First let me tell you where I sit, before I tell you where I stand. I am a Christian. I was born, baptized, raised a Catholic and still consider myself to be a Catholic today. I hold my religious beliefs close to me and tend to be quiet about what I do and do not believe in terms of religion. My faith is a private matter and between me and my God. I do not feel, nor have I ever felt, compelled to involuntarily share my views on religion. I am not threatened or scared by others who have different religious beliefs, or those who have no religious convictions. What does alarm and frighten me is when others feel so threatened by the presence of other beliefs that they feel compelled to loudly proclaim and impose their religious views upon others. That is the purpose of this blog.
Recently Louisiana passed a law requiring the 10 Commandments be posted in every classroom in the state. Oklahoma now requires that the Bible be used as essentially a textbook in history and English classes. There are renewed calls for "God/prayer be put back into our classrooms and schools". All because of this belief that the United States must return to being the "Christian nation" our Founding Fathers created. Any legitimate scholar or student of American history will tell you this notion is indefensibly wrong. The United States was not founded as, nor is it now, a Christian nation any more so than it is a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, a Buddhist nation or a Hindu nation.
In The Beginning...
During the Colonial and Revolutionary Period one of the few views that the colonies shared collectively was Anti-Catholicism. Catholics were widely disliked and mistrusted in the colonies. In 1774 England passed the Quebec Act which stated that Catholics in Quebec would receive equal protection of the law. The colonies were shocked and horrified by this law and the Continental Congress even passed a resolution condemning this law stating that Catholics did not deserve equal protection and deserved whatever bigotry and discrimination that happened upon them. Then, as is still the case today, most Christians in the world are Catholics. Therefore, being openly hostile and prejudiced against most Christians makes it hard to argue that the founders desired a "Christian Nation". While it is true that many of the Founding Fathers were Christians and some were deeply and devoutly Christian, there were just as many for whom Christianity was not a strong guiding force in their lives, and there were a fair number of Founding Fathers who were Deists or for whom religion was a concern at all.
For those who were deeply and devoutly Christian, their Christianity was very different from those who claim to be, or truly are, devout Christians today. For devout Christians during the colonial/Revolutionary period their Christianity was very focused on God and theologizing meaning that they were focused on studying the Bible to find answers to the fundamental questions of life and they mostly kept their views contained to themselves or discussed it among other equally devout Christians. Whereas devout Christians today are focused on Jesus Christ and evangelizing meaning they are interested in proclaiming and spreading the "word of God" and share their views widely and publicly. The devout Founders would be very uncomfortable with the emphasis and focus of today's devout Christians.
Founding Fathers such as John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, and George Washington Christianity was not a strong influence in their lives. They were members of Christian churches but their church attendance alternated between frequent to infrequent throughout their lives. They occasionally would reference biblical passages or teachings and would from time to time invoke God. But Christianity was not a strong guiding force in their lives or a potent moral compass. Their religious beliefs are probably more reflective of the religious beliefs of most Americans today.
For the Founding Fathers who were not necessarily Christian or even religious- such as Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, James Madison (known as the Father of the Constitution), and James Monroe- they were either Deists or were skeptical of religion as a whole or simply did not really have an interest one way or the other in religion. Deism believes that there is one creator of the heavens and earth but does not have any influence in daily life or events, this philosophy was very popular and a powerful school of thought in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. Thomas Jefferson famously removed any mention or event from the Bible that was "supernatural" (miracles) or he was otherwise suspicious of the possibility of the event happening, creating what has become known as the "Jefferson Bible" and can still be found today...you can buy it on Amazon. Madison was particularly repulsed by religion, in particular Christianity, because of the suffering, strife, and killing that had happened throughout human history in the name or defense of religion. So concerned were these Founding Fathers that the United States not be recognized as a "Christian Nation" or any type of theocracy that they insisted that 'freedom OF religion' be mandated in the 1st Amendment. Meaning that this government would not impose or require any religious belief upon its citizens but rather that the citizens held the right to choose which religion they wish to follow or, more importantly, which religion not to follow. Furthermore, it is worth noting, that not once is God ever mentioned in any manner in the Constitution, and in the Declaration of Independence there only four mentions of a God. However, those four mentions of "God" in the Declaration of Independence do not resemble the Christian understanding of God; it is as the "Creator", "Nature's God", "Providence" as well as a mention of a duty to a "sacred Honor", all of which reflect the Deist view rather than a secular, or Christian one.
"GOD" And Federalism
Much has been made recently about "returning the nation back to God", meaning that somehow the United States has lost its Christian roots and the time has come to turn back to God- meaning Christianity. The implication is that the Christian God has always been present in American society. However, this is simply not the case.
"In God We Trust" was not always present on U.S. currency. That phrase does not appear on US coins until 1864 and is not on paper currency until 1957. Prior to "In God We Trust" the Latin phrase "E Pluribus Unum" meaning Out of Many, One, which is the national motto of the United States appeared on US currency. In 1864 the motto was replaced with the phrase "In God We Trust" on coins in reaction to a sudden surge of religious fervor in the nation as the Civil War was entering its final stages. Recently, the profile of Washington on the quarter has flipped so that instead of facing the phrase, Washington is facing away. Christian Nationalists hold that this an indication that the US has turned its back on God and are clamoring for the nation to turn back to God. In all actuality the reason for the flip of profiles is because the painting that was used for the image on the quarter had Washington facing to the right instead of the left but was inadvertently flipped was flipped in the wrong direction. Changing the direction of the profile was correcting the error and honoring the original portrait.
In 1957, the phrase began appearing on paper currency as more of a effect of the Cold War than it was a proclamation of religious zeal. Because the Soviet Union was officially an atheistic state and did all it could to stamp out religion in the Soviet bloc. The United States saw this as a way to highlight the differences between the two powers. The United States allowed the belief in God whereas Communists did not, thus the phrase made it onto our paper currency. It was not about religion, or Christianity perse, it was about Cold War ideological differences. It was also because of the Cold War that the newest line of the Pledge of Allegiance was added.
The Pledge of Allegiance was written in 1892 by minister Francis Bellamy, who interestingly was a socialist- GASP! When it was originally written it did not include the phrase "under God". Those two words were added in 1954, again in response to the Cold War and atheistic beliefs of the Communist world. Despite what many Christian Nationalists believe, the Pledge of Allegiance is still recited often, if not everyday, in every public school that I know of across this nation.
Religion And The Classroom
Which brings us back to the beginning of this discussion- religion in the classroom.
Many charge that 'we must bring God back into the classroom!' Many want school prayer be brought back into the classroom. In all actuality it had never left. I have personally witnessed several students throughout my career openly read not only the Bible, but also any number of other religious texts, in my classroom during some free time they may have. I have never once told them to stop or put it away, furthermore those students were able to read their religious texts without ridicule or bigotry from other students. I have also observed students openly pray in my classroom. A few times I have had Muslim students who would leave my classroom for short periods of time so they could pray. I have never, nor has anyone else, tried to stop or prevent these prayers being said.
Hallmarks of those who wish to "return the nation to God" is what Louisiana and Oklahoma have done. But these acts are fraught with problems. For Louisiana, which version of the 10 Commandments will be posted? The Jewish version is different from the Protestant version, and both are different from the Catholic version. Will all three be posted? I assume Louisiana will choose the version that the state "believes" to be the most accurate and faithful.
For Oklahoma, similar questions exist. Which version of the Bible will be used? The Catholic Bible is different than Protestant Bibles. Will the King James Version, which is riddled with mistranslations, be the one used of will it be other, more accurately translated versions? Furthermore, will the Koran, the Torah, the Hindu Vedas, and the Buddhist Tripitaka be used as textbooks as well? If not- which I know is the answer- then what makes the Bible more reliable and accurate than the others? The answer is, of course, that the state of Oklahoma has "faith" in the validity of the Christian Bible over the other holy texts.
And that "faith" expressed by the states is where all of this breaks down. These cases will no doubt be brought before the United States Supreme Court. I firmly believe, even with this Supreme Court, that these laws will be struck down and found Unconstitutional. Despite the beliefs and desires of some, the United States is NOT a Christian nation. It may well be a uniquely religious nation, but it is not a Christian one. The Founding Fathers did not want it to be one and did not believe it should ever be one. It clearly states in the very first amendment to the Constitution, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof ..." We are no more a Christian nation, than we are any other religion. We are first and foremost Americans. Free to believe, or not to believe, in any religion we choose.
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