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{"id":9599,"date":"2023-07-26T17:58:46","date_gmt":"2023-07-26T22:58:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/?p=9599"},"modified":"2023-07-26T17:58:46","modified_gmt":"2023-07-26T22:58:46","slug":"what-i-believe-about-america-as-a-christian-nation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/2023\/07\/what-i-believe-about-america-as-a-christian-nation\/","title":{"rendered":"What I Believe about America as a \u201cChristian Nation\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

What I Believe about America as a \u201cChristian Nation\u201d<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

Is America a Christian nation? Was it ever one? What does the question even mean? A heated debate has swirled around this question (or these questions) for many years\u2014especially since the Supreme Court\u2019s ruling against organized \u00a0or teacher-led prayer in public schools. Is America even a theistic nation? If not, why is \u201cIn God We Trust\u201d printed on our coins? (Don\u2019t comment on the history of that; it\u2019s just a fact and how or when it began isn\u2019t relevant here.)<\/p>\n

There are many answers to the question \u201cIs America a Christian nation?\u201d Also to \u201cWas it ever one?\u201d Too many answers to cover here. I will just say here what I think.<\/p>\n

I hold a PhD in Religious Studies from a major secular American research university (Rice). I have read numerous books about these questions including ones that express opposite answers.<\/p>\n

I think it all depends on what one means by \u201cChristian nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

I do believe that certain Christian ideas strongly influenced the \u201cfounding fathers\u201d of the United States. All of them, with the possible exception of Benjamin Franklin, considered themselves Christians in some sense. I doubt that any of them ever envisioned a time when the new republic would be anything but basically a Christian nation (although some of them expressed strong favor toward toleration of pluralism).<\/p>\n

On the other hand, I do not think that any nation is Christian in the true sense of the word. A nation can be founded on Christian principles and may favor Christianity. I don\u2019t think that makes it a \u201cChristian nation.\u201d The only truly Christian \u201cnation\u201d is the worldwide and universal Body of Christ, the church. And it isn\u2019t a \u201cnation\u201d exactly. Although the word \u201cnation\u201d has been used for similar groups of people with no particular \u201chomeland.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the other hand, I do think that basic Christian tenets form an intrinsic part of the \u201cfabric\u201d of the American experiment. Unfortunately, America has often fallen way from those tenets or ideals. Yet, critics of the government\u2019s decisions and actions could at least use some of them as \u201ccritical principles\u201d to call for change. Martin Luther King, Jr did that in his Letter from Birmingham Jail. Many others have done that. Abraham Lincoln talked about \u201cthe better angels of our nature\u201d and probably had in mind some kind of generic Christian character.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, especially since the Second World War, America, as a nation and society, has increasingly drifted away from its Christian moorings. I think it was possible to say, in the 19th century, that America was in some sense a Christian nation\u2014with many qualifications. Not that the nation-state was Christian but that the social order and fabric of the nation was saturated with Christian beliefs and ideals.<\/p>\n

So what \u201cChristian beliefs and ideals\u201d am I talking about? Well, the belief and ideal that every individual human being possesses inherent dignity and worth which is the foundation of basic human rights. This forms the foundation of compassion for the \u201cleast of these.\u201d Certainly America has often lost its way on certain crucial issues, even when its belief and ideal about the human individual was strong. It has not lived up to its own ideals and beliefs.<\/p>\n

However, I doubt that America can now be said to be, in any sense, a Christian nation. Pluralism has taken over. There is no longer any common belief or ideal. The extremes of the political and social \u201cleft\u201d and \u201cright\u201d have torn away at that, trampling it under foot.<\/p>\n

So what will I, as a Christian, do when I enter the voting booth? I will vote for Cornel West\u2014a Christian prophet to America. Is he a messiah? No, of course not. But in contrast to most partisan political persons he speaks truth to power and calls for change and, as in the case of MLK Jr, his speech is fundamentally Christian in that it is for the rights and freedoms and flourishing of the downtrodden, the forgotten, the marginalized, the oppressed.<\/p>\n

*Note: If you comment, make sure your comment is relatively brief (no more than 100 words), on topic, addressed to me, civil and respectful (no more than 100 words), and devoid of pictures or links.*<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"