John Adams - The Miniseries (Ben Franklin's Introduction)

By Request.
http://kingeclectic.com/2008/03/23/john-adams-hbo/

At the Continental Congress, the men from Massachussets have been stonewalled by their fellow delegates - particularly the south - in their efforts to take more agressive action against the British crown for the policies imposed on the colonies and Massachussets in particular.

Enter Ben Franklin. Respected mind, publisher, political strategist, satirist and phrase-turner, the man from Pennsylvania begins to show his support for John Adams & Co. ... in his very unique way.

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• jefferson
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[maureenOWW]

Most people think the opposite.

What exactly was wrong with it?

[brabon1]

are you kidding? the cast was brilliant

the only problem i had were the accents

there are historical writings that show colonists making fun of foreigners with accents....so i highly doubt that there would have been so many colonists with such strong european accents

[NorwegianGodofRock69]

Ben Franklin was a pimp.

[sfafasfasfsa]

today's protesters on either side can not touch any of these men. we need more men like him. we need to learn more from the Constitutional Convention and stop with the tea party and workers of the world unite.

[bRizzle2009100]

@Robertz1986 Franklin was religious in his own way. He might have not been evangelical Christian like Benjamin Rush, Roger Sherman, Samuel Adams, or Patrick Henry. Franklin did pray when he felt there was a need for it. When he did, he quoted Bible verses mostly bc the culture in Colonial America at the time was very Biblical & Christian. He was not a Christian though. He did describe himself as a deist but one that believes "God governs in the affairs of men."

[Robertz1986]

@bRizzle2009100

What do you mean "secular"?? A person isn't "secular" institutions are... Franklin was probably not an Atheist, though likely a deist, but he advocated secularism always. To demonstrate the difference, a religious action would be for a government to put "Under God" on money, while an Atheistic action would be to put "Under No God" on money, while secular (which means neutrality in regard to religious matters) would mean not mentioning the word "God" in either light..

[mollesjohn]

@bRizzle2009100

Where did you get that Franklin had no money whatsoever while he was growing up and slept in stables and churches etc?

"They lived lovingly together in wedlock fifty-five years. Without an estate, or any gainful employment, By constant labor and industry, with God's blessing, They maintained a large family comfortably, and brought up thirteen children and seven grandchildren reputably." -- Ben Franklin's own words about his parents.

[mollesjohn]

@bRizzle2009100

Thank you for finally concluding that the person who said: "Jefferson and Franklin both were some of the least religious of the founders" was talking out his ass.

[bRizzle2009100]

@mollesjohn Yes. That was taken from the online exhibit at the Library of Congress "Religion and the Founding of the American Republic". Its a very educational exhibit and I recommend you read thru the entire thing if you haven't. If you read the entire speech by Franklin, he even references the Bible multiple times.

[mollesjohn]

@bRizzle2009100

Benjamin Franklin delivered this famous speech, asking that the Convention begin each day's session with prayers, at a particularly contentious period, when it appeared that the Convention might break up over its failure to resolve the dispute between the large and small states over representation in the new government. The eighty one year old Franklin asserted that "the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this Truth--that God governs in the Affairs of Men."

[bRizzle2009100]

@mollesjohn "If Franklin was the very person who made the appeal for prayer, one could argue he was the MOST, not the LEAST religious person in the Continental Congress"

Franklin did make the appeal for prayer. According to Madison's notes at the Constitutional Convention, he did. You're trying to create the impression that Franklin did not concern himself with religion and that he was a secular person. Franklin was not a christian, but was religious in his own way.

[mollesjohn]

@bRizzle2009100

Okay... so you confirmed EXACTLY my point, that you were making it all up and had NOTHING.

If Franklin was the very person who made the appeal for prayer, one could argue he was the MOST, not the LEAST religious person in the Continental Congress, since why would Franklin take it upon himself to do that if so many others could have. Franklin never talked about religion all his life until very old.

See now why there are no religious comparisons between Franklin and Jefferson?