Oh god, someone please help me refute this video.

[TaraJo]

Silly.

The writings of Thomas Paine were inspirational early in our nation and he was EXTREMELY hostile towards Christianity. Most of the founding fathers were more deists than Christians. It's also interesting that he quoted Thomas Jefferson because ol' Jeffy also said this:

Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between Church and State.

and also.....

And the day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the supreme being as his father in the womb of a virgin will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerve in the brain of Jupiter. But may we hope that the dawn of reason and freedom of thought in these United States will do away with this artificial scaffolding, and restore to us the primitive and genuine doctrines of this most venerated reformer of human errors.

and don't forget this....

Question with boldness even the existence of a god; because if there be one he must approve of the homage of reason more than that of blindfolded fear.

and a whole list of others. I mean, hell, he even went so far as compile his own version of the Bible with all the unnecessary myths taken out and all that's left is the moral philosophy of Jesus. I still might not agree with it, but, damn, looking at it as a philosophy instead of as a religion makes a whole fuck of a lot more sense.