Why does everyone seem to think we are a Christian nation?

Question

I'm not sure how many posts I've read on here that people attempt to solve problems by saying it should be such and such way because the United States was founded on Christian principle and is a Christian nation.

I think the First Amendment would beg to differ: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..."
In fact many of the framers of the Constitution put aside their strong religious inclination (they were mostly products of the Enlightenment) because they had studied the problems created by theocracies and "divine right of rule"

It's perfectly acceptable to embrace your religion, but fortunately in this great country, that means it goes for everyone, not just Christians.

Where then does everyone get the notion that Christianity is the ruling religion in this nation?

I'll have to point this out now to spare myself anymore obnoxious answers

1. I'm a Christian who takes great pride in respecting those around me and understanding U.S. law and U.S. history
2. Just because this country was invaded (remember there were people living here before the 1600s) by Protestants, doesn't mean it worked its way into our Constitution (most common law ideas pre-date Christianity anyway)
3. Our dollar also holds symbology reflecting the Enlightenment and what many believe is the influences of Illuminati.

Answer 1

Its fun to pretend that you are right even if you are fooling yourself. Same reason Iran thinks of itself as a Muslim theocracy then you can force others to believe the same nonsense you believe.

Answer 2

You really need to read all the Federalist Papers, you will see that they were written by Christians and from a Christian point of view. Does that mean that you have to be a Christian, no. Still it is a part (a very big part) of this country's history.

The vast majority of people in this country 85% cliam to be Christians, does that make it true (no) but still by the numbers you have to say it is. Does that make it right? Not really still when this country was founded it was founded on strong Christian values.

Many Christian do not follow the values that they claim and that is sad, if they would we would be a much better place. However there is too much seflish on many peoples part and not enough compassion, compassion for others. Putting others before yourself. That was something else that this country was founded on and people don't follow it now either.

Answer 3

I don't think its a "Christian" nation. I think its a country that was founded by people who had various different beliefs. I believe that the founding fathers primarily had a "Christian" background, hence the wording of the Constitution and many of the laws.

I believe that America is a Democratic Republic. A place where all men and women are free to make up their minds and worship in their own way.

Answer 4

In this day and age, it seems quite the opposite. I see Religion, especially Christianity, being erased from our society. It seems that the more it is removed from daily life, the worse things are getting in this country.

Christianity used to be a big part of our country, and that could be why people would think that it is the "ruling" religion in this country. But take a good look around you and you will see that it is not the case.

Answer 5

Officially, we have seperation of church and state and when the colonies were being settled, there were lots of people who weren't too religious. However, our country is 90% Christian. This means that our laws that apply to all religions, but our culture as a whole has morals, beliefs, and customs based on Christian culture. For example, though all holidays can have t.v. specials, in December, we see lots of Christmas specials. Also, all of our presidents have been Christians. My point is that we give rights to everyone, but our culture is similar to that of a fully Christian nation.

Answer 6

I am sick to death of fundamentalist Christians defending their near-monopolization of religious self-expression (while simultaneously claiming to be oppressed) by alleging that this is a Christian country. This is not a Christian country any more than I am an Anglo-Saxon Protestant. Historical background is not the same thing as patrimony or essence.

Our Constitution and our laws are not based on Judeo-Christian beliefs. Nowhere in the Constitution or the Bill of Rights does the word “God” appear. It appears but once in the Declaration of Independence in the phrase “the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them,” which is a reference to the Deist notion of God, not the Christian one.

If this were truly a Christian nation based upon Judeo-Christian tenets, then wouldn’t our founding fathers have passed laws corresponding to each of the Ten Commandments immediately after declaring our independence? Admittedly, some of our founding fathers were deists, but there were enough practicing Christians to push such laws through if they intended this to be a Christian nation. And yet no laws against taking the Lord’s name in vain, making graven images, or coveting one's neighbor exist.

There is a difference between being informed by something and being based on it, and hence a difference between an important but incidental quality and an essential one. The fact that the majority of those who originally settled in the United States and helped to found it were Christians has no doubt had a profound effect upon our nation’s history, culture, and foundation, but equally important was the fact that many of them were eager to found a country free of rulers who used the officially recognized religion as a tool of tyranny.

One might as well say the United States is Babylonian or Roman as say it is Christian, given the importance of the Code of Hammurabi (from whence we derive the presumption of innocence until proven guilty)and Roman Law (including the Twelve Tables and Justinian’s Codes) in the evolution of written law in Western nations.

America is not the first country on earth to codify and pen a system of laws. Nor are Christians the only people on Earth who are capable of writing and obeying them. We had centuries worth of legal development and evolution from which to draw upon. Our founding fathers did not start from scratch with the laws of Moses, a copy of the New Testament, and an intent to draw up a system of laws based purely upon Judeo-Christian beliefs. And while many (but certainly not all) of them personally drew inspiration from their faith, they used reasoned discourse rather than the authority of the scriptures to argue their points. It would be nice of modern Americans would try to do the same.

Answer 7

Because 200 years before the Constitution was written, the people who settled into this country were people who were being persecuted at protesters of the "Church" - being the Roman Catholic or Greek Orthodox Church. How easily we forget that this country had a long history before it established itself as a nation!

Answer 8

America was formed a christian nation.....our fore fathers were christian and our laws are formed from the Word of God.....but as we grow in years there are always those who want to take God out of our very existense and to me how can we do that when that is what we were created from......as christians we need to stand up and quit letting others take our nation away from us....

Answer 9

You have a very distorted view of history. there is just too much wrong with your attitude for me to attempt to correct on YA. The only advice I have for you is that you may need to study U.S. history again. this time without pre-conceived ideas about who was what, and why it came out the way it did.

Answer 10

Christianity has been the dominant force in this country and it still is today because the majority of us have been taught from the same book. we make our choices based on our indoctrinations.whether we attend church or not, we vote based on those beliefs. that is where the notion comes from.