Tuesday, November 27, 2012

How does Thomas Paine use religion to argue against King George to appeal to the colonist?

In "Common Sense," Thomas Paine argues against monarchy, as an unnatural position that man has presumed to acquire but is not granted by God.  The exalting of one man over others is not a God given right, it is not supported by scripture so he says it cannot be defended by scripture.


According to Thomas Paine, mankind is equal through the process of creation, a process that is of God.



"But there is another and great distinction for which no truly natural or religious reason can be assigned, and that is the distinction of men into KINGS and SUBJECTS."



Paine argues that the creation of kings comes from a heathen origin, it is a tool of the Devil to place ordinary men in positions to be revered as idols on earth when there is only one King, God who resides in heaven.  It is a dangerous practice and considered a flaw or a sin of the early Jewish people to have an earthly king revered and equated with God Almighty.


Monarchy, therefore, argues Paine, is an institution that needs to be abolished as a means of restoring the natural order of existence so determined by God which includes freedom.


Freedom is a God given right, it is government's job to protect that freedom, to secure it, not to diminish it, redefine it or otherwise alter it.  Paine passionately argues that it is necessary for the colonists to separate from England and govern themselves, to rid themselves of a monarch.  God, he says put a great distance between what some believe is the mother country and the colonies, this is proof that England should not interfere with this promised land that God provided.



" Even the distance at which the Almighty hath placed England and America is a strong and natural proof that the authority of the one over the other, was never the design of Heaven."  





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