Source: http://kypolitics2010.wordpress.com/2009/12/25/who-is-rand-paul-and-why-does-he-deserve-my-vote/

I.  Activating Prior Knowledge

George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin, along with several others are often referred to as the “Founding Fathers of the United States of America.” It was under their leadership that the foundation for our country was laid.

Over the last couple of hundred years, there has been a great deal of dispute by historians as to the religious/philosophical beliefs of these “Founding Fathers.” It is upon these religious/philosophical beliefs that a great deal of conflict has arisen over the interpretation of the Constitution of the United States of America.

II.  Setting A Purpose for Reading

As you read the following quotes by the “Founding Fathers,” try to identify their religious/philosophical beliefs. Think about how these beliefs shaped our country and created what has come to be known as the “American ideals.”

III.  Reading the Text (Read, Re-read, and Read Again)

George Washington

1.  “The government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion.”

2.  “It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible.”

3.  “Let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.”

4.  “Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.”

5.  “I hope I shall possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man.”

6.  “If we desire to avoid insult, we must be able to repel it; if we desire to secure peace, one of the most powerful instruments of our rising prosperity, it must be known, that we are at all times ready for War.”

7.  "The name of AMERICAN, which belongs to you, in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of Patriotism, more than any appellation derived from local discriminations."

8.  "(T)he foundation of our national policy will be laid in the pure and immutable principles of private morality; ...the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained..."  George Washington, First Inaugural, April 30 1789

Stop! Can you answer these questions? If not, go back and re-read the passage. Was George Washington a humanist, deist, atheist, or Christian? What values did George Washington see as important to American culture? Be sure to be able to give evidence to support your opinion.

Thomas Jefferson

1.  "... God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion. The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions, it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty.... And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to the facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure." - Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334 (C.J. Boyd, Ed., 1950)

2.  "Can the liberties of a nation be sure when we remove their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people, that these liberties are a gift from God? 

3.  “A wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circle of our felicity.” -  Thomas Jefferson, First Inaugural Address.

4.  “Where the preamble declares, that coercion is a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion, an amendment was proposed by inserting "Jesus Christ," so that it would read "A departure from the plan of Jesus Christ, the holy author of our religion;" the insertion was rejected by the great majority, in proof that they meant to comprehend, within the mantle of its protection, the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and Mohammedan, the Hindoo and Infidel of every denomination.” - Thomas Jefferson, Autobiography, in reference to the Virginia Act for Religious Freedom

5.  “I never submitted the whole system of my opinions to the creed of any party of men whatever in religion, in philosophy, in politics, or in anything else where I was capable of thinking for myself. Such an addiction is the last degradation of a free and moral agent.” -Thomas Jefferson, letter to Francis Hopkinson, March 13, 1789

6.  “Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legislative powers of government reach actions only, and 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.” -Thomas Jefferson, letter to Danbury Baptist Association, CT., Jan. 1, 1802

7.  “No man has a natural right to commit aggression on the equal rights of another, and this is all from which the laws ought to restrain him.”

8.  “To take from one because it is thought that his own industry and that of his father’s has acquired too much, in order to spare to others, who, or whose fathers, have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association—the guarantee to every one of a free exercise of his industry and the fruits acquired by it.”

Stop! Can you answer these questions? If not, go back and re-read the passage. Was Thomas Jefferson a humanist, deist, atheist, or Christian? What values did Thomas Jefferson see as important to American culture? Be sure to be able to give evidence to support your opinion.

Benjamin Franklin

1.  "Any people that would give up liberty for a little temporary safety deserves neither liberty nor safety."

2.  "We must all hang together, or, assuredly, we shall all hang separately." - Benjamin Franklin at the signing of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776

3.  "You desire to know something of my religion. It is the first time I have been questioned upon it. But I cannot take your curiosity amiss, and shall endeavour in a few words to gratify it. Here is my creed. I believe in one God, Creator of the Universe. That He governs it by His providence. That He ought to be worshipped. That the most acceptable service we render Him is doing good to His other children. That the soul of man is immortal, and will be treated with justice in another life respecting its conduct in this. These I take to be the fundamental principles of all sound religion, and I regard them as you do in whatever sect I meet with them.”
"As to Jesus of Nazareth, my opinion of whom you particularly desire, I think the system of Morals and his Religion, as he left them to us, the best the World ever saw or is likely to see; but I apprehend it has received various corrupt changes, and I have, with most of the present Dissenters in England, some doubts as to his divinity; though it is a question I do not dogmatize upon, having never studied it, and think it needless to busy myself with it, when I expect soon an opportunity of knowing the Truth with less trouble. I see no harm, however, in its being believed, if that belief has the good consequence, as probably it has, of making his doctrines more respected and better observed; especially as I do not perceive that the Supreme takes it amiss, by distinguishing the unbelievers in His government of the world with any particular marks of His displeasure.” - [Benjamin Franklin, letter to Ezra Stiles, President of Yale, shortly before his death; from "Benjamin Franklin" by Carl Van Doren, the October, 1938 Viking Press edition pages 777-778 Also see Alice J. Hall, "Philosopher of Dissent: Benj. Franklin," National Geographic, Vol. 148, No. 1, July, 1975, p. 94]

4.  “God grant that not only the love of liberty but a thorough knowledge of the rights of man may pervade all the nations of the earth, so that a philosopher may set his foot anywhere on its surface and say: This is my country.”

5.  "This will be the best security for maintaining our liberties. A nation of well-informed men who have been taught to know and prize the rights which God has given them cannot be enslaved. It is in the religion of ignorance that tyranny begins.”

6.  “Freedom is not a gift bestowed upon us by other men, but a right that belongs to us by the laws of God and nature.”

7.  “The Constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself.”

Stop! Can you answer these questions? If not, go back and re-read the passage. Was Benjamin Franklin a humanist, deist, atheist, or Christian? What values did Benjamin Franklin see as important to American culture? Be sure to be able to give evidence to support your opinion.

IV.  Personal Reflection - Respond to the following questions in your blog. Be sure to include quotes from the text to support your response.

Part 1 Response  - Select one of the three (Washington, Jefferson, and Franklin) and identify their philosophical and/or religious beliefs (Humanism, Deism, Atheism, Christianity). Provide evidence from the quotes above to support your response. You may want to consider doing a little internet research on the person to aid in your decision. Finding an additional quote to support your response will receive additional credit.

Part 2 Response – Select one of the three (Washington, Jefferson, and Franklin) and identify a value or belief that has become a part of the “American Ideals.” Provide evidence from the quotes above to support your response. You may want to consider doing a little internet research on the person to aid in your decision. Finding an additional quote to support your response will receive additional credit.

Part 3 Response – Select one of the three (Washington, Jefferson, and Franklin), do you agree or disagree with either the philosophical/religious beliefs or values espoused by the person you selected? Be sure to explain yourself clearly.

V.  Peer Reflection – Read one classmates’ reflections and respond to what they have written. You may choose to agree or disagree with their response. However, you must give sufficient and supported reasons for your opinion.

I.    Activating Prior Knowledge
As you read in the post Document in the Case of Galileo: Indictment 1633, Galileo was accused of heresay against the Roman Catholic Church in 1633. This document laid out the charges against Galileo.

II.    Setting A Purpose for Reading
Had you been Galileo, how would you have responded to these charges? Keep in mind that these ideas and teachings were revolutionary at the time. The article that you will be reading is excerpts from a much longer letter that Galileo wrote to the Grand Duchess Christina of Tuscany, when the first allegations were made by the Church in 1615. Despite the constant scrutiny of the Catholic Church, Galileo was able to continue his scientific and philosophical work.

As you read,  pay close attention to how he addresses the charges as well as how he tries to mediate his scientific discoveries and teachings with those of the religious teachings of the Church.

III.    Reading the Text (Read, Re-read, and Read Again)

"Some years ago, as Your Serene Highness well knows, I discovered in the heavens many things that had not been seen before our own age. The novelty of these things, as well as some consequences which followed from them in contradiction to the physical notions commonly held among academic philosophers, stirred up against me no small number of professors-as if I had placed these things in the sky with my own hands in order to upset nature and overturn the sciences. They seemed to forget that the increase of known truths stimulates the investigation, establishment, and growth of the arts; not their diminution or destruction."

STOP! - In this passage, Galileo is making an emotional argument. What phrase or word indicates and appeal to emotion? If you are not sure, re-read the passage.

"Showing a greater fondness for their own opinions than for truth they sought to deny and disprove the new things which, if they had cared to look for themselves, their own senses would have demonstrated to them. To this end they hurled various charges and published numerous writings filled with vain arguments, and they made the grave mistake of sprinkling these with passages taken from places in the Bible which they had failed to understand properly, and which were ill-suited to their purposes."

STOP! - In this passage, what accusations does Galileo make against the Church? If you are not sure, re-read the passage.

"Persisting in their original resolve to destroy me and everything mine by any means they can think of, these men are aware of my views in astronomy and philosophy. They know that as to the arrangement of the parts of the universe, I hold the sun to be situated motionless in the center of the revolution of the celestial orbs while the earth revolves about the sun. They know also that I support this position not only by refuting the arguments of Ptolemy and Aristotle, but by producing many counter-arguments; in particular, some which relate to physical effects whose causes can perhaps be assigned in no other way. In addition there are astronomical arguments derived from many things in my new celestial discoveries that plainly confute the Ptolemaic system while admirably agreeing with and confirming the contrary hypothesis."

STOP! - In this passage, we find evidence of why Galileo's teachings were so revolutionary. If you are not sure, re-read the passage. 

(Further down in the letter...)

"This being granted, I think that in discussions of physical problems we ought to begin not from the authority of scriptural passages but from senseexperiences and necessary demonstrations; for the holy Bible and the phenomena of  nature proceed alike from the divine Word the former as the dictate of the Holy Ghost and the latter as the observant executrix of God's commands. It is necessary for the Bible, in order to be accomodated to the understanding of every man, to speak many things which appear to differ from the absolute truth so far as the bare meaning of the words is concerned. But Nature, on the other hand, is inexorable and immutable; she never transgresses the laws imposed upon her, or cares a whit whether her abstruse reasons and methods of operation are understandable to men.. For that reason it appears that nothing physical which senseexperience sets before our eyes, or which necessary demonstrations prove to us, ought to be called in question (much less condemned) upon the testimony of biblical passages which may have some different meaning beneath their words. For the Bible is not chained in every expression to conditions as strict as those which govern all physical effects; nor is God any less excellently revealed in Nature's actions than in the sacred statements of the Bible. Perhaps this is what Tertullian meant by these words: 'We conclude that God is known first through Nature, and then again, more particularly, by doctrine, by Nature in His works, and by doctrine in His revealed word."

STOP! In this paragraph, describes the conflict between the Biblical text and the laws of nature. How does Galileo try to resolve this conflict? If you are not sure, re-read the paragraph.

(Further down in the letter...)

"But I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with senses, reason, and intellect has intended us to forego their use and by some other means to give us knowledge which we can attain by them. He would not require us to deny sense and reason in physical matters which are set before our eyes and minds by direct experience or necessary demonstrations."

STOP! In this paragraph, Galileo describes the gifts that God gave man. What are the gifts and how should we use them?

IV.    Personal Reflection
        A.    Based on your reading of the Document in the Case of Galileo: Indictment 1633 and the Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina of Tuscany in 1615, would you have supported the Roman Catholic Church in their indictment of Galileo or would you have supported Galileo's teachings and ideas? Give evidence to support your response.

V.    Peer Reflection - Read one classmate's reflection and respond to what they have written.

I.    Activating Prior Knowledge

Think about the discussions that we had in class about a revolution. How might a change in a scientific theory or a new mathematical discovery be considered a revolution?

II.    Setting A Purpose for Reading

Many of the "discoveries" that Galileo made, had been made by other scientists. However, the publication of his findings brought him into direct conflict with the Roman Catholic Church. At the time, his ideas were considered "revolutionary." As you read the Indictment of Galileo Galilei consider the charges that were made against him. Were these charges warranted?

III.    Reading the Text (Read, Re-read, and Read Again)

"Whereas you, Galileo, son of the late Vincenzio Galilei, of Florence, aged seventy years, were denounced in 1615, to this Holy Office, for holding as true a false doctrine taught by many, namely that the sun is immovable in the center of the world, and that the earth moves, and also with a diurnal motion; also, for having pupils whom you instructed in the same opinions; also, for maintaining a correspondence on the same with some German mathematicians; also, for publishing certain letters on the sun-spots, in which you developed the same doctrine as true; also for answering the objections which were continually produced from the Holy Scriptures, by glozing the said Scriptures according to your own meaning; and whereas thereupon was produced the copy of a writing, in form of a letter professedly written by you to a person formerly your pupil, in which, following the hypothesis of Copernicus, you include several propositions contrary to the true sense and authority of the Holy Scriptures; therefore (this Holy Tribunal being desirous of providing agains the disorder and mischief which were thence proceeding and increasing to the detriment of the Holy Faith) by the desire of his Holiness and the Most Emminent Lords, Cardinals of this supreme and universal Inquisition, the two propositions of the stability of the sun, and the motion of the earth were qualified by the Theological Qualifiers as follows:

1. The proposition that the sun is in the center of the world and immovable from its place is absurd, philosophically false, and formally heretical; because it is expressely contrary to Holy Scriptures.
2. The proposition that the earth is not the center of the world, nor immovable, but that it moves, and also with a diurnal action, is also absurd, philosophically false, and theologically considered, at least erroneous in faith."

Source:  This text is part of the Internet Modern History Sourcebook. The Sourcebook is a collection of public domain and copy-permitted texts for introductory level classes in modern European and World history.

IV.    Personal Reflection

Take a few moments to blog any comments that you might have about this article. Once you have recorded your thoughts, please comment on at least three other responses.

V.    Now read the post "Galileo - Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina of Tuscany, 1615" for Galileo's response to the charges made against him.