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David Josiah Brewer
Supreme Court Justice for 20 years
December 18, 1889 - March 28,1910 |
Answer
: Nothing!
"The American nation, from its first settlement at Jamestown to this hour, is based upon and permeated by the principles of the Bible"
- David Josiah Brewer
Indeed, Justice Brewer's book, The United States: A Christian Nation, published in 1905,contained the following passage:
But in what sense can [the United States] be called a Christian nation? Not in the sense that Christianity is the established religion or the people are compelled in any manner to support it. On the contrary, the Constitution specifically provides that 'congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.' Neither is it Christian in the sense that all its citizens are either in fact or in name Christians. On the contrary, all religions have free scope within its borders. Numbers of our people profess other religions, and many reject all. [...] Nor is it Christian in the sense that a profession of Christianity is a condition of holding office or otherwise engaging in public service, or essential to recognition either politically or socially. In fact, the government as a legal organization is independent of all religions.
Nevertheless, we constantly speak of this republic as a Christian nation—in fact, as the leading Christian nation of the world. This popular use of the term certainly has significance. It is not a mere creation of the imagination. It is not a term of derision but has a substantial basis—one which justifies its use. Let us analyze a little and see what is the basis.
Justice Brewer discusses numerous evidences from public and private life including citations from the Federal and Several state Constitutions before concluding as follows:
But I must not weary you. I could go on indefinitely, pointing out further illustrations both official and non-official, public and private; such as the annual Thanksgiving proclamations, with their following days of worship and feasting; announcements of days of fasting and prayer; the universal celebration of Christmas; the gathering of millions of our children in Sunday Schools, and the countless volumes of Christian literature, both prose and poetry. But I have said enough to show that Christianity came to this country with the first colonists; has been powerfully identified with its rapid development, colonial and national, and to-day exists as a mighty factor in the life of the republic. This is a Christian nation.
While Justice Brewer's decision was not a binding legal pronouncement reflecting an official acceptance of Christianity and did not say that its laws or policies should reflect solely Christian concerns and beliefs, he did outline the influence Christianity had on the history and culture of the United States. It was this influence that caused Brewer to state many times that this is a Christian nation. (End of Wikipedia quote)
The Christian Nation Debate and the U.S. Supreme Court: Justice Brewer was convinced that the United States owed its prominence among nations to its close connection to the Christian religion. For him, the role of Christianity in America was not only an historical fact but also a present reality. Moreover, he maintained an unwavering belief that the spread of Christianity was essential to the future success and greatness of America. “Clearly,” Jay Alan Sekulow points out, “he believed in the ascendancy of Christianity and felt it offered suffering humanity its only hope of ultimate comfort and justice.”
"President John Adams, of course, signed the Treaty of Tripoli, his outreach to Muslims," Olbermann said. "Quote, 'The government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion.' That was ratified by the United States Senate without debate unanimously in 1797"
ReplyDeleteSee Treaty of Tripoli paragraph 11.
Whether the country was explicitly founded as a Christian nation, Christianity clearly influenced everything from the influence of the Catholic Spaniards in Florida and across the South to California to the Protestants who fled England looking for religious freedom. Anyone studying Western civilization is immersed in Christianity from the architecture reflected in the great cathedrals to the abundance of religious art to the religious music of Mozart and Bach.
ReplyDeleteHere in this country, the founding documents of many of the colonies were explicitly Christian. The Mayflower Compact is just one example. It begins:
"In ye name of God Amen· We whose names are vnderwriten, the loyall subjects of our dread soueraigne Lord King James by ye grace of God, of great Britaine, franc, & Ireland king,
defender of ye faith, &c Haueing vndertaken, for ye glorie of God, and
aduancemente of ye christian ^faith
and honour of our king & countrie, a voyage to plant ye first colonie in ye Northerne parts of Virginia· doe by these presents solemnly & mutualy in ye presence of God, and one of another, couenant, & combine our selues togeather into a
ciuill body politick;....
Well, Anonymous, I never listen to anything anyone from MSLSD says. Obviously neither Keith Olbermann nor you have read "Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates-The Forgotten War that Changed American History" by Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger.
ReplyDeleteThomas Jefferson never agreed with John Adams on how to handle the Barbary Pirates because Jefferson understood that FORCE was the only thing the Muslims would understand. The Pasha broke the treaty in 1805 (?) and Jefferson, who found it impossible to negotiate with people who believed their religion justified the plunder and enslavement of non-Muslims, moved beyond diplomacy. He sent the U.S. Navy's new warships and a detachment of Marines to blockade Tripoli. Jefferson won, and the US was established as a major military power.
Therefore the "outreach" theory ended with a loud boom as soon as Jefferson was elected President sort of like how it is now with President Trump.
The one half of America who voted for President Trump in no way thinks America was founded on anything else but the Judeo-Christian moral code. Besides, Article 11 of the Treaty was never in the Arabic version.