Dishonest Misquotes?
by Various famous people are often quoted as a means of defending or bolstering religious beliefs. Here I examine what some of them actually said and whether they are actually misunderstood or deliberately misquoted.
The Founding Fathers
The great men who founded the United States of America have often been used to support the view that religion and specifically Christianity was the faith of the founding fathers. Christianity, it is argued, should therefore be the primary religion in America and all people should recognise it as such. One recent article argued just this and suggested that In God we Trust be changed to In God we must Trust. Some of the founding fathers were Protestant whilst some were Catholic. It would seem though that some of the founding fathers were not so much Christian as Deist and others still had no religious affiliation.
“Twenty times in the course of my late reading, have I been upon the point of breaking out, “This would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it!” – John Adams
“Religious bondage shackles and debilitates the mind and unfits it for every noble enterprise.” – James Madison
“As to Jesus of Nazareth, my Opinion of whom you particularly desire, I think the System of Morals and his Religion…has received various corrupting Changes, and I have, with most of the present dissenters in England, some doubts as to his Divinity.” – Ben Franklin
Another example of how things are interpreted how certain individuals would like them to be rather than how they actually are.
Conclusion
All I ask is that if you are going to use other people to support your ideas and beliefs please ensure that your facts are correct, your quotes in context and your argument an honest one.
Refs:
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/book.shows.einstein.belief.in.god/10284-2.htm
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Post Commentgodspoet01
On February 18, 2009 at 3:28 pm
all famous people but could they be famous without Gods creating
science.Godthe most famous of all. You are always in my prayers
Gods bless you
Mark Helm
On March 1, 2009 at 2:56 pm
Simpleton
Lostash
On March 5, 2009 at 9:01 pm
It’s comments like the above from Mr Helm that just prove to me that religion is a total waste of time in my opinion. What a very ‘Christian’ response to what could have been an interesting debate.
Mama Heartfilled
On May 9, 2009 at 2:01 am
I agree, the whole truth should be shown when possible, not just aportion of it.
jamie mullen
On May 26, 2009 at 10:27 pm
This is an example of an actually well researched article.