Quote Originally Posted by .blank cd View Post
It's a fact that some theists came here to get away from.....

Religious oppression.

Some were Christian, others were not. They created a land where every individual was free to worship as they pleased and the government had nothing to do with it. This is called secularity. The statement America was founded on Christian principles is inherently false because there are no principles that exclusively apply to Christianity that don't apply to another religion. So in the same vain, you could say America was founded on Buddhist principles or Muslim principles, it doesn't matter.

Guess what it's called when the government starts making laws to benefit one particular religion....

You guessed it. Religious oppression.
We partially agree. On some things though, you are out in left field without a clue. This was founded as a Christian nation. Look it up.

The colony of Plymouth was founded by Pilgrims, English Dissenters or Separatists, Calvinists.
The colonies of Massachusetts Bay, New Haven, and New Hampshire were founded by Puritan, Calvinist, Protestants.
New Netherland was founded by Dutch Reformed Calvinists.
The colonies of New York, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia were officially Church of England.
When New France was transferred to Great Britain in 1763, the Catholic Church remained under toleration, but Huguenots were allowed entrance where they had formerly been banned from settlement by Parisian authorities.
The Colony of Maryland was founded by a charter granted in 1632 to George Calvert, secretary of state to Charles I, and his son Cecil, both recent converts to Catholicism. Under their leadership many English Catholic gentry families settled in Maryland. However, the colonial government was officially neutral in religious affairs, granting toleration to all Christian groups and enjoining them to avoid actions which antagonized the others. On several occasions low-church dissenters led insurrections which temporarily overthrew the Calvert rule. In 1689, when William and Mary came to the English throne, they acceded to demands to revoke the original royal charter. In 1701 the Church of England was proclaimed, and in the course of the eighteenth century Maryland Catholics were first barred from public office, then disenfranchised, although not all of the laws passed against them (notably laws restricting property rights and imposing penalties for sending children to be educated in foreign Catholic institutions) were enforced, and some Catholics even continued to hold public office.
Spanish Florida was ceded to Great Britain in 1763, the British divided Florida into two colonies. Both East and West Florida continued a policy of toleration for the Catholic Residents.
The Province of Pennsylvania was founded by Quakers, but the colony never had an established church.
West Jersey, also founded by Quakers, prohibited any establishment.
Delaware Colony had no established church.
The Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, founded by religious dissenters forced to flee the Massachusetts Bay colony, is widely regarded as the first polity to grant religious freedom to all its citizens.


Religious oppression was a motivating factor for some individuals - the Pilgrims in 1620 is who you are mostly referring to.

However, a larger amount of people came to Virginia, and not due to religious persecution, but rather for the opportunity to make a life for themselves. Back in Europe, generally the eldest son inherited from his father - the others had to fend for themselves. America was an opportunity for many to escape a poor existance in a crowded area, and to create their own life, and to own their own land. These individuals were Christian generally, and Christian churches sprang up everywhere. These are the people who founded this country, not large groups of Muslims, Buddists, etc.

The First Amendment is there to prevent the government from establising a state religion - remember England? The founders were all to familiar with the Church of England, and that the King of England was the head. Review your history to learn about it's rift with the Catholic Church.
The First Amendment does not state that no religion should be in government. It's not a firewall between religion and government. The founding fathers had no problem with religious beliefs and customs being involved with the government, but they did not want the government to dicate a state religion to all, and wanted everyone to have tolerance to practice their religious beliefs as they saw fit.
There is no such thing as separation of Church and State in the Constitution or Bill of Rights. The phrase came from Thomas Jefferson in a letter in 1802. What does it mean? In the words of Justice Hugo Black, it means that "the government cannot promote, endorse, or fund religion or religious institutions". It does not mean that people cannot follow their beliefs in public office, or that no religious activities can be performed on government grounds.