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, and that every person may here worship God according to the dictates of his own heart.
In this enlightened age, & 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 & holding the highest offices that are known in the United States.
Your prayers for my present and future felicity are received with gratitude; and I sincerely wish, Gentlemen, that you may in your social and individual capacities taste those blessings, which a gracious God bestows upon the righteous.
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right in that it never occurred to him AND THE REST OF OUR FOUNDERS that anyone else would be so stupid and insane NOT TO BE CHRISTIAN
Belinda, your remarks are bigoted and one sided. You can still love God and be an American without being Christian. Statements like this sadden me.
Why he should be right it is now wrong. The basic reason being that, I am qualifying this as a person that believes the Bible is the word of God, will be vilified as being anti freedom as the Bible demands a believer to be personally responsible and this does not abide in the ideas of you only go around once so do it they way you and don’t worry about the consequences.
As I see it, what he was & is true, however our system has been degraded by career politicians who have lost connection to the people.
A good question! Another question concerning this matter: Did our forefathers take into account religions or cultures that practice the killing of infidels (non-believers in their particular faith); i.e. Muslim culture?
“ At the time of the adoption of the constitution, and of the amendment to it, now under consideration [i.e., the First Amendment], the general, if not the universal sentiment in America was, that Christianity ought to receive encouragement from the state, so far as was not incompatible with the private rights of conscience, and the freedom of religious worship.”~Justice Joseph Story
[Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States p. 593]
“ Infidels and pagans were banished from the halls of justice as unworthy of credit.” [Life and letters of Joseph Story, Vol. II 1851, pp. 8-9.]
Right, in that the rule of law under which free men choose to live does not govern the same things as the rule of faith which the faithful may choose to follow and espouse. And that indeed the rule of law protects one’s natural right to live by their chosen rule of faith, be it Christian or otherwise. If citizens desire the freedom to worship their God, they must in turn extend to others the freedom to worship, or not, their God.
As the world revolved into a global market, in order for America to retain it’s wealth and integrity as 1 of the Christian empires unlike her previous family Christian empires in
Europe, George Washingtons’s quote seems to favor an open-minded approach to having different religions in the Christian office is correct only because America is built by white people, black people, Asian people, Latino people, and now a black muslim blooded president. All I know is, in the future, if America wants fat business contracts around the world (China and Aftica), it has to loosen up a bit. There are women in Asia and Africa that are better looking than white women in America–we are not like monkeys and gorillas as we used to be and we love Christian democracy, too. Think America with a little spices.
“It is apprehended that Jews, Mahometans (Muslims), pagans, etc., may be elected to high offices under the government of the United States. Those who are Mahometans, or any others who are not professors of the Christian religion, can never be elected to the office of President or other high office, [unless] first the people of America lay aside the Christian religion altogether, it may happen. Should this unfortunately take place, the people will choose such men as think as they do themselves.”~Samuel Johnston
[Elliot’s Debates, Vol. IV, pp 198-199, Governor Samuel Johnston, July 30, 1788 at the North Carolina Ratifying Convention]
Hopeful words dashed on the rocky shore of ignorance, prejudice and mean-spiritedness . . .
George wasn’t dealing with any hypenated Americans in his time. Everyone in his day was an American FIRST, and some religious affiliation second. Muslim-Americans, for example, would not have been very welcome. The premise of citizenship then was that you assimilate, or emigrate. And this notion of the Religious CALIPHATE would have been completely antithetical to that of American citizenship. In some circles, it still is.
America was built by American Indian people, too. Sorry american Indian people. I almost forgot you.
In America you are free to practice (or not) your faith/religion as long as it doesn’t cause damages to others property. Acts of violence are criminal whether they are done as part of religion or not. Your rights end where my begin.
they most certainly did thomas jefferson and james madison both called muzzies EVIL and send troops to deal with those bastards
He was and is still right. We have the right to believe and practice our faith, and even more beyond, so long as we do not inflinge on other’s. We dont have the right to expect all to agree with us, the “progressives” seem to intepret it and when disagreements come, they should handled as mature adults with the true intent of finding truth, and not the Sal Elinsky type tactics that tends to be the norm today.
IMO, I think a person’s religious beliefs have little bearing for there are many people out there who are not “Christian yet have ‘Christian’ morals and many others who claim to be Christian who do not.. All I ask is for a person of good morals, fiscal responsiblity, and deep love of America and it’s Constitution. If he wants to worship a head of cabbage in private, I could care less.
IMHO the Founders never foresaw this time, in regard to religious freedom. Many of the constitutions of the new states listed being a Christian as a requirement for holding public office. The God they speak of is Yahweh or Jehovah, the God of the Bible. Today, other religions do not serve the same God. Depending upon your religion, your “god” could be Satan, or the sun, or whatever person or thing that was selected as the deity for your religion. AGAIN this is my OPINION, but I just do not believe they foresaw that the nation would embrace religious freedom as we have come to use that term today.
” Without morals a republic cannot subsist any length of time; they therefore who are decrying the Christian religion, whose morality is so sublime and pure…are undermining the solid foundation of morals, the best security for the duration of free governments.”~ Charles Carroll | Portrait of Charles Carroll
[Source: To James McHenry on November 4, 1800.]
“Whether our religion permits Christians to vote for infidel rulers is a question which merits more consideration than it seems yet to have generally received either from the clergy or the laity. It appears to me that what the prophet said to Jehoshaphat about his attachment to Ahab ["Shouldest thou help the ungodly and love them that hate the Lord?" 2 Chronicles 19:2] affords a salutary lesson.” ~ John Jay [The Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay, 1794-1826, Henry P. Johnston, editor (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1893), Vol. IV, p.365]
Our country was founded on freedom of religion, not freedom from religion. So many people want to silence people of faith, when it was primarily men and women of faith who founded the USA and wrote the Declaration of Independence and US Constitution.
He was right!!
I wonder if the Founders would be OK with a Muslim as President?
like some one’s t-shirt avatar out here say, our founders would be SHOOTING ALRIGHT ALREADY. HELLO!
Am I being clear? Religious freedom here was a quantum leap forward. If you say you are proud to be an American, then I am happy to work with you. If you say you have personal beliefs, then that is your business. George and I are on the same page to this point. If you say, however, that your religion demands involvement in an international conspiracy to replace the government with the tyranny of a 7th century dictatorship that denies any freedoms….should I have anything to do with you? This crosses the line, and is no longer simply a religious issue. Should a claim of religious freedom be a legitimate defense against a charge of conspiracy to bring harm to others, or treason? This is my question.
President Washington was correct of course. He was correct in that a man’s religion would not be counted against him in the law’s protection or exclude him from public office, even the presidency.