So one of the topics that my group was mulling over was the common misconception about religion in politics. Based on the events of today, I feel that the topic is very fitting, as I witnessed (and responded to) such a comment during one of my classes. Before I start, I just want to say that this is, in fact, one of my pet peeves.
Anyway, this specific post is aimed at the founding of our country as well as the topic of deism. While we were in our one class, we were in the middle of a discussion regarding Don Quixote (and despite not knowing how we got on this topic) one of the students raised his hand and said, "Well, since America was founded on Christianity..."
So, partially because this happens to irritate me and partially due to lack of judgement, I replied, "No it wasn't." When everyone looked at me, I had to make another statement. After all, our country, contrary to seemingly popular belief, was not founded on the basis of Christianity. In fact, many of our founding fathers were actually deist (they still believe in God, but they are not of the Christian faith). Unfortunately, in our predominantly Christian society, we tend to forget this fact, and rather tend to teach that they were Christian (I remember learning that from one of my elementary school teachers).
This raises the big question: if we are learning something about the foundation of the country, can we truly be responsible citizens? I mean, we can't very well call ourselves responsible Americans if we do not know something like this. After all, since we are not a country based on religion, we cannot get into wars of religion, yet religion is so intimately tied to politics, especially regarding issues such as abortion and gay rights (this coming week happens to be gay pride week at Penn State). So what I want to know is this: how can we be responsible little Americans when we don't even check our facts for one of the most important aspects of our history?
Anyway, if you would like to learn more about deism, historyteacher.net is a website that is used for AP European History classes and has a large portion of one of the powerpoints dedicated to this topic. Also, if you would like proof that I am not fabricating the fact that out country was not founded on the Christian religion, I would like to refer you to the Treaty of Tripoli, article 11. A link can be found here: http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/bar1796t.asp
Yes! I am so happy you included the Treaty of Tripoli. As soon as people realize that the United States isn't a Christian country, religion-entwined political debates will desolve, leading to a more responsible government and populace. Religion doesn't belong in politics, and the Founding Fathers knew that. Sadly, however, many citizens tend to forget that.. (cough) Tea Party (cough).
ReplyDeleteI highly doubt that. People are still going to be influenced by their own religious beliefs (or lack thereof), so it does not matter that America is not founded on Christianity. It would be nice if such political debates did dissolve, but it is not going to happen so long as politicians still hold religious views.
DeleteWhat a great exposé! I completely agree, if we want to be responsibly little Americans then we should at least know what our country is based on. I also find it quite sad that some still teach that our country was based on Christianity. It's like they just took the idea and ran with it without looking back. Get yo facts straight.
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