Robert G. Ingersoll Quotes
The only thing that makes life endurable in this world is human love, and yet, according to Christianity, that is the very thing that we are not to have in the other world. We are to be so taken up with Jesus and angels, that we shall care nothing about our brothers and sisters that have been damned. We shall be so carried away with the music of the harp that we shall not even hear the wail of father and mother. Such a religion is a disgrace to human nature.
Ingersoll, Robert G. "The Christian Religion." The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, vol. 6, Dresden Publishing Company, 1900, p. 95.
Jefferson was a deist but had little love for the organized religions and did not consider the Bible as the revealed word of God.
Some of the founding fathers were deeply religious men while others were not so. Some varied in their believes at different times of their lives, and a number were not very favorable towards orthodox religion. At the time, Roman Catholic and Protestant churches were persecuting other religions throughout Europe and people were still being killed for their “heretical” beliefs. Most important to some of them, kings and other monarchs whom they abhorred, all at the time claimed the Divine Right of Kings and the established churches were the most important support for monarchs. At the time most organized religions were opposed to freedom of conscience and certainly opponents of separation of church and state. American churches tended to take on American values but were never given the chance to dominate the American government they way many religions had in Europe and the rest of the world.
This oath was even in force after the American Constitution was ratified and in effect. At the time, the Bill of Rights was not believed to be binding on the States—only on the Federal Government. Throughout American history there were many practices that were unconstitutional but were simply never litigated in the courts. Local community pressure often inhibited individuals from asserting their rights in the Federal Courts as did the expense. So, for most of American history local communities forced stores to close on Sunday. When the issue was finally taken to the Supreme Court, it was clear that such a practice was in violation of the First Amendment. Even in 2011, in Atlanta, it is “illegal” to buy beer on Sunday. When someone decides to litigate that, it will likely also be declared unconstitutional. The law not only discriminates against non Christians, but there are a few Christian sects which believe that Saturday is the Sabbath.
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, 1835-1910
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Robert Green "Bob" Ingersoll was an American lawyer, a Civil War veteran, political leader, and orator of the United States during the Golden Age of Free Thought, noted for his broad range of culture and his defense of agnosticism. He was nicknamed "The Great Agnostic". Ingersoll was considered to be the greatest orator and political thinker of his day, but his overt atheistic views curtailed his elected political career.
