Originally Posted by mrksts
When the Declaration of Independance and Constitution were penned, they were based on accepted moral practices and expectations of the day, and those happened to be Christian. The founding fathers never sought to "prove" God exists or any such thing, but it was just an understood thing with them. They never intended to "separate" church and state in the manner in which some interpret it. If they had sought that separation, then why in the world would they have plastered scripture all over gov't. monuments and buildings, and used "God" in the Declaration itself? In their mindset, it would have been a stupid idea to start a country without faith in God. What the Puritans were escaping was religious persecution, not religion.
Not quite. Snopes has a discussion about the presence of religious references on government buildings. The upshot is that they are typically intended as historical references to the rule of law, including Moses and the ten commandments.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/capital.asp
Originally Posted by mrksts
What we have to be careful of, and what I believe the founding fathers intended, was to never allow any religious group to become more powerful than gov't. and yield power to the church. Historically that has been catastrophic, because it ultimately gave all the power to a few, and would not be "of the people".
How does forcing non-Christians to obey Christian law fit into that philosophy?
Originally Posted by mrksts
Christians, along with every other group has every right to voice opinion and seek to construct laws they believe in. That keeps us in a balance. The conservatives keep the liberals in check, and vice versa.
I agree that Christians have a right to voice opinions and influence governance, but the government has a duty to its citizens not to adopt exclusive Christian policy. I refer again to discrimination against gays who want to marry.
Originally Posted by mrksts
We are still considered a Christian nation, but there are so many diverse beliefs nobody can agree on anything anymore. I've seen social expectations and beliefs change radically over the last three decades. It's no wonder that there is so much turmoil.
A Christian nation? Maybe in the midwest, but I'm a Jew and I'm from New York. Christianity has its place alongside hundreds of other religions, but if you think I'm going to lose my identity to your idea of a "Christian nation," you need to rethink who the oppressor is here.
I'm going to expand a bit on that last statement.
I occasionally hear a prominent Christian, such as Rev. Billy Graham, talk about how Christianity is under attack in this country. I honestly don't know what he means. I think he perceives any rejection of the practice of Christian reliigon as an attack on the faith. He is ignoring the possibility of adopting the virtues of Christianity -- and there are many -- without the entire belief system a la communion, etc.
The irony is that every time legislation is passed that endorses a specifically Christian belief, non-Christians really are being put under seige. Atheists know that "thou shalt not kill" is a good idea. The sanctity of life isn't a specifically Christian idea. Atheists don't necessarily believe that homosexuality is wrong. For what its worth, neither do all Christians.
Gay marriage should be banned in the domain of the church. The church doesn't execute marriage contracts, though -- that job belongs to the state. If two people meet the conditions required to enter a contract, then what difference does it make if they're two gay guys? To the state, it does not, and it should not. If the law of the land becomes the same as the law of the church, where is my freedom of religion?