There's a fascinating interview over at AlterNet with Michael I. Meyerson, author of a new book, Endowed by Our Creator: The Birth of Religious Freedom in America. This is a scholarly account of how the framers of the Constitution viewed the role of religion in government, and Myerson points out that the current campaign's religious climate has a lot in common with early electoral shenanigans.
He says of the founding fathers: "[It] is important to remember that the framers of the Constitution were dealing with a diversity of their own -- and with very violent conflicts between the different denominations, some of which were caused and abetted by government... The debates that we are having about the role of religion in government are not new; we are dealing with a centuries-old debate. The framers, and especially the vastly underrated George Washington, were very aware of the fact that religion could be a force for good and a force for evil. That was what they were trying to balance."
It's a neat article, and definitely worth reading.
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He says of the founding fathers: "[It] is important to remember that the framers of the Constitution were dealing with a diversity of their own -- and with very violent conflicts between the different denominations, some of which were caused and abetted by government... The debates that we are having about the role of religion in government are not new; we are dealing with a centuries-old debate. The framers, and especially the vastly underrated George Washington, were very aware of the fact that religion could be a force for good and a force for evil. That was what they were trying to balance."
It's a neat article, and definitely worth reading.
Follow Pagan/Wiccan on Twitter or Join Me On Facebook.
My Favorite Quote from the interview:
“One of the most radical parts of the Constitution said that no one had to take a religious oath to serve in government. It was a major step, a radical change, perhaps the most important moment in American religious history. However, that doesn’t mean that people can’t vote based on their religious beliefs. The vote of 1800 seems to suggest that the people then didn’t want to have a purely religious government. They were more comfortable with the Jefferson approach, which sought to limit the role of government, than with the Adams approach, which was far more sectarian than that of Washington and Jefferson.”
This was a Great Entry Patti, Very timely.