John Winthrop Quotes
It is you who have called us unto this office; but being thus called we have our authority from God;
Then the Deputy Governor, Winthrop had been attacked as being too authoritarian. The conceptual struggle with democracy, divine right, and religion had begun in America long before the American Revolution. There is an interesting parallel with the current debate over Islamic attacks on democracy by an Islamic party being elected, but then responsible to God and not only the people who elected them.
John Winthrop, 1588-1649, Puritan Clergyman, Governor, Massachusetts Bay Colony, Speech to the public
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
She was running for the United States Senate. God must have chosen her opponent as she lost.
Hizb ut-Tahrir is a “worldwide Islamic political party.” It is banned as a terrorist, violence provoking institution in most of the Muslim countries and many nations in Europe.
This quotation illustrates the negative attitudes towards democracy that existed with many “leaders” of the time. Stuyvesant was appointed by and reported to the Dutch West India Company—not to the government of Holland. New Amsterdam was a commercial venture just as most of the English American Colonies were. Stuyvesant was not a particularly good governor in terms of both making money for the company or governing the new city.
While the author represents the views of most Islamic Fundamentalists, a similar view is held by many ulta-orthodox Jews and fundamentalist Christians also.
Commenting on the concept of democracy and it's lack of Biblical justification:
Justinian, like many civil political leaders before and after him, took great pains to minimize the civil authority of the church. Separation of church and state is not a modern notion, though it was harder to accomplish in antiquity. Rulers would want to coopt the religion to help legitimize their rule, but tried to keep the church as weak as they could unless another religion was challenging for supremecy.
John Winthrop was an English Puritan lawyer and one of the leading figures in founding the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the second major settlement in New England following Plymouth Colony. Winthrop led the first large wave of colonists from England in 1630 and served as governor for 12 of the colony's first 20 years. His writings and vision of the colony as a Puritan "city upon a hill" dominated New England colonial development, influencing the governments and religions of neighboring colonies.
