What do you believe American Law was founded on??

[lawgator1]

If the framers of the Constitution felt so strongly about the depravity of man, then why provide for so much leeway and liberty for man?

Hobbes sincerely believed in the depravity of man; his recommendation was that people should be ruled by a Leviathan dictator. Somehow, this idea was rejected by those who formed our government.



Where in the Constitution is the Bible cited?

Natural law is referred to repeatedly by Locke, Kant, Voltaire (Benjamin Franklin's friend), etc.

The Enlightenment had influenced enough of the influential people in both Europe and America that I highly doubt the founders of our government had to convince men of influence that the governmental ideas were in line with Christianity and the Bible.

This is my point, exactly. The Bible is very long and full of parables and statements of morality. You can find in it support for a lot of basic values, and some pretty weird ones.

That the Bible CAN be cited in support of a universally accepted value DOES NOT COMPEL the conclusion that the value came from the Bible.

The religious right has always relied on that shell game to justify taking parts of the Bible, construed correctly or incorrectly, to try to impose on everyone else THEIR value system. And if you disagree, they arrogantly proclaim that the nation's values and laws come from the Bible, ergo it is THE source for all law.

I am a member of a Presbyterian Church. This trait of bashing others with the Bible is why I could NEVER be a fundamentalist evangelical type. I can promote the Good News without forcing it on people who can't get there on their own.
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[vol_in_ar]

I believe that it was probably somewhat comparable to English Law at the time, but I believed they used the Bible to establish the majority of our laws in the early days, which most of which we still use today. Even though the founding fathers DID NOT establish a federal religion, and I don't believe we ever should either, the majority of the people back then believed the Bible as the truth, and they established laws based on those beliefs.

Here's an interesting link I found that has Bible verses that coincide with certain things in our government....

The Bible and Government - Faith Facts

Also, this isn't another comparison thread, so please resist the urge to turn it into one. I just want to see where some of you think we came from, as far as our laws.

the Magna Carta

 

[BigOrange15]

English Common Law.

 

[VOLatile]

To say that the ideas and laws in the Bible originated in the Bible is a tad bit silly and biased.

 

[gasguy98]

John Locke, Aristotle, and Plato.

Magna Carta, the individuality of the ancient Germanic/Celtic tribes and their laws, Roman law.

 

[gasguy98]

English law is more Germanic in origin, than anything else. The Anglo-Saxons, who were Christians, helped direct English common law more than any other culture. So, again, Christians helping shape the laws of a country. Christianity even fundamentally changed the Roman Empire itself, especially it's laws.

Anglo Saxons were worshipping the pantheon of Germanic (virtually the same as Norse gods) before they were Christian. They molded Christianity around their ancient laws, which were unique in that they placed emphasis on the individual much more so than other cultures.

I do believe that your overall argument that a great deal of Western Civ (what is left of it) was strongly influenced by Christianity. However, there were many other factors that go back much further to give us our unique system of "natural law".

 

[gasguy98]

Honestly though, what government hasn't ended up failing over time, no matter what the reasoning is?? The problem that I see with it all, is that the government eventually becomes too much of an identity, and eventually consumes more than it should, thus making it too big for it's own good.

This is basically what TJ believed.