How can we be patriotic Americans while simultaneously being intolerant of those of either different faiths or more liberal interpretations of the Bible if we were settled/founded by people seeking religious freedom? Are we becoming what we fled from?
by 
8 Jan 2004-10 Dec 2009
ANSWERS: 4
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What a great question- which I'm sorry but I'm going to have to answer with a few questions. Anyways- we got here by killing helpless natives, so we did some not so Christian things to flee from our percecutions! And as for different interpretations of the bible- someone could come and knock on my door tomarrow and tell me that they think God is really a metaphor for the moon and that they are the Son of God and that they want us all to worship the pickle fairy and you know what?! besides being weirded out, I WOULDN"T CARE- why? Because they can believe what they want and I will still beleive what I believe. I think gay marriage is just fine and dandy- and you know what if you don't agree with it, then here's an idea don't marry someone of the same sex! If your faith is sooo shakey that someone else disagreeing with you will ruin it, they you need to go to church more often!
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If one partakes in activities in contradiction to the original principles of the nation, then their patriotism is questionable. While they may mean good, there may be a place wrong to be found. Slowly, we are becoming what we fled from. This nation was founded for freedom, and yet intolerance is gaining control, and has been since the first settlers. The treatment of the Native Americans are an example. People become wary if one is not Christian, especially in my area. Most Americans forget that while we may be a nation founded on Christian-like principles, we are supposed to be a nation open, equal to all.
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A small number of people came here to escape religious persecution. Somehow, they were the ones in charge of writing the history books. The vast majority of people who came here did so to seek their fortunes in the new world. This country was founded on the idea of wealth, not religion. Of those who came here seeking religious freedom, their interpretation of religious freedom meant choosing any form of fundamental Christianity that you liked.
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I think your sense of history might be a little mixed up. The folks who came for religious reasons started coming in the early 1600s. The 'nation' was founded as a geo-political independent entity in the late 1700s. By then the original religiously motivated settlers were long gone and their legacy endured more in national myth than in political reality. They would have spurned the energetic patriotism you see today. And as branciforte says, the concept of religious freedom meant a whole different thing to the Pilgrims fathers, who were mostly Puritans, than it does today. Back then it meant freedom from persecution by the state for choosing to worship in a church other than the established one, i.e., the church that received state financial support and in some cases whose religious head was also the secular head of state.
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