WHY THE UNITED STATES IS A “CHRISTIAN” NATION

The controversy over the separation of church and state would make one think that there are two Americas, one Christian and the other secular. Interpretations of the First Amendment, ad infinitum, by the U.S. Supreme Court continue to fuel the debate although all the Amendment says about religion is that: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; …….”

If arguments based on previously flawed court decisions continue to be used to justify the separation of church and state, the U.S. Supreme Court will eventually have to find the Declaration of Independence in violation of the Constitution. Written twelve years before the Constitution, it had acknowledged God as the Creator of the universe, and the source of every human’s inalienable right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” It is absurd to believe that the Founding Fathers and framers of the Constitution, twelve years later, would have deliberately planted a corrosive loophole in the Constitution that had the potential of destroying the very nation they had just formed.

Yet, recent Supreme Court decisions are in fact destroying the U.S. Constitution. The results, unfortunately, are playing into the hands of ideologues trying to establish another form of government for the United States.

It doesn’t seem possible that after more than 200 years, there should still be a need to determine the effects of commingling religion and government within the framework of the First Amendment. In order to put the debate in perspective, it’s only necessary to visualize the many U.S. military cemeteries in this country and others; to see the religious icons over the graves of those who had died to preserve their country and its constitution; to recognize that all, regardless of religion, had given their lives for their country -- not a national religion.

The framers of the Constitution were well aware of the dictatorial power and influence that religion had over the governments of Europe. They had neither the intention of replicating that model, nor did they intend to abandon the concept of freedom and liberty they had envisioned for the new nation. Their solution was the First Amendment, which specifically mandated an "arms-length" separation between the doctrine of any religion and government.

That constitutional provision prevented the new government from using the doctrinal, or devotional, or ritual observance of any religion from controlling the people. Conversely, the First Amendment also assured Americans that no religion would ever be given the ability to mold the federal government into a theocracy. This brings up the question of what forms the American psyche, if not religion, as most countries do apply societal religious principles -- the universal standard -- to formulate constitutions, policies and ethics. And, historically, it can also be shown that those ideologues who have overthrown an established government and assumed dictatorial powers have either suppressed all religions or completely replaced it with a theocracy.

Wisely, the Founding Fathers had rejected the concept of “government by theocracy.” But, they did use a religion, Christianity, as the foundation for the U.S. Constitution because it was the one they practiced and knew the people could understand.

America had inherited the status of being a “Christian” country as early as the days when England, Spain, France and Portugal were still sending explorers to find new trade routes, and to claim whatever lands they happened to run across. They took possession by simply raising the sponsoring country’s national flag and the flag of Christianity, making the American continent “Christian.” Such was the legacy of the thirteen American colonies.

Further, it can also be rigorously demonstrated that had the principles of any other religion, or no religion been used to formulate a constitution for the new nation, Americans today would not now be enjoying all of the freedoms they have. Consequently, the United States is what it is -- a secular nation guided by Christian principles.

Most countries still cannot match the freedom of religion enjoyed by Americans under the U.S. Constitution, exemplified by the Statue of Liberty. A gift from France and America’s symbol of freedom and liberty, the Statue of Liberty first encouraged the world in 1886 to “give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free...” They were some of the final words from a poem entitled The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus, who was inspired to pen the poem after seeing some arriving Jewish immigrants who had fled a Russian pogrom. (Chronicle of America, DK Publishing, New York, NY 1997 Page 473). Ever since, Lady Liberty has globally offered all religions their most sought after and previously elusive goal – a land and the right to practice their faith without fear of persecution.

This fact cannot be emphasized enough. The United States of America is not a nation governed by a Christian theocracy, but one that is “Christian” simply because its guiding principle is Christian. To argue otherwise can only be viewed as a biased attempt to reconstruct the history of the United States.

Why the U.S. is a “Christian” Nation, Copyright 2006, Bob Hegamin