(August 7, 2012 at 11:18 am)Chuck Wrote: No it's not. It's founder mythology whose manifestations also appear in the form of veneration of the "eternal president" Kim Il Song, and of Vladmir Lenin. It is a substitute for long organic history history in giving the national polity legitamacy. It's a tool to overawe the gullible.
I never said the quasi-deification of our founders was rational or not founded on anything but sentiment*. I was just explaining the psychology behind it.
* Caveat: I do think we were more fortunate than other nations to have a group of early leaders that could steer a course between anarchy and a new dictatorship. French history through the 19th century offers an example of a less fortunate progression from monarchy to democracy. Hell, we even had a first president that actually restrained the power of his office and set the precedent of no more than two terms. To the best of my knowledge, he's the only leader in history to do that. They weren't demigods but they did a good job.
Atheist Forums Hall of Shame:
"The trinity can be equated to having your cake and eating it too."
... -Lucent, trying to defend the Trinity concept
"(Yahweh's) actions are good because (Yahweh) is the ultimate standard of goodness. That’s not begging the question"
... -Statler Waldorf, Christian apologist
"The trinity can be equated to having your cake and eating it too."
... -Lucent, trying to defend the Trinity concept
"(Yahweh's) actions are good because (Yahweh) is the ultimate standard of goodness. That’s not begging the question"
... -Statler Waldorf, Christian apologist
