Religion and the founding of the USA

 In studying as many references as I could for pro and con on the religious beliefs of our forefathers It is my opinion that they indeed used the term God and Religion to be used as moral  props to form this government but it was not a Christian God but rather a Universal God that they spoke of. Some with no belief is Gods at all.

  In dealing with the Muslim Faith in the Treaty of Tripoli that was passed unanimously by the senate in 1797 read; “The government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion.”

  The current war we face in Iraq and with Muslim faith based religion the Christian right is promoting the belief that this country was founded on Christian principals. Religious freedom is to have the freedom to believe in what ever one chooses and not for the government to choose one for us. I stand strong for this freedom though I am an atheist I uphold the rights of others to believe in what ever God or Gods they may choose.

In researching the history of our country those that used God as a reference often did so to oppress others as in Andrew Jackson and the elimination of the Native Americans who were in his eyes godless heathens who were simply in the way of Christian progress and others who justified slavery and our God (Christian) given rights to own them.

  My fear is not in the good that religion brings to peoples lives but the use of religion to oppress others.

The first amendment was not to oppress religion but rather to grant freedom to all, the freedom to believe in anything they choose and that the congress could not choose or financially support one over the other.
George Bush has clearly broken this amendment with his faith based initiatives program.

While on the campaign trail, Bush promised that he would "not discriminate for or against Methodist or Mormons or Muslims or good people with no faith at all."

Then he announced he would not allow funding of the Nation of Islam, because, as he sees it, the group "preaches hate." The president has not, however, explained how the government will decide which groups preach "hate," and which preach "love." If you ask a Muslim in Iraq or Palestine what they think most would say this is not a war on terrorism but a war in Islam. After all it is their countries that are being ravaged by war.

Bush’s last state of the union address

“We must also do more to help children when their schools do not measure up. Thanks to the D.C. Opportunity Scholarships you approved, more than 2,600 of the poorest children in our Nation's capital have found new hope at a faith-based or other non-public school. Sadly, these schools are disappearing at an alarming rate in many of America's inner cities. So I will convene a White House summit aimed at strengthening these lifelines of learning. And to open the doors of these schools to more children, I ask you to support a new $300 million program called Pell Grants for Kids. We have seen how Pell Grants help low-income college students realize their full potential. Together, we have expanded the size and reach of these grants. Now let's apply that same spirit to help liberate poor children trapped in failing public schools.”

No Islamic schools included in this package

 Through out our history our country like many others has been blemished with leaders using religion as a rallying point on which to wage war. This is not what our founding fathers had in mind when creating our constitution. It is easy to find quotes and misquotes on both sides of the fences of this issue but the personal beliefs of our founding fathers is not the point as much as their intent. Having come from Europe and the religious wars of the past they simply saw the error of the mixing of God and Government.

 The first amendment was to keep both church and state pure.

   I don’t care if you choose to worship a rock just don’t throw it at me.

Written by Bim Willow AKA Pastor Buck Atheist Pastor www.under-god.org