5 points made by Franklin for religion of America. What would a modern rendition of these points be?
Posted by XenokRoy 8 years, 11 months ago to Philosophy
A few things I would like to avoid are comments about the article and others I reference being bias. They are, but the bring about the point I would like to discuss.
Most of the quotes below come from a book "The Making of America" which I think is the most complete study of the revolutionary period and the constitution I have ever found. It is bias towards the existence of god, so for those that are Atheist you would have to read it with thick skin.
The section that I have most used to create this post is found at:
https://books.google.com/books?id=aU-SBA...
Benjamin Franklin stated 5 laws that he felt universal to all people in religion.
1. Recognition and Worship of a Creator who made all things
2. That the creator has revealed a moral code of behavior for happy living which distinguishes right from wrong
3. That hte creator holds mankind responsible for the way they treat each other
4. That all mankind live beyond this life
5. That the next life individuals are judged for their conduct in this one.
It was used as a universal set of believes that all could come together on. It was used to unify the people who were religiously diverse and divided.
John Adam, Washington, Jefferson and others referenced this "Religion of America" in letters. Alexis Tocqueville recognized this as the strength that unified and kept in check many pressures that would have otherwise destroyed the US.
I have come to believe that we must identify, in a way that is easily consumable to the average person, a similar set of 5 or so principles that all people can see, recognize and agree upon. From that set of principles that can effectively be described in 5 lines or so we would be far more likely to help others understand what common ground must exist in order to have a diverse culture that we can all respect one and other.
The 5 items stated by Franklin bound together a country of many different christian religions. What do you think 5 statements are that could bind together people of differing religious, lifestyle or other views but that all believe in producing? I think we need to define and then use 5 such statements so that they are seen everywhere. First step is, what are these statements?
Most of the quotes below come from a book "The Making of America" which I think is the most complete study of the revolutionary period and the constitution I have ever found. It is bias towards the existence of god, so for those that are Atheist you would have to read it with thick skin.
The section that I have most used to create this post is found at:
https://books.google.com/books?id=aU-SBA...
Benjamin Franklin stated 5 laws that he felt universal to all people in religion.
1. Recognition and Worship of a Creator who made all things
2. That the creator has revealed a moral code of behavior for happy living which distinguishes right from wrong
3. That hte creator holds mankind responsible for the way they treat each other
4. That all mankind live beyond this life
5. That the next life individuals are judged for their conduct in this one.
It was used as a universal set of believes that all could come together on. It was used to unify the people who were religiously diverse and divided.
John Adam, Washington, Jefferson and others referenced this "Religion of America" in letters. Alexis Tocqueville recognized this as the strength that unified and kept in check many pressures that would have otherwise destroyed the US.
I have come to believe that we must identify, in a way that is easily consumable to the average person, a similar set of 5 or so principles that all people can see, recognize and agree upon. From that set of principles that can effectively be described in 5 lines or so we would be far more likely to help others understand what common ground must exist in order to have a diverse culture that we can all respect one and other.
The 5 items stated by Franklin bound together a country of many different christian religions. What do you think 5 statements are that could bind together people of differing religious, lifestyle or other views but that all believe in producing? I think we need to define and then use 5 such statements so that they are seen everywhere. First step is, what are these statements?
1. Reality exists.
2. I understand reality through models based on observation and reason. The models describe reality but are not themselves reality.
3. I own my own life.
4. It is wrong to use force on people, except in preventing them from using force on others.
5. My highest purpose is pursing what I believe is right and what makes me happy.
Maybe that's a starting point that will inspire someone to improve them.
#2 A stab
While there are things which are not seen but are hoped for, we attempt to understand those and all things by observations based on rational reason.
#3: I think this might be better prioritized as #2 and should be expanded to include something to the effect of Everyone own their own life, and their own property and no one as the right to take either away to accomplish any goal.
#4 a must have, and may even be the item we lead into with first in most cases. It is one that can be very clear, but the depth to which its impact reverberates is often lost. I am not sure how to capture this depth in a concise statement but it needs to somehow be captured that force included things like taxing the rich to feed the poor, or taxing alcohol because you disagree with its consumption.
#5, needs a something along the lines of "and that must be respected by all entities so long as my pursuit does not initiate force on another."
Thanks for our thoughts
BTW, my goal for the ordering was to start with the most fundamental nature of existence on one end and toward the more abstract from there.
For example a government capable of taxing alcohol at a higher rate is capable of other less desirable manipulations as well. That statement is a start. Some specific manipulations that would be disliked by the group that would want to tax alcohol for the reasons you mention would need to be thought through and presented.
Ultimately the point would boil down to taxing differently in any way opens the doors to discrimination within taxation. Manipulation of the public through taxation and ultimately does not support the idea that people have rights to property and self that cannot be infringed.
An interesting exercise. Difficult to condense to just five simple statements. Somewhat related and perhaps helpful, might be the thoughts expressed in the book, A Defense of American Ideals. http://www.galtsgulchonline.com/posts/10...
Something intriguing to contemplate...
Regards,
O.A.
I think this exercise is needed to provide ammunition for talking points and deeper arguments in essay and research paper formats. We need to organize our thoughts and attack with a unified front if we are to change things. It must be a social change through all age categories.
Getting well ahead of myself here, but I think a later step is to tailor the statements to differing age groups, and perhaps the resulting argumentative papers on each of the 5 subject.
Something more like - 5 points made by Franklin for religion of America, What would a modern rendition of these points be?
I don't know (haven't tried it yet) if you can modify/edit your title, but I know you can modify the content of your own submissions now. There is a new edit button only visible to the creator of a submission that sends you back to the origin script page...
Does that help?
O.A.
So thanks Someone for doing it.
My thought, though, is that most people like consuming/using things: smart phones, mowed lawns, music, medical treatment, etc. It's a shame that doesn't translate automatically into producing them.
I really think having a few "Elevator Pitch" talking points that are well thought out, to the point that anyone can understand them and nearly everyone would be unified behind them is critical to success.
What are they? Thats the question we need to understand.
I can think of no better place than this site to come up with them. We have people from Atheist to those that believe god exists and loves us and everything in between. We share in common values that I would call American. Values that were at the time of the founders defined well by the 5 statements above. They unified people based on a belief system.
Desire and belief are strong driving forces, if we can find a way to focus in a few elevator pitch kind of statements what values we can all agree to, we have arguments that politicians can use, that we can use and that anyone can understand to drive things in the correct direction.
I am hoping for some healthy ideas and debate to help us find the right 5 or so statements and iron them out.