GOP Whip Eric Cantor: U.S. Middle East Policy Should Reflect "Judeo-Christian Tradition"

Yaakov Sullivan

Stop all the religion talk...it is biased. Accept others for who they are. Get off your hiney and make the world a better place. Be a mentor, a tutor, visit an old person.

Correcting Shoddy Historical Claims II

Todd practices what he "preaches"--he is rewriting history to suit his own preferences. Unfortunately, for his view, the facts do not support his view.

The Bible was around for many centuries before the emergence of democratic freedom in the modern world. There were many influences on the development of the idea of a republican form of government as opposed to a theocracy or a monarchy. One of them was the British common law (based on the ancient laws of the pre-Christian British); another was the rediscovery of the Ciceronian natural law political philosophy (from the 1st century BCE); another was the protestant restiveness under repressive monarchs--like those described in the Bible; a lengthy string of continental and British political philosophers--such as Hooker, Grotius, Milton, Locke, Montesquieu, Hume, etc. made significant contributions to the formation of the political beliefs of our founding fathers.

For all of its sharp criticisms of the imperial power of Egypt and of Rome, the Bible nowhere advocates democratic freedom.

It is true that some of the colonists who immigrated to North America were primarily seeking religious freedom--for those who shared their own particular brand of Separatist Anglican faith, but for no one of any other religious persuasion.

Those "true Christians" in the Mass. Bay Colony were so "loving" they executed several persons who criticized their colonial theocracy or refused to fully cooperate with it. Roger Williams fled the colony in order to save his life over exactly that issue. He later wrote (1641) a powerful book "The Bloody Tenent of Persecution, for Cause of Conscience" against those loving Christian leaders in Mass. Bay Colony. Williams founded the colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, which was the first colony to explicity practice, as a matter of law, religious toleration of Christians and Jews.

Most of the colonies were organized and conducted for purely economic reasons.

Religious freedom and toleration was very slow to come to the colonies. It did not even characterize all of the original states of the union after the Constitution was adapted.

America is a Christian Nation

America was founded on the gospel of Jesus Christ. One can rewrite history if you wish but it is an inseparable fact of our founding as a nation. Freedom is a biblical concept that we all enjoy here in the U.S. and take for granted. However, it is the Bible where our founders both learned & enacted the principles and concepts of Liberty.

Freedom allows for people to make certain choices. It does not dictate that others subscribe to Christianity but leaves them free to be responsible to make right choices on their own. And true Christians love people. Though we may not agree with someone's choices or religious preference, we allow them to have the freedom to choose what they believe so as it does not infringe upon the rights of others- such as does abortion where a baby dies in the process.

It is a shame that many in America are being deceived to believing that diversity means that we need to change who are as a people- with a tradition rooted in biblical precept. We should stand for the principals should be held dear while extending our hand to others across the globe. We do not have to change or conform to the ideals of others or other religious views in order to accomplish this end.

It is the desire of the living Jesus that I serve that we reach out to all peoples everywhere, no matter what their religion, race or whatever, and show them the love of God. A phrase I have heard comes to mind, "You lose what you compromise to keep." We should not compromise our deep rooted Christian tradition in the United States of America.