[net.religion.jewish] religion and public life: texas

martillo@mit-athena.ARPA (Joaquim Martillo) (08/08/84)

>I do not know if they considered Zoroastrianism, but at least some of
>the founding fathers did have the INTENT to protect certain
>non-Christian belief systems, particurally Judaism. To assert that the
>founding fathers, as a group, wished to guard only Christian belief
>systems is erroneous.

>					David Rubin
>			{allegra|astrovax|princeton}!fisher!david

I  am  not  sure  David  Rubin is correct here.  While George Washington
seems to have been well disposed toward Jews, I am not sure any  of  the
writers  of  the  constitution  ever  expressed  an intention to protect
Judaism.  I believe several states did not give Jews voting rights until
the  early  19th  century.   Maryland  sticks  in  my  mind as the prime
offender.

Yaqim Martillo

An Equal Opportunity Offender

smb@ulysses.UUCP (Steven Bellovin) (08/10/84)

Martillo is right about the mixed attitude towards freedom of religion
among the framers of the Constitution.  They were a mixed bag, with
opinions all over the spectrum.  Jefferson, for example, had said many
nasty things about Christianity in his youth, and was an ardent defender
of full religious freedom.  Most of the other prominent Virginians were
with him on that issue.  But the New Englanders still had state-paid
clerics, which Virginia had abolished quite some time before.  And yes,
some states did restrict the franchise well into the 19th century -- Maryland
and Delaware come to mind, though I'm not certain about that.

david@fisher.UUCP (David Rubin) (08/10/84)

I did not say ALL the founding fathers were tolerant of Judaism. What
I said was that SOME (in fact many) were, thus putting to lie the
contention that the founding fathers as a group were concerned with
protecting Christian beliefs only.

					David Rubin
			{allegra|astrovax|princeton}!fisher!david

martillo@mit-athena.UUCP (08/12/84)

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Date: Sun, 12-Aug-84 01:04:59 EDT
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d public life: texas
Organization: MIT, Project Athena, Cambridge, Ma.
Lines: 7

My point was that while some of the founding fathers were sympathetic to
Jews as individuals, there is no evidence that any of the founding
fathers were interested in protecting Judaism as a belief system (unless
you include Haim Solomon [sefardi 'abal ben `anusim] and in his case we
are discussing self-interest).

Yaqim Martillo