Then why did Jefferson declare in 1816 that he was a Christian?In 1803 he said:
"I am a Christian in the only sense in which he wished any one to be; sincerely attached to his doctrines in preference to all others..."
If one reads between the lines, he is rejecting the divinity of Jesus Christ and claiming that Jesus never wished to be worshipped or regarded as divine. You yourself admit that he rejected Christ's divinity, if not, this quote would make it clear:
And the day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the supreme being as his father in the womb of a Virgin Mary, will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter.... But we may hope that the dawn of reason and freedom of thought in these United States will do away [with] all this artificial scaffolding.
-Thomas Jefferson, letter to John Adams, 11 April 1823
I've already stated that most of the founders were professed Christians. It does not matter. It is quite possible to profess Christianity without believing that the government should practice and/or prefer Christianity. John Adams is a good example: no one doubts that he was a Christian, yet he signed and proclaimed the Treaty of Tripoli, which stated that "the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion". Are you doubting his Christianity? Or perhaps his sincerity?
For a more malevolent example of someone who professes Christianity yet does not believe in Christian government, one only need go back one Presidential administration.
-Eric
One need only look at the president occupant of PA avenue to see that presidents no longer follow the U.S. Constitution. No one does! They have relegated it to a relic along with the Decl. of Indep.
But, that does not take away the fact that our founders put the United States under the sovereignty of God - no doubt about it. I recommend you get yourself a copy of "The Christian History of the Constitution of the United States, Vol. 1, by Verna M. Hall. After reading that, you will no longer doubt that the Constitution is a Christian document. It is not a secular document (secular means having nothing to do with God), but it is a CIVIL document imbued with Christian moral principles. No doubt about it. It is even signed "The Year of Our Lord" - that was no accident - every word in that document was CAREFULLY thought out. Who do you suppose they meant by Lord?
We agree on Jefferson except that he was not a deist since he followed Christ. And he was not even around during the framing of the Constitution.
These are tired arguments and skimpy. Is this the best you got? Just as you secular humanists act on your worldview, Christians do as well. Do you think a Chrsitian would go along with a humanist agenda? Think again. You don't understand Christianity. It is the antithesis of humanism. The 1st Amendment is meant to prevent a NATIONAL church and that is all. It does not prohbit the government from engaging in religious activity (which it did as seen in my earlier examples!) or people from exhibiting religious behavior wherever and whenever they want. Engaging in religious activity is not tantamount to a state church. The 1st amendment says "Congress shall make no law..." and they are the ONLY ones who can establish a state church. Roy Moore can't and you can't and a judge can't. Only Congress.
The treaty of tripoli has a lot of controversy surrounding it. For every single exmaple you have like this, I can come up with 100 Christian quotes and examples. If you want to go tit for tat, I will overwhelm you with quotes and facts. Enough of this nonsense. The U.S. was a Christian nation - and only a biased or ignorant person would try to say otherwise.