Formatted Contents Note: |
Foreword -- Preface -- Introduction: prelude to an argument -- Usage note -- The founders, independence, and the colonies. Interesting and irrelevant, the religion of the founders ; "Religion and morality": religion for the masses, reason for the founders ; Declaring independence from Judeo-Christianity ; Referrals: the Declaration's references to a higher power ; Christian settlements: colonizing the continent, not building a nation -- United States v. The Bible. Biblical influence ; Christian arrogance and the golden rule ; Biblical obedience or American freedom? ; Crime and punishment: Biblical vengeance or American justice? ; Redemption and original sin or personal responsibility and the presumption of innocence ; The American experiment: religious faith or reason? ; A monarchy and "the morrow" or a republic and "our posterity" -- The Ten Commandments v. the Constitution. Which ten? ; The threat display: the First Commandment ; Punishing the innocent: the Second Commandment ; Suppressed speech: the Third Commandment ; Forced rest: the Fourth Commandment ; On family honor: the Fifth Commandment ; Unoriginal and tribal: the Sixth, Eighth, and Ninth Commandments ; Perverting sex and love: the Seventh Commandment ; Misogyny, slavery, thoughtcrime, and anti-capitalism: the Tenth Commandment ; The Ten Commandments: a religious, not a moral code -- American verbiage. Argument by idiom ; "In God we trust": the belligerent motto ; "One nation under God": the divisive motto ; "God bless America": the diversionary motto -- Conclusion: take alarm, this is the first experiment in our liberties. |