To Be an American

[bwaites]

Now I think this thread may have run its course. I'll let anyone rebut the above, but I'm closing this tonite.

[Drift]

Close it as you wish. I enjoyed the General Discussion board 2 forums ago. I enjoy the debate/disagreement on this one. I learned a lot from guys like M9 Powell and Old Joe. Its when they took it out of here and put it in the "helpful" 6.5 areas that it was a problem. I'm kinda glad I don't have to make these ethical decisions like you do.

[stanc]

Actually, this post has drifted so far as to be untenable. Simply stating beliefs is one thing, haveing to debate the reality of those beliefs is completely another. Christianity, indeed all belief if God, any God, requires faith.

Questioning faith is the same as asking someone to explain the taste of salt. If you have no faith, then it is impossible to understand it, just as explaining the taste of salt would be to someone who had never tasted it would be impossible.

Bill, you also seem to not understand my recent posts. I'm not "questioning faith," nor am I interested in debating the "reality" of peoples' beliefs.

As I said in my previous post, the issue isn't whether or not Jefferson believed he was endowed by his creator with the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

My question is, can anyone cite the basis for the claim of such "God given" rights?

AFAIK, the authoritative source for all that God said and did is the Bible. The only portions of the Bible which I've read to date indicate that God was firmly opposed to such "rights."

Therefore, I was hoping that there might be someone here who could cite where in the Bible it states that God bestowed men with said rights, so that I might learn.

[BluntForceTrauma]

I'm gonna close this, unless Bill beats me to it.

Just a quick response to Stanc: The general theme of the Bible, in which it is taught the "New" Testament both fulfills and supercedes the "Old" Testament, is that one expresses his love for God by loving his fellow man, and that the guiding principle of human relations is to "do unto others as you would have them do unto you." From this logically follows that one should govern others as one would, himself, want to be governed. (Today's Congress exempting themselves from Obamacare is a obvious example violating this.)

Anyway, I consider myself a practicing Christian, so I'm happy to discuss any questions via PM, or better, email.

But as this thread has, alas, wandered into the weeds and has gone far from LRRPF52's original intent, we'll let it rest.