AGodthing's Blog

You do realize, that phrase is NOT IN the Constitution, right?
What is there is that: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, OR PROHIBITING the free exercise thereof…"
Our founders came from GB and the oppressive rules and taxes of the catholic church... they wanted no part of that, hence, the Jefferson's letter. What is intended is that government STAY out of the churches business and NO religion would be a mandatory 'state' religion. It is often misconstrued by the ill-informed to mean,there shall be NO religion (Christian) IN government, which is of course wrong. Our entire system is based on the Judeo - Christian values and principals.

Chardoney,

If you are referring to the 1878 Reynolds Supreme Court ruling, there is no mention of the laws of Jesus Christ...is there another Supreme court ruling about this?

Interesting, Maybe taking God out of the classroom and courtroom is a good thing. If we let our prejudices get in the way of truth and justice then we are no better than the taxation of the church in GB. But keep in mind also that not ALL of the colonists or Americans today are Christians and should not be subjected to judgment based on beliefs that are not their own. Perhaps we should take a more open minded view and take into consideration that your Jesus quotes don't mean anything to a great many people. Stop trying to save the world and save yourself.

Thanks, guys, for your comments and lively discussion. I knew, anonymous, that at least some of the onslaught I referred to would come. By the way, I didn't quote Jesus; only the constitution.

DMoriarty: Two things you need to read: The U.S. Constitution and the comments above. There IS NO phrase as part of our nation’s legal structure that says "separation of Church and State". About persecution of Christians here: Compared to many religions, Christians do endure some prejudice in our schools, at work and in our courts. HOWEVER, you are correct in your comparison of the U.S. and China--today. We have yet to see that degree of persecution, but I can guarantee that it is coming. That is a concern of mine, because there are so many Christians that say "Oh, not in the great U.S.A!" Oh yes, look around and compare Christian freedoms 30 years ago to today. I have read the book and I am ready for whatever anyone is ready to throw at me. To live is Christ, to die gain.

DMoriarty: I am glad to hear that we have Christ in common. Just as the pre-trib, mid-trib and post-trib folks can agree to disagree, we can as well. On the "Chinese level of persecution": As I said--why not? I don't see anywhere in Isaiah or Revelation where it says "except the United States". There are few in this country who will survive "Chinese-type persecution", because they are simply not ready. Then where does that leave the great and mighty U.S?
On changing times: Yes, that's called prophecy being fulfilled. There again, Christians here are so numb they say that about everything. I wonder if, when accepting the mark of the beast, they say and will say, "Oh, that's just changing times." The Antichrist will have it easy here under those pretenses.
On the Muslim religion: I would advise you to read up. While I do not, of course, condone vigilantism, I do know enough about the Quran to know you don't have to be a "nut job" to kill Christians. When asking a Muslim about this, they will answer you honestly or change the subject. If they answer you honestly, it will make you a bit uncomfortable.
Everything else: Here, here. Agreed.

And with that they said "agreed". I especially like what you said about prayer. Nope, 'can't stop it. No way. I have always prayed, my children have always prayed and my grandchildren pray anywhere and anytime they want. I have to say that there have been some attempts at stopping us, like the first time my youngest daughter prayed for a friend on the playground after being hurt. Prayer is the most powerful tool Christians have on Earth. Too bad more of us don't take advantage of it.

These are some excerpts from an article recently written by Alan Dershowitz on a blog.

The United States Constitution was called “the godless constitution,” by its opponents, because it was the first constitution in history not to include references to God or some dominant religion. The Constitution mentions religion only once, in prohibiting any religious test for holding office under the United States.
The Bill of Rights mentions religion twice, once in prohibiting an establishment of religion (a clear reference to any branch of Protestant Christianity, which was then the dominant religion) and a second time, in guaranteeing the free exercise of all religions. Several years after the ratification, the Senate ratified a treaty with the Barbary regime of Tripoli which expressly proclaimed that “the Government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion.” In fact, many of our Founding Fathers, including the author of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, were not Christians but rather were deists. In other words, they believed in the existence of God, but not in the divinity of Jesus or the divine authorship of the bible. Today they might be called Unitarians; in fact, John Adams, another author of the Declaration, and the President under whom the treaty was ratified, is buried in a Unitarian church, along with his wife Abigail and his son John Quincy.
Roger Williams–the religious leader most responsible for separating church and state in America–put it very well a century earlier: “no civil state or country can be truly call

Any thoughts on the belief that the "end times" discussed in Revelations already occured in the 1st century? That Nero was the Antichrist, and that the widespread persecution of the Christians was by the Romans, etc. etc. etc. Just curious what people think of this? Makes sense to me.