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Pastimes : Ask God -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: mark silvers who wrote (27651)	10/10/1999 12:20:00 AM
From: nihil	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 39621

I think in those days, people usually divided their religious thoughts into "public worship" and "private worship." What one really believed could only be discovered by close friends or under torture. I don't think joining in the common believes of the day unless there is a serious attempt to deceive can really be called hypocrisy. Almost every thoughtful persons have beliefs that don't fully conform to their own religious community's beliefs. Many Christians have IMO an unfortunate desire to force conformity on fellow believers (like god and Saint Peter murdering Sapphira and Ananias). One quickly learns to conceal his own beliefs when different ideas result in charges of heresy. I don't think the Founding Deists were afraid to discuss their own beliefs, but they just didn't want to stir up animosity in conflict with their political objectives. The woods were full of wild Presbyterians who had the most awful ideas, poor country ignorant folks, like Presidents of the College of New Jersey -- Witherspoon, Aaran Burr (#1) and Jonathan Edwards -- a really fanatic crowd. Madison's survival of his mentor -- Witherspoon -- was remarkable evidence of his intellectual independence.