Saw this in the Lake newspaper- a nation's laws backed by religion?

Here are some quotes of note by some of this country's most honored and revered Founding Fathers.
“Churches were human inventions set up to terrify and enslave mankind,” Thomas Payne said.
“This would be the best of all possible worlds if there would be no religion in it,” John Adams said.
“Lighthouses are more useful than churches,” Benjamin Franklin said.
“Christianity is the most perverted system that ever shone on man,” Thomas Jefferson said.
Jefferson went so far as to completely rewrite the Bible, excluding any miracles attributed to Jesus Christ and omitting any reference to divine intervention.
Those of my friends on the right forget that our nation was truly founded by folks whose ancestors had fled from religious persecution in their homelands all across Europe. Many of the first Americans had escaped the horrors of the Spanish Inquisition, the persecutions of Catholics by Protestants, Protestants by Catholics and non-conformists by conformists.
Last, but not least, were the Jews who were persecuted by nearly everyone. The last thing our forefathers wished for this new nation was a repeat of the intolerance that was experienced in Europe.
Currently, 16 percent of Americans say they are Agnostic, Atheist or unaffiliated with any church, religion or organized belief system. This percentage, at first glance, seems insignificant until you compare some other percentages. Jews in America make up only 1.4 percent of the population, black people make up only 12.2 percent of Americans, gays make up only 3 percent and NRA members only 1.3 percent. That 16 percent figure is not as insignificant as it first appears. Our forefathers were correct when they called for a separation of church and state all those many years ago. They were right then and they remain right to this very day.

This is some of our Founding Fathers views for discussion if you wish. I don't believe this is the writer's religious comment as much as political intent at the time of our country's founding. And remember that views change over time.

 

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