Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Explain the relationship between religion and politics
The role of religion in politics
The role of religion in politics
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are three rights that everyone seems to know right away. Every American is indoctrinated with these truths which also are the basis to the founding of the United States of America. The framers of the Declaration of Independence believed in natural law and nature’s God. The founders excelled in reason and paid attention to science but they worshiped neither. The recent progressive movement in America tries to undermine Natural Law and substitute it with a relative sense of truth and morality. Natural Law permeates through all our founding ideals while progressivism (which is becoming more and more prominent with every generation) perverts the founding of our rights and reason with anti-religious views. Science and reason are two very important parts of a civil society. When looked at separately they both fall short of being able to explain themselves. That is reason cannot solely rely on itself to explain why there is reason. The same logic goes for science too. It simply cannot explain why it exists. Science cannot explain the spiritual aspect of humans. When Atheists try to rely solely on science for explanations they completely ignore rational reason. Reason tends to show men their own limitations, which in turn leads man to believe in a greater force or supernatural being (Levin 2009, 24). Natural law (articulated best by John Locke) promotes the idea that humans are a spiritual being who are bound to a transcendent moral order established by Divine Providence. In other words, God’s laws of humanity, justice, and equity are supreme to any law man himself can make. Edmund Burke, a political philosopher during the time of the French Revolution, says that this moral or... ... middle of paper ... ...t. Religion must be wiped away for the people to forget that they have inalienable right. Then the progressive can step in and claim to be the all-powerful and only knowledgeable force in existence. Over time many forget where their rights derive from. History has shown that people can be swayed much easier through troubling times like during the great depression. Progressives fight the Christian founding of our nation which is found in natural law. Works Cited Levin, Mark. “Ameritopia”. New York, NY: Threshold Editions, 2012. Print. Levin, Mark. “Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto”. New York, NY: Threshold Editions, 2009. Print. Seagrave, S. Adam. "How Old Are Modern Rights? On The Lockean Roots Of Contemporary Human Rights Discourse." Journal Of The History Of Ideas 72.2 (2011): 305-327. Academic Search Complete. Web. 12 Mar. 2012.
Holton, Woody. Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution. New York: Hill and Wang, 2007.
Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty!: An American History. Fourth ed. Vol. 1. New York: W.W. Norton, 2012. 247-316. Print.
Cole, D., & Dempsey, J. X. (2006). Terrorism and the constitution: sacrificing civil liberties in the name of national security. New York: New Press.
In Eric Foner’s book, The Story of American Freedom, he writes a historical monograph about how liberty came to be. In the book, his argument does not focus on one fixed definition of freedom like others are tempted to do. Unlike others, Foner describes liberty as an ever changing entity; its definition is fluid and does not change in a linear progress. While others portray liberty as a pre-determined concept and gradually getting better, Foner argues the very history of liberty is constantly reshaping the definition of liberty, itself. Essentially, the multiple and conflicting views on liberty has always been a “terrain of conflict” and has changed in time (Foner xv).
In each of these instances those supporting government involvement in, and endorsement of religion have justified their assumptions by referencing the words and beliefs of the founding fathers, most notably Thomas Jefferson. They point out that he, like most of the other founders, was a religious man, and that his writings exposed a conviction America was essentially a Christian nation. After all, wasn’t it Jefferson who spoke of inalienable rights bestowed upon man by God in the Declaration of Independence? A more detailed examination of his beliefs, though, reveals exactly the opposite was the case, as Jefferson was actually a champion of s...
Foner, Eric. "Chapter 9." Give Me Liberty!: An American History. Brief Third ed. Vol. One. New York: W.W. Norton, 2012. N. pag. Print.
Our founding fathers wrote the Constitution and the Bill of Rights to protect our most basic rights as citizens of the United States, and although creating the Constitution was an arduous effort, eventually the new Americans came to an agreement over what was included. “The Bill of Rights — the first 10 amendments to the Constitution — went into effect on Dec. 15, 1791, when the state of Virginia ratified it, giving the bill the majority of ratifying states required to protect citizens from the power of the federal government.” (First Amendment Center). After the first amendment went into effect, all religious minorities were now protected from persecution, and people could freely speak their
As James Madison, the fourth President of the United States said, “The religion of every man must be left to the conviction and conscience of every man, and it is right of every man to exercise it as they may dictate” (Haynes, C...
Foner, E. (2008). Give me Liberty: An American History. New York, Ny: WW. Norton &
Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty! An American History. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc, 2007.
According to Thomas Jefferson, all men are created equal with certain unalienable rights. Unalienable rights are rights given to the people by their Creator rather than by government. These rights are inseparable from us and can’t be altered, denied, nullified or taken away by any government, except in extremely rare circumstances in which the government can take action against a particular right as long as it is in favor of the people’s safety. The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America mentions three examples of unalienable rights: “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”. I believe these rights, since they are acquired by every human being from the day they are conceived, should always be respected, but being realistic, most of the time, the government intervenes and either diminishes or
Holton, W. (2008). Unruly americans and the origins of the constitution (1 pbk ed.). New York: Hill and Wang.
"Declaration of the Rights of Man - 1789." The Avalon Project. Yale Law School, n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2014.
113-117 Human Rights: Politics and Practices. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009.
Simmons, A. John (1992). The Lockean Theory of Rights. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. 127.