> were heavily legally penalized in England. Most of the faiths that came to
> the colonies, came because they were Nonconforming. This included the
> Quakers, the Catholics, the Puritans, the Jews, and the Baptists. The one
> thing that I think nearly every American founding father wanted no part
of,
> in their new land, was a government test of what was and was not an
> acceptable religion. That is why almost all of them supported the
> seperation of church and state.
Izz
I think that Helen has gotten to the heart of the matter. I for one am quite
glad that the founding fathers embraced the idea of individual liberty, and
rejected the idea of granting any church the power of coercion attached to
the sovereignty of the nation-state. Their commitment to religious freedom
allows a mailing list like errancy to exist.
It certainly is no thanks to Christianity that we have the freedom to express
our opinions on this list. Were fundies in charge of the government, they
would do away with lists like this, in accordance with the biblical
prohibition against blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. Fundies claim the Bible is
"inspired", so I could see a fundie arguing that criticism of the Bible is
sinning against the Holy Spirit. Indeed, there is historical proof: in the
early American colonial period, in some colonies there was no separation of
church and state, and free speech in matters of religion was not allowed.
Izz