Right on, James Madison, for so well describing the seemingly eternal plague of theocrats, who are hell bent on ruling the world. Madison's words still ring true about state-church unions that
"they have been seen to erect a spiritual tyranny" that supports "the thrones of political tyranny; in no instance have they been seen the guardians of the liberties of the people."
Worse, listen to what John Adams wrote:
"As I understand the Christian religion, it was, and is, a revelation. But how has it happened that millions of fables, tales, legends, have been blended with both Jewish and Christian revelation that have made them the most bloody religion that ever existed?"
Thomas Jefferson could offer again the radical explanation that
"In every country and every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot . . . they have perverted the purest religion ever preached to man into mystery and jargon, unintelligible to all mankind, and therefore the safer engine for their purpose."
Moreover, Falwell, Robertson and flock would burn hearing Jefferson proclaim that
"Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined, imprisoned; yet we have not advanced an inch towards uniformity. What has been the effect of coercion? To make one half the world fools, and the other half hypocrites. To support roguery and error all over the earth."
What Jefferson would think of Iraq is not hard to imagine, now is it?
In short, the founding fathers were very aware of the dangers of mixing politics and religion: "Remember the 'index expurgatorius', the inquisition, the stake, the axe, the halter and the guillotine," wrote John Adams. The founding fathers warned us about these confounding bothers because they are forever after the same thing: total dominion over you and every aspect of your life from telling you when you can be born to when you can die.
So, with all due respect, I'll believe George Washington over George Bush about who can be a citizen. I'll believe Adams and Madison over Falwell and Robertson about why this country was founded. And I'll certainly believe Madison that these modern day religious right theocrats are ever bit as dangerous to freedom as they have been over the centuries. No matter how many sheep skins the hypocrites cover themselves in, the spiritual phonies are still nothing but ravenous wolves full of hate, greed and war. Like it or not, brothers and sisters, the theocrats are hungry for more. They are still thirsty and have yet to have their fill of blood spilt in cultural and religious wars.
Tags: Founding Fathers, Separation of Church and State, Religious Right, Fundamentalism, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, James Madison, John Adams, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Theocracy, Theocrats, Inquisition
From Jesus was a Liberal(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
