Bill O'Reilly Quotes
Far be it for the public schools to teach this, but the U.S.A. was founded on basic Judeo-Christian principles. Don't believe me - take a trip to Washington D.C. and tour the Supreme Court building. There you will see a sculpted copy of the Ten Commandments on the wall.
O'Reilly, Bill. Culture Warrior. Broadway Books, 2006, p. 120.
There were those who disagreed with Sekulow, especially those whose religions did not recognize the Ten Commandments. Others see the Ten Commandments not in a religious sense but in a cultural sense and therefore the display in the Supreme Court—along with other world historical scenes of laws and lawgiving—was a historical and cultural display which did not help to “establish” any religion.
His reference was to an absence of very much religious language in American documents of the founding fathers. While some founding fathers were very religious, and all knowledgeable about religion, Meacham argues from the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, The Bill of Rights, the Federalist Papers, and many other documents of the founding of America that the absence of religious language that was present in much other literature, demonstrates a conscious effort to assure that there would be separation of church and state for they had seen the horrors of interreligious strife in Europe and were very cognizant about the problems caused in early Colonial America by established religions.
The argument over whether or not the Founding Fathers intended a religious—Christian—foundation in the formation of America is not just a debate of modern times, but has been debated even in the next generation of politicians. Webster, believed that it was.
In that era the favoritism of the government—especially state and local government—in favor of the of the Protestant Christians. Politicians started challenging the clear unconstitutional favoritism. The reformers were Republicans often referred to by the Democrats as “Godless Republicans”. A century later the Republicans would oppose strict separation of church and state with the Southerners and Fundamentalist Christians in their party and the Democrats fighting to maintain strict separation of church and state.
William James O'Reilly Jr. is an American journalist, author, and former television host.
