Why do some say America was not founded as a Christian nation?

Question

Without questioning the principles of religious freedom which Americans have always had, the evidence seems so overwhelming that we were founded as a Christian nation. In fact, if we traded quotes back and forth (listing quotes from the founders who saw us as a Christian nation and those from men like Thomas Jefferson who may have not), it would probably be about 1000:1 ratio in favor of a Christian nation. Same thing with all other evidences (all Supreme Court decisions prior to 1960, state and federal laws, public school policies and practices, quotes from famous forefathers, presidents, supreme court justices, etc.). Yet pretty much all I hear from those on the opposing side is what "wasn't" said in our U.S. Constitution (though our state constitutions are filled with references to God and Christianity), a misuse of the term separation of church and state, or the Treaty of Tripoli.

Would such an inferior set of evidence be considered as a reasonable defense in a typical modern day court case? And is there any other substantial argument aside from what I have mentioned to say that we were founded as a secular nation instead of a Christian one?

ibushido: the 1960s is when the Court began interpreting the Constitution differently such that they began to take religion out of the government and public schools (e.g. prayer, Ten Commandments, etc.)

Moiraes Fate: Respectfully, I ask you to consider what the Supreme Court (whose authority is higher than that of any international treaty) said (eight (eight years after the passing of the First Amendment):

Runkel v. Winemiller (1799): “Religion is of general and public concern, and on its support depend, in great measure, the peace and good order of government, the safety and happiness of the people. By our form of government, the Christian religion is the established religion; and all sects and denominations of Christians are placed upon the same equal footing…”

Bookworm: George Washington, the "father of our nation," stated in 1796, “It is impossible to govern the world without God and the Bible. Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, Religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great Pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of Men and citizens...” And on June 12, 1779, he said to the Delaware Indian Chiefs, “You do well to wish to learn our arts and ways of life, and above all, the religion of Jesus Christ…Congress will do everything they can to assist you in this wise intention.”

And while Deists reject the idea of divine providence, Washington said in a Thanksgiving Proclamation on October 3, 1789, “It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favors.”

Answer 1

Simple, truthful answer:
Ignorance, forgetfulness, and/or deception.

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Similarly, you know what always amazed me?
Reading through the historical account of the Jews in the Old Testament.

I mean, here was a group of people delivered out of the hands of their Egyptian slave-masters by amazing miracles and wonders by the Lord. In fact, other people heard about how the Jews escaped Egypt and feared the Lord because of it!

Yet, then shortly thereafter, the Jews go off, build a gold calf and worship an idol!

...but that's not all...

Generations would come and go, many kings "doing evil in sight of the Lord"...and they lived as if there was no God - each doing what they thought was right in their own eyes.

They denied worship of God, credited themselves for being a "mighty nation", and either totally forgot, were ignorant about, or were just deceived about the truth that they owed EVERYTHING to the Lord God!

Amazing!

...it would seem that things never change!

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Jesus Christ instituted the "Lord's supper" ("communion") so that we would REMEMBER what He did for us. Let such a sacrament NOT be forsaken...lest we become ignorant, forgetful, or deceived!

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...but make no mistake about it, despite what other answerers have said in their ignorance, forgetfulness, or deception:

The United States of America was founded as a Christian nation...and we owe EVERYTHING we are to Jesus Christ.

Forsake Him, and HE shall forsake us.

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EDIT:
Given the thumbs-downs...and seeing all the other nay-sayers, I suppose some more "light" is in order:
To say that America is a Christian nation founded by Christians with Christian principles does NOT mean that America is a CHURCH. That is, our government was not set up to rule this nation as a church. Are people really that ignorant and deceived to think that this is what is implied???

Jesus put it quite clear when He said this:
"My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place." -John 18:36

Jesus DID NOT come to setup an EARTHLY kingdom. Many Jews were looking for an anointed one of God to do just this. "Anointed One" in Hebrew is "Messiah", in Greek is "Christ".

So, some wanted Jesus to be their Messiah and make Him King, and to overthrow the yoke of bondage the Jews were in to Rome, just as the Lord delivered them from the Egyptians.

But the Jews that rejected Jesus as Messiah then made a mistake. They made the SAME mistake that many Jews do today, who reject Jesus because they assume that the Messiah would establish a literal, physical kingdom on earth. And the other fools who have answered this question make the SAME mistake regarding the Christian foundation of this mighty nation.

JESUS and His Kingdom are NOT of this world.

Christianity is NOT of this world in the sense that a nation would be established like a CHURCH.

You fools!

However, the U.S. WAS founded as a Christian nation...one built upon Christian principles, Christian morals, by Christian men...in such a way so as to ENSURE the freedom of Christians to worship the Christian God, for the glory of the Christian God!

You idiots just don't get it...

Without our FREEDOM, we would not be a Christian nation.

Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life"
And..."The truth will set you FREE"

FREEDOM is the ESSENCE of Christianity.

Freedom from sin! Freedom from bondage! Freedom from oppression! Freedom of harsh religious leaders! Freedom from forced religion!

Look, why don't you got to Afghanistan and see what "freedom" they have! Or even nations built upon atheism! You atheists would HATE living in such an oppressive nation!

Other religions do NOT promote freedom...! They stifle it!

You are deceived.
You are ignorant.
You are foolish.

...if you don't see the truth...that sets us free, by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
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Look at all the the self-righteous, prideful answerers who act and state and imple that they are "educated" and "smart" and "intelligent"...! They are ignorant fools at worst, and deceived at best - believing in and propogating lies and untruths!

You want freedom, and you are unknowingly destroying freedom!

You are shooting yourself in the foot!

Are ALL so deceived???

Behold: as you chop away at the ROOTS of a tree, eventually that tree will DIE.

You are attacking the roots of America...
...and her leaves are shrivelling...
...she is dying.

Repent, or perish...and the mightiness of America will be long forgotten, like mighty nations and kingdoms of old.

Pride comes before a fall...
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Answer 2

No. Most of the Founding Fathers were Deists, not Christians. Deists believe that a higher power created the universe, then stepped away. In other words, there are no rules handed out by the supreme being, and there is no Bible. Deism is a far cry from Christianity. The New World was all about religious freedom, which means there is NO official religion. PERIOD.

Answer 3

No, the majority of quotes from the founding fathers of this country, explicitly state that America is not a christian nation. The constitution clearly states that the people are allowed to choose their own individual religious beliefs or lack thereof. Why do you draw the line at supreme court decisions before 1960? Are you trying to limit the evidence of the other side by drawing this arbitrary time limit on evidence? Read the constitution, and read some actual history on how this country was founded...stop getting all your misguided information from the idiots at FoxNews.

Answer 4

Washington's administration even negotiated a treaty with the Muslim rulers of north Africa that stated explicitly that the United States was not founded on Christianity. The pact, known as the Treaty with Tripoli, was approved unanimously by the Senate in 1797, under the administration of John Adams. Article 11 of the treaty states, "[T]he government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion…."

I have a feeling the government in 1797 had a better idea on how America was founded than you do.

Answer 5

*sighs* maybe because it wasn't. You know what? I've taken American history in university AND in college (though it wasn't my major). The US was NOT founded on Christianity in any way.

You can claim its a misuse but the Treaty of Tripoli DOES state that the United States is not founded in any way upon the Christian religion. I've read the damned thing and it DOES state that.

And the Constitution DOES state that gvt will not interfere with religion and vice versa... hence the separation of church and state things.

The Founding Fathers were DEISTS. Don't believe me? Go research it. Your lack of education is not my problem.

The reason why people keep trying to claim that the US was founded on Christianity is because they like to think that those who came to the US were all Christian and being persecuted in Europe for their beliefs.

The reality is that, though they were Christian, only a small minority of them were Christian Puritans. After they came over here, they started treating everyone around them like dirt. It was so bad that the people eventually forcibly removed the Puritan leaders by revolting against and arresting them in places such as Massechusettes.

This is what you Christian zealots keep missing... the US was founded on FREEDOM FOR ALL, not just on Freedom for only Christians.

The ONLY way you can have the Freedom for All that your country was founded upon is for Christianity NOT to rule. Christianity is NOT about Freedom for All, its about Freedom only for Christians and everyone else has to live by our religion whether they want to or not.

Don't believe me? Go read history and see the things Christianity has done to others. It teaches you to spread hate and intolerance while disguising it as "hate the sin not the sinner". In the past Christianity has been used to justify the torture and murder of the spanish, the nearly total success of the genocide and subjugation of the native Americans, the completely successful genocide of the Mayans and Aztecs in south America, the Crusades, the Inquisition, and more.

Did you know that there is even a Childrens Crusade? And these children didn't just go out and canvas with a plastic cup to make money. No, these children went out with weapons. They sent children out because they knew that people would have a harder time murdering them.

Christianity speaks against tolerance (homosexuality and killing witches anyone?), it speaks against education (Dark Ages), it even speaks against entertainment like books, movies, and rock n roll.

Christianity is NOT a good thing.

The US was NOT founded on Christianity, it was founded on FREEDOM. Freedom is what Christianity doesn't support.

Answer 6

Here we go again!! Christianity is a religion. It is banned from American politics or do you not read the constitution?

Since so many Christians are trying to undemocratically force Christianity on other Americans how long will it be before it is seen as civil war?

A sign that Christians are becoming desperate - they cannot convert people to Christianity and the numbers attending church (world wide) is dropping fast!

Why do you criticize dictators and undemocratic countries and then seek to do the same in America?

Answer 7

Well its quite obvious the majority were Christians and they
referenced God an awful lot, including a daily prayer in the
Senate/House before work begins even unto this day.

but it appears thats a privledge for only congress memebers
and not allowed by commoners under the guise of
"tradition" as if commoners have'nt any "traditions" or haven't
been practicing them for the last 200+ years.

that said even though i would want us to be a "christian"
nation, hands down it would get screwed up just like it was
in england...thats not to say it isn't screwed up as a secular
nation that we've become.

big picture? no one knows...

Answer 8

The first settlers came here to practice their own form of intolerant religious beliefs but the founding of America came in the 1700's and it was founded as a secular country. The wise men who formed the political structure of this Republic were trying to undo the damage done by their puritan ancestors as they saw how intolerant society was when it was little more than a theocracy.

Read the Constitution - the word "God" is not in it and that was done on purpose because Freedom of Religion meant that those that did not believe in the christian deity had their own religious freedoms as did people who held no belief in deities at all.

Answer 9

Evidently you do not put much stok in education.

Treaty of Tripoli:

Art. 11. As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquillity, of Mussulmen; and, as the said States never entered into any war, or act of hostility against any Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties, that no pretext arising from religious opinions, shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.

Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity.

-Thomas Jefferson, Notes on Virginia, 1782

But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.

-Thomas Jefferson, Notes on Virginia, 1782

What is it men cannot be made to believe!

-Thomas Jefferson to Richard Henry Lee, April 22, 1786. (on the British regarding America, but quoted here for its universal appeal.)

Question with boldness even the existence of a god; because if there be one he must approve of the homage of reason more than that of blindfolded fear.

-Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Peter Carr, August 10, 1787

Answer 10

because a set of educated and intelligent men, some Deists, some Christians, understood the dangers of mixing theology and republic. Even the Christians among them understood that religion was best served as a personal/cultural moral compass, but not a civic one.

Selective misinterpretation of the past by fundies does not change that.

Answer 11

There is a difference between a nation being founded by Christians and a nation being founded as a christian nation. If the Christians at the time wanted a christian nation and they outnumber the non Christians by so much why did they sign the constitution as it was written?