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The Christian Nation Myth
 The notion that the United States of America is a Christian nation, founded upon Christian principles is an incorrect idea that falsely promotes a blending of church and state. Many of the founding fathers, like Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and James Madison, were staunchly opposed to the organized religion of Christianity and took special precautions to ensure the government never legislated morality.
Most of the Founding Father's writings may seem to be from a Christian perspective but further investigation reveals that these leaders were deists and not necessarily Christian. For example, Thomas Paine in his book "The Age of Reason" wrote, "I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish Church, by the Roman Church, by the Greek Church, by the TurkishChurch, by the ProtestantChurch, nor by any church that I know of. My own mind is my own church." Whatsmore, John Adams made the same alarming point as he once said, "The government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion."
One major reason for the revolutionary war and the events of July 4th was that the colonies wanted a nation that would not dictate a religious creed. The Founding Fathers remembered that for over 1,000 years, including much of the Dark Ages, the Roman Catholic Church ruled millions of people with government edicts sent straight from the Pope. Even England had theocratic tyrants who used the "calling of God" to mandate taxes and increase the influence of government. In response to such abuse, the First Amendment instituted the Establishment Clause which stops the power of religion from controlling individual's rights and the government from controlling issues of faith.
There were many Christians involved with the founding of our nation, yet that doesn't justify calling America a "Christian Nation." The founders of our country wanted the United States to be a place where all were free to worship as they chose, without governmental restriction or regulation.
President Abraham Lincoln wrote that "The only assurance of our nation's safety is to lay our foundation in morality and religion." He also said, "Christianity is not my religion and the Bible is not my book. I have never united myself in any church because I could never give assent to the long, complicated statements of Christian doctrine and dogma."
President Thomas Jefferson was so anti-Christian, that he wrote his own Bible that did not include many of the New Testament miracles of Jesus and even ended with the burial of Jesus. Jefferson and others promoted the deists theology that God created the world to operate by natural law and then left it totally in the hands of mankind. George Washington wrote in Article 11 of the Treaty with Tripoli that "the government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion..."
Today, many political conservatives speak of the Judeo-Christian values of our Founding Fathers. These commentators are absolutely wrong in their assumption that America is a Christian nation. The United States is a place where Christians, Muslims, and others are free to worship how they chose. Those who seek to re-write history by focusing on the Christian foundations of America should remember that religious freedom was one of the reasons that the colonies separated themselves from the mother land. A separation of church and state protects both entities and should be upheld. During an address to the Army in 1875, President Ulysses S. Grant said, "Leave the matter of religion to the family altar, the church and the private school supported entirely by private contributions. Keep the church and state forever separate." |
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