America 's Identity Of A Christian Nation

“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.

Since before the United States was founded, the ideals of Christianity have been integrated into the government in some way, shape, or form. In the early days of the Colonies, Christianity was the centerfold for all government affairs; however, after the constitution was ratified and deemed effective in the United States, the First Amendment was born. The first amendment states that, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances” (source). In the early life of the United States, the

There is an age old question about good old America and its foundation that has been debated on for decades that I have the pleasure of touching on today. That question I tend on giving my insight on today which is, was United States was founded as a Christian nation or as something else? In retrospect one can say that America was founded on three documents: The Declaration of Independence, The Paris Peace Treaty of 1783, and the Constitution; however what does that mean to America being a Christian Nation? Well the Declaration of Independence has many references to God, and both the Treaty and the Constitution end with them being sign in the “Year of our Lord”. One would assume this is all evidence that the founded on Christianity, but then I read Thomas Jefferson’s Letter to the Danbury Baptist. After reviewing the letter’s substance and the reason for him writing the letter it would appear that I’m torn even as I am writing this.

When united states follow the policy of imperialism they are going to want to spread christianity through the weaker countries. To christians it is their duty to do their best to spread the christianity. According to document 1 it states”the purest Christianity, the highest civilization,the highest civilization will spread itself over the earth ”(Doc 1). When any country think that there religion is

Religion has always had a dramatic effect on any colony, country, or time period. The religion in the early colonial age not only affected the people in that era but affected modern day religion and politics in American society. To begin, religious ideas shaped our land. This is because, when the first explorers came to America, they tried to spread their religious ideas. This affected modern day population and minority numbers in many places. For example, when the Spanish first came to America, they tried to spread their religious ideas among the native people there. The natives didn’t like this and so they fought back. This shaped the major religion and political systems in the parts that the Spaniards explored. Also, some of the first colonies,

It not only played a major role in the workings of the individual household but it also heavily influenced the political and economic expansion of European settlements into Native American territories. The idea that God had bestowed upon the colonists the mission to spread the word of the Bible ties into the concept of “manifest destiny” as seen in 19th Century America. The rapid series of conquests and territorial expansion that the United States enjoyed during this period is a reflection of this idea. From the settlement of Jamestown in 1607 to the American colonization of the Pacific Coast in 1819, religion was a driving factor in the expansion of the European frontier. The horrible atrocities committed against the Native Americans in the last few centuries is a cautionary tale to our generation. Throughout human history, men have killed each other, burned cities to the ground, all in the name of religion. By admitting to the mistakes of the past, we can build a brighter

2) America saw their religion as an approach to cultivate the general population like the way they tried to edify the Native Americans. They saw indigenous individuals as a gathering of individuals who still live before the cutting edge age, individuals who needed an awesome change in their general public. Subsequently, Protestant teachers manufactured houses of worship in vanquished regions trying to humanize its indigenous individuals. Additionally, America did not have any desire

Under the theme of leadership, many colleges and university taught Christianity and later Roman Catholic institutes were established as separate parochial schools in order to avoid the Protestant tone of the religion. The presence of the immigrants and people from different countries with different cultures also influenced Christianity in the United States. This is mostly raised due to the Black Americans. Upon their freedom, many of the Black American decided to take the Christianity as their missionary activity and remain active in their own churches and political and moral leadership. Under the activities of the Black American the elements of evangelical, fundamentalist and charismatic denomination grew, but it was Christianity that slowly and steadily grew into a power religion especially after the Hispanic immigration in the 1970. With the passage of time, European people rejected the teaching of Catholic and in the 20th century, American become the largest country with the larger population as Christian. Within the United States, moral position and other direction are discussed under the largest religion i.e.

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

Initially, America did not have a Christian foundation in the sense of creating a theocracy. However, it was shaped by Christian moral truths, and the forefathers created a hospitable environment that supported this religion. The relationship linking the state and religion grew strong as most of the people in the nation became Christians. This research paper outlines how Christianity came to be one of the major religions in the United States of America.

The writer of the book of Ecclesiastes is correct, “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” (Eccl 1:9). It is especially true in America. Racial and ethnic divisions appear to be just as wide as they were during era of slavery, Reconstruction, and Jim Crow. Within the past century, Christianity in America, particularly Evangelical Christianity has endeavored to address social issues like racism but unfortunately has been relatively unsuccessful. Evangelicalism, particularly white evangelicalism must expand their understanding of cultural engagement to include more than abortion and homosexuality. To be relevant, and maintain any semblance of integrity, evangelicalism must apply different strategies regarding racism, classism, justice, and equality. As an African American evangelical preacher, I believe that Scripture had more to say about liberation other than the famous words in Exodus, “Let my people go!” The question is how is an evangelical who is committed to the sufficiency of

The author's main purpose for writing A Myth of a Christian Nation is to explain how the world has claimed to be founded on christian principles but has neglected to see that this is a lie that we as christians and people in society have told ourselves to make it seem like we are “ one nation under God”. Boyd also focuses in on and introducing our role in the kingdom of God vs the kingdom of the world and our role in politics and society.

Was America founded as a Christian nation? This is a controversial topic for all Americans. There are a lot of sayings and supports for both sides of understanding. However, as for myself, I do not believe the United States has a Christian foundation. The reasons why I am not on the side of support are the words of former Presidents and Founding Fathers, requirements in US policies, and deductive reasoning from the past.

America wastes a lot of time trying to create a democracy completely absent of the moral expectations that our ancestors have put into place. Our founding fathers’ dream of establishing a country in which all people would be accepted has begun to fall. In our attempt to rid our country of a democracy contaminated with any belief in a supreme power, we have rid ourselves of many of our values and morals. Perhaps it is impossible for religion to dominate our political country, but we have misinterpreted the original intent of “separation of church and state” and taken this concept too far.

The constitution and the amendments is what America follows and is considered a holy book itself. Stated in the constitution of Massachusetts 1780 “…in framing a constitution of government, to provide for an equitable mode of making laws, as well as for an impartial interpretation and a faithful execution of them; that every man may, at all times, find his security in them.” As mentioned before America is not just consisted of one religion but a collective of religion; it will not be fair or equal to have a single religion that represent all of America and to solve this problem the constitution was the key. The constitution represent