Quote:
Originally Posted by buggyone
All the talk of being a Christian nation - where does that leave the non-Christians? I am not talking about Muslims who have a bad reputation but how about those of the Jewish faith and culture? What about Native Americans who are not Christian? How about an atheist? Buddhist, Shinto, Zoroastrstrims, Wiccans, Hindu, etc? Do they have a vote or are they allowed to be elected to public office?
Remember that the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were written over 200 years ago. With the exception of a few Jews (maybe) there were only Christians in the USA. I am sure none of the founding fathers ever heard of a Muslim, a Buddhist, a Hindu, or a Wiccan. Things evolve over time and must be compensated for in the process.
You can talk of religious tolerance in America but the true history does not show the religious tolerance. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/histor...Tolerance.html |
Islam began in about 700AD, Buddhism and Hinduism began about 500BC...so were our founding fathers not aware of these religions? hmmmm...I think not. These were men well versed in the history of Europe. For starters, the Crusades were fought to defend Europe from Islamic domination, so i am pretty sure that they were well acquainted with what the Muslim's are all about.