Christian Nationalism
An Insult to the Founding Fathers
Christian Nationalists would have you believe that the United States was founded to be a Christian Nation ruled by the laws of Christianity. That could not be further from the truth though they refuse to admit this well documented fact. The framers of the Constitution, many of whom were devoted Christians themselves, took great pains to make sure that the United States Government would be run independent of ANY religion’s influence. Finding the rational for this only requires a basic understanding of the history of the colonization of the United States and one of the leading reasons people fled Europe. People fled Europe in droves to avoid religious persecution they were experiencing, many times by other Christians of a different denomination, in their countries of origin. The founding of this country is rooted in all the reasons why it should never be a Christian, or any other faith’s, Nation.
George Washington once said, “Our nation should have a foundation that is free from the influence of clergy.” He clearly stated it here, that the nation’s law would be free from the influence of clergy. This doesn’t sound like a theocracy to me.
George Washington also stated his belief that people were entitled to the protection of the civil government regardless of their faith, as long as they conducted themselves in a worthy manner. He said, “As Mankind becomes more liberal, they will be more apt to allow that all those who conduct themselves as worthy members of the community are equally entitled to the protections of civil government. I hope ever to see America among the foremost nations of justice and liberality.”
I am sure there could be some debate on the meaning of ‘worthy’, but I read this to mean someone who is productive and abides by the laws of the United States should enjoy the same civil rights as anyone else within the United States. Sadly, this is a goal we are falling far short on currently, but he was hopeful and so I am that this will one day be the case.
Benjamin Franklin was an even worse critic of religion as a whole and staunchly against it having a place within our government. One thing he said speaks louder to me than ever for the insight and truth of his statement. He said, “If we look back into history for the character of the present sects in Christianity, we shall find few that have not in their turns been persecutors, and complainers of persecution. The primitive Christians thought persecution extremely wrong in the Pagans, but practiced it on one another.”
Benjamin Franklin was speaking about the Christian tendency to on one hand claim they are under attack while simultaneously attacking anyone who does not believe or act exactly the way they do. This is the whole reason the United States of America was born in the first place. The settlers were fleeing religious prosecution not of other religions but of other versions of their own religion. Most were Christians who did not practice exactly like others and were, thus, persecuted within their communities to the point that moving to unsettled wilds after a potentially deadly sea voyage was their best option. This persecution did not stay in Europe but came with the settlers and manifests itself to this day.
Thomas Jefferson also made his views on the mixing of religion and government very clear when he said, “In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot, abetting his abuses in return for protection to his own.” He further clarified his stance when he stated, “Christianity never is, nor ever was, part of the common law.” We can see that Jefferson had particularly strong beliefs about the corruption that could stem from the mingling of Church and State.
Thomas Jefferson would be quite offended at the statemen that the United States is a Christian Nation. If there is any doubt as to his stance on the matter, this last one should clear his views up quite well, “History, I believe, furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government. This marks the lowest grade of ignorance of which their civil as well as religious leaders will always avail themselves for their own purposes.”
James Maddison, another of our Founding Fathers, had some very good points to make when it came to the issue of religion and government. He stated very clearly the intention to keep the separate was quite deliberate and, he hoped, explicit. He also accurately predicted that this would come under attack when he said, “Strongly guarded as is the separation between Religion and Government in the Constitution of the United States, the danger of encroachment by Ecclesiastical Bodies may be illustrated by precedents already furnished in their short history.”
James Maddison warned of other dangers of establishing a National Religion when he stated, “Who does not see that the same authority which can establish Christianity, in exclusion of all other Religions, may establish with the same ease any particular sect of Christians, in exclusion of all other Sects?” Not only can it disenfranchise those of other religions but, as he aptly states, it can also disenfranchise those of a different denomination or sect of the SAME religion. For the record, there are over 200 known denominations of Christianity in the United States. Which one of them would be the model for this ‘Christian Nation’?
These beliefs of the framers of the Constitution, the Founding Fathers, of our nation all led to the creation of the First Amendment which grants MANY important liberties to the citizens of the United States. It allows us the right to express or religion, or lack of any religion, openly and freely without fear of legal punishment or discrimination. It also puts in place barriers to keep religion, ALL of them including Christianity, out of government.
Stating that the United States population is majority Christian is factual. Stating that the United States is a Christian Nation and that we need to put God back in government is a slap in the face to the true intentions of the men who created the framework of that very government to be kept apart from any God, religion, or faith. It spits on the legacy left behind by those who fled their homes to seek the freedom to express themselves without fear of punishment. They were imperfect people who made a mess of things in many ways, but one thing they had right was the need to keep the church out of government AND government OUT of the church.