Is America A Christian Nation?

[AllieBaba]

Sky...are the majority of Americans Christian?

Answer...yes.

Then America is by definition a Christian nation.

It's not rocket science.

 

[del]

Er..I already did quote the appropriate verses.

Other than that, I don't know what the hell you're talking about. Do you?

you said "the basic precepts of our democracy lie within the bible."

prove it. sorry if the previous post was too difficult for you to understand.

I did prove it, idiot. Repeatedly.

But I'll slow it down.

All men are created equal. Period. That's all the Bible is about. Treat your enemy as your friend, treat strangers as you treat family; we are all equal in the eyes of God.

you must have a very abridged bible

 

[AllieBaba]

No shit. And then throw into the mix, "We aren't a theocracy therefore we aren't a Christian nation" as if that somehow clarifies her idiocy.

Likewise Del's weird post about illegal searches? WTF?

Anyway. We're a Christian nation insofar as we are a democracy (or republic, as you will) and we are primarily Christian.

The Virginia Act for Establishing Religious Freedom, Thomas Jefferson, 1786:

"Well aware that Almighty God hath created the mind free; that all attempts to influence it by temporal punishments or burdens, or by civil incapacitations, tend only to beget habits of hypocrisy and meanness (listening, Sky?), and aer a departure from the PLAN OF THE HOLY AUTHOR OF OUR RELIGION, WHO BEING LORD BOTH OF BODY AND MIND, yet chose not to propagate it by coercions on either, as was IN HIS ALMIGHTPOWER TO DO; that the impious presumption of legislators adn rulers, civil as well as ecclesiastical, who, being themselves but fallible and uninspired men, have assumed dominion over the faith of others, setting up their own opinions and modes of thinking as the only true and infallible, and as such endeavoring to impose them on others, hath established and maintained FALSE RELIGIONS over the greatest part of the world, and through all time; that to compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves, is SINFUL AND TYRANNICAL; that even the forcing him to support this or that teacher of his own religious persuasion, is depriving him of the comfortable liberty of giving his contributions to the particular pastor whose morals he would make his pattern, and whose powers he feels most persuasive to righteousness..."

and so on and so forth.

We're a Christian nation. I see no reference to Buddhism or Islam in there, do you?

I see no reference to Christ or Christians in that document either.

No, you see a reference to God, the God of Christians.

Way to attempt to muddy the waters, though. It's a shame you aren't better at it. It might work with a 4th grader.

 

[AllieBaba]

you said "the basic precepts of our democracy lie within the bible."

prove it. sorry if the previous post was too difficult for you to understand.

I did prove it, idiot. Repeatedly.

But I'll slow it down.

All men are created equal. Period. That's all the Bible is about. Treat your enemy as your friend, treat strangers as you treat family; we are all equal in the eyes of God.

you must have a very abridged bible

Remember what I've said in the past about casting pearls before swine? There's no point in going into laborious detail to try to convince people who are just needling. You know what I'm talking about but if you choose to pretend you're an idiot where the bible is concerned, more power to you. I'll remember that the next time you have the hutzpah to enter into a discussion about the bible. I'll remind you how ignorant you have claimed to be in the past.

 

[Sky Dancer]

Sky...are the majority of Americans Christian?

Answer...yes.

Then America is by definition a Christian nation.

It's not rocket science.

Americans are a nation with religious freedom. We have great religous diversity in our country. I don't care how many Americans nominally call themselves Christian, that does not make us a Christian Nation.

We are a plurality. We have as our core tenet--religious freedom including the freedom from religion as well as freedom of religious choice.

Athiest, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Mormon and Christian are all equal citizens. America is NOT a Christian nation. America is a religiously free nation--as established in our Constitution.

 

[del]

I did prove it, idiot. Repeatedly.

But I'll slow it down.

All men are created equal. Period. That's all the Bible is about. Treat your enemy as your friend, treat strangers as you treat family; we are all equal in the eyes of God.

you must have a very abridged bible

Remember what I've said in the past about casting pearls before swine? There's no point in going into laborious detail to try to convince people who are just needling. You know what I'm talking about but if you choose to pretend you're an idiot where the bible is concerned, more power to you. I'll remember that the next time you have the hutzpah to enter into a discussion about the bible. I'll remind you how ignorant you have claimed to be in the past.

chew on this, miss piggy:

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


Where the preamble declares, that coercion is a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion, an amendment was proposed by inserting "Jesus Christ," so that it would read "A departure from the plan of Jesus Christ, the holy author of our religion;" the insertion was rejected by the great majority, in proof that they meant to comprehend, within the mantle of its protection, the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and Mohammedan, the Hindoo and Infidel of every denomination.

-Thomas Jefferson, Autobiography, in reference to the Virginia Act for Religious Freedom


I concur with you strictly in your opinion of the comparative merits of atheism and demonism, and really see nothing but the latter in the being worshipped by many who think themselves Christians.

-Thomas Jefferson, letter to Richard Price, Jan. 8, 1789 (Richard Price had written to TJ on Oct. 26. about the harm done by religion and wrote "Would not Society be better without Such religions? Is Atheism less pernicious than Demonism?")


I never submitted the whole system of my opinions to the creed of any party of men whatever in religion, in philosophy, in politics, or in anything else where I was capable of thinking for myself. Such an addiction is the last degradation of a free and moral agent.

-Thomas Jefferson, letter to Francis Hopkinson, March 13, 1789


They [the clergy] believe that any portion of power confided to me, will be exerted in opposition to their schemes. And they believe rightly; for I have sworn upon the altar of god, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man. But this is all they have to fear from me: and enough, too, in their opinion.

-Thomas Jefferson to Dr. Benjamin Rush, Sept. 23, 1800


Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legislative powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between church and State.

-Thomas Jefferson, letter to Danbury Baptist Association, CT., Jan. 1, 1802


History, I believe, furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government. This marks the lowest grade of ignorance of which their civil as well as religious leaders will always avail themselves for their own purposes.

-Thomas Jefferson to Alexander von Humboldt, Dec. 6, 1813.


The whole history of these books [the Gospels] is so defective and doubtful that it seems vain to attempt minute enquiry into it: and such tricks have been played with their text, and with the texts of other books relating to them, that we have a right, from that cause, to entertain much doubt what parts of them are genuine. In the New Testament there is internal evidence that parts of it have proceeded from an extraordinary man; and that other parts are of the fabric of very inferior minds. It is as easy to separate those parts, as to pick out diamonds from dunghills.

-Thomas Jefferson, letter to John Adams, January 24, 1814

 

[AllieBaba]

You already said that. As I said, stating a lie over and over doesn't make it so.

We are a democracy.
Our majority is Christian.
That makes us a Christian nation.

We are not a theocracy. You need to quit obsessing about that. I never said we were, and you never made the connection until you realized that you'd screwed up. We don't have to be a theocracy for us to be a Christian nation, i.e., a nation of Christians, i.e., a democracy whose majority is CHRISTIAN.

Get it yet? Regardless of the fact that we have freedom of religion (THANK YOU CHRISTIAN BROTHERS) our nation was built on a Christian foundation, and it is those Christian values which have made us great.

Piss and moan about it all you like. But if Lesbo Buddhists ran the US, we'd be in the same situation (possibly worse) as Tibet.

 

[AllieBaba]

you must have a very abridged bible

Remember what I've said in the past about casting pearls before swine? There's no point in going into laborious detail to try to convince people who are just needling. You know what I'm talking about but if you choose to pretend you're an idiot where the bible is concerned, more power to you. I'll remember that the next time you have the hutzpah to enter into a discussion about the bible. I'll remind you how ignorant you have claimed to be in the past.

chew on this, miss piggy:

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


Where the preamble declares, that coercion is a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion, an amendment was proposed by inserting "Jesus Christ," so that it would read "A departure from the plan of Jesus Christ, the holy author of our religion;" the insertion was rejected by the great majority, in proof that they meant to comprehend, within the mantle of its protection, the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and Mohammedan, the Hindoo and Infidel of every denomination.

-Thomas Jefferson, Autobiography, in reference to the Virginia Act for Religious Freedom


I concur with you strictly in your opinion of the comparative merits of atheism and demonism, and really see nothing but the latter in the being worshipped by many who think themselves Christians.

-Thomas Jefferson, letter to Richard Price, Jan. 8, 1789 (Richard Price had written to TJ on Oct. 26. about the harm done by religion and wrote "Would not Society be better without Such religions? Is Atheism less pernicious than Demonism?")


I never submitted the whole system of my opinions to the creed of any party of men whatever in religion, in philosophy, in politics, or in anything else where I was capable of thinking for myself. Such an addiction is the last degradation of a free and moral agent.

-Thomas Jefferson, letter to Francis Hopkinson, March 13, 1789


They [the clergy] believe that any portion of power confided to me, will be exerted in opposition to their schemes. And they believe rightly; for I have sworn upon the altar of god, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man. But this is all they have to fear from me: and enough, too, in their opinion.

-Thomas Jefferson to Dr. Benjamin Rush, Sept. 23, 1800


Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legislative powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between church and State.

-Thomas Jefferson, letter to Danbury Baptist Association, CT., Jan. 1, 1802


History, I believe, furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government. This marks the lowest grade of ignorance of which their civil as well as religious leaders will always avail themselves for their own purposes.

-Thomas Jefferson to Alexander von Humboldt, Dec. 6, 1813.


The whole history of these books [the Gospels] is so defective and doubtful that it seems vain to attempt minute enquiry into it: and such tricks have been played with their text, and with the texts of other books relating to them, that we have a right, from that cause, to entertain much doubt what parts of them are genuine. In the New Testament there is internal evidence that parts of it have proceeded from an extraordinary man; and that other parts are of the fabric of very inferior minds. It is as easy to separate those parts, as to pick out diamonds from dunghills.

-Thomas Jefferson, letter to John Adams, January 24, 1814

Charming, but apropos of nothing that's going on in this thread.

We remain a Christian nation, dumbass.

But carry on with your irrelevant slaverings.

 

[Sky Dancer]

The U.S. Constitution is a secular document. It contains no mention of Christianity or Jesus Christ.

The Constitution refers to religion only twice in the First Amendment, which bars laws "respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," and in Article VI, which prohibits "religious tests" for public office.

Both of these provisions are evidence that the country was not founded as officially Christian, nor can we consider America a Christian nation. Our government is neutral on religous matters. We are a democracy and a plurality.

 

[del]

Remember what I've said in the past about casting pearls before swine? There's no point in going into laborious detail to try to convince people who are just needling. You know what I'm talking about but if you choose to pretend you're an idiot where the bible is concerned, more power to you. I'll remember that the next time you have the hutzpah to enter into a discussion about the bible. I'll remind you how ignorant you have claimed to be in the past.

chew on this, miss piggy:

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


Where the preamble declares, that coercion is a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion, an amendment was proposed by inserting "Jesus Christ," so that it would read "A departure from the plan of Jesus Christ, the holy author of our religion;" the insertion was rejected by the great majority, in proof that they meant to comprehend, within the mantle of its protection, the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and Mohammedan, the Hindoo and Infidel of every denomination.

-Thomas Jefferson, Autobiography, in reference to the Virginia Act for Religious Freedom


I concur with you strictly in your opinion of the comparative merits of atheism and demonism, and really see nothing but the latter in the being worshipped by many who think themselves Christians.

-Thomas Jefferson, letter to Richard Price, Jan. 8, 1789 (Richard Price had written to TJ on Oct. 26. about the harm done by religion and wrote "Would not Society be better without Such religions? Is Atheism less pernicious than Demonism?")


I never submitted the whole system of my opinions to the creed of any party of men whatever in religion, in philosophy, in politics, or in anything else where I was capable of thinking for myself. Such an addiction is the last degradation of a free and moral agent.

-Thomas Jefferson, letter to Francis Hopkinson, March 13, 1789


They [the clergy] believe that any portion of power confided to me, will be exerted in opposition to their schemes. And they believe rightly; for I have sworn upon the altar of god, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man. But this is all they have to fear from me: and enough, too, in their opinion.

-Thomas Jefferson to Dr. Benjamin Rush, Sept. 23, 1800


Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legislative powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between church and State.

-Thomas Jefferson, letter to Danbury Baptist Association, CT., Jan. 1, 1802


History, I believe, furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government. This marks the lowest grade of ignorance of which their civil as well as religious leaders will always avail themselves for their own purposes.

-Thomas Jefferson to Alexander von Humboldt, Dec. 6, 1813.


The whole history of these books [the Gospels] is so defective and doubtful that it seems vain to attempt minute enquiry into it: and such tricks have been played with their text, and with the texts of other books relating to them, that we have a right, from that cause, to entertain much doubt what parts of them are genuine. In the New Testament there is internal evidence that parts of it have proceeded from an extraordinary man; and that other parts are of the fabric of very inferior minds. It is as easy to separate those parts, as to pick out diamonds from dunghills.

-Thomas Jefferson, letter to John Adams, January 24, 1814

Charming, but apropos of nothing that's going on in this thread.

We remain a Christian nation, dumbass.

But carry on with your irrelevant slaverings.

it's true then. you can't fix stupid. chuck a snake for me, love.

 

[AllieBaba]

And again with the repetition.

The Declaration of Independence does mention God. Repeatedly. And most of the supporting documents of the constitution mention God. Our presidents are sworn in on Bibles.

We left God out of the Constitution at the behest of CHRISTIAN men who knew that it was absolutely necessary to separate church at state at that level, or persecution would take place.

It wasn't to protect the rights of Buddhists to dis Christians, nitwit. It was to protect Christians and their ability to advance politically, financially, and spiritually without fear of being tarred and feathered.

 

[AllieBaba]

chew on this, miss piggy:

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


Where the preamble declares, that coercion is a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion, an amendment was proposed by inserting "Jesus Christ," so that it would read "A departure from the plan of Jesus Christ, the holy author of our religion;" the insertion was rejected by the great majority, in proof that they meant to comprehend, within the mantle of its protection, the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and Mohammedan, the Hindoo and Infidel of every denomination.

-Thomas Jefferson, Autobiography, in reference to the Virginia Act for Religious Freedom


I concur with you strictly in your opinion of the comparative merits of atheism and demonism, and really see nothing but the latter in the being worshipped by many who think themselves Christians.

-Thomas Jefferson, letter to Richard Price, Jan. 8, 1789 (Richard Price had written to TJ on Oct. 26. about the harm done by religion and wrote "Would not Society be better without Such religions? Is Atheism less pernicious than Demonism?")


I never submitted the whole system of my opinions to the creed of any party of men whatever in religion, in philosophy, in politics, or in anything else where I was capable of thinking for myself. Such an addiction is the last degradation of a free and moral agent.

-Thomas Jefferson, letter to Francis Hopkinson, March 13, 1789


They [the clergy] believe that any portion of power confided to me, will be exerted in opposition to their schemes. And they believe rightly; for I have sworn upon the altar of god, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man. But this is all they have to fear from me: and enough, too, in their opinion.

-Thomas Jefferson to Dr. Benjamin Rush, Sept. 23, 1800


Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legislative powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between church and State.

-Thomas Jefferson, letter to Danbury Baptist Association, CT., Jan. 1, 1802


History, I believe, furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government. This marks the lowest grade of ignorance of which their civil as well as religious leaders will always avail themselves for their own purposes.

-Thomas Jefferson to Alexander von Humboldt, Dec. 6, 1813.


The whole history of these books [the Gospels] is so defective and doubtful that it seems vain to attempt minute enquiry into it: and such tricks have been played with their text, and with the texts of other books relating to them, that we have a right, from that cause, to entertain much doubt what parts of them are genuine. In the New Testament there is internal evidence that parts of it have proceeded from an extraordinary man; and that other parts are of the fabric of very inferior minds. It is as easy to separate those parts, as to pick out diamonds from dunghills.

-Thomas Jefferson, letter to John Adams, January 24, 1814

Charming, but apropos of nothing that's going on in this thread.

We remain a Christian nation, dumbass.

But carry on with your irrelevant slaverings.

it's true then. you can't fix stupid. chuck a snake for me, love.

No, you can't fix stupid, as we see with you on a daily basis.

 

[del]

Charming, but apropos of nothing that's going on in this thread.

We remain a Christian nation, dumbass.

But carry on with your irrelevant slaverings.

it's true then. you can't fix stupid. chuck a snake for me, love.

No, you can't fix stupid, as we see with you on a daily basis.

chuck a biiiig snake for me.

 

[AllieBaba]

The U.S. Constitution is a secular document. It contains no mention of Christianity or Jesus Christ.

The Constitution refers to religion only twice in the First Amendment, which bars laws "respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," and in Article VI, which prohibits "religious tests" for public office.

Both of these provisions are evidence that the country was not founded as officially Christian, nor can we consider America a Christian nation. Our government is neutral on religous matters. We are a democracy and a plurality.

"Prohibiting the free exercise thereof" and "prohibiting religious tests" for public office is exactly what the nutjobs who hate Christians are trying to do.

And nobody ever said (except you) that we were founded as "officially" Christian, nor did anyone (except you) say we were a theocracy. The question was, are we a Christian nation.

As a democracy of primarily Christian citizens, the answer is yes, we are a Christian nation.

If you had asked "Are we a theocracy" the answer would have been no.

If you had asked "Are we officially Christian" the answer would have been no.

But having a limited understanding of the English language, and wanting to make some weird point, then losing ground, and being forced to change the language of the question, we arrive here....we are a Christian nation.

You want a different answer, ask a different question.

 

[Sky Dancer]

The U.S. Constitution is a secular document. It contains no mention of Christianity or Jesus Christ.

The Constitution refers to religion only twice in the First Amendment, which bars laws "respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," and in Article VI, which prohibits "religious tests" for public office.

Both of these provisions are evidence that the country was not founded as officially Christian, nor can we consider America a Christian nation. Our government is neutral on religous matters. We are a democracy and a plurality.

"Prohibiting the free exercise thereof" and "prohibiting religious tests" for public office is exactly what the nutjobs who hate Christians are trying to do.
And nobody ever said (except you) that we were founded as "officially" Christian, nor did anyone (except you) say we were a theocracy. The question was, are we a Christian nation.

As a democracy of primarily Christian citizens, the answer is yes, we are a Christian nation.

If you had asked "Are we a theocracy" the answer would have been no.

If you had asked "Are we officially Christian" the answer would have been no.

But having a limited understanding of the English language, and wanting to make some weird point, then losing ground, and being forced to change the language of the question, we arrive here....we are a Christian nation.

You want a different answer, ask a different question.

I'm stunned. You're calling the Founding Fathers 'nutjobs'? You think the Consitution is a "Christian hating document"?

 

[KittenKoder]

"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."

That's the part you ignore.

that's the part the non-belivers don't see....

Aaaah ... but there is where you are wrong. Some perhaps, but certainly not all, not even most. Here's the logic used though, if they are able to announce one single religion as the one in control by ignoring the first part then the second part is ignored after such to prevent all other religions from being respected. One part is no more important than the other but once one part is ignored the other loses all meaning. Then when would it stop? This is why the whole thing was written as one statement and not broken into little bits. Not one country with a singular religious influence in their government has been a good country, and recently we have seen when such a government adopts the separation of church and state policies, they are improving a lot within only a decade.

 

[krotchdog]

How about a little John Adams for ya all.

“The general principles upon which the Fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity…I will avow that I believed and now believe that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and the attributes of God.”
[June 28, 1813; Letter to Thomas Jefferson]

“We recognize no Sovereign but God, and no King but Jesus!”
[April 18, 1775, on the eve of the Revolutionary War after a British major ordered John Adams, John Hancock, and those with them to disperse in “the name of George the Sovereign King of England." ]

• “[July 4th] ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.”
[letter written to Abigail on the day the Declaration was approved by Congress]

"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." --October 11, 1798

"I have examined all religions, as well as my narrow sphere, my straightened means, and my busy life, would allow; and the result is that the Bible is the best Book in the world. It contains more philosophy than all the libraries I have seen." December 25, 1813 letter to Thomas Jefferson

"Without Religion this World would be Something not fit to be mentioned in polite Company, I mean Hell." [John Adams to Thomas Jefferson, April 19, 1817]

How about a little George Washington and friends

“He was a sincere believer in the Christian faith and a truly devout man.”
{Quote by John Marshall [Revolutionary General, Secretary of State, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice]}

"To the character of hero and patriot, this good man added that of Christian. Although the greatest man upon earth, he disdained not to humble himself before his God and to trust in the mercies of Christ.”
{Quote by Gunning Bedford, signer of the Constitution}

“The name of American, belongs to you…[and] with slight shades of difference, you have the same religion.”
--George Washington in his Farewell Address to the American people, Paragraph 10; September 17, 1796 | photo of farewell address

“What students would learn in American schools above all is the religion of Jesus Christ.”
--George Washington in a speech to the Delaware Indian Chiefs May 12, 1779

"It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and Bible."

"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."

"Is it necessary that any one should [ask], “Did General Washington avow himself to be a believer in Christianity?" As well may we question his patriotism, his heroic devotion to his country. His mottos were, "Deeds, not Words"; and, "For God and my Country." {Quote by Nelly Custis-Lewis, Washington's adopted daughter}

and more

Thomas Jefferson
3rd U.S. President, Drafter and Signer of the Declaration of Independence

"God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the Gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever; That a revolution of the wheel of fortune, a change of situation, is among possible events; that it may become probable by Supernatural influence! The Almighty has no attribute which can take side with us in that event."
--Notes on the State of Virginia, Query XVIII, p. 237.

"I am a real Christian – that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus Christ."
--The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, p. 385.

John Hancock
1st Signer of the Declaration of Independence

"Resistance to tyranny becomes the Christian and social duty of each individual. ... Continue steadfast and, with a proper sense of your dependence on God, nobly defend those rights which heaven gave, and no man ought to take from us."
--History of the United States of America, Vol. II, p. 229.

Benjamin Franklin
Signer of the Declaration of Independence and Unites States Constitution

"Here is my creed. I believe in one God, the Creator of the Universe. That he governs it by his Providence. That he ought to be worshipped.

That the most acceptable service we render to him is in doing good to his other children. That the soul of man is immortal, and will be treated with justice in another life respecting its conduct in this. These I take to be the fundamental points in all sound religion, and I regard them as you do in whatever sect I meet with them.

As to Jesus of Nazareth, my opinion of whom you particularly desire, I think the system of morals and his religion, as he left them to us, is the best the world ever saw, or is likely to see."
--Benjamin Franklin wrote this in a letter to Ezra Stiles, President of Yale University on March 9, 1790.

and more

Samuel Adams
Signer of the Declaration of Independence and Father of the American Revolution

"And as it is our duty to extend our wishes to the happiness of the great family of man, I conceive that we cannot better express ourselves than by humbly supplicating the Supreme Ruler of the world that the rod of tyrants may be broken to pieces, and the oppressed made free again; that wars may cease in all the earth, and that the confusions that are and have been among nations may be overruled by promoting and speedily bringing on that holy and happy period when the kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ may be everywhere established, and all people everywhere willingly bow to the sceptre of Him who is Prince of Peace."
--As Governor of Massachusetts, Proclamation of a Day of Fast, March 20, 1797.

James Madison
4th U.S. President

"Cursed be all that learning that is contrary to the cross of Christ."
--America's Providential History, p. 93.

James Monroe
5th U.S. President

"When we view the blessings with which our country has been favored, those which we now enjoy, and the means which we possess of handing them down unimpaired to our latest posterity, our attention is irresistibly drawn to the source from whence they flow. Let us then, unite in offering our most grateful acknowledgements for these blessings to the Divine Author of All Good."
--Monroe made this statement in his 2nd Annual Message to Congress, November 16, 1818.

John Quincy Adams
6th U.S. President

"The hope of a Christian is inseparable from his faith. Whoever believes in the divine inspiration of the Holy Scriptures must hope that the religion of Jesus shall prevail throughout the earth. Never since the foundation of the world have the prospects of mankind been more encouraging to that hope than they appear to be at the present time. And may the associated distribution of the Bible proceed and prosper till the Lord shall have made 'bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God' (Isaiah 52:10)."
--Life of John Quincy Adams, p. 248.

William Penn
Founder of Pennsylvania

"I do declare to the whole world that we believe the Scriptures to contain a declaration of the mind and will of God in and to those ages in which they were written; being given forth by the Holy Ghost moving in the hearts of holy men of God; that they ought also to be read, believed, and fulfilled in our day; being used for reproof and instruction, that the man of God may be perfect. They are a declaration and testimony of heavenly things themselves, and, as such, we carry a high respect for them. We accept them as the words of God Himself."
--Treatise of the Religion of the Quakers, p. 355.

Roger Sherman
Signer of the Declaration of Independence and United States Constitution

"I believe that there is one only living and true God, existing in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, the same in substance equal in power and glory. That the scriptures of the old and new testaments are a revelation from God, and a complete rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him. That God has foreordained whatsoever comes to pass, so as thereby he is not the author or approver of sin. That he creates all things, and preserves and governs all creatures and all their actions, in a manner perfectly consistent with the freedom of will in moral agents, and the usefulness of means. That he made man at first perfectly holy, that the first man sinned, and as he was the public head of his posterity, they all became sinners in consequence of his first transgression, are wholly indisposed to that which is good and inclined to evil, and on account of sin are liable to all the miseries of this life, to death, and to the pains of hell forever.

I believe that God having elected some of mankind to eternal life, did send his own Son to become man, die in the room and stead of sinners and thus to lay a foundation for the offer of pardon and salvation to all mankind, so as all may be saved who are willing to accept the gospel offer: also by his special grace and spirit, to regenerate, sanctify and enable to persevere in holiness, all who shall be saved; and to procure in consequence of their repentance and faith in himself their justification by virtue of his atonement as the only meritorious cause.

I believe a visible church to be a congregation of those who make a credible profession of their faith in Christ, and obedience to him, joined by the bond of the covenant.

I believe that the souls of believers are at their death made perfectly holy, and immediately taken to glory: that at the end of this world there will be a resurrection of the dead, and a final judgement of all mankind, when the righteous shall be publicly acquitted by Christ the Judge and admitted to everlasting life and glory, and the wicked be sentenced to everlasting punishment."
--The Life of Roger Sherman, pp. 272-273.

and more

Benjamin Rush
Signer of the Declaration of Independence and Ratifier of the U.S. Constitution

"The Gospel of Jesus Christ prescribes the wisest rules for just conduct in every situation of life. Happy they who are enabled to obey them in all situations!"
--The Autobiography of Benjamin Rush, pp. 165-166.

"Christianity is the only true and perfect religion, and that in proportion as mankind adopts its principles and obeys its precepts, they will be wise and happy."
--Essays, Literary, Moral, and Philosophical, published in 1798.

"I know there is an objection among many people to teaching children doctrines of any kind, because they are liable to be controverted. But let us not be wiser than our Maker.

If moral precepts alone could have reformed mankind, the mission of the Son of God into all the world would have been unnecessary. The perfect morality of the Gospel rests upon the doctrine which, though often controverted has never been refuted: I mean the vicarious life and death of the Son of God."
--Essays, Literary, Moral, and Philosophical, published in 1798.

John Witherspoon
Signer of the Declaration of Independence, Clergyman and President of Princeton University

"While we give praise to God, the Supreme Disposer of all events, for His interposition on our behalf, let us guard against the dangerous error of trusting in, or boasting of, an arm of flesh ... If your cause is just, if your principles are pure, and if your conduct is prudent, you need not fear the multitude of opposing hosts.

What follows from this? That he is the best friend to American liberty, who is most sincere and active in promoting true and undefiled religion, and who sets himself with the greatest firmness to bear down profanity and immorality of every kind.

Whoever is an avowed enemy of God, I scruple not to call him an enemy of his country."
--Sermon at Princeton University, "The Dominion of Providence over the Passions of Men," May 17, 1776.

Alexander Hamilton
Signer of the Declaration of Independence and Ratifier of the U.S. Constitution

"I have carefully examined the evidences of the Christian religion, and if I was sitting as a juror upon its authenticity I would unhesitatingly give my verdict in its favor. I can prove its truth as clearly as any proposition ever submitted to the mind of man."
--Famous American Statesmen, p. 126.

Patrick Henry
Ratifier of the U.S. Constitution

"It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship here."
--The Trumpet Voice of Freedom: Patrick Henry of Virginia, p. iii.

"The Bible ... is a book worth more than all the other books that were ever printed."
--Sketches of the Life and Character of Patrick Henry, p. 402.

John Jay
1st Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court and President of the American Bible Society

"By conveying the Bible to people thus circumstanced, we certainly do them a most interesting kindness. We thereby enable them to learn that man was originally created and placed in a state of happiness, but, becoming disobedient, was subjected to the degradation and evils which he and his posterity have since experienced.

The Bible will also inform them that our gracious Creator has provided for us a Redeemer, in whom all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; that this Redeemer has made atonement "for the sins of the whole world," and thereby reconciling the Divine justice with the Divine mercy has opened a way for our redemption and salvation; and that these inestimable benefits are of the free gift and grace of God, not of our deserving, nor in our power to deserve."
--In God We Trust—The Religious Beliefs and Ideas of the American Founding Fathers, p. 379.

"In forming and settling my belief relative to the doctrines of Christianity, I adopted no articles from creeds but such only as, on careful examination, I found to be confirmed by the Bible."

 

[Toro]

The U.S. Constitution is a secular document. It contains no mention of Christianity or Jesus Christ.

No, but the Declaration of Independence - the document that brought this nation into being - certainly does mention God.

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

The Declaration of Independence

America is a Christian nation since a nation, any nation, embodies far more than the articles of its constitution, and the vast majority of Americans are Christian.

And we certainly do organize our lives around religion. Sunday is a day off. That is a Christian holiday. We take off Good Friday and Christmas, Christian holidays. There are no officially recognized Jewish, Islam, Hindu, Buddhist, etc., holidays.

Officialdom references God. It is in the national anthem in the fourth verse.

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

The money by which the government of the United States issues states "In God we Trust."

We pledge allegiance to the flag, one nation, under God.

A nation is more than the rules by which it lives. It is also defined by its culture, and Christianity is interwoven deeply into American history, culture and its people.

Christianity is not the official religion of the United States. And it should not be. However, America is, for all intents and purposes, a Christian nation.

 

[AllieBaba]

The U.S. Constitution is a secular document. It contains no mention of Christianity or Jesus Christ.

The Constitution refers to religion only twice in the First Amendment, which bars laws "respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," and in Article VI, which prohibits "religious tests" for public office.

Both of these provisions are evidence that the country was not founded as officially Christian, nor can we consider America a Christian nation. Our government is neutral on religous matters. We are a democracy and a plurality.

"Prohibiting the free exercise thereof" and "prohibiting religious tests" for public office is exactly what the nutjobs who hate Christians are trying to do.
And nobody ever said (except you) that we were founded as "officially" Christian, nor did anyone (except you) say we were a theocracy. The question was, are we a Christian nation.

As a democracy of primarily Christian citizens, the answer is yes, we are a Christian nation.

If you had asked "Are we a theocracy" the answer would have been no.

If you had asked "Are we officially Christian" the answer would have been no.

But having a limited understanding of the English language, and wanting to make some weird point, then losing ground, and being forced to change the language of the question, we arrive here....we are a Christian nation.

You want a different answer, ask a different question.

I'm stunned. You're calling the Founding Fathers 'nutjobs'? You think the Consitution is a "Christian hating document"?

Now you're just pulling shit out of your ass and smearing it on your face. I never said that. So not only are you stupid, you're a liar as well.

See you next time.

 

[Avatar4321]

Doesn't matter that the majority were christians.

I disagree. Christianity may not be written into the laws of the nation, but it's not a coincidence it was Christians who established a free nation on this continent.

One of the key questions is why did George Washington refuse to take communion for most of his adult life? For the serious Christian, such refusal is an act of self-excommunication.

Doesnt seem to be relevant to whether this is a Christian nation.

However, If true, I think it simply showed how serious he was about his faith for two potential reasons. One, A serious Christian realizes he should not take the body and blood of Christ unworthily. Two, a serious Christian would want to make sure he is fellowshiping with the right group. its quite possible for President Washington to have been serious in His devotion to Christ but not about any specific group to fellowship with. Its hard to take communion without doing so in a group.

More important, defenders have to explain why George Washington occupied the rank of Grand Master in the Masonic lodge. Each promotion in the Masonic lodge requires taking an anti-Christian oath?

Im not a mason, but I do know your representation of them is incorrect.

In spite of right-wing Christian attempts to rewrite history to make Jefferson into a Christian, little about his philosophy resembles that of Christianity. Although Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence wrote of the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God, there exists nothing in the Declaration about Christianity.

He was a Christian. He even wrote His own version of the Bible. He simply thought it was a personal thing. and their is nothing wrong with that.