<the GOD of our forefathers>
Most of the Founding Fathers were Deists,
which is within 2-standard-deviations of being an atheist.
Jefferson, for instance, wrote a version of the New Testament,
with all the miracles ("magic tricks", he called them) taken out. angelfire.com
So, if you look with open eyes, our first Fathers didn't have a God. They thought religion was useful, for its ethical teachings, and no more.
You're avoiding my question: What God would bless what our soldiers are doing in Iraq and Afghanistan and Guantanamo?
What would be the ethics and priorities of such a God? Would He love everyone, or just his Chosen People? Would he bless just our soldiers, or the soldiers of every nation, including our enemies? Could He bless any soldiers?
Perhaps the God of George "Town Destroyer" Washington would.
Or the God of Andrew "Trail of Tears" Jackson.
Or General "My God is Bigger Than Yours" Boykin.
Or this God, whose instructions include killing prisoners and civilians:
The Israelites captured the king of Ai and brought him to Joshua. They also chased the rest of the men of Ai into the desert and killed them. The Israelite army went back to Ai and killed everyone there. Joshua kept his sword pointed at the town of Ai until every last one of Ai's twelve thousand people was dead. But the Israelites took the animals and the other possessions of the people of Ai, because this was what the LORD had told Joshua to do. Joshua made sure every building in Ai was burned to the ground. He told his men to kill the king of Ai and hang his body on a tree. Then at sunset he told the Israelites to take down the body, throw it in the gateway of the town, and cover it with a big pile of rocks. Those rocks are still there, and the town itself has never been rebuilt. Joshua 8:24-29
Or this God, who instructs that all the enemy, combatants and civilians, are to be either killed or raped:
Israel's soldiers gathered together everything they had taken from the Midianites, including the captives and the animals. Then they returned to their own camp in the hills of Moab across the Jordan River from Jericho, where Moses, Eleazar, and the other Israelite leaders met the troops outside camp. Moses became angry with the army commanders and said, " I can't believe you let the women live! They are the ones who followed Balaam's advice and invited our people to worship the god Baal. That's why the LORD punished us by killing so many of our people. You must put to death every boy and all the women who have ever had sex. But do not kill the young women who have never had sex. You may keep them for yourselves." - Numbers 31:11-18
Which God would bless our troops? Not the one who said:
So if you are about to place your gift on the altar and remember that someone is angry with you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. Make peace with that person, then come back and offer your gift to God. - Matthew 5:23-24 |
