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
... Morals of Jesus of Nazareth , Extracted Textually from the Gospels in Greek , Latin , French and English . " Passed down through several generations of Jefferson descendants , the book now resides in the Smithsonian Institution . Cover ...
... morality- focused Puritan theology of his youth and the reason - based Enlightenment philosophy of his adulthood , thereby bridging the generation of the early eighteenth century and that of the Revolutionary period . George ...
... moral behavior and make the land safe for republican government ; each took faith seriously enough to conscientiously seek out a personal path that worked for him ; each rejected major aspects of his childhood religion ; and none ...
... moral wherewithal to cope with the crushing burdens of disease, Indian attacks, and intemal squabbling. As in England, clergy were to be supported by taxes and public funds, or, to be more precise, ten pounds of tobacco and a bushel of ...
... moral and religious background of fully 75 % of the people who declared their indepen dence in 1776. In 1628 , the " great migration " of Puritans from England began . They came for " liberty , " said the Massachusetts minister John Cot ...
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 |