The 4th of July and freedom

” Yet through all the gloom I can see the rays of ravishing light and glory. I can see that the end is worth all the means. This is our day of deliverance. With solemn acts of devotion we ought to commemorate it, with pomp and parade…with shows and games…sports and guns…with bells and bonfires and illuminations from one end of the continent to the other…from this time forward and forevermore…” So wrote John Adams about the 4^th of July.

There is no question in my mind that the 4^th of July is the most important holiday that we celebrate in this nation. All of the other national holidays, Easter and Christmas included, pale by comparison.

On the 4^th of July, 1826, America celebrated the 50^th anniversary of her independence. John Adams, the second President of the United States died on that day at the age of 90. His last words were “Thomas Jefferson still survives.”

But, on that same day…Jefferson too, died.

Read more

Jefferson and the Christian superstition

When John Kennedy was President, he gave a banquet in the White House that was without precedent. The banquet was for every living American Nobel Prize winner, with about 150 present. At the beginning of the evening, President Kennedy stood and announced he would make a toast. He said: “Never has so much talent…and so much genius…been assembled in one room…since Thomas Jefferson dined…alone.”

The author of the Declaration of Independence, brilliant philosopher, theologian, architect, linguist, scholar, statesman, scientist, musician, horticulturist, agronomist, humanist, deist and master of the civilized arts wrote this:

“I have examined all the known superstitions of the world, and I do not find in our particular superstitions of Christianity one redeeming feature. They are all alike, founded on fables and mythology. Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned. What has been the effect of this coercion? To make one half the world fools and the other half hypocrites, to support roguery and error all over the earth.”
Read more

Our founding presidents were not Christian

I am going to do a series of columns this month on the first six presidents of the United States, as well as Abraham Lincoln. Not a one of them was Christian.

They were all Deists, by their own admission. Why is this series so important? Because of the total and continual distortion, deceit and misrepresentation of the religious and political right about the religious beliefs of our Founders. My series is to affirm the importance of historical accuracy, truth and facts.

I am often invited to lecture, or speak, by various institutions around the country. More requests have come to me to speak on this subject than any other in the area of religious studies. I have lectured on the religion of our first six presidents at the University of New Mexico, Boise State University, the University of Southern Colorado, the University of Alabama, (Jung Society) , the University of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff, the University of Puget Sound and others, as well as many conventions.
Read more

Next Page »