“American was founded to be a Christian nation”.
You’ve probably seen this statement on social media. It’s been floating around for ages. And it’s 100% wrong. People who are currently shouting/ posting this don’t understand the Constitution OR Christianity very well. And here’s why:
The First Amendment of the Constitution is very clear. It reads “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.”. Hard to find any room for argument there.
Just in case that isn’t clear enough for you, the founding fathers themselves wrote on many occasions that they did NOT want a theocracy. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were some of the most outspoken on that topic.
Adams wrote in the Treaty of Tripoli in 1797 “The government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion”.
Jefferson, in a letter to Adams in 1823, wrote “The day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus by the Supreme Being in the womb of a virgin, will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter. … But we may hope that the dawn of reason and freedom of thought in these United States will do away with all this artificial scaffolding….”
I think that is also pretty clear. And a quick Google search will find many more examples from many different founding fathers.
So, we can all agree this is complete hogwash.
BUT.
Let’s play devil’s advocate for a minute here. What would a “Christian nation” actually look like? What would Jesus do?
Jesus ministered to the outcasts of society. The prostitutes. The tax collectors. The lepers. The Samaritans. The folks that the upstanding citizens of that time avoided at all costs. And he asks his followers to do the same.
In the book of Matthew we find many examples of how Jesus commanded his followers to act. Chapter 25 verse 40 reads “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” In Chapter 22 verses 37 to 39 we read “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.” Hebrews 13:2 reads “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.”.
I could go on and on, but I think you get the point. A Christian nation would be one of selflessness, compassion, and true caring and concern for the most marginalized members of society. We would be offering all manners of assistance to addicts, the homeless, those living in poverty. We would all have equal rights and equal access to education, healthcare, and other essential services. We would be willing to give what we have to anyone in need to our own detriment. That would actually be a pretty good thing, but alas, I guarantee you that is NOT the picture in the minds of those currently screaming for America to be a Christian nation.
It’s time to retire this entirely inaccurate platitude to the trash heap. Continuing to share/ shout it demonstrates a level of ignorance no one should want to be associated with.