Journal Community

Explore Group

Do we need religion to have ethics? Is it possible that a world without religion can be, on the whole, a better place to live?

« »
Recommend a comment by clicking the recommendation icon
  • Without an army, Zach, all the deists would be speaking from a British brig or worse. The battle cry of Washington's army was 'No King but King Jesus' when they successfully attacked the Hessians at Trenton. Had they known they were fighting for the atheistic ideals they wouldn't have fought at all.
    Most of the officers of Washington's army were ministers. The army wouldn't be led by atheists.
    The colonies were populated by the descendants of religious refugees. When did they go atheist? They were fearful of the King setting up his state religion in the colonies: the Church of England. That Church was the extension of the King's hand, a political institution, not a Church.
    Did you know that Jefferson prayed? John Adams too? They seemed to be praying to.......GOD......with all the usual phrasing. Lincoln declared a national day of prayer.

    Recommend

    • Nonsubscriber comments are set to "Hide" Show this comment +

      Ah, so because the average uneducated North American farmer of the time was a Christian, thus the Founding Fathers were Christians too? Because they, after all, were the ones who wrote the Constitution. I wonder why they said the following, then:

      "It is too late in the day for men of sincerity to pretend they believe in the Platonic mysticisms that three are one, and one is three; and yet that the one is not three, and the three are not one. But this constitutes the craft, the power and the profit of the priests." --Thomas Jefferson, in a letter to John Adams, 1803

      "Christianity neither is, nor ever was, a part of the Common Law." --Thomas Jefferson, in a letter to Thomas Cooper, 1814

      "The truth is, that the greatest enemies of the doctrine of Jesus are those, calling themselves the expositors of them, who have perverted them to the structure of a system of fancy absolutely incomprehensible, and without any foundation in his genuine words. And the day will come, when the mystical generation [birth] of Jesus, by the Supreme Being as his father, in the womb of a virgin, will be classed with the fable of the generation [birth] of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter." --Thomas Jefferson, to John Adams, Apr. 11, 1823

      "Gouverneur Morris had often told me that General Washington believed no more of that system (Christianity) than did he himself." --Thomas Jefferson, in his private journal, Feb.1800

      ". . . Some books against Deism fell into my hands. . . It happened that they wrought an effect on my quite contrary to what was intended by them; for the arguments of the Deists, which were quoted to be refuted, appeared to me much stronger than the refutations; in short, I soon became a thorough Deist." --Benjamin Franklin, in his autobiography

      "The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason." --Benjamin Franklin, in Poor Richard's Almanac

      "In the affairs of the world, men are saved, not by faith, but by the lack of it." and "I looked around for God's judgments, but saw no signs of them." and "If we look back into history for the character of the present sects in Christianity, we shall find few that have not in their turns been persecutors, and complainers of persecution. The primitive Christians thought persecution extremely wrong in the Pagans, but practiced it on one another. The first Protestants of the Church of England blamed persecution in the Romish Church, but practiced it upon the Puritans. They found it wrong in Bishops, but fell into the practice themselves both here (England) and in New England." --Benjamin Franklin

      "The New Testament, they tell us, is founded upon the prophecies of the Old; if so, it must follow the fate of its foundation.'' --Thomas Paine, from the Age of Reason

      "Whenever we read the obscene stories, the voluptuous debaucheries, the cruel and torturous executions, the unrelenting vindictiveness, with which more than half of the Bible is filled, it would be more consistent that we call it the word of a demon than the word of God. It is a history of wickedness that has served to corrupt and brutalize mankind." --Thomas Paine, from the Age of Reason

      "The story of Jesus Christ appearing after he was dead is the story of an apparition, such as timid imaginations can always create in vision, and credulity believe. Stories of this kind had been told of the assassination of Julius Caesar."--Thomas Paine, from the Age of Reason



      Recommend

Page: « Previous Next »

Add a Comment

We welcome your thoughtful comments. Please comply with our Community rules. All comments will display your real name.

Want to participate in the discussion?

Or log in or become a subscriber now for complete Journal access.

  • Clear
  • Post
Your Profile Here…

Set up your profile to connect with members of Journal Community.

Your profile gives you access to personal messages, connections, and Group invitations.

Your Groups Here…

Participate in engaging dialogue on topics that matter to you and other members of your group.

When you join groups you'll find them for easy access here. Learn new perspectives and educate each other.....