Is the United
States a Christian Nation?
By Dr. Gary Scott Smith
Grove City College
US
Browse
the Internet and you will find hundreds of sites
and essays debating whether the United States
is a Christian nation. Many claim that the mixture
of religion and politics is volatile, and no aspect
of their relationship currently causes more furor
than this issue. Evangelicals, mainline Protestants,
Catholics, Jews, Muslims, and secularists have
all joined this heated debate.
The most recent cause of contention is John McCain’s
statement in an interview on Beliefnet. Responding
to a survey reporting that 55 percent of Americans
believe the US Constitution establishes a Christian
nation, McCain stated that “this nation
was founded primarily in Christian principles”
and that he preferred “someone who has a
grounding in my faith” as president. His
remarks evoked a firestorm of protest from various
groups. A spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic
Relations complained that McCain’s comment
violated “the traditions of American ...
religious pluralism and inclusion.” The
executive director of the National Jewish Democratic
Council accused McCain of being a “religious
right mouthpiece.”
Those — primarily evangelicals —.
who argue that the United States is a Christian
nation emphasize the Christian convictions of
the founders, most notably Samuel Adams, Patrick
Henry, John Witherspoon, and John Jay. They point
to the acknowledgement of God and the Christian
language used in the constitutions of the first
thirteen states. Advocates of this position frequently
quote references made by Supreme Court justices
to America as a Christian nation and the 1892
Supreme Court decision (Holy Trinity v. United
States) that declared that the United States
is “a Christian nation.” In addition,
they contend that both the widespread use of the
religiously-informed McGuffey Readers in
public schools in the antebellum years and public
pronouncements of numerous presidents affirming
America’s religious heritage and values
testify to the nation’s Christian commitment.
They argue further that adding the words “under
God” to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954,
adopting “In God We Trust” as the
national motto in 1956, and printing these words
on our money demonstrate that the United States
is a Christian nation.
Opponents, led by the ACLU and Americans United
for the Separation of Church and State, counter
that America has never officially been a Christian
nation. They stress that many of the founders,
especially Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson,
Thomas Paine, and John Adams, were not orthodox
Christians. The Constitution, they argue, is a
completely secular document that does not mention
God or Christianity. Moreover, efforts to amend
it to acknowledge Christ’s political authority
have repeatedly failed. In addition, the Constitution
prohibited the establishment of a national church
thereby separating church and state. The Treaty
with Tripoli, unanimously approved by the Senate
in 1797, they point out, states that the “government
of the United States is not, in any sense, founded
on the Christian religion ...” Finally,
they accentuate various Supreme Court rulings
since 1947, all of which argue that the Constitution
established a “wall of separation”
between church and state and limits the place
of religion in public life.
The historical evidence supports the conclusion
that the United States was not founded as a Christian
nation or state, but its culture and principles
of government were greatly influenced by Christianity.
Multiple ideological streams—Enlightenment,
English Whig, and Christian—converged in
the 1770s and 1780s to form the new United States.
Moreover, the Christian heritage had previously
absorbed many ideas from the non-Christian classical
world. Because our nation’s roots are so
diverse and the Constitution does not explicitly
establish Christianity as the national religion,
it is inaccurate to say that the United States
is officially a Christian country.
Nevertheless, many of the nation’s underlying
principles, while not distinctively Christian,
are compatible with biblical faith. Principles
drawn from both the Enlightenment and Christian
worldviews, though rooted in very different assumptions,
taught that humans crave power, that public virtue
is necessary and possible, and that society and
government should be based on transcendent standards.
Because people innately desire power, the founders
insisted, they must be controlled and restrained.
These convictions led them to push for political
checks and balances, religious liberty, and the
independence of religious and civic institutions
from each other.
During its history the United States has become
increasingly diverse religiously, and today significant
numbers of our citizens are Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist,
Hindu, agnostic, or atheist. Thus we must safeguard
the right of all religious communities to worship
as they please, insure that all groups have the
same civil rights, and treat one another with
civility.
Although the debate over our nation’s religious
heritage is important, it is more important for
people of faith to articulate and incarnate their
values and apply them to public life. Poverty,
hunger, unemployment, sex trafficking, environmental
devastation, abortion, and AIDS all deeply affect
our world. America ’s religious communities
should combat these social ills through their
congregations, voluntary organizations, and the
political activities of their members. As citizens
of a democracy, we have the power to shape our
laws and governmental spending to help remedy
these problems. As religiously committed Americans,
we have the responsibility to put our faith into
action to help produce a better world.
(Gary Scott Smith chairs the History Department
at Grove City College and is the author of Faith
and the Presidency: From George Washington to
George W. Bush )
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