although the founders understood the need for a virtuous and moral society in order to maintain liberty, they also understood the terrible violation of human liberty often done in the name of establishing particular religions.” I agree with you except that they were mainly afraid of establishing a particular sect of Christianity which is evidenced: George Mason, a member of the Constitutional Convention and recognized as `The Father of the Bill of Rights', submitted this proposal for the wording of the First Amendment: `All men have an equal, natural and unalienable right to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience; and that no particular sect or society of Christians ought to be favored or established by law in preference to others.' (Kate Mason Rowland, The Life of George Mason [New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1892,] Vol I, p. 244.) Thus the context of their discussion.<br /><br /> “This is an important point, because too many conservatives seem to want to establish their particular (Christian) religious confession.” Christians don’t want the government to force people to believe in the Christian religion, but they do want it to abide by Christian values, just as the founders did:<br />"It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible" President George Washington, September 17th, 1796<br />"The religion which has introduced civil liberty is the religion of Christ and His Apostles.... This is genuine Christianity and to this we owe our free constitutions of government."Noah Webster<br />"The reason that Christianity is the best friend of Government is because Christianity is the only religion that changes the heart." President Thomas Jefferson<br />"The highest story of the American Revolution is this: it connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity." President John Adams<br />"Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers. And it is the duty as well as the privilege and interest, of a Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers." First Chief Justice of Supreme Court John Jay<br />"We've staked the whole future of American civilization not on the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future of all our political institutions upon the capacity of each and all of us . . . to Govern ourselves according to the commandments of God. The future and success of America is not in this Constitution, but in the laws of God upon which this Constitution is founded." President James Madison<br />"The Bible is the Rock on which this Republic rests." President Andrew Jackson<br />"Our laws and institutions must necessarily be based upon and embody the teaching of the Redeemer of mankind. It is impossible that is should be otherwise; and in this sense and to this extent our civilization and our institutions are emphatically Christian . . . this is a Christian nation." US Supreme Court, 1892<br /><br />The quotes I could reference are seemingly limitless. Whether one likes it or not, this nation began as a Christian nation. Yet, it was a nation that welcomed people of all backgrounds, but expected them to abide by laws based in Judeo-Christian values.<br /><br />I avoid party labels as they are both divisive and a hindrance to honest debate. I am simply a Christian who votes based on Christian values. For this topic I recommend the book “The Silencing of God: The Dismantling of America’s Christian Heritage” by Dave Miller, Ph.D. I’m not asking you to believe in Christ, though of course I believe it would be good, what I’m asking is that you review the plethora of evidence that this nation was founded with Christianity at the forefront of importance. The Christian history of our nation has been ignored in history classrooms for the last 50 years and what is contained in this book, and others like it, will completely surprise you. The quest for balanced knowledge is paramount in our current times. Thank you for “hearing” me out. I will leave this as my last response. God Bless you!Miriamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6059095776066394557.post-24175496841608452842009-07-12T20:56:43.297-06:002009-07-12T20:56:43.297-06:00If you will allow me, I have split my response int...If you will allow me, I have split my response into two entries, here is the first:<br /><br />The “Enlightenment Idea” of not violating the rights of others is simply a Judeo-Christian value that has been renamed to sound more humanistic and secular. The full sentence in the Declaration of Independence reads “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Our Creator endows us with rights that He expects us to exercise within His laws, the founders were well aware of this, that is why they made the point that these rights come from God. (Notice the Declaration also refers to “Nature’s God” and “Divine Providence”) They certainly weren’t trying to avoid religion in this document. So the next question is: what God are they referring to? Go to Art. I, Sec. 7 of the US Constitution and find the sentence that begins “If any Bill shall not… (Sundays excepted)…” Why take Sunday off? Because they were Christian and believed in the God of Christ. Otherwise it would have been Saturday (for the Jewish), Friday (for the Muslim) or any other day (for atheists, Buddists, etc.). Further evidence is in Art. VII where the Constitution closes with “in the Year of our Lord,” a specific reference to Christ. (referring to the dating using B.C. “Before Christ” and A.D. “anno Domini” which means “year of our Lord”). <br /><br />While it is true that the founders were fearful of the potential interference by the federal government in its ability to place restrictions on the free exercise of the Christian religion (which they experienced first hand under British rule), it is totally false to assume they did not want the nation to retain any attachment to it. Specifics of the religion were to be left up to the states. The Christian religion is inherently assumed and implicitly present in the Constitution and obvious in MANY official documents across the US both then and now: Consider the state constitution of Massachusetts “Part the First” Art. II claims it is “the duty of all men in society, publicly, and at stated seasons to Worship the Supreme Being, the great Creator, and Preserver of the universe.” Which God? Read down through Art. III—the one worshipped by Protestants. Or more specifically see “Part the Second” Ch.II, Sec.I, Art.II, where it requires the governor to “declare himself to be of the Christian religion.” 7 of the 12 original states explicitly required office holders to be of the Protestant religion. Overall, every single one of the states enacted constitutional acknowledgement of the one religion of Christianity. <br /><br />The founders recognized that you can’t force people to believe in the Christian religion, but they had to abide by laws based in it. Take for example homosexuality, where I personally believe that this behavior does in fact violate the rights of others (especially when viewing its effects on society as a whole), many people in today’s culture would disagree vehemently, claiming the behavior is harmless to others. However, all of the original colonies treated it as a criminal offense, as did all 50 states in the coming years. Some even made it punishable by death. This was due to their Judeo-Christian values.Miriamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6059095776066394557.post-65234706509872688332009-07-08T11:41:34.099-06:002009-07-08T11:41:34.099-06:00No, the Enlightenment idea of the pursuit of happi...No, the Enlightenment idea of the pursuit of happiness means that a person can do what he or she deems good for his or her own life, so long as those actions DO NOT VIOLATE the rights of others to life, liberty and property/pursuit of happiness.<br /><br />Although the founders understood the need for a virtuous and moral society in order to maintain liberty, they also understood the terrible violation of human liberty often done in the name of establishing particular religions. Therefore, in the United States, there is no established religion, and people are not forced to subscribe to or finacially support a particular religion. <br />This is an important point, because too many conservatives seem to want to establish their particular (Christian) religious confession. <br /><br />This is one reason why I am not Conservative. Rather, I am libertarian.Elisheva Hannah Levinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16061377724926154037noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6059095776066394557.post-91087674232465743892009-07-07T11:27:01.770-06:002009-07-07T11:27:01.770-06:00Something further to mention is that the founders ...Something further to mention is that the founders were deeply religious and when they wrote "the pursuit of happiness" it must be understood that the pursuit was to be kept within context of Almighty God's laws. The pursuit of happiness didn't mean you could do whatever you wanted. That point seems to be lost on today's culture.Miriamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6059095776066394557.post-944581947933292252009-06-10T02:50:15.314-06:002009-06-10T02:50:15.314-06:00Brother David Steindl-Rast :
Gratefulness is the...Brother David Steindl-Rast : <br /><br />Gratefulness is the key to a happy life that we hold in our hands, because if we are not grateful, then no matter how much we have we will not be happy -- because we will always want to have something else or something more.I have liked your blog. I will come again to your site. Keep it up!BRENT KRUEGERhttp://www.clickhappiness.com/elife-magazine/happiness.aspnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6059095776066394557.post-58738799279766433232008-07-05T16:17:00.000-06:002008-07-05T16:17:00.000-06:00Great post (as always). I think "pursuit of happin...Great post (as always). I think "pursuit of happiness" is a brilliant phrase and I do think it was quite a revolutionary idea at the time.Amiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05583971319806873447noreply@blogger.com