Quote:
Originally Posted by Displaced Flames fan
Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Basic laws that govern most nations. Laws against theft, murder, rape etc. Man's inherent right to freedom.
|
"Life" - well maybe, "life" is pretty vague to begin with.
"Liberty" - nope. Liberty (as set forth in the US Constitution) derives from the Greeks originally, then philosophical movements in the 17th and 18th centuries. If anything the relationship is the other way around - Christianity has gained a veneer of liberty due to democratic and egalitarian thought, not vice-versa.
"The pursuit of happiness" - Again, no. Not in this world, anyway, which is what the phrase refers to. Christians suffer in this world in order to be happy in the next.
"Basic laws" - the US legal tradition comes from the Romans, British common law, and philosophy of the 17th/18th century (again), not the Bible or Christianity. There is no Xian equivalent of Koranic law that operates in the USA.
"Laws again theft, etc" So the Chinese, for example, didn't ban murder before they heard of Christianity? Sure, ok. These are common to the vast majority of societies, and thus cannot be called "Christian".
"Man's inherent right to freedom" You're killing me here. The Bible was explicitly used by the slave states to support their "peculiar institution". Again, Christianity has changed in response to changing values in society, not the other way around.
The USA was not founded as a Christian nation. Those Christians who claim it is, are either deluded or lying. In any event, "Christian" values don't even exist - the variation in beliefs between different denominations makes the idea ludicrous. The US founding fathers understood this, too bad their inheritors do not.