With about 470 million followers, Buddhism one of the major world religions, constitutionally protected in the USA. It offers another choice to dismiss the notion of being Christian, and unfortunately the folks who drafted the 1st Amendment saw only religion through the lens of the only religion they could have fathomed; Christianity - and its many sects, which were what prompted 1A. They could not have imagined Satanism, Islam, VooDoo and many others would find a loophole in their words.
So? This is required for free will, and without the option to "dismiss Christianity" the entire New Testament means nothing.
America was founded with Christian principles and Christianity being the status quo is essential to the essence of America. We're seeing proof of that now...America is fading; fast.
If the founders had their true intention communicated on the paper
there would not be all this trouble going on.
Free will to choose which religion one subscribes to would still exist, but you'd need to go elsewhere to do so. If you want to live in a society with no religious influence at all, you go to a Communist country ... but try not to get trampled by all the people trying to flee it.
Buddha was a sinner who abandoned his family and his responsibilities to pursue enlightenment but eventually came to know God.
Interesting. I did not know this.
I think his story mirrors that of many of Christ's disciples. :)
Perhaps.
I think Christ and Buddha would have liked each other,
At prima facie, I think you may be right.
But this argument would require a longer discussion, whereas their values were quite different. Though he had other teachings, Buddha was primarily about "self".
Our civilization is falling apart because America has, for the most part, moved away from the teachings of God.
Few churches even teach The Word anymore.
So many revisions of The Holy Bible which stripped away its essence in hopes to clarify it, how could one hope to understand God's Word now?
But that does not mean that Buddhism is dismissive of Christianity, and it certainly does not mean that it exists in opposition to it.
When I was a teen, the Lesbians and Gays just wanted the right to get married.
(squnits one eye at ya) There is no grey area about a dangerous force.
It is either totally aligned with your direction or it can and may push you off course
even if at first it doesn't seem to be pushing in direct opposition.
Buddhist pede here, I have friends from Christian and Buddhist faith, we get along with each other extremely well. In fact, Christianity and Buddhism have a lot more in common than you think :)
No. Jefferson voiced support for “Turks” and “Mahometans,”
who only happened to be Muslim, a term he did not know
despite owning a Queer Ran
About a quarter of African slaves were Muslim, but most of the population at the time did not acknowledge that "Muslims" or "Islam" existed in America, because they simply didn't know.
You do realize the Crusades... which kinda had a tiny bit to do with taking the holy lands back from the Islamics... happened before the folks who drafted the 1st amendment. Like, LONG before. Also not uncommon for the Christians to burn people at the stake for supposedly worshiping the devil and practicing voodoo so clearly they were familiar with satanism and voodoo. SO, if they intended for it to only apply to the Christians, they would have said so, because they were damn sure familiar with the others.
You do realize that USA had no part in the Crusades which happened around year 1200. America had not even been "discovered" yet.
Don't know why you mentioned it. Nobody but Ben Franklin would have even had that knowledge...and he probably did .. but ..didn't input it in the Declaration of Independence...probably because there were no Muslims in the New World. at that time or were so few they were not important enough to consider.
James Madison is credited with writing the 1st Amendment.
He was born in Virginia about 60 years after the Salem witch trials in Massachusetts. He didn't have the internet or a door to door Encyclopedia salesman to inform him of the past in another State. Unless you have proof to the contrary,wicthcraft would not have even been on his radar or scope of knowledge.
1A' religious aspect was written ONLY to prescribe no discrimination against Catholics seeking to run for public office in a majority Protestant America.
It was part of history, something people back then seemed to have a better grasp of than most folks today. Same as the witch burnings, which in Britain totaled around 200k between 1484 and 1750 when one of the Popes made it a killing offense. Something that went on for hundreds of years in western Europe, up to and past the time the first colonists arrived, and you don't think the founding fathers knew anything about it? These were educated men. They read. They studied. And yeah, they knew history.
You're talking here about British-European history
to try to prove a point about The 1st Amendment
which mentioned religion only because of ONE MATTER;
Catholics wanted to run for public office.
This is very well documented by the guy who WROTE it
so it does not matter what other aspect you think influenced it.
No sensible argument to the contrary can be made about it
and so persisting shows you are trying to pervert the philosophy
which loomed the very fabric of America. Are you her enemy?
With about 470 million followers, Buddhism one of the major world religions, constitutionally protected in the USA. It offers another choice to dismiss the notion of being Christian, and unfortunately the folks who drafted the 1st Amendment saw only religion through the lens of the only religion they could have fathomed; Christianity - and its many sects, which were what prompted 1A. They could not have imagined Satanism, Islam, VooDoo and many others would find a loophole in their words.
Few people are both Christian and Buddhist.
America was founded with Christian principles and Christianity being the status quo is essential to the essence of America. We're seeing proof of that now...America is fading; fast.
If the founders had their true intention communicated on the paper
there would not be all this trouble going on.
Free will to choose which religion one subscribes to would still exist, but you'd need to go elsewhere to do so. If you want to live in a society with no religious influence at all, you go to a Communist country ... but try not to get trampled by all the people trying to flee it.
I have enjoyed your comment. Thank-you.
Interesting. I did not know this.
Perhaps.
At prima facie, I think you may be right.
But this argument would require a longer discussion, whereas their values were quite different. Though he had other teachings, Buddha was primarily about "self".
Few churches even teach The Word anymore.
So many revisions of The Holy Bible which stripped away its essence in hopes to clarify it, how could one hope to understand God's Word now?
When I was a teen, the Lesbians and Gays just wanted the right to get married.
(squnits one eye at ya) There is no grey area about a dangerous force.
It is either totally aligned with your direction or it can and may push you off course
even if at first it doesn't seem to be pushing in direct opposition.
Buddhist pede here, I have friends from Christian and Buddhist faith, we get along with each other extremely well. In fact, Christianity and Buddhism have a lot more in common than you think :)
False on every level. Thomas Jefferson himself voiced support for Muslims, in the US.
Then he got experience trying to work with them and reversed his position.
No. Jefferson voiced support for “Turks” and “Mahometans,”
who only happened to be Muslim, a term he did not know
despite owning a Queer Ran
About a quarter of African slaves were Muslim, but most of the population at the time did not acknowledge that "Muslims" or "Islam" existed in America, because they simply didn't know.
TJ used the word Musselmen.
Your argument falls flat.
You shift the goalposts from founding Fathers to most of the population.
You don't seem interested in honest dialog.
You do realize the Crusades... which kinda had a tiny bit to do with taking the holy lands back from the Islamics... happened before the folks who drafted the 1st amendment. Like, LONG before. Also not uncommon for the Christians to burn people at the stake for supposedly worshiping the devil and practicing voodoo so clearly they were familiar with satanism and voodoo. SO, if they intended for it to only apply to the Christians, they would have said so, because they were damn sure familiar with the others.
You do realize that USA had no part in the Crusades which happened around year 1200. America had not even been "discovered" yet.
Don't know why you mentioned it. Nobody but Ben Franklin would have even had that knowledge...and he probably did .. but ..didn't input it in the Declaration of Independence...probably because there were no Muslims in the New World. at that time or were so few they were not important enough to consider.
James Madison is credited with writing the 1st Amendment.
He was born in Virginia about 60 years after the Salem witch trials in Massachusetts. He didn't have the internet or a door to door Encyclopedia salesman to inform him of the past in another State. Unless you have proof to the contrary,wicthcraft would not have even been on his radar or scope of knowledge.
1A' religious aspect was written ONLY to prescribe no discrimination against Catholics seeking to run for public office in a majority Protestant America.
Absolutely false on every level. Again.
So you are saying that Muslims are good for America
and you will continue to degrade what made it great.
Only Ben Franklin.
It was part of history, something people back then seemed to have a better grasp of than most folks today. Same as the witch burnings, which in Britain totaled around 200k between 1484 and 1750 when one of the Popes made it a killing offense. Something that went on for hundreds of years in western Europe, up to and past the time the first colonists arrived, and you don't think the founding fathers knew anything about it? These were educated men. They read. They studied. And yeah, they knew history.
You're talking here about British-European history
to try to prove a point about The 1st Amendment
which mentioned religion only because of ONE MATTER;
Catholics wanted to run for public office.
This is very well documented by the guy who WROTE it
so it does not matter what other aspect you think influenced it.
No sensible argument to the contrary can be made about it
and so persisting shows you are trying to pervert the philosophy
which loomed the very fabric of America. Are you her enemy?