Our Founding Fathers

I am very fortunate in that I have a wide circle of friends and acquaintances, of varying backgrounds, educational experiences and religious beliefs. There are some drawbacks, of course, when dealing intimately with people who have fervently held, divergent at best and diametrically opposed at worst, outlooks on life. Recently, I had the opportunity to be reminded of this mixed blessing. I received an email...

How many rants have been precipitated by those four words? In my case, more than I can count. Whether or not those rants remain internal is determined by a variety of factors...the specifics that set me off, who the originator of the thought was, who sent it to me, what if any good would come from venting my spleen. The deciding factor is usually simply a matter of just how much it pissed me off.

Here is where the little graciousness I possess can, and sometimes does, come into play. If the offending piece is a matter of opinion, I generally just let it go. If the piece offends because of factual error, I will more often than not graciously point out the factual error. If I am offended by the rank stupidity of the piece, I take it as an insult and am often less gracious in my response. This particular rant was set off by a combination of things that appealed to my basest and least pretty character trait, my inability to tolerate stupidity compounded by factual ignorance. Try as I might, I have just never mastered that whole 'suffer fools gladly' thing.

I have tried to find the author of this supposedly anonymous piece, to no avail. I suspect this is in part because the thoughts contained in this particular piece have come to represent commonly held beliefs by a certain segment of the population.

The email I received was entitled "No Longer a Christian Nation", and was in itself a rant against Barak Obama for a statement he allegedly made in a speech.

"We are no longer a Christian nation; we are now a nation of Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists"

was in quotes, and taken as a horror, that such a statement could be made by a Presidential candidate. This statement was so offensive to the author of this anonymous piece because, in the author's words,

"To think that our forefathers fought and died for the right for our nation to be a Christian nation - and to have this man say with pride that we are no longer that. How far this nation has come from what our founding fathers intended it to be!".

And that is what set me off.

My response, in part, to the unfortunate soul who sent me this dribble was as follows:

Time for a history lesson. Our country was founded on basic, Judeo-Christian ideals, ideals which have very little to do with the practice of too many 'modern' Christians. Our founding Fathers, specifically, George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe, would not be termed Christians by 'modern' Christian definition. They all, to a man, fervently believed the Bible was a moral guide, inspired by God, inspiring mankind to revere and respect God, but a construct of MAN, specifically a construct of the Catholic Church. They did not believe that simple belief in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour was the sum total definition of Christianity, nor was it a prerequisite to live a moral life, nor was it a prerequisite to ensure entry into the Presence of God, Jesus and Heaven. Therefore, they are at complete odds with 'modern' Christians.

This is most certainly not my 'opinion', it is historical fact. This is what they each, separately and collectively said, and wrote, for us, their posterity. True, some were closer in their personal beliefs to 'modern' Christians, and they most certainly were not in lock-step on every point, particularly on the specifics of religious belief. But the articles of incorporation, so to speak, were intentionally devoid of requirements of faith in any particular religion, to be as inclusive of all mankind as possible, while respecting the sensibilities of the time.

The more one studies the lives and writings of our Founding Fathers, the more convincing and apparent is their individual and collective genius. They were not creating new thoughts and ideas never before discussed, however. The very concepts of the rights of man, to pursue life, liberty, happiness, and egalitarianism, are all Masonic concepts. Our Founding Fathers borrowed heavily, and in part, took wholesale from, Masonic code in writing our Declaration of Independence, our Bill of Rights, and in setting up our system of government, with separate branches of government and separation of Church and State. Yes, it is established fact that many if not most of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were 'card-carrying', practicing Masons. There is a famous painting of George Washington swearing in...he is wearing an apron. No, he was not cross-dressing, it is a Masonic Apron, and a well appointed one, showing 'rank' in that organization.

'Modern' Christians, to bolster their own beliefs, and to justify imposing their religious sensibilities on a national, secular stage, repeatedly refer to things such as "One Nation under God" as proof that the Founding Fathers believed this nation was designed to be a Christian nation. When our Founding Fathers spoke of, wrote of and referred to "One Nation under God" they were specifically referring to the concept of the egalitarian rights of man, as opposed to what was then commonly accepted as the Divine Right of Monarchy. "Under God", another favorite of the 'modern' Christian, meant that all men had equal rights, at birth, and no one had more right to rule or lead, based merely on the accident of birth. "All men are created equal", "under God", and other "Christian" statements and sentiments were a direct attack on the system of Monarchy, and the system they were trying to distance this country from. These ideas, while not the exclusive property of Masons, were discussed, fleshed out and spread through the intelligentsia of the day, through the Masons and other Fraternal Organizations in the Old World.

Our Founding Fathers believed, and incorporated into the documents of our nation, the concept that religion, on a national scale, was the most evil, the most inhibiting, the most corrupting institution of man. They equated religion, specifically Christianity, with man's oppression of man, and rightly so. In their day, there was no higher authority than the Church, whether that was the Church of England or the Church of Rome. No Monarchy could exist without the blessing of their respective Church. Their legacy to us was a government and a national identity that placed the individual above all else, with the exception of God. Their definition of God was intentionally fluid and amorphous, as it should be when speaking of God, individual belief and government in the same sentence.

If after reading the words of our Founding Fathers, their letters, their speeches, their correspondences of the day in newspapers, records and minutes of meetings both public and private; if after reading history, understanding the hermeneutics of phrases such as "one Nation under God", and "separation of Church and State", you agree with the principles of Washington, Monroe, Madison, Jefferson, et al, THEN and only then can you say you share the Christian Faith of our Founding Fathers. What Christianity has become in modern America, how it is practiced and believed by these 'modern' Christians, is the antithesis of the beliefs and intentions and principles of our Founding Fathers.

As much as I dislike Barak Obama, his ideals, his politics, his character, he is closer to being right about this country not being a "Christian" nation than those who claim it was founded as a "Christian" nation. I am absolutely sincere when I state I don't know which prospect is more frightening...Obama in power or these modern-day, self-proclaimed "Christians" in power. In either scenario, what we are, what we were intended to be as a nation, is in extreme jeopardy. I will fight Obama with my vote. And I will fight, with honest, true, historically accurate logic and reasoning, to the best of my meager ability, these uneducated, misleading and factually wrong emails circulating, spreading lies, half-truths and delusions.

May each of you live, hope, pray and die as you see fit. I hope and pray you share my beliefs. But I will not, now or ever, allow myself or anyone else to force my beliefs on you or on anyone else. I respectfully request the same from you to me and to everyone else.

And that last paragraph is both the true definition of Christianity, as well as a true reflection of the ideals of our Founding Fathers. My son put it best. While I don't know if it is an original thought on his part or not, I am beyond proud of him for if not originating it, then for repeating it. I think it is the perfect sentiment to end this rant, as well as the perfect segue to the next ... (though that is for another time).

The difference between Jesus and Muhammad is, our Prophet says "decide"; their prophet says "submit".