A Christian Nation

faith is no better than building your house on sand”( Brown 2000, 142). I really like this analogy

“Faith is seeing light with your heart when all your eyes see is darkness.”- Barbara Johnson

While writing the constitution the founding fathers said “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” When they said this they

This paper is a book critique of The Godless Constitution. The first chapter of the book is titled “Is America a Christian Nation?” and it is an introduction for the rest of the book. In this chapter, the main idea is to open the reader’s mind about that the constitution was created with the idea that religious believes will not influence in the politics of the nation. The authors state that “The principal framers of the American political system wanted no religious parties in national politics” (Kramnick and Moore, 23). Actually, the creation of a constitution without influence of religion was not an act of irreverence. The authors believe that the creation of the constitution was a support to the idea that religion can preserve the civil morality necessary for democracy, without an influence on any political party. The end of the chapter is the description of the following chapters and with a disguise warning that both authors were raise in religious families and they wrote the book with high respect for America’s religious traditions (Kramnick and Moore, 25). The second chapter, called “The Godless Constitution” explains how the different terms to talk about God were taken out and a “no religious test” clause was adopted with little discussion. This clause was a “veritable firestorm” during the ratification debates in several states (Kramnick and Moore, 32). For many people the “no religious test” clause was considered as the gravest defect of the Constitution (Kramnick

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Thomas Jefferson wrote those words to express the emotions of a nation that desired freedom, and to shake the foundation of the British Empire. However, this simple, but eloquent phrase has sparked one of the greatest debates in American history. Is America a Christian nation? One question has divided the nation and its politicians since the founding and forming of America. This fiery debate has sparked more controversy than any other debate in modern politics.

Our country is founded on the separation of church and state. I believe that religion should be private, between the person and their church. I think it is safe to say that the Founding Fathers believed the same. I say this because they did not put their trust in the common man to run the government. They chose educated men for groups like the Electoral College. The "separation of church and state" phrase, which has become widely known, was taken from letters written between President Thomas Jefferson and the Baptist Association of Danbury, Connecticut. Jefferson states “make no law respecting as an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, “thus building a wall of separation between Church and State” (Jefferson, 1802). I believe that Jefferson understood that the government was

According to Christina Sterbenz with Business Insider, “In 1954, the words “under god” were put in the pledge by President Dwight, Eisenhower's and Congress’s urgings”(1). People Have thought those words to be unconstitutional to one's freedom of religion by promoting christianity as the United States’s one and only religion but considering there are many different types of religion this isn't the case. The words aren't taking any rights from anyone “Under God” was put into the pledge to separate america from the other surrounding country. Furthermore president Eisenhower was the one who signed the bill once give the chance to again because the first initial bill was declined.

Most people believe that the United States was founded as a Christian nation. After all, our money is emblazoned with “In God We Trust,” our Pledge of Allegiance declares that we are “one nation under God,” and in court we swear to “tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God.” It’s true that the Founders were heavily influenced by Christian ideals. And while the U.S. Constitution prohibits any religious test or requirement for public office, the majority of U.S. presidents have been openly Christian. Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln, two of our most famous presidents, however had no formal religious affiliations. Jefferson shunned orthodox Christianity at an early age and cut and pasted together a condensed version of the New Testament, removing most miracles and all references to Jesus’s divinity. He did, however, continue to believe in God as a precise, impersonal creator of the universe and its laws. Lincoln, on the other hand, spoke frequently of God during his presidency but never formally joined a church. Today, academics remain uncertain about whether or not he was a Christian as some aspects of his faith remain a mystery.

Religion has been a large part of this country, starting with the very first people to arrive in America, the Pilgrims. Breaking away from the Church of England, the Pilgrims settled in what is now known as Massachusetts in 1620, in order to express religious freedom. They wanted to practice Christian beliefs similar to ones practiced by earlier Christians. Based on the views of the founding people of America, many would claim this as support that America was founded as a Christian nation. Fast forward to the late 1700’s, where both the Declaration of Independence and The United States Constitution had been written. These documents both showed signs of a Christian foundation with multiple references to God. As stated in the Declaration, “[They] hold

A significant strength of the Constitution is that if it is followed, its language clearly guides disputes and helps settle any debate over issues of religion and politics. The framers intended it to do so and made its language simple and clear. The question is why American citizens insist upon disregarding the Constitution’s language. A simple answer is that by doing so, various groups who attempt to twist the Constitution are attempting to do exactly what the document intends to prevent—the wresting of power away from the democratic process and awarding it to a given group who would then have the ability to force their own agenda on our democracy. Those who would disregard the Constitution are or should be considered enemies of the state; religious groups fall into this argument and have in the past been the exact enemies of the state described here. Any group, religious or not, that interrupts the governance rules of a country should be considered an enemy combatant, and history proves such groups have indeed been defined as such. The framers understood the power of persuasion that religion holds, and they detested it. Kramnick and Moore (1997) affirm this by saying that Americans are fed a line of propaganda by the Religious Right that the framers were Christians who wrote a Christian document when this statement is incorrect. The authors write “God and Christianity are nowhere to be found in the American Constitution, a reality that infuriated many at the time.

If America was founded as a Christian nation, why did the government set the policy that there should be no national religion? America was not founded on Christianity not only because US government should not involve itself in the matters of religion but also the major belief of the Founding Fathers was Deism. “The right to freedom of religion is so central to American democracy that it was enshrined in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.” Even if the Founding Fathers were religious, it still would not indicate a Christian foundation. Besides, they were deists after all. For instance, Benjamin Franklin declared himself as a thorough Deist in his autobiography. “It happened that they wrought an effect on me quite contrary to what was intended by them; for the arguments of the Deists, which were quoted to be refuted, appeared to me much stronger than the refutations; in short, I soon became a

Along those lines, it is nothing surprising that the creators of our establishing archives were ostensible Christians. It doesn't take after from that that the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution depend on Christian standards.

"Believe nothing just because a so-called wise person said it. Believe nothing just because a belief is generally held. Believe nothing just because it is said in ancient books. Believe nothing just because it is said to be of divine origin. Believe nothing just because someone else believes it. Believe only what you your self test and judge to be true."

“…one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” And so finishes the Pledge of Allegiance for the United States of America. Whether or not a person would wish to identify our nation as a Christian one, there is certainly no doubt that the very oath that binds a person into serving it includes serving God. As it follows, many of our laws are centered around our understanding of the Bible, and the morality that can be gleaned from it. Even in our modern time, where the lines are becoming more and more blurred, eighty-three percent of Americans still identify themselves as Christian. A common national ideology is that our country has a favored nation status with God; thus it is our responsibility to ‘sow the

The above quote is the first amendment of the Constitution of the United States. In no part does our constitution mention a “separation of church and state.” What it does mention is that Congress is forbidden to tamper with the religious beliefs and practices of its people.