On Wed, 13 Apr 2011 09:04:13 -0700, Darren New wrote:

> On 4/13/2011 8:57, Warp wrote:
>>    Many people have wondered if there's a causality link.
> 
> Well, I think the US was originally colonized by people who wanted their
> own religion rather than the state religion, so that sort of makes
> sense. The laws say "the state can't force me to change my religion",
> and it's *because* the people coming here were sufficiently religious
> that they'd spend three months crossing an ocean and leaving everything
> they knew behind in order to be able to do their own religion exactly as
> they liked.

That's what I recall as well - the first British settlers were the 
Pilgrims (as I recall) who were trying to escape the state mandated 
religion because they didn't agree with it.

But it was a mix of religious and economic reasons.  The thing that it 
seems many on the extreme right never learned or seem to have forgotten 
is that many of the founders were not religious - but Jefferson, Adams, 
and Franklin (in particular) are elevated to being some sort of "3 more 
disciples of Jesus" when in fact their beliefs were secular (and that's 
pretty well documented).

It always makes me laugh (because the other option is to cry) when 
Christian fundamentalist Republicans invoke the names of Jefferson, 
Adams, and Franklin in a religious context - because obviously they have 
no grasp of history.

<sarcasm>But hey, the US public education system is the best in the 
world.  That's why we can afford to cut funds for it.</sarcasm>

Jim

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