Who Was James Madison?
James Madison is widely known and recognized as the " Father of the Constitution." Madison more than any other founding father is responsible for the construction of the First Amendment. Our first example of Madison position on church and state is his, "Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments" document. This document was in response to him opposing a bill that would have allowed tax-support for Christian ministers in the state of Virginia.Here is James Madison first point of a fifteen-point memorandum concerning this proposed legislation.
Because we hold it for a fundamental and undeniable truth, "that religion or the duty which we owe to our Creator and the manner of discharging it, can be directed only by reason and conviction, not by force or violence." The Religion then of every man must be left to the conviction and conscience of every man; and it is the right of every man to exercise it as these may dictate.This right is in its nature an unalienable right. It is unalienable, because the opinions of men, depending only on the evidence contemplated by their own minds cannot follow the dictates of other men: It is unalienable also, because what is here a right towards men, is a duty towards the Creator. It is the duty of every man to render to the Creator such homage and such only as he believes to be acceptable to him. This duty is precedent, both in order of time and in degree of obligation, to the claims of Civil Society. Before any man can be considered as a member of Civil Society, he must be considered as a subject of the Governor of the Universe: And if a member of Civil Society, do it with a saving of his allegiance to the Universal Sovereign. We maintain therefore that in matters of Religion, no man's right is abridged by the institution of Civil Society and that Religion is wholly exempt from its cognizance. True it is, that no other rule exists, by which any question which may divide a Society, can be ultimately determined, but the will of the majority; but it is also true that the majority may trespass on the rights of the minority. [ Source: James Madison]
Jasper Adams was president of the College of Charleston. He had sent Madison a copy of his pamphlet, The Relation of Christianity to Civil Government in the United States, and requested Madison's comments. Adams contested the view "that Christianity had no connection with our civil government." Rather, he argued, "the people of the United States have retained the Christian religion as the foundation of their civil, legal, and political institutions." Adams sent the pamphlet to numerous other statesmen, including John Marshall and justice Joseph Story. Marshall replied, "The American population is entirely Christian, and with us, Christianity and religion are identified." Story went further, writing, "I have read it with uncommon satisfaction. I think its tone and spirit excellent. My own private judgment has long been (and every day's experience more and more confirms me in it) that government can not long exist without an alliance with religion; and that Christianity is indispensable to the true interests and sold foundations of free government."
Madision, of course, disagreed. In his reply, Madison argues that history demonstrates that religion flourishes most freely when it is not supported by the state, and that the state should not impose religion on its citizens.
Madison Argued That Religion Should Survive on Its Own Merits.
In fact, James Madison advocated a strict separation of church and state because he felt distrust for the appeals of irrational sources of authority in the American Republic.[(James Madison on the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, p. 150] [See Source]It's important to remember that James Madison considered himself a Christian. Whereas Franklin, Jefferson, and Thomas Paine did not. So, we here at the House of Public Discourse have chosen a founding father who, in fact, considered himself to be of the faith. Madison's summary of the First Amendment clearly pointed out that Congress should not establish a religion and enforce the legal observation of it by any law. [See Source] Madison went on to express that no act of Congress should compel anyone to worship God in any manner contrary to their conscience. Moreover, no one sect of religion might obtain a pre-eminence over another. That no religion should be established that would force the citizenry to conform too. [Annals of Congress, Sat Aug 15th, 1789 pages 730-731] [See Source] What James Madison has expressed over and over is that religion is and should be distinct from civil government and exempt from its cognizance.
"The settled opinion here is that religion is essentially distinct from Civil Government, and exempt from its cognizance; that a connexion between them is injurious to both; that there are causes in the human breast, which ensure the perpetuity of religion without the aid of the law; that rival sects, with equal rights, exercise mutual censorships in favor of good morals; that if new sects arise with absurd opinions or over-heated maginations, the proper remedies lie in time, forbearance and example; that a legal establishment of religion without a toleration could not be thought of, and with toleration, is no security for public quiet and harmony, but rather a source itself of discord and animosity; and, finally, that these opinions are supported by experience, which has shewn that every relaxation of the alliance between. " [James Madison]
The Tyranny of Religion.
How many heads have been chopped off by the Catholic church in the name of God.? How many blacks in America have been hung on a tree limb in the name of God? How many millions of souls have died in so-called Holy-Wars in the name of God? How many people have been swindled by so-called preachers of the faith in the name of God? How many children have been molested by clergy representing themselves as agents of God? Concerned. I am.
Much of this manifestations took the form as political " faith-based- programs," for example George Bush's, Sr. thousand-points of light.
Bush, Sr. program was nothing more than a request to give our tax dollars to religious groups. The same exact thing that James Madison rebuke back in Virginia that we aforementioned in this article. I can remember Jerry Falwell being with hands out. Pat Robertson was there with hand out. Truth be told both Falwell and Robertson got rich off this religious facade. To the point, they got rich off the government money. Now, in the present we are giving tax- payer money to religious schools were wide-spread misallocation of said monies is commonplace. Many of these religious schools are indoctrinating our young people with misinformation based on interpretation of the agendas of the "religions "denominational mandates. In fairness, Bill Clinton continued the program cause the bottom-line this entailed votes. When George Bush, II got into office he put these religious terms on super-steroids.[See Article] And, current president Obama has inherited all this religious hog-wash. As, of the rendition of this article has done nothing to stop it. We have a far-reaching problem in this country, and this problem all harkens back to the very fears many of our founding fathers had like James Madison. What was that fear?
That Religious Zealots Were Going To Get Inside Of Government!
With these false man-made religious doctrines flourishing and being propagated by people with questionable motives, it is apparent there is a tranny being opposed on the minds of the people. As we reported in our last article which highlighted David Barton. When it comes to quoting the Bible to apply it to a secular situation context is everything. Radical right-wing preachers and pundits like David Barton, John Hagee, Glenn Beck, and Pat Robertson have made a living on quoting our founding fathers and the Bible out of context.In closing its time to put the sources to the side and write from the heart. It is not our mission here at the House of Public Discourse to bash religion. In fact, we feel we are doing what God's unabated word instructs us to do. As liberal thinkers, it's not our intentions to bring you to Christ. We are not qualified or do we have the authority to do so. Our motives are to make one aware that our present day society is being over-ran with what our research reveals to be false teachings, and out and out fakes preaching from the pulpits. Moreover, that these people through their very design have infiltrated our government in direct contradiction to our Constitution.
People are sitting in church Sunday after Sunday. Year after year. Listening to the pastors in every aspect of religion from the little brown church in the dale to massive mega-churches set up in old basketball arenas. These modern day religious quacks are, in fact, fulfilling a Bible prophecy.
Jesus Explained:
When you are being preached to and are following false teaching according to Jesus, these so-called holy-men are leading you to your self-destruction. It's the blind leading the blind. People love their pastors and churches. The facts tend to show that many love their pastors and churches more than Jesus. Just because a person is standing behind a pulpit or has a TV ministry does not mean they are preaching in spirit and truth.
Modern Day Pastors Pervert God's Word For Their Purposes.
And the burden of the Lord shall ye mention no more: for every man's word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the Lord of hosts our God. [ Jeremaih 23:36]
The Bible instructs us not to believe every spirit, but to examine the motives and pay attention to their actions.[See Source] Because many false prophets have gone unto this world to prey on the vulnerable. Be aware of these priests who want to preach a message of prosperity by following them to Christ. Be aware of preachers who say following them will be your means of self-improvement. If a pastor approaches you with a message of following, him will teach you life-skills in a word, run.
In this writer, five-year study of the Bible I independently documented how many of the most famous preachers in modern-day Christendom follow their teachings and not that of the Bible. Naming names would only inflame the topic and take away from the overall goal and motivation from the House of Public Discourse, which is to encourage one to examine what their preachers are teaching them.
See, their motivation is clear. They want to have large congregations and massive amounts of TV followers to contribute to their ministry and then claim their good fortune is due to their diligence in Christ that backs up this bogus prosperity ministry hearsay. Our mission is to shake the apple tree, to awaken the mind to this misleading religious dogma.
What these modern-day brood of vipers are doing in practice is spoiling man salvation based of the Bible with vain philosophies and deceit after the traditions of men. The Bible fore-told of these men and that because these priests, pastors, reverends, and self-proclaimed prophets speak of things of this world that many will fall to their snare.
What is very troubling is that this is the very thing our founding fathers were afraid would happen. Religious organizations would find its way into our governance. We have seen this religious cancer grow over the years. We have seen these factions use and abuse and misrepresent the intentions of our founding fathers. Let us not be fooled any longer.
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