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2
5
More secular back then More secular now.
Debate Score:7
Arguments:7
Total Votes:7
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 More secular back then (2)
 
 More secular now. (3)

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animedude639(1575) pic



Was America more secular back then or is it more secular now?

This should make for an interesting debate. Many people say America was more christian back then but at the same time it wasn't until later on in the years we started pushing christianity more and more like Putting "in god we trust" on our coins and bills.

More secular back then

Side Score: 2
VS.

More secular now.

Side Score: 5

I say more secular back then. The founding fathers made it very clear they wanted a secular government and that the government cant favor one religion over another. Over the years however America has started to forget their secular roots and instead decided to push Christianity more and more over the years.

Side: More secular back then
Jace(5222) Clarified
2 points

At the same time, I wonder if their ability to conceive of genuine secularism might have been somewhat constrained by what was the norm at the time. Even a modicum of secularism in government would have seemed more significant then than it would today, given what the earlier colonial settlers left behind them in Europe. I think it is entirely possible that religion (and especially Christianity) would have been still rather quite integrated in some ways with governance simply because so many governmental practices would have taken that integration for granted.

Early laws held only that no law should be passed respecting the establishment of religion (i.e. creating a state church) or prohibiting the free exercise of religion (i.e. no persecution between different sects of Christianity, as was common in Europe and especially England). Prayer in public schools and the like would not generally been construed to be covered under the First Amendment, and secularism today owes a fair amount to common law created by subsequent Supreme Court rulings.

Furthermore, I rather doubt that earlier interpretations of secularism would have been quite so legally accommodating of agnostic and atheistic views and practices (not that we are great about that today even).

Side: More secular back then

You make a good point. I guess their interpretation of secularism was slightly different from ours.

Side: More secular back then

The country itself, including the populace, was far more Christian during our founding. Whether the government was more or less secular, however, is far more difficult to determine. From the original pledge, to our currency, it is clear that in modern times politicians have used religion (Christianity) for political purposes in ways that our founders did not. However, there were certain norms of the time that included religion that our founders partook in ("Year of our lord...", more frequent prayers, etc). So it is a rather difficult question if you are referring to the government.

But seeing as how there are far more atheists, agnostics and non-religious folk now than there were then, the country itself is more secular now.

Side: More secular now.
animedude639(1575) Clarified
2 points

I guess I should have rephrased my question to "was America's government more secular back then or now?"

Side: More secular back then

U.S face stiff competition from Uk,India and Canada to remain at the head of this 'Secular Chart' and so definitely even though things are not so secular but you have to call it 'a secular state';otherwise the FBI would launch into your house;America may be the home to many religions but certainly not all religions are treated equally.

Side: More secular now.

The U.S. Government is slowly trying to make America inclusive of all.

Side: More secular now.