09-30-2015, 01:32 PM
(09-24-2015, 11:38 AM)oncemoreuntothejimbreech Wrote: I always laugh when I hear or read a conservative Christian repeat this myth. I think they believe if they repeat it often enough it might actually make it true.
Jamestown is the oldest English settlement in North America. It was founded by entrepreneurs looking to get rich. The Pilgrims looking for freedom from religious persecution came later. Who was persecuting the Pilgrims? Other Christians. As soon as there was more than one religious group in the New World they quickly began persecuting each other all over again. You would lose your shit if you ran into a Pilgrim. For one, they believed in predestination and nothing you did or didn't do during your Earthly life affected what happened to your soul in the afterlife because God had predetermined your fate before creation itself. Accepting Jesus Christ as your Savior didn't save you if you were predestined for Hell. They didn't celebrate Christmas or Easter (as man made holidays) so modern day Christians were be pissed off at their aversion to "Merry Christmas." (They have a good point because Jesus Christ wasn't born on December 25th.) Crosses were idolatry. I believe formal, scripted prayer was a sin.
This country was founded upon the principles of natural law and natural rights over the king's law. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are Age of Enlightenment things, not a Christian things. (Hell, the Church still won't admit burning Giordano Bruno at the stake was a mistake.) The American Revolution was prompted by unfair taxation withou representation, not religious persecution.
Forgot to mention they believed marriage was strictly a civic function.
