A CHRISTIAN NATION'S IDENTITY CRISIS - The Separation of Church & State - A PRECURSOR OF THINGS TO COME
“BOTH JEFFERSON AND FELLOW VIRGINIAN?JAMES MADISON?FELT THAT STATE SUPPORT FOR A PARTICULAR RELIGION OR FOR ANY RELIGION WAS IMPROPER.”
“One of the decisive battlegrounds for disestablishment was Jefferson’s colony of Virginia, where the Anglican Church had long been the established church.”
“Both Jefferson and fellow Virginian?James Madison?felt that state support for a particular religion or for any religion was improper. They argued that compelling citizens to support through taxation a faith they did not follow violated their natural right to religious liberty. The two were aided in their?fight for disestablishment?by the Baptists, Presbyterians, Quakers, and other “dissenting” faiths of Anglican Virginia.”
“During the debates surrounding both its writing and its ratification, many religious groups feared that the Constitution offered an insufficient guarantee of the civil and religious rights of citizens. To help win ratification, Madison proposed a bill of rights that would include religious liberty.”
“Parliament evolved from the?great council?of?bishops?and?peers?that advised the?English monarch.”?
What is Magna Carta (Great Charter)? Why was it created? What does it say, and why has it become one of the most celebrated documents in history?
“Although Magna Carta contained?63 clauses?when it was first granted, only three of those clauses remain part of English law. One defends the liberties and rights of the English Church, another confirms the liberties and customs of London and other towns, but the third is the most famous:
“No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any other way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgement of his equals or by the law of the land. To no one will we sell, to no one deny or delay right or justice.”
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?“FROM MAY 1718 TO THE OUTBREAK OF THE AMERICAN WAR OF INDEPENDENCE IN 1775, OVER 70 PER CENT OF THOSE WHO WERE FOUND GUILTY AT THE OLD BAILEY WERE SENTENCED TO BE TRANSPORTED, COMPARED WITH LESS THAN ONE PER CENT IN THE PERIOD FROM 1700 TO MARCH 1718."
Chapter 2: The Beginnings of the Christian Movement
“All major religious traditions carry basically the same message that is love, compassion and forgiveness. The important thing is they should be part of our daily lives.” ?
?Dalai Lama
? Many of us in the western world are followers of the Christian Religion, which came to us by way of England. Many read the bible, follow and believe the stories and attempt to embrace canon laws. It should be noted here however, that bible teaching is not only about our creator, but also about the laws we follow; they’re both intertwined. ?Though Jesus Christ is believed to be the son of God whose presence here was to teach about his father’s kingdom, he also said: “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil” Matthew 5:17. Here we can clearly see that the law was also an important part of his teachings.
Because of the path taken by the Christian bible and attendant Christianity to a conquered people - before it got to us - the importance of its historic journey cannot be diminished. It is also important that we seek to understand its role in the pacification of the Negro slaves and the indigenous people of the New World. This history has to be viewed within the context of a conqueror, who was neither benevolent, nor one who harbored such inclinations toward his captives. This was a ruler for whom homicide was an important tool, easily employed to maintain strict control of his workforce.?
Excerpts from ‘IRONY’:
There are moments in life when we discover the fallacies in some prior teachings we have received. Such moments, tend to lay caution to youthful idealism and are replaced by new realities. These realities may rattle the foundations of our ideological and spiritual underpinning, but, they still enter our lives and minds without fail.
It becomes a defining moment which can leave us with a sickening feeling that descends to the pit of our stomach. It is a feeling that leaves a void of undefinable characteristics, an emptiness with which we are buffeted by – seemingly – ceaseless complexities in our analytical persuasions; then all that remains is a maddening state of utter confusion.
It is an experience that is sometimes difficult to replace with words; words that portray the consternation or anger which we may feel…
?In this story, we will see periods within which these invaders displayed a deprave indifference for human life. And yet, the justification given for this endeavor was to provide the New World heathens with much needed knowledge of the Christian religion. The real question from the reader should be who is the real heathen in this scenario? Who really needed this knowledge? Journey through these pages for the real answer; it is ironic…