The Danbury Baptists letter was an explanation of Jefferson involvement in passing the 1786 Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom and is probably the most lengthy discussion of the concepts involved. That Virgina statute does pre-date the Bill of Rights. Sorry I didn't make that more clear but I suck at writing at times and I do assume people have the same basis of knowledge I have (I know I shouldn't your cometary about Catholicism reminds me I shouldn't, King Henry the VIII, ohh how I wanted to talk about him so bad and Catherine of Aragon and the two Popes, yadda yadda). My bad, yes the letter was ex post facto in a since but it is the best expiation of the concepts written that we have today.
His letter to the Danbury Baptists was actually written 13 years after the 1st Amendment, so what role it could have played in Madison's authorship I'll leave for you to explain. Despite that, the letter was a response to a congratulatory note he received from the church leaders in Danbury after his inauguration. The church leadership expressed concern over government interference in their congregation as Connecticut was a predominantly Congregationalist state. In that context, its plausible that Jefferson was less concerned with religious influence of government, but the opposite. I don't claim to know Jefferson's mind at the time he wrote it though; this is speculated based on the actual text of their correspondence, nothing more. Originally Posted by enderwiggin
Your the one that made out the author of the Declaration of Independence to the a Christian, (you know "A Creator" how would a Christian say A Creator and not "THE Creator"? and Nature's God, my god it's Their or The God if it's Christians period, after all they have been relieved the "truth"), who just happened to be Thomas Jefferson, that's how we got so fixated on him. That was your example of the Christian religion in the founding of the United States.
How did I identify my self as a liberal? Because I disagree with you? Because I don't share your religious opinion? I'm the only one still in this conversation that has the balls to say Islam just sucks and won't apologies for it. Your full of crap, you labeled me as a liberal after I paraphrased the 3rd President of the US with your "ivory tower" commentary. I've never voted for a democrat in my life, and your going to call me a liberal? It was just your "circumstantial ad hominem" that was so poorly constructed. Here is how it went:
I (person A) claimed we are not quite the Christian nation because most Americans believe because most of the major documents of laws and or concepts that make up our national identity were not written by Christians but Diets (claim X).
You (person B) claim I'm just a liberal elitist (your slur to discredit) and hence only is making claim X because I'm just a liberal elitist and there for interested in claim X regardless of facts. (which you have provided NO counter evidence at all.)
So the conclusion is claim X is false because of your slur of me.
Did I get that right? Like I said, poorly constructed.
I'm pretty much done with you.
