Founding Faith: Providence, Politics, and the Birth of Religious Freedom in AmericaThe culture wars have distorted the dramatic story of how Americans came to worship freely. Many activists on the right maintain that the United States was founded as a “Christian nation.” Many on the left contend that the Founders were secular or Deist and that the First Amendment was designed to boldly separate church and state throughout the land. None of these claims are true, argues Beliefnet.com editor in chief Steven Waldman. With refreshing objectivity, Waldman narrates the real story of how our nation’s Founders forged a new approach to religious liberty, a revolutionary formula that promoted faith . . . by leaving it alone. |
From inside the book
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... humans the right to full religious freedom . The Founding Faith , then , was not Christianity , and it was not secular- ism . It was religious liberty - a revolutionary formula for promoting faith by leaving it alone . founding faith 1 ...
... humans at birth into two groups , those who are designated for heaven and those who are not . Franklin's father , Josiah , had come to Massachusetts from England in 1683 in part to flee harassment of Puritans , but mostly to get better ...
... humans the brains to master nature . " In short , " Franklin later recalled , " I soon became a thorough Deist . " " To escape the oppressive control of his brother , to whom he was appren- ticed , Franklin in 1723 moved to Philadelphia ...
... human beings were lazy , malicious , egotistical , and prone to a " life of ease . " Therefore , despite his complaints about Christianity - as - practiced , he concluded that religion was quite useful , especially for other people . As ...
... human misconduct was not based on original sin , we could reform ourselves through training , without even having to attend church . He was far more optimistic about the perfectability of man than his ancestors . Franklin wrote a list ...
Contents
18 | |
John Adams | 33 |
George Washington | 56 |
The pious infidel | 72 |
Natures God Meets the Supreme Judge | 86 |
James Madison | 93 |
A Diabolical Persecution | 100 |
The Mighty Current of Freedom | 107 |
Forgetting the Powerful Friend | 127 |
The First Amendment Compromise | 141 |
They Were Right | 188 |
Index | 209 |
207 | 243 |
Other editions - View all
Founding Faith: How Our Founding Fathers Forged a Radical New Approach to ... Steven Waldman No preview available - 2009 |
Founding Faith: How Our Founding Fathers Forged a Radical New Approach to ... Steven Waldman No preview available - 2009 |