Our "Christian" Nation

(Originally posted on 4/14/09 at 8:23 PM)

You know, if I hear one more right-wing conservative talk about our nation's "Judeo-Christian" values, I'm going to freak out.

Tonight, because I like to get views from all sides of the spectrum, I turned Fox News on and one of their talking heads (the arrogant Sean Hannity) was interviewing the recently resigned leader of Focus on the Family, James Dobson. They were, not surprisingly, picking apart every "anti-American" quote that President Obama has said in his recent travels overseas. They said many inflammatory non-truths, as usual, but what really got me going tonight was when they criticized President Obama for saying that America "is not a Christian nation."

Um, hello? America IS NOT a Christian nation! We are a nation founded on freedom of religion. That means that we are a nation of people who are free to worship (or not worship) whichever diety, whenever, and however we choose. True, almost all politicians today claim Christianity as their religion when asked, but that is politics! It doesn't mean we are a "Christian" nation.

What did our Founding Fathers say about religion?

“The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason.” Benjamin Franklin Poor Richard's Almanack, 1758

“I have found Christian dogma unintelligible. Early in life, I absenteed myself from Christian assemblies.” Benjamin Franklin.

“Religious controversies are always productive of more acrimony and irreconcilable hatreds than those which spring from any other cause. I had hoped that liberal and enlightened thought would have reconciled the Christians so that their [not our?] religious fights would not endanger the peace of Society.” George Washington Letter to Sir Edward Newenham, June 22, 1792 (Washington was a Deist, by the way).

“The government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.” John Adams, Treaty of Tripoly, article 11

“But how has it happened that millions of fables, tales, legends, have been blended with both Jewish and Christian revelation that have made them the most bloody religion that ever existed.” John Adams, letters to family and other leaders 1735-1826

Jefferson wrote his own version of the Bible, removing all references to miracles and the supernatural. He did not believe in the divinity of Jesus, the miracles, the Trinity, or the resurrection.

“Millions of innocent men, women, and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burned, tortured, fined, and imprisoned, yet we have not advanced one inch toward uniformity. What has been the effect of coercion? To make one half of the world fools and the other half hypocrites.” Thomas Jefferson, Notes on Virginia

“The day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the Supreme Being as His father, in the womb of a virgin will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter.” Thomas Jefferson, Letter to John Adams, April 11, 1823

James Madison was the father of the Constitution, being the principal author. He made sure there was complete separation of church and state and that the government could not establish any official religion. His first veto as president was to veto a faith-based-initiative which would have given public taxpayer funds to a church to operate a charitable program. Even though the purpose may have been noble, he did not want to go down that dangerous slope of setting a precedent, which would have allowed public funds to go to a religious organization.

“In no instance have . . . the churches been guardians of the liberties of the people.”
“Religious bondage shackles and debilitates the mind and unfits it for every noble enterprise.” James Madison, April 1, 1774

James Monroe (5th pres.) - Deist

John Quincy Adams (6th pres.) - Unitarian

Abraham Lincoln (16th pres.) - None

Lincoln officially had no religion. Some reference books incorrectly specify this as “non-denominational” but this suggests non-denominational Christian, which is not true. Lincoln specifically stated that he belongs to no religion. In his early adult years he was a Deist.

“My earlier views of the unsoundness of the Christian scheme of salvation and the human origin of the scriptures have become clearer and stronger with advancing years, and I see no reason for thinking I shall ever change them.” Lincoln in a letter to Judge J.S. Wakefield, after the death of Willie Lincoln

“He was an avowed and open infidel, and sometimes bordered on Atheism...He went further against Christian beliefs and doctrines and principles than any man I ever heard.” John T. Stuart, Lincoln's first law partner

(All quotes and religious affliation information found at http://antiwarrepublicans.com/foundingfathers.aspx)

So, those of you who claim our nation was "founded on Judeo-Christian values" can now see that this is definitely not the case.

Also from this awesome website, antiwarrepublicans.com, where I found all of this information consolidated (this is definitely the most a republican has ever contributed to one of my blogs ha), I learned something that I did not know before:

Some religious zealots in the U.S. point to the “In God We Trust” motto which is on our currency and the Pledge of Allegiance as proof that the Founding Fathers wanted this nation to be set-up on Judeo-Christian principles.

The truth is that the Pledge of Allegiance was created in 1892 and did not have the words “under God” added until 1954 almost 200 years after the birth of the U.S.

The “In God We Trust” motto was first added to coins in 1864 nearly 100 years after the birth of the U.S. It did not become the national motto until 1956.

Theodore Roosevelt (26th pres.) was opposed to having this motto on the U.S. currency (http://antiwarrepublicans.com/foundingfathers.aspx)

Oh my god (no pun intended). So, there are people out there who argue this point again and again, about the "under God" addition to the Pledge of Allegiance as proof of our nation being a "Christian" nation (I know because I've argued with them!). And this gobbledegook wasn't added to the Pledge until 1954?!?! Turns out that adding "under God" to the Pledge was nothing but part of the fearmongering of the cold war era (http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vb2xkdGltZWlzbGFuZHMub3JnL3BsZWRnZS9wZGdlY2g4Lmh0bQ==).

Anyway, Dobson/Hannity then went on (and on) about other reasons Obama isn't a "real American", but this unfounded criticism of President Obama rightfully saying that America is not a "Christian nation" was the most disturbing to me (I don't have the time or energy to express my outrage at the rest of the interview right now!). They were acting as if President Obama is anti-American because he's telling the truth about our country. And though I am not the least bit surprised to hear this kind of silly dissent on Fox "News", I can't resist the oppurtunity to call the Religious Right out on their misinformation-spreading tactics.

Especially since our Founding Fathers agree with President Obama.