In the Twenty-first century, the Christian principles that our nation was founded upon are all but forgotten by the majority of humanity. We live in a day and age where the Ten Commandments cannot be displayed in public, where the first amendment has been misinterpreted by the Supreme Court to mean a “wall of separation” between church and state, and public prayers in schools are not allowed. Intellectual leaders in academia and the political realm deny that our country has any Christian heritage whatsoever. Today I want to provide you with substantial evidence with which to thwart the outrageous claims made by those who doubt our country’s Godly heritage. America was indeed founded on Christian principles, and today will show you several quotes from men who played significant roles in the early stages of America’s development that make it hard to believe otherwise.
Thomas Jefferson, a very influential founder and our nation’s third President, was a staunch supporter of religious freedom. In a letter to the Dansbury Baptists, he calls the First Amendment: “A wall of separation between church and State”. Many allude to Thomas Jefferson’s misleading metaphor, using it to justify the removing of public displays of Christianity, and then they themselves incorrectly describe the First Amendment as such. In actuality, the first amendment was created in order to restrict the Federal government from favoring one sect of Christianity over another, as well as to allow citizens of any religion to display it in public.
The Declaration of Independence contains public expression of devotion to the Christian God when it uses phrases like these:
“Nature’s God” (i.e., an 18th century way to refer to the God Who created nature), “all men are created equal” and “endowed by their Creator,” “appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world,” and “with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence” (The Declaration…)
The Federal Constitution:
George Mason, the “Father of the Bill of Rights” proposed the following as the text for the first Amendment:
[A]ll men have an equal, natural and unalienable right to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience; and that no particular sect or society of Christians ought to be favored or established by law in preference to others (Rowland, 1892, 1:244, emp. added).
America was considered a Christian nation for nearly two centuries. The above was suggested as text for the First Amendment because the founders wanted to ensure that no particular sect of Christianity was elevated above the others, as well as to make it certain that the Federal government did not adopt a State religion. Since the early 20th Century, radical socialistic organizations like the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) have been trying (and largely succeeding) to erase Christianity from the public arena. In 2003, at the same time that a Federal Judge told the Chief Justice of the Alabama State Supreme Court that a public display of the Ten Commandments had to be taken down, California unveiled in Sacramento, at the California Veterans Memorial that reads: “In Honor of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Veterans Killed in Action” (Sanders, 2003)
This kind of thing exposes the true liberal agenda. The fact is that America was originally intended to be a Christian nation. The ACLU has been attacking the Christian faith for ninety years, wrongly asserting that the public display of religion is what The First Amendment was made to repel. However, quite the opposite is true. The First Amendment was made in order to allow every citizen to practice his religion of choice freely in private or public without any opposition by the Federal government. One must look no further than the delegate discussions pertaining to the First amendment (Annals of Congress, 1789), to see that pluralization of America’s culture was not the objective.
As further proof that America was founded on Christian principles, the Federal constitution contains a direct reference to Jesus Christ! Read the following excerpt from Article 1 section 7 to see what I am referring to:
“If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it….”
Sunday is the day of the week when Christians traditionally meet together in congregations across the globe and worship God. If the founders wanted to show pluratism, they wouldn’t have picked Sunday. If they wanted to acknowledge Jewish custom, they would have picked Saturday. But they picked Sunday, yet another example of early Americans showing devotion towards their Creator in a public and political place.
Immediately after Article 7, the Constitution closes with these words:
Done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the States present the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven and of the Independence of the United States of America the Twelfth….
Christianity dates human history in terms of the birth of Christ. B.C stands for “Before Christ”, and A.D. is the abbreviation for the Latin words “anno Domini,” meaning “year of our Lord.”
There is no doubt that America was founded on Christianity. However, this does mean that citizens of other nations cannot live in America and enjoy the same freedom as the rest of us do.
On March 4, 1921, right after the close of World War I, Warren G. Harding delivered his inaugural speech:
One cannot stand in this presence and be unmindful of the tremendous responsibility. The world upheaval has added heavily to our tasks. But with the realization comes the surge of high resolve, and there is reassurance in belief in the God-given destiny of our Republic. If I felt that there is to be sole responsibility in the Executive for the America of tomorrow I should shrink from the burden. But here are a hundred millions, with common concern and shared responsibility, answerable to God and country. The Republic summons them to their duty, and I invite co-operation. I accept my part with single-mindedness of purpose and humility of spirit, and implore the favor and guidance of God in His Heaven. With these I am unafraid, and confidently face the future. I have taken the solemn oath of office on that passage of Holy Writ wherein it is asked: “What doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” [Micah 6:8—DM]. This I plight to God and country (1921, emp. added)
Don’t let these liberals tell you that America is a religiously neutral country, and that you cannot exercise your freedom of religion in the public realm. America was set up so that everyone would have that freedom.
-Calvin
Tags: america, Christianity, conservatism, founding fathers, religion, Thomas Jefferson
Great article. I pray that our country turns back to its conservative roots.
There is a song with a verse that goes ‘in the year of twenty five ten, if God is coming, he ought to make it by then,…’. The year twenty ten would be better, but if not, I think a turn around for the US is inevitable.We have always been a nation that leads, we have lost our way a bit, but there is a new generation coming up and they will show the world the way.