The First Amendment of the Constitution ensures the right to religious freedom and a separation of Church and State to the American people. Laws are created via principles of right and wrong, and are based on an underlying Morality. The contradiction is that, for many people, Morality is enhanced through Religion. Thus, Religion has had lasting undertones in democratic governments representing a religious collective. When governments abandon religious substructures, many times Morality is abandoned as well. This can be seen from the 17 million dead in the concentration camps of Nazi Germany, the 20-46 million dead from famine in Maoist China, or the 2 million dead in the gulags of Communist Russia.
Our founding fathers were mostly religious men. Some followed Deism, a belief in a non-personal Creator, with a primary focus on Nature and Reason. Others remained Christian for the entirety of their lives (many of the founder’s wives fell into this sect as well). Most were practicing Christians that were influenced by Deism. Regardless of the particulars, the Framers of the Constitution understood that a properly developed individual concentrates on both Faith and Reason. Without Faith, we lack purpose, and fall into Materialism and Nihilism. Without Reason, we are reduced to Fanatics practicing Dogmatism. Faith and Reason are two halves of a whole; they are a check and balance for each other. And although the founders were not without their vices, they did create a system unique to the World – one that protects our unalienable rights of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness, instilled in us by our Creator, and which governments are formed to defend.
The decline of Religion in American society has also brought about a deteriorating Moral system. The pursuit of Reason has vanished from many institutions; universities have traded objective truth for indoctrination. Some wandering Souls have been left with nothing. A lack of Faith and Reason has left the unfortunate with their Senses. They depend on Emotion to make decisions. Every human has embraced an ideology or way of living; without Morals and Reason, we are diminished to creatures grasping for a sense of purpose.
American society had made the critical blunder in believing that philosophies of the past are rudimentary, consisting of ignorant beliefs from a simpler time. Greater and more brilliant men have walked the Earth before us. In order to transcend their achievements, we must learn from them. The only way to live one hundred lives is to study one hundred minds that preceded us. We must never compromise our ability to think critically or wrestle with our Salvation. In the words of John Adams, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
Sincerely,
Silence Dogood
I would point out that the gods involved in these religions are rather invisible; they are un-sense-ible in other ways, too; and we have no rational way to separate their (alleged) actions from our own or from random events. We may conclude that religions are not about gods but about humans' concept of gods. There is nothing wrong with that: democracy, justice, and the value of paper money have these same characteristics about them, but we still find them useful. So, if we recognize these characteristics about gods and religion, and we accept religion provides a moral core for (some of) its users, we can easily recognize a moral core can come from other sources with these characteristics. In the way…
I dont see a ...separation...of church and state. I see freedom from religion. Congress can not establish a state religion, such as the Church of England. I dont see how someone can separate church/religion, or lack thereof from their everyday life and their way of thinking. I know that my religion/faith....whatever you choose to call it has a profound effect on every decision I make.