Re: Most think founders wanted Christian USA

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Newmedia () aol com
Date: September 14, 2007 9:04:10 AM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Re: [IP] Re:   Most think founders wanted Christian USA

Miles:

Many in New England were "radical millenarians" (i.e. Quakers,  
Puritans, etc.) who came to America with the expectation that the  
world was coming to an end and that they were building a new Garden  
of Eden.  These folks often viewed themselves as the "Chosen People"  
who were carrying out God's Plan -- as only they understood it.

In contrast, many in Virginia (Iike Jefferson) were more "Illuminati"  
types believing themselves to be the elite who would inherit the  
earth through their "secret societies" and related "republican/ 
masonic" practices.  They also believed themselves to be better than  
the rest of humanity.  They were Super Men -- who found it "natural"  
to hold slaves.

To cast this incredible mixture of I'm-better-than-you-are and The- 
end-of-the-world groups as "Christian" or "Not" is the height of  
historic foolishness.  None of this looks at all like most people  
today associate with either church or secular life.  We don't live in  
the same world as they did.

One way to understand some aspects of how these English colonies got  
populated would be to study the English Civil Wars of the 17th  
century.  Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle is a particularly  
engrossing way to get a flavor for those fascinating times.

Best,

Mark Stahlman
New York City





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