IE The existence of god can’t be proved or disproved. Therefore we may not reasonably claim such a belief is false. If you make such a claim, you attract the burden of proof.
Getting back to where this exchange started, I think it's Patrick that sent it off in a direction that doesn't fit the discussion. The claim of America being built on God is always made with a capital "G". That is a very specific god. I'll grant, for sake of the discussion, that I can't disprove some sort of deist, Spinoza, disinterested creator, prime mover type of god. If we ended there, "endowed by our Creator" would not be in dispute. But it doesn't end there. There are specific claims of God made laws, God enforced punishments, God intervening to help us in war. To get from the deist to those specifics takes a lot of work, and plenty of falsifiable claims in between. You would have to start by accepting the first few verses of Genesis as metaphor, and throwing out talking snakes and where knowledge comes and all the other "just-so" stories.
You would end up with “America is built on a culture that grew out of people who believed in God”, but then you’d have to deal with all the people involved and somehow explain how all their different forms of worship were actually about the same thing. Good luck with that.
I could use some help here. I have posting that have not appeared. On my computer it has my posting as the last posting, and it is not showing at all. Lausten is the last posting before this one.
Viewing 11 posts - 31 through 41 (of 41 total) is what I have showing. With this post it should be 42. Could anyone please let me know what number they are seeing. Thank you.
I’m seeing your post 300118, with the page saying 12 posts - 31 through 42. I’ve had some of my posts not show up either, it seems to be the old spam filter problem. A little weirder though that you get no warning, and maybe even an indicator that you posted at the main menu level, but the post isn’t there.
Lausten, I love the associations that some of these post evoke - reading your comment about what’s happened to the inner working of this CFI forum, this song same to mind: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ws-_syszg84
About the substance of this thread, TimB, I’m on your side! Especially now that I see you appreciate Thee One True God, the FlyingSpagettiMonster.
Mike, still not sure what point you’re trying to make, but that’s okay. This still works:
Freemasonry is not a religion, nor is it a substitute for religion. It requires of its members a belief in God as part of the obligation of every responsible adult, but advocates no sectarian faith or practice. Masonic ceremonies include prayers, both traditional and extempore, to reaffirm each individual’s dependence on God and to seek divine guidance. Freemasonry is open to men of any faith, but religion may not be discussed at Masonic meetings. https://www.msana.com/religion.asp
Lausten puts nice polish on it:
You would end up with “America is built on a culture that grew out of people who believed in God”, but then you’d have to deal with all the people involved and somehow explain how all their different forms of worship were actually about the same thing. Good luck with that.