I disagree with the past few pages as folks on here argue about man versus animal and then apply these notions to a number of political considerations.
Let's go back to Sunday school for a minute, it's an important lesson all the founding fathers understood whether they were Christian, Deist, or Theist. It's the fabric of our country.
Remember in Genesis the forbidden fruit on the tree? Adam and Eve (the first MAN and the first WOMAN) ate from the tree? What was that tree called again? "the tree of knowledge of good and evil". Obviously, when you read through the rest of Genesis its clear that there were humanoids suitable for breeding to provide wives for the sons of Adam and Eve. So supply of genetically suitable partners was not an issue, so what exactly made Adam and Eve and their offspring unique from these otherwise available hominids? Answer: Knowledge of good and evil. Without that knowledge, humanoids are just instinctive animals like the rest of the animal kingdom. Along with this conscience, came the awareness of the finality of life and death, and the forward thinking of long term consquences to the actions of the day. (perhaps eternal consequences?)
Okay, so being a Man is different than being an animal, not by physical form but by moral attributes. Hence, man is in the image of the "God" that was understood by the thinkers of the enlightenment whether Deist, Theist, Christian, Jew, or Muslim.
And why is this Bible story so important for a multicultural functioning society, even if you don't believe that it holds religious weight? It is because it is this ideology that explains why individuals have autonomy and natural rights. It is the core tenant that prevents majority rule, or removing individual liberties for the greater good of the collective.
Regardless of creed at the founding of this country, this essential concept was 100% clear across all of the founders. If you miss this plot, you lose the scaffolding that allowed us to build a functioning republic.
Let's go back to Sunday school for a minute, it's an important lesson all the founding fathers understood whether they were Christian, Deist, or Theist. It's the fabric of our country.
Remember in Genesis the forbidden fruit on the tree? Adam and Eve (the first MAN and the first WOMAN) ate from the tree? What was that tree called again? "the tree of knowledge of good and evil". Obviously, when you read through the rest of Genesis its clear that there were humanoids suitable for breeding to provide wives for the sons of Adam and Eve. So supply of genetically suitable partners was not an issue, so what exactly made Adam and Eve and their offspring unique from these otherwise available hominids? Answer: Knowledge of good and evil. Without that knowledge, humanoids are just instinctive animals like the rest of the animal kingdom. Along with this conscience, came the awareness of the finality of life and death, and the forward thinking of long term consquences to the actions of the day. (perhaps eternal consequences?)
Okay, so being a Man is different than being an animal, not by physical form but by moral attributes. Hence, man is in the image of the "God" that was understood by the thinkers of the enlightenment whether Deist, Theist, Christian, Jew, or Muslim.
And why is this Bible story so important for a multicultural functioning society, even if you don't believe that it holds religious weight? It is because it is this ideology that explains why individuals have autonomy and natural rights. It is the core tenant that prevents majority rule, or removing individual liberties for the greater good of the collective.
Regardless of creed at the founding of this country, this essential concept was 100% clear across all of the founders. If you miss this plot, you lose the scaffolding that allowed us to build a functioning republic.