Posted on Jun 9, 2023

TWIH: Thomas Paine passes away

PO1 Kevin Dougherty

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He is best known as the author of Common Sense, a pamphlet that advocated for independence from Great Britain. Its blunt assessment rocked Revolutionary War America. --- Still worth reading IMO.

TWIH: Thomas Paine passes away

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American History

Posted >1 y ago

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MSG Stan Hutchison

Posted >1 y ago

One of our original Liberals. His ideas reflected Enlightenment-era ideals of human rights. As was Jefferson and many other founders.
FYI:
"The Enlightenment included a range of ideas centered on the value of human happiness, the pursuit of knowledge obtained by means of reason and the evidence of the senses, and ideals such as natural law, liberty, progress, toleration, fraternity, constitutional government, and separation of church and state."

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PO1 Kevin Dougherty

>1 y

I agree for the most part, though far, far, far from what we know as liberal today. It is also worth pointing out that separation of church and state was not a phrase that was even considered in the debates over the Constitution or the Bill of Rights. It was in fact not coined until 1802 in Jefferson's response to concerns expressed by the Danbury Baptists regarding state control of the Church. Even then it is hard to imagine how the Supreme Court arrived at the verdict they did without completely ignoring or deliberately misconstruing the context in which Jefferson penned the phrase. That context would also have to include the fact that the nation was, in almost every case, established by the descendants of people fleeing from religious oppression.

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