Dear Dan,
It doesn't pain me that many, if not most, of the Founding Fathers were not only nominally Christian, but devout. My cursory search through the Internet demonstrated to me that the matter is a subject of hot debate, and it is unlikely that I could resolve it to my own satisfaction without reading, not just excerpts of each gentleman's writings, but enough to understand the context. But I believe it is clear that our government was never intended to promote Christianity.
I don't know if you have an agenda. The argument which was going on at the time you entered it, was whether or not Congress should mandate that the Ten Commandments be posted in public schools. In point of fact, my older son will be attending Catholic school next year, where the Ten Commandments are no doubt posted, and where he will receive religious education every day. So, I am certainly not opposed to religious education.
But I believe that government is temporal and worldly, and that it is dangerous and wrong for the government to attempt to inculcate spiritual values. Spiritual education is the sphere of the family and the Church.
Pick up your newspaper today and read about people who were murdered by governments because they were Muslims, or Christians. This is the worst thing that happens when governments promote religion, but it is not the only bad thing.
Christ did not become part of the government. I believe in imitating Christ. |
