When America was founded civil rights issues that are still being discussed today were brought to light.?

Question

For example, in Common Sense, Thomas Paine discusses an end to slavery. In order to get consensus on the Constitution so that the Leaders at the time would agree to go against the King the slavery issue was placed aside for later.

My question is regarding religion. Thomas Jefferson used the basis of the 1st Amendment to coin the phrase 'separation of church and state'. The ability to practice ones faith in whichever manner they choose exists in America, and I hope that never changes. However, how is it appropriate that the phrase 'in god we trust' appears all over American money? How is this promoting a state separated from religion? There are people in America who do not practice a religion- clearly these people have no trust in a god. Under the 1st amendment wouldnt these people have the right to money that has no religious reference? Where did the 'in god we trust' statement come from and when was it decided that it belonged on all American currencies?

Answer 1

There's separation of church and state. And then there's the fact that this country was founded by men who were themselves some form of Christians. I doubt very much they were talking about Buddhism or Wicans when they wrote that into the Constitution-but the basic principle holds.

There's also the pledge of allegiance. : "One Nation, under God....ect."

I don't believe there is a religion that feels that it goes against their religious beliefs to use money that says "In God we Trust." --the Atheists don't care..that's the point.

There's separation of church and state, and then there's  common sense. People who start throwing up ridiculous claims like "the pledge of allegiance should be changed" are ignoring our history. The point of separation of church and state is so that one can practice one's own beliefs and such without fear of persecution: we have that. But still, you can't ignore where this country came from.

Answer 2

The words Liberty And Justice For All at one time were on U.S. Silver dollar coins.

Right below The Liberty Bell on one side. Point taken.  

Answer 3

The protections in the Constitution were not designed to keep God out of government. The Founding Fathers wanted to make sure that all people would be free to practice the religion of their choice. They also wanted to make sure that government  would never set up a state religion similar to the Church of England and then force the people to follow. These were God fearing men. They believed their hands were guided by God. They never intended for all signs of religion to be completely separated from government.

To the best of my knowledge Jefferson never used the statement "Separation of church and state". His statement was that we should build a "wall of separation". Further, even if Jefferson did believe that church and state should always be separate and not involved with each other, it does not mean that he spoke for all the Founding Fathers. In fact, your first statements regarding the issue of slavery shows they were not all of like mind.

People will interpret the Constitution as they will, but those who claim they understand the Founders intentions explicitly should not be trusted. Only the Founders truly know what there real intentions were. The rest is just interpretation which is always colored by personal world view.

Answer 4

America wasn't founded; it was stolen.

You are all the recipients of genocide!