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Mr. President
To messers Nehemiah Dodge, Ephraim Robbins, & Stephen S. Nelson a committee of the Danbury Baptist association in the state of Connecticut.
Gentlemen
The affectionate sentiments of esteem & approbation which you are so good as to express towards me, on behalf of the Danbury Baptist association, give me the highest satisfaction. my duties dictate a faithful & zealous pursuit of the interests of my constituents, and in proportion as they are persuaded of my fidelity to those duties, the discharge of them becomes more & more pleasing.
Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man & his god, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, thus building a wall of separation between church and state. [Congress thus inhibited from acts respecting religion, and the Executive authorised only to execute their acts, I have refrained from presenting even occasional performances of devotion presented indeed legally where an Executive is the legal head of a national church, but subject here, as religious exercises only to the voluntary regulations and discipline of each respective sect.] Adhering to this expression of the supreme will of the nation in behalf of the rights of conscience, I shall see with sincere satisfaction the progress of those sentiments which tend to restore to man all his natural rights, convinced he has no natural right in opposition to his social duties.
I reciprocate your kind prayers for the protection and blessing of the common Father and creator of man, and tender you for yourselves and your religious association, assurances of my high respect & esteem.
(signed) Thomas Jefferson
Jan.1.1802.
Originally posted by heliosprime
reply to post by euclid
Thank you for taking the time to prove my point. The founding fathers were true christians who rejected the idiocy of papal dogma, as jefferson does state. In fact I must agree that it is unclear as to if 'paul" was even a true apostle.
The founders were closer to true "christians" than any TV crook or "megachurch" today. They understood the corruption of the papal priest and other fakers. The "amendment" only states congress shall make no law............
America had enjoyed tremendous blessings from God for 200 years. The slowly, removed God from schools, courthouses, forced mass murder on millions (ROE V Wade), allowed the vilness of clinton to remain in office, allowed the media to push secular humanisim and multicultualisim on our youth while taking away God................
As far back as Daniel 9:11 he warned Israel to seek his blessings, america (modern Israel) has turned away, is following false Gods, even elevated vile islam to "equal" status with the true God. Catholic's worship false gods and idols.
For 200 years america followed the commandments, did God's will, and were Blessed among nations. Now too many americans have turned their backs on God's will and the curses are coming.............
America has changed to a worship of convienience "what feels good" a religion that doesn't make them feel guilty or says dont worry you won't be here (rapture BS).............
The idea of seperation of church and state is a "marxist" idea to seperate america from freedom...............
[edit on 14-8-2008 by heliosprime]
Deism is the belief that a supreme god exists and created the physical universe, but does not intervene in its normal operation. It is related to a religious philosophy and movement that claims to derive the existence and nature of God from reason. It takes no position on what God may do outside the universe. That is in contrast to fideism which is found in many forms of Christianity, Islamic and Judaic teachings, which hold that religion relies on revelation in sacred scriptures or the testimony of other people as well as reasoning.
Deists typically reject most supernatural events (prophecy, miracles) and tend to assert that God does not intervene with the affairs of human life and the natural laws of the universe. What organized religions see as divine revelation and holy books, most deists see as interpretations made by other humans, rather than as authoritative sources. Deists believe that God's greatest gift to humanity is not religion, but the ability to reason.
We learn that Benjamin Franklin, for example, believed primarily in a God of reason but had serious doubts about the divinity of Jesus -- though he strongly subscribed to the moral ideas Jesus preached. Jefferson similarly saw Jesus as a "reformer and moral exemplar" and took a pair of scissors to his Bible to cut away all the parts -- miracles and supernatural interventions -- that offended his intellectual sensibilities.
Washington's religious affiliation, on the other hand, is notoriously ambiguous. Raised as an Anglican, Washington attended church, sometimes regularly. He served as churchwarden, observed fast days and vigorously promoted religion among the soldiers of the Continental Army. Yet he was never confirmed, avoided communion and during his lingering death never prayed nor asked for a clergyman. When he spoke or wrote of God, he favored words with decidedly deist and Masonic connotations: "Providence," "the Deity" and "the Grand Architect." Holmes concludes that Washington was a deist primarily concerned with morality and order, one who favored religion because of the useful role it played in society.
There is no question Jefferson rejected the Bible as divine revelation and rejected the divinity of Jesus. In the Declaration of Independence Jefferson's appeal was to the God of the Deist, "Nature's God," not specifically to the God of Christianity
The Age of Reason: Being an Investigation of True and Fabulous Theology, a deistic treatise written by eighteenth-century British radical and American revolutionary Thomas Paine, critiques institutionalized religion and challenges the inerrancy of the Bible.
Originally posted by bruxfain
Its funny you say that because on one of Satan's plots involved framing God's men as terrorists. Its also funny because when the frame up plan failed all of hell tried to storm David's house. All that happened back in November 2005. None of it worked though. Ever since then all the plots set against not only the Son, but also the Father, yeah there are two of them, have failed.
Its fun to read threads discussing prophecy however; some of you really want to understand it. I always tell people that time is cyclical and the stories of the bible are told to illustrate this basic concept. What was destroyed - what seems like - a long time ago, was only 37 years ago however, will one day come back together and as a matter of fact it has. The cross is fully assembled and the Son will arrive in about 3 weeks, more like 18 days. So, we'll be able to wrap up this war soon. I know you are all happy to hear that.
As it is right now, the demons got their backs to a wall and are extremely desperate. In a way they're not even trying anymore and just committing suicide to avoid the embarassment of the absolute rout they've experienced over the last 33 months.
Well you guys continue your debate.
Originally posted by Res Ipsa
Ok, I'm all for getting on the same page with you.
Men have absolutely used the name of God to commit more evil than not.
What that has to do with God is beyond me though.
Originally posted by riggs2099
So GOD is warning america and saying screw the rest of the world? Why would he/she/it only warn America and not do anything else for the rest of the nations. Or is GOD American. Personally I could care less. I just wanted in on the fun. The Op is obviously ranting insanely and trying thier best to save the world(as they think). Crazy as this original statements are, i believe they are trying to do something good, either that or they are here to troll.
[edit on 14-8-2008 by riggs2099]
Originally posted by heliosprime
AHHH...I am not trying to save either america nor the world, nor is God. At issue is that america, england, ireland, scotland, austrailia, canada, new zealand are all part of the lost tribes of Israel. Many parts of europe also...........
These peoples have a special relationship with God that include promises to Abraham and Issac. As each abandons the will of God and keeping his commandments, God withdraws his blessings and soon will bring on his curses................and in some places has brought forth his curses....
America as a superpower is lost.....witness the Georgia thingy........america has lost it will to defend against the evil empire.....
That loss of will is directly proportional to the rise of secular humanisim and the willful viotation of the commandments......
The rewritting of history in america is another symptom, denying the christian root of the founders is all part of turning away from God. Those who post here denying americas once proud founding are blind and ignorant of truth. They willingly seek to destroy the faith of our fathers through twisted lies.............
I call on all who post here to repent of your ways, seek God and Jesus so you can know the truth and escape the horror to come all to soon. As your bodies burn and melt at that instant you will know the truth and error in your ways. I pray it will not come to late for your very souls. Yet for many it is already too late.........
God Bless............
Originally posted by TheRedneck
reply to post by euclid
Thank you for the explanations.
Deism pretty much sums up how I feel about this particular thread. While I do believe that God will intervene if asked, I do not think He shoves his way into our affairs. In that sense, I have to admit that while I vehemently disagree with the OP's statements of anger and hatred, I do see how 9-11 might have been somehow averted IF enough people had prayed for that intervention. The problem there is that no one knew it was going to happen. I definitely do NOT think it happened because God wanted it to.
I'm also confused about one other thing: you mentioned that the FreeMasons hold to Deism and not to Christianity. This confuses me because I have a friend who recently (a few years ago) joined, and yet who claims to be Christian. I'm wondering, who's right here?
TheRedneck
Originally posted by TheRedneck
reply to post by euclid
Thank you for the explanations.
Deism pretty much sums up how I feel about this particular thread. While I do believe that God will intervene if asked, I do not think He shoves his way into our affairs. In that sense, I have to admit that while I vehemently disagree with the OP's statements of anger and hatred, I do see how 9-11 might have been somehow averted IF enough people had prayed for that intervention. The problem there is that no one knew it was going to happen. I definitely do NOT think it happened because God wanted it to.
I'm also confused about one other thing: you mentioned that the FreeMasons hold to Deism and not to Christianity. This confuses me because I have a friend who recently (a few years ago) joined, and yet who claims to be Christian. I'm wondering, who's right here?
TheRedneck