“The myth of America’s religious founding thus provided an explanation for those who needed to sanctify the past before they could go forward with America’s chosen mission and its manifest destiny. This myth, promoted in patriotic addresses, sermons, essays, and… — Steven K. Green Copy Share Image
“Because Americans lack a common ethnicity or extensive heritage, our founding myth is more important than it is for most other peoples. Unlike other peoples and nations that can rely on centuries of gradual development, Americans must rely on their… — Steven K. Green Copy Share Image
“Jefferson then distilled and enunciated these “essentials” in several personal works he shared with friends, his “Syllabus,” and two extracts from the Bible: “The… — Steven K. Green Copy Share Image
“Cotton’s code was never enacted, but in 1641 the General Court adopted the Body of Liberties, written by lawyer and pastor Nathaniel Ward, the… — Steven K. Green Copy Share Image
“Religious imagery and symbolism were the common idioms that all speakers employed when making rhetorical points. Rather than indicating a level of personal piety,… — Steven K. Green Copy Share Image
“Whether it was celebrated or lamented, the Constitution was universally seen as a secular document establishing a civil frame of government. In essence, few… — Steven K. Green Copy Share Image
“The myth of America’s religious founding thus provided an explanation for those who needed to sanctify the past before they could go forward with… — Steven K. Green Copy Share Image
“The haphazard unfolding of religious toleration described above occurred chiefly by default (and in New York, to enhance a commercial environment), not to promote… — Steven K. Green Copy Share Image
“Because Americans lack a common ethnicity or extensive heritage, our founding myth is more important than it is for most other peoples. Unlike other… — Steven K. Green Copy Share Image
“In both instances of Franklin and Jefferson, revisionist writers have emphasized those aspects of their beliefs that are consistent with Christian faith, while discounting… — Steven K. Green Copy Share Image
“At the risk of oversimplification, the unifying theme of the Hebrew scripture is one of forging a national identity connected to God through a… — Steven K. Green Copy Share Image
“All in all, Christian nation proponents commit several errors in their claims about the religious beliefs of the Founders. Their claims isolate the religious… — Steven K. Green Copy Share Image
“With religious nonconformists outnumbering Anglicans after 1700, and economic motives eclipsing any sense of a religious mission, the colony adopted a moderate religious stance… — Steven K. Green Copy Share Image
“Colonial America was not settled out of a search for religious liberty, but it stumbled onto that principle just in time.” — Steven K. Green Copy Share Image
“As noted, late in their deliberations the drafters of the Constitution included a clause prohibiting religious tests or prerequisites for holding any federal office.” — Steven K. Green Copy Share Image
“while one can debate whether a particular Founder was religiously devout, there is little question that many regularly attended Christian worship and participated in… — Steven K. Green Copy Share Image
“The “large majority of ministers who published sermons during the Revolutionary era justified the war effort by a rationale that was more political than… — Steven K. Green Copy Share Image
