“Anonymity is a shield from the tyranny of the majority” – Justice Paul Stevens. When we think of anonymity on the internet, we often think of the negatives. Trolls say horrible things because they can hide behind a screen, but you might not know that anonymity is also a quintessential part of our functioning democracy.
Visit LearnLiberty.org
I sign my real name to my comments because I take responsibility for my place as a citizen in the community of my countries government . We already have enough phony politicians like our anonymous president. When I use a nickname it means nothing at this website and others as they still monitor my comments and time censor my input. Anonymous nicknaming is a sham anyway in this time of global warfare as the NSA and other intelligence agencies know who you are and share your data at the fusion center with the international corporate elite. The phone company helps to identify you as well as your doctor, grocer, library, your favorite stores, the US mail and any group that asks for your social security number.
Very brave of you Paul. Hope it serves you and your country well.
“…but you might not know that anonymity is also a quintessential part of our functioning democracy.”
I cannot take anything you say seriously because you do not even seem to know that the USA is NOT a “democracy”. She has never been a democracy, nor will she ever be one. Remember those documents – the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution?
James Madison, “Father of the Constitution,” argued that in a pure democracy, “there is nothing to check the inducement to sacrifice the weaker party or an obnoxious individual.”
Delegate Edmund Randolph agreed with Madison, saying: “In tracing these evils to their origin, every man had found it in the turbulence and follies of democracy.”
John Adams added: “Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.”
In our nation, the US Constitution and each state’s Constitution are the governments – they define them, they assign the duties to a branch or to an office within a branch. The US Constitution is the supreme LAW of this land that all who serve within our governments – state and federal – are Oath bound to. Each state’s Constitution is the highest LAW of that state except in the few instances where it might conflict with the US Constitution.
The people who SERVE WITHIN our governments – state and federal – have no power or authority on their own. Instead they are ALLOWED to use the authority of the branch or named office within a branch for as long as they keep the “contract” (US Constitution, state Constitution) that they are under, take and KEEP the Oath.
Everything that those who serve within our government has the authority to act for us as our representatives is in writing. Easy to verify, easy to know if it really is a “power” that they may use. If a duty or “power” is assigned to an office or branch, or split up to two different offices (such as treaties must made by the president and 3/4’s of the Senate to be lawful and binding on the American people, the USA) then it is forbidden to any other branch or person/office/agency within a branch to use that “power” (ex: ALL legislation must be created by those that serve within the House of Representatives and the Senate in order to be binding on the American people – if made by any other then those, it is binding on those who serve within government only).
Alexander Hamilton: “The only constitutional exception to the power of making treaties is, that it shall not change the Constitution… On natural principles, a treaty, which should manifestly betray or sacrifice primary interests of the state, would be null.”
Thomas Jefferson: “In giving to the President and Senate a power to make treaties, the Constitution meant only to authorize them to carry into effect, by way of treaty, any powers they might constitutionally exercise.”
Alexander Hamilton: “… a treaty cannot be made which alters the Constitution or which infringes any express exceptions to the power of the Constitution of the United States.”
James Madison, Federalist 45: “The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal
government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and
indefinite. The former will be exercised principally on external objects, as war, peace, negotiation, and foreign commerce; with which last the power of taxation will, for the most part, be connected. The powers reserved to the several states will extend to all the objects which, in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives, liberties, and properties of the people, and the internal order, improvement and prosperity of the State.”
The US Constitution is a very short document, and all should be reading it. Then if you hate to read, look up comments made by the framers, the founders, the debates creating the Constitution so that you will never have someone tell you a lie about what the American government is again. State Constitutions tend to be a bit longer. /rolls eyes
Democracy is mob rule.
There are People who Know that a Person’s Beliefs and their Experiences Influence them, and the Founding Fathers were Influenced by these things with how they wrote the Constitution.
The Founding Fathers were People who Believed that Humans were Created by God.
They Believed what the Bible says, and that Bible Principles are what lead to Peace, Prosperity, and Liberty, and the Founding Fathers were Motivated to Safeguard Americans from the bad Experiences of what happened in Europe.
They Knew that Gravity is Invisible to Humans and yet it is Real, and they Believed in the Invisible Devil and his Invisible Demons, and most of the times they were able to Discern the difference between what is Human imperfection, and those who had the behavior of what was reflected by a Person who was in League with the Devil.
The Founding Fathers did Not want to compel anyone to believe what they did, because they viewed such behavior to be a Characteristic of the Evil Devil, and that is why they Correctly wanted Freedom of Belief and Freedom of Speech.
They Believed that certain parts of the World would at times become Controlled by the Invisible Demons who Hate Humans, and that these Invisible Demons could even become the Real Rulers or Shadow Government of a Country, because the Invisible Demons are the Masters of Every Type of Trickery and Deception, and they have Far Superior Intellect and Knowledge and Experience, to that of Humans, and they Can and they Do Easily Deceive People.
This is why they wrote the Constitution to Protect Americans from the threat of an Evil Tyrannical Government, because they Knew what was Necessary to create a Dictatorship in America, and because Corruption is Forbidden by the Constitution, then the Devil could Not create a Dictatorship in America, and so the Devil left America and went to make Wars and Troubles and Sufferings in others parts of the World.
The Founding Fathers saw the Bad results of what happened in Europe, and they said among themselves that they did Not want the Invisible Demons to create an Evil Tyrannical Government in America.
They Believed that as long as the Elected Representatives were Determined to Obey the Constitution, then the Devil would Flee from America and go to some other part of the World, where the Invisible Devil and his Invisible Demons would cause Wars and Misery and Sufferings.
The Founding Fathers were able to Understand the Proper and Vital Prohibitions Needed to be placed on Elected Representatives by means of the Constitution, along with the Guarantee of certain Inalienable Rights for the Citizens in order to Protect America’s Government from coming under the Control of the Invisible Devil, which would make it an Evil Tyrannical Government.
The Proper and Vital Prohibitions were certain Wrong Attitudes and certain Evil Behaviors, regardless of what People Believe, because Most People Know the difference between what is Wrong and what is Right, and some of these are mentioned as the Inalienable Rights of the Citizens.
It is my Unbiased opinion based on Much Observation over several decades that Hillary Clinton is a Deliberately Lawless and Evil Person and a Hardened Liar and a Malicious Slanderer and a Traitor who does Not like the Constitution, and I think that Hillary Clinton became a Secret Devil Worshipper after she became Good Friends with the Marxist Communist Saul Alinsky who dedicated his book to the Devil, because it came to him under Demonic inspiration, and that Unprincipled book is called Rules for Radicals, and it contains the Devil’s Unprincipled and Deceptive Tactics and Methods for those who are Unprincipled.
We Know that WikiLeaks says that Hillary Clinton likes the methods of the Devil, and one of methods is to infiltrate the Christian Church, and which is described in verse 4 of the Book of Jude, and she suggested that Senator Sanders could be an atheist, because Atheism is a Trait of Dictators, and the Devil is a Hardened and Compulsive Liar and a Malicious Slanderer, and Hillary Clinton is a Liar and a Slanderer with public and Private positions, and I think that Tim Kaine is similar to Hillary Clinton in many ways, and Saul Alinsky would have advised Hillary Clinton to make False promises to Catholics, and Saul Alinsky would have advised Hillary Clinton that if she became President, that she should suspend the Constitution, and then she would take the Catholic Church’s Money to pay for her failed Marxist Socialism and other bad policies, because the People Cannot pay more Taxes and the Elites will Not give one cent, even though they Received Trillions of Dollars in Government Subsides rather than being allowed to go Bankrupt by Free Enterprise Rules, and this shows that the Elites Prefer that American goes Bankrupt and worker lose their jobs rather than having a Free Enterprise Economy that give People Employment, and we Know that Senator Sanders went to the Vatican during the Democratic Party Primaries, and we Know that there are Many Catholics south of the Mexican border with America.
There are People who think that America is a Marxist Socialist Country, because it does Not have Regulated Free Enterprise with Free and Fair Competition, and that Crony Capitalism with no borders and NAFTA and the Trans Pacific Partnership is the way to Create the Equivalent of an overly Marxist Socialist Economy, while making it look like America has a job Creating Free Enterprise Economy.
The result of Marxism is Not to create prosperity, even if everyone is working, but it is to Control People, because the Government has a Monopoly on Every Industry, and Inefficient Industries receive Subsidies with Taxes, and Most and possibly All Industries under Marxist Communism are Inefficient because they are Government owned Monopolies, and they do Not have Free and Fair Competition which can Only come from Private Ownership of Industries, but Marxist Industries Constantly Need Taxpayer Funded Subsidies to support them, but High Taxes Impoverishes the Citizens so that they do not have the money to buy from these Marxist Industries, and the Marxist Economy eventually collapses, and this is why Marxism Cannot created Prosperity, but Only Subsistence for the Many and Immense Wealth for the few Clintonite type Elites, and yet there are some Public Service Industries that the Government must Fund and Manage for good reasons, and the Police is one of several examples of this.
There Must be Sufficient and the Correct amount of Government Spending, which is a Proper Role for Government, which can be called Proper Socialism or Proper Government Spending in the Economy, because the Salaries of the Representatives are a Government Funded job Creation scheme, even as with the Police, who could Not make a profit unless there was so much crime in America that America became a Third World Country, but the Police are there to prevent crime and to prevent America from becoming a Third World Country, and so the Police have to be Funded with Taxpayers’ Money, which benefits the Taxpayers and the rest of the Community, and that is one of many examples of what can be defined as Good Socialism, or Good Government Spending, or a Proper Role for Government, because it is an Investment in the Economy, and a job Creation scheme, and there should Not be any corrupt or incompetent Public Servants, or too many overpaid Public Servants for a Good Economy.
The Founding Fathers Believed that the Invisible Devil wants America to be a Socialist Atheist Dictatorship, and this is why they Wrote the Constitution to Preserve Security, Prosperity, and Liberty, and History Proves Every time, that it is Regulated Free Enterprise with Free and Fair Competition that Creates a Society that has No Unemployment and that is Prosperous, and that can Afford Strong National Defenses, and where Citizens are More Law Abiding and pay lower taxes, because Most People have jobs and are looking after themselves, and do Not have to be criminals or do Not want to be criminals, but the Clintonite Crony Capitalists want to make America an Impoverished Third World Country with High Unemployment and High Taxes with much crime, so that they can Increase their Dictatorship, and Please the KKK who like to put Black People in Jail, and Hillary Clinton called Democratic Party Senator who was in the KKK her Mentor and Friend, and the Clintonite Dictators want to be Extremely Wealthy at the Expense of the American People.
I think that Hillary Nixon Clinton Barack Obama set up, and Secretly Recorded him after he won the Nobel Peace Prize, because Hillary Clinton did Not like that he became the Democratic Party nominee in 2008, and she wanted to be the Real Secret President, and she used Dirty Tricks and Electoral Fraud and Slander to Undemocratically Prevent Senator Sanders from being the Democratic Party nominee, and Hillary Clinton has been Blackmailing Barack Obama to be her Puppet to do the Evil Things that he has done for Hillary Clinton in Syria, Libya, Honduras, and Elsewhere, and we Know that Barack Obama was Not able to prevent Hillary Clinton from having a Secret Unauthorized Clandestine Unsecured Treasonous Private Email Server, even though Barack Obama had Full Knowledge of it, and this is because Barack Obama is Hillary Clinton’s Puppet.
This is why they said that the Price of Liberty is Eternal Vigilance.
The Founding Fathers said that it was Not Necessary for Elected Representatives to be Christians, but there were certain Corrupt things that they were Forbidden from doing by the American Constitution along with the Ensuring of the Inalienable Human Rights of American Citizens.
This would also include where Elected Representatives are Overly Greedy and place their Unnatural Personal Interests above that of the Legitimate Interests of the Public, and these things and other things are mentioned in the Writings of the Founding Fathers, rather than the Constitution.
This is why the Founding Fathers said that there Should be a Free Press, and Freedom of Speech.
This situation with a Free Press and Freedom of Speech is Needed to Preserve the Republic and Democracy, but if it is Misused, then the Devil will try to use it to create an Evil Tyrannical Government in America.
The Founding Fathers Believed that nothing good could come from Corruption, and Hillary Clinton is the Most Corrupt, the Most Devious, the Most Deceptive, the Most Untrustworthy, and the Most Dangerous Politician in American History, who could begin WW 3.
The Founding Fathers were People of such High Integrity, and they wrote words to Remind and to Encourage future Elected Representatives to act with Principle for the Public Good, and to Self Regulate their Speech and their Behavior in an Environment of a Free Press with Freedom of Speech, so that there could be Free and Fair Competition in Election Campaigns, which is a Vital Necessity for a Democracy.
There are Problems with trying to regulate the Press, because with the use of Carefully Crafted Deceptive Arguments by those with Dictatorial inclinations, then regulations can easily be used to suppress free speech, while making it appear as though they are protecting Free Speech, but Americans Should Know that America does Not have a Free Mainstream Press, because the Undemocratic Dictatorial Clintonites have Undermined and Sabotaged America’s Democracy.
This is because American Whistleblowers Cannot give their information to Most of the American Mainstream Media, because Much of the Mainstream Media is in League with the Clintonites, but these Whistleblowers have to leak that information to Foreigners, and this is a Deplorable Indictment on the current state of American Democracy, of which the Media is a Vital Fourth Estate of a Democracy, but the Bribed and Corrupt and Undemocratic Mainstream Media have been close to the point of Treason Against America, with their Extreme Bias and their Unethical Misrepresentation and Slander of Donald Trump, and with how they have written their Propaganda for the Clintons and other Clintonites.
It is Obvious that Much of the American Mainstream Media has come under the Control of the Clintons.
We Know that Donald Trump was a Democrat who was friends with the Crooked Clintons, and this association had a bad influence on him, but he is now a Republican, and does Not do some of the things he did in the past, and he appears to have Genuine desire to Serve the American People, and this is why the Crooked Clintonites are Maliciously Slandering Donald Trump and using their Puppet Media, and even some in the Entertainment Industry to do this.
The Founding Fathers Wrote the Constitution with the Wording that they did, because they wanted to keep the Invisible Devil away from America’s Government, so that Americans could have Prosperity, Liberty, and Democracy.
There are Many American Voters who think that there is no one in American Politics with more of a Past that is Harmful to America and its Allies, who is more Corrupt, more Devious, more Incompetent, more Treacherous, more of a Warmonger, more of a Criminal, more of a Hardened Compulsive Liar, more Untrustworthy, more Unfit, and more Establishment than what Hillary Clinton is, and this is Why Many Voters want Anyone But Clinton to be President of America.
No they didn’t believe what the Bible said to quote Paine…Whenever we read the obscene stories, the voluptuous debaucheries, the
cruel and tortuous executions, the unrelenting vindictiveness with which
more than half 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; and, for my
part, I sincerely detest it, as I detest everything that is
cruel. [Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason]
but since were cutting and pasting here are 35 reasons to keep you up tonight,
In honor of our presidents and our nation’s founding, here are 35 quotes
from the Founding Fathers that prove they did NOT found a ‘Christian’
nation. Painting of the Founding Fathers by Junius Brutus Steams, 1856.
The separation of church and state is one of the cornerstones of
America’s foundation. Conservative Christian fundamentalists have sought
to crush this cornerstone in the hopes of establishing Christianity as
the state religion, an action that would threaten the rest of the
foundation that makes up the Constitution. These conservatives contend
that the Founding Fathers dreamed of making America a Christian state at
the expense of those who practice other religions or none at all.
So here are 35 quotes from the Founding Fathers. Perhaps your
first thoughts are the first four Presidents and maybe Benjamin
Franklin, but there were many other Founding Fathers. Many were signers
of the US Constitution and The Declaration of Independence. They were
lawyers, judges, soldiers, merchants, farmers, and some were even
clergy. And the great majority of them signed the Constitution knowing
that matters of government and matters of religion would be separate.
1. “If I could conceive that the general government
might ever be so administered as to render the liberty of conscience
insecure, I beg you will be persuaded, that no one would be more zealous
than myself to establish effectual barriers against the horrors of
spiritual tyranny, and every species of religious persecution.”
~Founding Father George Washington, letter to the United Baptist Chamber of Virginia, May 1789
2. “Of all the animosities which have existed among
mankind, those which are caused by a difference of sentiments in
religion appear to be the most inveterate and distressing, and ought to
be deprecated. I was in hopes that the enlightened and liberal policy,
which has marked the present age, would at least have reconciled
Christians of every denomination so far that we should never again see
the religious disputes carried to such a pitch as to endanger the peace
of society.”
~Founding Father George Washington, letter to Edward Newenham, October 20, 1792
3. “We have abundant reason to rejoice that in this
Land the light of truth and reason has triumphed over the power of
bigotry and superstition… In this enlightened Age and in this Land of
equal liberty it is our boast, that a man’s religious tenets will not
forfeit the protection of the Laws, nor deprive him of the right of
attaining and holding the highest Offices that are known in the United
States.”
~Founding Father George Washington, letter to the members of the New Church in Baltimore, January 27, 1793
4. “The United States of America have exhibited,
perhaps, the first example of governments erected on the simple
principles of nature; and if men are now sufficiently enlightened to
disabuse themselves of artifice, imposture, hypocrisy, and superstition,
they will consider this event as an era in their history. Although the
detail of the formation of the American governments is at present little
known or regarded either in Europe or in America, it may hereafter
become an object of curiosity. It will never be pretended that any
persons employed in that service had interviews with the gods, or were
in any degree under the influence of Heaven, more than those at work
upon ships or houses, or laboring in merchandise or agriculture; it will
forever be acknowledged that these governments were contrived merely by
the use of reason and the senses.”
~John Adams, “A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America” 1787-1788
5. “The Government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion.”
~1797 Treaty of Tripoli signed by Founding Father John Adams
6. “Thirteen governments [of the original states]
thus founded on the natural authority of the people alone, without a
pretence of miracle or mystery, and which are destined to spread over
the northern part of that whole quarter of the globe, are a great point
gained in favor of the rights of mankind.”
~Founding Father John Adams, “A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America” (1787-88)
7. “We should begin by setting conscience free. When
all men of all religions shall enjoy equal liberty, property, and an
equal chance for honors and power we may expect that improvements will
be made in the human character and the state of society.”
~Founding FatherJohn Adams, letter to Dr. Price, April 8, 1785
8. “I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act
of the whole American people which declared that their legislature
should make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibit
the free exercise thereof, thus building a wall of separation between
church and state.”
~Founding Father Thomas Jefferson, letter to the Baptists of Danbury, Connecticut, 1802
9. “In every country and in every age, the priest
has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot,
abetting his abuses in return for protection to his own. It is error
alone that needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself.”
~Founding Father Thomas Jefferson, in a letter to Horatio Spofford, 1814
10. “Question with boldness even the existence of a
God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of
reason, then that of blindfolded fear.”
~Founding Father Thomas Jefferson, letter to Peter Carr, August 10, 1787
11. “I am for freedom of religion and against all maneuvers to bring about a legal ascendancy of one sect over another.”
~Founding Father Thomas Jefferson, letter to Elbridge Gerry, January 26, 1799
12. “History, I believe, furnishes no example of a
priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government. This marks the
lowest grade of ignorance of which their civil as well as religious
leaders will always avail themselves for their own purposes.”
~Founding Father Thomas Jefferson: in letter to Alexander von Humboldt, December 6, 1813
13. “Because religious belief, or non-belief, is
such an important part of every person’s life, freedom of religion
affects every individual.
State churches that use government power to support themselves and
force their views on persons of other faiths undermine all our civil
rights. Moreover, state support of the church tends to make the clergy
unresponsive to the people and leads to corruption within religion.
Erecting the “wall of separation between church and state,” therefore,
is absolutely essential in a free society. We have solved … the great
and interesting question whether freedom of religion is compatible with
order in government and obedience to the laws. And we have experienced
the quiet as well as the comfort which results from leaving every one to
profess freely and openly those principles of religion which are the
inductions of his own reason and the serious convictions of his own
inquiries.”
~Founding Father Thomas Jefferson: in a speech to the Virginia Baptists, 1808
14. “Christianity neither is, nor ever was a part of the common law.”
~Founding Father Thomas Jefferson, letter to Dr. Thomas Cooper, February 10, 1814,
15. “The civil government functions with complete success by the total separation of the Church from the State.”
~Founding Father James Madison, 1819, Writings, 8:432, quoted from Gene Garman, “Essays In Addition to America’s Real Religion”
16. “And I have no doubt that every new example will
succeed, as every past one has done, in shewing that religion &
Govt will both exist in greater purity, the less they are mixed
together.”
~Founding Father James Madison, letter to Edward Livingston, July 10, 1822
17. “Every new and successful example of a perfect separation between ecclesiastical and civil matters is of importance.”
~Founding Father James Madison, letter, 1822
18. “Strongly guarded as is the separation between
Religion and Government in the Constitution of the United States, the
danger of encroachment by Ecclesiastical Bodies, may be illustrated by
precedents already furnished in their short history.”
~Founding Father James Madison; Monopolies, Perpetuities, Corporations, Ecclesiastical
Endowments
19. “It is only when the people become ignorant and
corrupt, when they degenerate into a populace, that they are incapable
of exercising the sovereignty. Usurpation is then an easy attainment,
and an usurper soon found. The people themselves become the willing
instruments of their own debasement and ruin. Let us, then, look to the
great cause, and endeavor to preserve it in full force. Let us by all
wise and constitutional measures promote intelligence among the people
as the best means of preserving our liberties.”
~Founding Father James Monroe, First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1817
20. “When a religion is good, I conceive it will
support itself; and when it does not support itself, and God does not
take care to support it so that its professors are obligated to call for
help of the civil power, it’s a sign, I apprehend, of its being a bad
one.”
~Founding Father Benjamin Franklin, letter to Richard Price, October 9, 1780
21. “Manufacturers, who listening to the powerful
invitations of a better price for their fabrics, or their labor, of
greater cheapness of provisions and raw materials, of an exemption from
the chief part of the taxes burdens and restraints, which they endure in
the old world, of greater personal independence and consequence, under
the operation of a more equal government, and of what is far more
precious than mere religious toleration–a perfect equality of religious
privileges; would probably flock from Europe to the United States to
pursue their own trades or professions, if they were once made sensible
of the advantages they would enjoy, and were inspired with an assurance
of encouragement and employment, will, with difficulty, be induced to
transplant themselves, with a view to becoming cultivators of the land.”
~Founding Father Alexander Hamilton: Report on the Subject of Manufacturers December 5,
1791
22. “In regard to religion, mutual toleration in the
different professions thereof is what all good and candid minds in all
ages have ever practiced, and both by precept and example inculcated on
mankind.”
~Samuel Adams, The Rights of the Colonists (1771)
23. “That religion, or the duty which we owe to our
Creator, and the manner of discharging it, can be directed only by
reason and conviction, not by force or violence; and therefore all men
are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the
dictates of conscience; and that it is the mutual duty of all to
practice Christian forebearance, love, and charity towards each other.”
~Founding Father George Mason, Virginia Bill of Rights, 1776
24. “It is contrary to the principles of reason and
justice that any should be compelled to contribute to the maintenance of
a church with which their consciences will not permit them to join, and
from which they can derive no benefit; for remedy whereof, and that
equal liberty as well religious as civil, may be universally extended to
all the good people of this commonwealth.”
~Founding Father George Mason, Virginia Declaration of Rights, 1776
25. “A man of abilities and character, of any sect
whatever, may be admitted to any office or public trust under the United
States. I am a friend to a variety of sects, because they keep one
another in order. How many different sects are we composed of throughout
the United States? How many different sects will be in congress? We
cannot enumerate the sects that may be in congress. And there are so
many now in the United States that they will prevent the establishment
of any one sect in prejudice to the rest, and will forever oppose all
attempts to infringe religious liberty. If such an attempt be made, will
not the alarm be sounded throughout America? If congress be as wicked
as we are foretold they will, they would not run the risk of exciting
the resentment of all, or most of the religious sects in America.”
~Founding Father Edmund Randolph, address to the Virginia Ratifying Convention, June
10, 1788
26. “I never liked the Hierarchy of the Church — an
equality in the teacher of Religion, and a dependence on the people, are
republican sentiments — but if the Clergy combine, they will have their
influence on Government”
~Founding Father Rufus King, Rufus King: American Federalist, pp. 56-57
27. A general toleration of Religion appears to me
the best means of peopling our country… The free exercise of religion
hath stocked the Northern part of the continent with inhabitants; and
altho’ Europe hath in great measure adopted a more moderate policy, yet
the profession of Protestantism is extremely inconvenient in many places
there. A Calvinist, a Lutheran, or Quaker, who hath felt these
inconveniences in Europe, sails not to Virginia, where they are felt
perhaps in a (greater degree).”
~Patrick Henry, observing that immigrants flock to places where there is no established religion, Religious Tolerance, 1766
28. “No religious doctrine shall be established by law.”
~Founding Father Elbridge Gerry, Annals of Congress 1:729-731
29. “Knowledge and liberty are so prevalent in this
country, that I do not believe that the United States would ever be
disposed to establish one religious sect, and lay all others under legal
disabilities. But as we know not what may take place hereafter, and any
such test would be exceedingly injurious to the rights of free
citizens, I cannot think it altogether superfluous to have added a
clause, which secures us from the possibility of such oppression.”
~Founding Father Oliver Wolcott, Connecticut Ratifying Convention, 9 January 1788
30. “Some very worthy persons, who have not had
great advantages for information, have objected against that clause in
the constitution which provides, that no religious test shall ever be
required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the
United States. They have been afraid that this clause is unfavorable to
religion. But my countrymen, the sole purpose and effect of it is to
exclude persecution, and to secure to you the important right of
religious
liberty. We are almost the only people in the world, who have a full
enjoyment of this important right of human nature. In our country every
man has a right to worship God in that way which is most agreeable to
his conscience. If he be a good and peaceable person he is liable to no
penalties or incapacities on account of his religious sentiments; or in
other words, he is not subject to persecution. But in other parts of the
world, it has been, and still is, far different. Systems of religious
error have been adopted, in times of ignorance. It has been the interest
of tyrannical kings, popes, and prelates, to maintain these errors.
When the clouds of ignorance began to vanish, and the people grew more
enlightened, there was no other way to keep them in error, but to
prohibit their altering their religious opinions by severe persecuting
laws. In this way persecution became general throughout Europe.”
~Founding Father Oliver Ellsworth, Philip
B Kurland and Ralph Lerner (eds.), The Founder’s Constitution,
University of Chicago Press, 1987, Vol. 4, p.
638
31. “Persecution is not an original feature in any
religion; but it is always the strongly marked feature of all religions
established by law. Take away the law-establishment, and every religion
re-assumes its original benignity.”
~Thomas Paine, The Rights of Man, 1791
32. “God has appointed two kinds of government in
the world, which are distinct in their nature, and ought never to be
confounded together; one of which is called civil, the other
ecclesiastical government.”
~Founding Father Isaac Backus, An Appeal to the Public for Religious Liberty, 1773
33. “Congress has no power to make any religious establishments.”
~Founding Father Roger Sherman, Congress, August 19, 1789
34. “The American states have gone far in assisting
the progress of truth; but they have stopped short of perfection. They
ought to have given every honest citizen an equal right to enjoy his
religion and an equal title to all civil emoluments, without obliging
him to tell his religion. Every interference of the civil power in
regulating opinion, is an impious attempt to take the business of the
Deity out of his own hands; and every preference given to any religious
denomination, is so far slavery and bigotry.”
~Founding Father Noah Webster, calling for no religious tests to serve in public office, Sketches of American Policy, 1785
35. “The legislature of the United States shall pass no law on the subject of religion.”
~Founding Father Charles Pinckney, Constitutional Convention, 1787
These are hardly the words of men who allegedly believed that America
should be a Christian nation governed by the Bible as conservatives
constantly claim. On the contrary, the great majority of the Founders
believed strongly in separation of church and state. So keep in mind
that this country has survived for over two centuries under the
principle of separation and it is only now when conservatives are
attempting to destroy that very cornerstone that we find America
becoming ever more divided and more politically charged than ever
before. If this right-wing faction has their way, America as we know it
will cease to exist and the freedoms we have enjoyed because of the
Constitution will erode.
The Founding Fathers had a vision of this nation and trusted that the
people would protect that vision and improve upon it. Now is not the
time to fail them. Because the day the people fail, so does America.
Thank you, Disqus-ed, for these wonderful words of wisdom by our great Founding Fathers. America has lost through their departure.
What CAL says…so eloquently and strategically…very nice
SHEisDESPICABLE and against the constitution…”…every amendment is subject to reasonable regulations…” the hildebeast circa summer 2016.
Unless you are savvy enough to hide from the NSA, there is no anonymity for the people. However, the elites are allowed to hide behind anonymity. They do not want to disclose the unlimited contributions they give to politicians. They do not want to disclose Bilderberg, and other elite meetings, discussion transcripts. The vast majority of government business is conducted in secret. These are just a few of the examples. Anonymity is a one way street now.
Hide in plain sight…
Always be a light that is shininginthedark
Anonymity seems to have worked pretty well for the .01% so far …
“Controlled by the Invisible Demons who Hate Humans, and that these Invisible Demons could even become the Real Rulers or Shadow Government of a Country, because the Invisible Demons are the Masters of Every Type of Trickery and Deception, and they have Far Superior Intellect and Knowledge and Experience to that of Humans, and they Can and they Do Easily Deceive People, and I think that the Invisible Devil Deceived these two Founding Fathers regarding some aspects of what they Believed” no it isn’t, and you cant quote that because no one ever said or believed rubbish like that. This is the tyranny of the mind they were talking about…
1.Moses was a mythical figure that never existed, there is no evidence of any of this ever happening….none. So the whole opening story of the talking snake tricking a woman to eat from a magical tree is myth.
now for the actual words of the founders…
2.“If I could conceive that the general government might ever be so administered as to render the liberty of conscience insecure, I beg you will be persuaded, that no one would be more zealous than myself to establish effectual barriers against the horrors of spiritual tyranny, and every species of religious persecution.”
~Founding Father George Washington, letter to the United Baptist Chamber of Virginia, May 1789
3.“We have abundant reason to rejoice that in this Land the light of truth and reason has triumphed over the power of bigotry and superstition… In this enlightened Age and in this Land of equal liberty it is our boast, that a man’s religious tenets will not forfeit the protection of the Laws, nor deprive him of the right of attaining and holding the highest Offices that are known in the United States.”
~Founding Father George Washington, letter to the members of the New Church in Baltimore, January 27, 1793
4.“The United States of America have exhibited, perhaps, the first example of governments erected on the simple principles of nature; and if men are now sufficiently enlightened to disabuse themselves of artifice, imposture, hypocrisy, and superstition, they will consider this event as an era in their history. Although the detail of the formation of the American governments is at present little known or regarded either in Europe or in America, it may hereafter become an object of curiosity. It will never be pretended that any persons employed in that service had interviews with the gods, or were in any degree under the influence of Heaven, more than those at work upon ships or houses, or laboring in merchandise or agriculture; it will forever be acknowledged that these governments were contrived merely by the use of reason and the senses.”
~John Adams, “A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America” 1787-1788
5.“The Government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion.”
~1797 Treaty of Tripoli signed by Founding Father John Adams
6.“Thirteen governments [of the original states] thus founded on the natural authority of the people alone, without a pretence of miracle or mystery, and which are destined to spread over the northern part of that whole quarter of the globe, are a great point gained in favor of the rights of mankind.”
~Founding Father John Adams, “A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America” (1787-88)
7. “We should begin by setting conscience free. When all men of all religions shall enjoy equal liberty, property, and an equal chance for honors and power we may expect that improvements will be made in the human character and the state of society.”
~Founding FatherJohn Adams, letter to Dr. Price, April 8, 1785
8. “I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibit the free exercise thereof, thus building a wall of separation between church and state.”
~Founding Father Thomas Jefferson, letter to the Baptists of Danbury, Connecticut, 1802
9. “In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot, abetting his abuses in return for protection to his own. It is error alone that needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself.”
~Founding Father Thomas Jefferson, in a letter to Horatio Spofford, 1814
10. “Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, then that of blindfolded fear.”Founding Father Thomas Jefferson, letter to Peter Carr, August 10, 1787
11. “I am for freedom of religion and against all maneuvers to bring about a legal ascendancy of one sect over another.”
~Founding Father Thomas Jefferson, letter to Elbridge Gerry, January 26, 1799
12. “History, I believe, furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government. This marks the lowest grade of ignorance of which their civil as well as religious leaders will always avail themselves for their own purposes.”
~Founding Father Thomas Jefferson: in letter to Alexander von Humboldt, December 6, 1813
13. “Because religious belief, or non-belief, is such an important part of every person’s life, freedom of religion affects every individual.
State churches that use government power to support themselves and force their views on persons of other faiths undermine all our civil rights. Moreover, state support of the church tends to make the clergy unresponsive to the people and leads to corruption within religion. Erecting the “wall of separation between church and state,” therefore, is absolutely essential in a free society. We have solved … the great and interesting question whether freedom of religion is compatible with order in government and obedience to the laws. And we have experienced the quiet as well as the comfort which results from leaving every one to profess freely and openly those principles of religion which are the inductions of his own reason and the serious convictions of his own inquiries.”
~Founding Father Thomas Jefferson: in a speech to the Virginia Baptists, 1808
14. “Christianity neither is, nor ever was a part of the common law.”
~Founding Father Thomas Jefferson, letter to Dr. Thomas Cooper, February 10, 1814,
15. “The civil government functions with complete success by the total separation of the Church from the State.”
~Founding Father James Madison, 1819, Writings, 8:432, quoted from Gene Garman, “Essays In Addition to America’s Real Religion”
16. “And I have no doubt that every new example will succeed, as every past one has done, in shewing that religion & Govt will both exist in greater purity, the less they are mixed together.”
~Founding Father James Madison, letter to Edward Livingston, July 10, 1822
17. “Every new and successful example of a perfect separation between ecclesiastical and civil matters is of importance.”
~Founding Father James Madison, letter, 1822
18. “Strongly guarded as is the separation between Religion and Government in the Constitution of the United States, the danger of encroachment by Ecclesiastical Bodies, may be illustrated by precedents already furnished in their short history.”
~Founding Father James Madison; Monopolies, Perpetuities, Corporations, Ecclesiastical
Endowments
19. “It is only when the people become ignorant and corrupt, when they degenerate into a populace, that they are incapable of exercising the sovereignty. Usurpation is then an easy attainment, and an usurper soon found. The people themselves become the willing instruments of their own debasement and ruin. Let us, then, look to the great cause, and endeavor to preserve it in full force. Let us by all wise and constitutional measures promote intelligence among the people as the best means of preserving our liberties.”
~Founding Father James Monroe, First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1817
20. “When a religion is good, I conceive it will support itself; and when it does not support itself, and God does not take care to support it so that its professors are obligated to call for help of the civil power, it’s a sign, I apprehend, of its being a bad one.”
~Founding Father Benjamin Franklin, letter to Richard Price, October 9, 1780
21. “Manufacturers, who listening to the powerful invitations of a better price for their fabrics, or their labor, of greater cheapness of provisions and raw materials, of an exemption from the chief part of the taxes burdens and restraints, which they endure in the old world, of greater personal independence and consequence, under the operation of a more equal government, and of what is far more precious than mere religious toleration–a perfect equality of religious privileges; would probably flock from Europe to the United States to pursue their own trades or professions, if they were once made sensible of the advantages they would enjoy, and were inspired with an assurance of encouragement and employment, will, with difficulty, be induced to transplant themselves, with a view to becoming cultivators of the land.”
~Founding Father Alexander Hamilton: Report on the Subject of Manufacturers December 5,
1791
22. “In regard to religion, mutual toleration in the different professions thereof is what all good and candid minds in all ages have ever practiced, and both by precept and example inculcated on mankind.”
~Samuel Adams, The Rights of the Colonists (1771)
23. “That religion, or the duty which we owe to our Creator, and the manner of discharging it, can be directed only by reason and conviction, not by force or violence; and therefore all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience; and that it is the mutual duty of all to practice Christian forebearance, love, and charity towards each other.”
~Founding Father George Mason, Virginia Bill of Rights, 1776
24. “It is contrary to the principles of reason and justice that any should be compelled to contribute to the maintenance of a church with which their consciences will not permit them to join, and from which they can derive no benefit; for remedy whereof, and that equal liberty as well religious as civil, may be universally extended to all the good people of this commonwealth.”
~Founding Father George Mason, Virginia Declaration of Rights, 1776
25. “A man of abilities and character, of any sect whatever, may be admitted to any office or public trust under the United States. I am a friend to a variety of sects, because they keep one another in order. How many different sects are we composed of throughout the United States? How many different sects will be in congress? We cannot enumerate the sects that may be in congress. And there are so many now in the United States that they will prevent the establishment of any one sect in prejudice to the rest, and will forever oppose all attempts to infringe religious liberty. If such an attempt be made, will not the alarm be sounded throughout America? If congress be as wicked as we are foretold they will, they would not run the risk of exciting the resentment of all, or most of the religious sects in America.”
~Founding Father Edmund Randolph, address to the Virginia Ratifying Convention, June
10, 1788
26. “I never liked the Hierarchy of the Church — an equality in the teacher of Religion, and a dependence on the people, are republican sentiments — but if the Clergy combine, they will have their influence on Government”
~Founding Father Rufus King, Rufus King: American Federalist, pp. 56-57
27. A general toleration of Religion appears to me the best means of peopling our country… The free exercise of religion hath stocked the Northern part of the continent with inhabitants; and altho’ Europe hath in great measure adopted a more moderate policy, yet the profession of Protestantism is extremely inconvenient in many places there. A Calvinist, a Lutheran, or Quaker, who hath felt these inconveniences in Europe, sails not to Virginia, where they are felt perhaps in a (greater degree).”
~Patrick Henry, observing that immigrants flock to places where there is no established religion, Religious Tolerance, 1766
28. “No religious doctrine shall be established by law.”
~Founding Father Elbridge Gerry, Annals of Congress 1:729-731
29. “Knowledge and liberty are so prevalent in this country, that I do not believe that the United States would ever be disposed to establish one religious sect, and lay all others under legal disabilities. But as we know not what may take place hereafter, and any such test would be exceedingly injurious to the rights of free citizens, I cannot think it altogether superfluous to have added a clause, which secures us from the possibility of such oppression.”
~Founding Father Oliver Wolcott, Connecticut Ratifying Convention, 9 January 1788
30. “Some very worthy persons, who have not had great advantages for information, have objected against that clause in the constitution which provides, that no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States. They have been afraid that this clause is unfavorable to religion. But my countrymen, the sole purpose and effect of it is to exclude persecution, and to secure to you the important right of religious
liberty. We are almost the only people in the world, who have a full enjoyment of this important right of human nature. In our country every man has a right to worship God in that way which is most agreeable to his conscience. If he be a good and peaceable person he is liable to no penalties or incapacities on account of his religious sentiments; or in other words, he is not subject to persecution. But in other parts of the world, it has been, and still is, far different. Systems of religious error have been adopted, in times of ignorance. It has been the interest of tyrannical kings, popes, and prelates, to maintain these errors. When the clouds of ignorance began to vanish, and the people grew more enlightened, there was no other way to keep them in error, but to prohibit their altering their religious opinions by severe persecuting laws. In this way persecution became general throughout Europe.”
~Founding Father Oliver Ellsworth, Philip B Kurland and Ralph Lerner (eds.), The Founder’s Constitution, University of Chicago Press, 1987, Vol. 4, p.
638
31. “Persecution is not an original feature in any religion; but it is always the strongly marked feature of all religions established by law. Take away the law-establishment, and every religion re-assumes its original benignity.”
~Thomas Paine, The Rights of Man, 1791
32. “God has appointed two kinds of government in the world, which are distinct in their nature, and ought never to be confounded together; one of which is called civil, the other ecclesiastical government.”
~Founding Father Isaac Backus, An Appeal to the Public for Religious Liberty, 1773
33. “Congress has no power to make any religious establishments.”
~Founding Father Roger Sherman, Congress, August 19, 1789
34. “The American states have gone far in assisting the progress of truth; but they have stopped short of perfection. They ought to have given every honest citizen an equal right to enjoy his religion and an equal title to all civil emoluments, without obliging him to tell his religion. Every interference of the civil power in regulating opinion, is an impious attempt to take the business of the Deity out of his own hands; and every preference given to any religious denomination, is so far slavery and bigotry.”
~Founding Father Noah Webster, calling for no religious tests to serve in public office, Sketches of American Policy, 1785
35. “The legislature of the United States shall pass no law on the subject of religion.”
~Founding Father Charles Pinckney, Constitutional Convention, 1787
These are hardly the words of men who allegedly believed that America should be a Christian nation governed by the Bible as conservatives constantly claim. On the contrary, the great majority of the Founders believed strongly in separation of church and state. So keep in mind that this country has survived for over two centuries under the principle of separation and it is only now when conservatives are attempting to destroy that very cornerstone that we find America becoming ever more divided and more politically charged than ever before. If this right-wing faction has their way, America as we know it will cease to exist and the freedoms we have enjoyed because of the Constitution will erode.
The Founding Fathers had a vision of this nation and trusted that the people would protect that vision and improve upon it. Now is not the time to fail them. Because the day the people fail, so does America.