“It is certain that, in one point, all nations of the earth and all religions agree . All believe in a God, the things in which they disagree are the redundancies annexed to that belief; and therefore , if ever an universal religion should prevail, it will not be believing in any thing new, but in getting rid of redundancies, and believing as man believed at first. Adam, if ever there was such a man, was created a Deist; but in the mean time, let every man follow, as he has a right to do, the religion and the worship he prefers.”
Former senator John Danforth, an ordained Episcopal Priest, has been making the rounds lately in support of his new book Faith and Politics. His book apparently speaks to his concern of the certain parts of the fundamentalist Christian community’s influence over the current dominant political power in America today. In his interviews for the book, he expresses concern that when any one group, faction, or sect of any religion claims exclusive knowledge of God it does not and should not mix with political power; something Thomas Paine felt strongly about, as expressed in his words from The Age of Reason, and is a central tenet of the Constitution
As the United States and her allies attempt to wage a “war on terror“, and the world sees more violence fueled by ever more entrenched religious and sectarian factions, what should be the role of religion in America? All around us we see the consequences of polarization based on “faith”. Should religious and spiritual belief bring people together or create bitter division? If it indeed should bring people together, then is the current political climate and dominate influence of one small faction of Christianity a danger to the well-being of our Republic? Is entrenched political power based on one small mode of belief ever a good thing?
The thoughts here of Thomas Paine are as vital now as they were when he wrote them, and they will remain so as long as we remain vigilant in the face of extremism of all types.
thomas paine, age of reason, religion, deist, faith, politics current events
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