Quote:
Originally Posted by dksuddeth
this is an absolutely insane ideology. the founding of this nation rests on those words of people who died centuries ago. without them, there would be no USA. what would you have now?
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Without King George, there'd be no USA either. So, you know, whatever.
I'm not discounting the historical significance of the founders. I'm pointing out that their opinions are irrelevant because they've been dead for a long time and no one can seem to speak on their behalf without at the same time grinding an ideological axe.
We should do things that make sense now, and we should base our decisions about how to run our country based on things that make sense now. Ideas that were good back then are likely still good. You don't need to quote someone who's been dead for over a hundred years to support the idea that government tyranny is bad. There is no shortage of modern examples of the downsides of government tyranny. Jefferson's opinion on church and state is irrelevant. We know from looking at Iran the problems that can be found by a too-cozy relationship between religion and the state.