The United States As 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.

Adhering to your religious and personal beliefs in a society where there have been generational shifts in attitudes toward nonmarital sex is challenging. These changes in sexual attitudes and behaviors are connected to growing cultural individualism in the United States. When a culture places more importance on the desires of the self and less on social rules, more relaxed attitudes toward sexuality are the almost inevitable result. You are faced with the decision of conforming to a society where the acceptance of premarital sex is at an all time high. Yet, your religion and personal beliefs have shaped your moral compass, which makes it evident that you do not wish to stray away from your decision of abstaining from sex until marriage. In efforts to assist you in effectively communicating your desires to your girlfriend we will evaluate your relationship through key communication concepts such as: culture, Social Exchange Theory, Social Penetration Theory, listening, and Self-Discrepancy Theory. .

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

Have you ever wondered why people in the American society think any kind of demonstrated behavior is acceptable? The Christian views once instilled in United States citizens have grown sparse today, in comparison to what they once were. Opinions of many people have changed concerning multiple issues. Many founding views were centered on Godly principles as portrayed in the U.S. Constitution, and as well as the Declaration of Independence. As society continues to argue over the inclusion of religion in politics, members of society reap the effects in many areas, particularly in the education system. I strongly agree that the United States was founded as a Christian nation.

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.

There is no doubt that the founding fathers were deeply religious. George Washington once wrote, “You do well to wish to learn our arts and ways of life, and above all, the religion of Jesus Christ. These will make you a greater and happier people than you are.” John Adams said, “Suppose a nation in some distant region should take the Bible for their only law book and every member should regulate his conduct by the precepts there exhibited…. What a Eutopia – what a Paradise would this region be!” Thomas Jefferson once wrote, “I am a Christian in the only sense in which He wished anyone to be: sincerely attached to His doctrines in preference to all others.” So, how do we know that they wanted their new nation to follow their personal beliefs,

the founding fathers religion but it does state that they do not want to impose their religious beliefs on their decisions in order to keep things unjust and fair. Many of our founding fathers, on the other hand, have made statements implying that they are deists on numerous occasions, which is where they believe in a creator who does not intervene in the universe and reject belief in a supernatural deity who interacts with humankind. For example Thomas Paine “saw the church as a human invention that monopolizes for power and profit and stated that his religion was “to do good””. John Adams rejected the doctrine of eternal damnation. George Washington had many implications of deism in this article by Jim Walker he describes what George has

“This country was founded on Christianity”; this is the mantra of thousands of Americans across the nation. However, religion—Christianity in particular—is not the basis for the founding of the United States as it is proven in the first amendment, throughout the Constitution and Declaration of Independence, and by the words spoken and written by our very own founding fathers.

Out of all three of the pieces that were discussed in class this one gives the most room for audience interpretation. I believe that when Fea was creating this book his purpose was not to give a definite yes or no answer to the question “was America founded as a Christian Nation?” but to set up the question in a historical setting. As a historian he does ask the audience to consider the question of America’s religious past by using the rules of the historical profession. The five tools of the profession include that first historians must anticipate to find change over time, must interpret the past in context, must look for causality, be concerned with contingency, and recognize that the past is complex. In his book Fea explores the ways in which the founders dealt with the problem of establishment by basically leaving it up to the states, and from that Fea takes the audience through the various examples to try to understand the religious nature of the nation. By showing how the idea can be changed over time, and the relationship to the context. In this piece it explains that the relationship between the United States has to Christianity is left all up to context of who the person is, and how they look at all of the evidence of America’s political religious views and are allowed to perceive their own

In 1639, the founding fathers who were puritans held two views which they wanted to establish in colonial America. They wanted to establish America as a haven of religious freedom as well as a Christian Nation. But in the centuries that followed there was a shift in the wording of the constitution. 150 years later George Washington swore to preserve the constitution which had been amended and there was no mention of God or divine Providence. America does not want to tell the world that it is Christian Republic but that it is a secular nation. (http://press.princeton.edu/chapters/i7500.html)

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

America was founded on July 4th, 1776, by the Second Continental Congress when they declared America’s independence from Great Britain. When America was founded it was not founded upon the Christian religion or any religion as many people would have you believe. Many of the founders blatantly say that America has a complete separation of church and state. From a young age, people are taught inadvertently that America is a Christian nation, and until they do the research they believe that America is a Christian nation. The founding documents have no mention of America being a Christian nation. Through the record of American history, the people can learn why America is not a Christian nation such as; many of the founding fathers themselves weren’t

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.

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.

“American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us,” by Robert D. Putnam and David E. Campbell, and “America and the Challenges of Religious Diversity,” by Robert Wuthnow, give different thoughts to religion and politics in the United States. Putnam and Campbell utilize the concepts of shocks and aftershocks to highlight religious changes in the United States. On the other hand, Wuthnow uses observations to focus on the encounters of religious diversity in the United States. Wuthnow compares American Christianity with other popular religions in America and how Christianity has affected the perception of religion. Putnam and Campbell’s “American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us” is a more persuasive assessment of American religion and politics.