‘Nature’s God’ explores ‘heretical origins’ of religion in U.S.

According to Matthew Stewart, author of “Nature’s God: The Heretical Origins of the American Republic,” the United States was never founded as a Christian Nation. Rather, our principal founders indulged in “…an intellectual tradition dating to ancient Greece and reviled by every variety of Christian…”

They believed in “Nature’s God ... a God of publicly promulgated laws, not of private and inscrutable acts…” in which “…belief [is] a matter of evidence, not choice.” Stewart argues that they valued the “…liberty of thought” to examine and change our ideas and institutions… “A genuinely liberal political system,” that “hold[s] the actions of an entire collective accountable to reason…both a republic of learning and a learning republic.” Stewart holds that freedom of religion is a private matter and that religious intrusions into public procedure are “unwarranted.” Nevertheless, we sure see a lot of it these days.

To get a sense of why this might be an important point, head over to jihadology.net and see what is going on with the Mujahideen of ابراهيم عواد ابراهيم علي البدري السامرائي (Eng.: Ibrahim Awwad Ibrahim Ali al-Badri al-Samarrai) better known as Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. He is apparently all the ‘rage’ these days. (Warning: Disturbing and graphic. Don’t watch too much.)

There is value in civil order, but the basis must be clear.

Tip Johnson