Religious Freedom

There is a movement out there in the US that is trying to establish Christianity as the only religion of the Federal Government.  They cite publications of the founding fathers that indicate that they were Christian.  They therefore say that the principles the US is based on should be openly acknowledged as Christian and from the Bible.  I disagree.  The world of the founding fathers were replete with various of flavors of infighting Christianity, the principles that the US is founded on are not solely Christian, and the US uphold more principles than its founding.

The world of the founding fathers had various religions.  Any religion of significance at that time was Christian.  The pilgrims fled religious persecution from the Anglicans of England, which was and still is the state religion of England.  Many what we consider Christian factions were regarded then as different religions.  They did not agree in many ideas.  In such an environment was the letter drafted by Thomas Jefferson in 1802 that established the concept of the separation of church and state.  Today we have man more religions in the US.  We have Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Wicca, Paganism, and Atheism to name a few non-christian based religions.  We also have more christian based religions to include Mormonism, Rastafarianism, Jehova Witnessism, and Fundamentalism.  So in the continual growth of the US we have broadened the definition of religion to include all faiths.  As such the separation between state and all religions should be upheld.  Now you may say that the state is not to infringe on religion, but religion is to infringe on state.  I also disagree.  The separation between church and state must be both ways in order for it to be practical.  Only the religious influence on the elected officials are the only way religion is allowed to influence the state.  Thus the principle of "For the People and by the People" is upheld.

The principles that the US are founded on are found in the Bible, but not only in the Bible.  Among the basic principles are life, liberty and happiness.  All the major religions embrace life, if they didn't they wouldn't be major religions.  Who would follow such a religion?  Liberty is a basic human need and throughout history people have sought it.  Its often that freedom is the main drive to start a religion.  Judaism started with Moses taking the Jewish people away from slavery.  Happiness is also a basic human need.  Part of happiness is the need to prosper.  I can't think of any major religion that counters the need to prosper.  For the US to make a statement of some kind that they principles the US is founded on purely Christian religion would be fraudulent.  These principles are not exclusively Christian.  They are innate human principles.  You may say that they are Christian principles in the Bible.  While this may be true it doesn't make it appropriate for the US to make or assert religious based principles.  The US must keep the separation of church and state.

The US has founding principles but has many other principles that were adopted over time in the pursuit of freedom.  Woman's rights, making slavery illegal, racial integration, are examples of these principles not found in the Bible.  For the US to uphold only its founding principles would be denying the history and the precedence of our ancestors.  If the US were to make a statement of some kind that says that it's founding principles are only Christian, then it would be denying the principles it has taken on over time by implication.  You may disagree, but the US is more than just it's founding.

I have argued that founding fathers had a different religious landscape than today, that the founding principles of the US are not solely Christian, and that the founding principles are not the only principles that make up the US. The idea that the US needs to make a statement of any kind indicating favor to one religion over the rest is unnecessary and could spur infighting among the religions.  This is not good for the US in any way.  I thoroughly disagree with the idea that the US is based solely on Christian principles and needs to state so.  The principles of the US are constantly in flux as time goes on, this is the democratic way.