Most of the Founding Fathers wouldn’t be considered Christian by most American Christians

“…churches show certain books, which they call revelation, or the word of God. The Jews say, that their word of God was given by God to Moses, face to face; the Christians say, that their word of God came by divine inspiration: and the Turks say, that their word of God (the Koran) was brought by an angel from Heaven. Each of those churches accuse the other of unbelief; and for my own part, I disbelieve them all.” - Thomas Paine “Age of Reason”

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Riverman2 · 61-69, M

It was mainly those Founding Father Christians who were responsible for the words in the Declaration of Independence which state that "all men are created equal" and are given "unalienable rights". Further they stated that the purpose of government was the protection of those rights. This was an earth shaking concept at the time. The world was composed only of slaves, subjects, and a handful of rulers.

It's amazing how many people want to destroy that and go back.

Reason10 · 70-79, M

@Riverman2 That is entirely correct. The Declaration Of Independence was a document almost in direct conflict with the times, in its size, its clarity and its historical relevance.

bijouxbroussard · F

@Riverman2 Yes, but still rather ironic that several of the people who penned this had slaves themselves, right ? With such a document, slavery should never have existed here. And it had to be amended to change that.

ChipmunkErnie · 70-79, M

@bijouxbroussard Ironic, yes, but given the times not unexpected. Human beings are VERY good at rationalizing actions that seem irrational in retrospect.

Riverman2 · 61-69, M

@bijouxbroussard You are correct in that irony. The IDEALS they penned were wonderful. The people who penned them were obviously imperfect and hippocritical in that regard. I guess that's why it took another 90 years of tragic slavery and an immensely bloody civil war to finally accomplish what they started. I believe it's still true though that those ideals changed the world then are worth standing for now. It seems ridiculous to throw away all that progress and go back to the way things were before. Without unalienable rights, we again would be subject to rulers deciding what rights we do and do not have, just as it was pre-Declaration.