asbestosman wrote:The question for me is, why are Americans so extremely conservative? It's perhaps ironic when one considers the history of our nation.
That's a very good question. The founders of this country were as liberal as it comes. Overthrowing a Monarchy to establish an egalitarian government.
If you read Jefferson, it's obvious he was very much against organized religion (as were many other American revolutionaries).
I understand that Ho Chi Min (revolutionary and leader of North Vietnam) stated that Thomas Jefferson was his hero.
Please name which of the founding fathers were against organized religion. If you compare the American War of Independence with the French Revolution, it comes off as conservative. The leaders of 1776 were largely in power in the Early Republic. The American WI was partially a civil war, but there were no massacres of the magnitude of what happened in the Vendee during the French Revolution. The military hero, Washington, refused to become a king and voluntarily gave up power. Napoleon seized power and became emperor. John Adams, one of the American leaders, defended the British soldiers charged after the Boston Massacre.
I suggest that you read Forrest McDonald's Novus Ordo Seclorum: The Intellectual Origins of the Constitution.
Last edited by Dr Moore on Tue Sep 27, 2011 2:28 am, edited 1 time in total.
The first amendment to the Constitution could well be called "freedom from religion". At the time, during the rule of the British Government, there was a state religion (Anglican or the Church of England). The first amendment was a law that forbade the imposition of ANY religion on the masses. It wasn't created to allow all religions (although that was the unintentional outcome). It was created to ban any official religion.
This, or any other post that I have made or will make in the future, is strictly my own opinion and consequently of little or no value.
"Faith is believing something you know ain't true" Twain.
The first amendment to the Constitution could well be called "freedom from religion". At the time, during the rule of the British Government, there was a state religion (Anglican or the Church of England). The first amendment was a law that forbade the imposition of ANY religion on the masses. It wasn't created to allow all religions (although that was the unintentional outcome). It was created to ban any official religion.
Quasi knows this stuff better than I do, but there's also the Jefferson Bible to argue the degree of Jefferson's religiosity.
