The United States of America is Not a Christian Nation

Military service runs in my family. During almost every generation of my family going back to World War I, there have been members of both sides of my family who have served in the military. Air Force, Navy, Army, Marines and Coast Guard. (Yes, Sarah, the Coast Guard is part of the military.)

But, it goes deeper than that. Yes, I had relatives who fought in the Civil War, on BOTH sides. But, I also had relatives who fought in the War of 1812. And the Revolutionary War. While I don't know the names or specifics, I'm almost willing to bet that I had forebears on both sides of the Revolutionary War since I am descended from Irish, Scottish, English and Welsh bloodlines.

On both sides of my family, military service meant a lot. Not just the idea of getting education, having employment, etc., but the idea of defending the principles this country was founded on. The rights and freedoms that Americans have, not granted to us by the government, because we are the government. From Day One of this nation, the people have been the government. So, we grant and guarantee ourselves the rights and freedoms we cherish and defend.

Ours is a unique nation. Before the founding of these United States of America there had never been a nation founded on the principle of "government for the people by the people." Yes, there had been democracies before, and republics. But none were founded to be a democratic republic governed exclusively by the citizenry of the nation.

In 1797, President John Adams, who was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and was a devout Christian wrote into the Treaty of Tripoli, "As the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion."

To bolster the fact that the United States was not founded as a Christian nation, the Name of Jesus nor the word Christian or Christ does not appear in any of the founding documents of these United States; not in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States of America and not within the first few Amendments among the Bill of Rights.

The war of Independence was not fought on religious grounds. Inasfar as I can determine, there was no hostility from the King of England toward anyone's religious practices within the 13 colonies, so to declare that this nation was founded as a Christian nation escaping religious persecution is a distorting of the facts that brought about the formation of America.

I served in the USAF. During my oath I swore to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America, and I asked for God's help in doing so, but I did not swear an oath to the Christian faith or any religion. When I read the Declaration and the Constitution I read about the God of Nature and the Creator, but I have never read the name of Jesus, the word Christ or Christian and I have never read where the foundation of this nation was based upon religious grounds. In fact, the first mention of religion comes in Article VI of the Constitution which states, "no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States."

IF the United States were founded as a Christian nation, the founders would not have included that wording within the Constitution. America was most decidedly and purposely founded as a non-theocracy. A democratic republic which from 1791 has an Amendment to the Constitution, the FIRST Amendment, even, which states that the US shall not ever establish a state religion nor impede the free practice of any religion by the government. Freedom of religion also means freedom from religion.

The saddest part of this whole argument, to me, is that those who want to declare this to be a "Christian Nation," are the very ones who refuse to obey the commands of the Christ. They don't love their enemies. They don't love all people. They do not feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, take care of widows and orphans. In fact, they are adamantly against doing anything to help those who are poor. How could they claim this is a Christian nation when they refuse to let this nation do what Christ commanded His followers to do?