Monday, October 1, 2012

A CHRISTIAN NATION ?

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A facebook friend recently posted a lament that our country is at risk at no longer being a “Christian nation”.  He went on to post that…” we were birthed from the womb of Biblical standards and our CONSTITUTION is based on Christian values”.

Although I agree with his comment about our values and the undeniable cultural influence of the Bible on our social and civil mores, I am not sure what he means with the term Christian nation.

The men who drafted our constitution made it quite clear that there was to be a separation of church and state.  Even with the influence of those biblical values, we are not a theocracy.  Nowhere in the constitution does it say that Christianity, or even Theism, is an official state sanctioned belief.  We are a nation that allows its citizens to embrace any religion…or no religion. 

Regarding the values that have guided our country for so many years, it is presumptuous to claim them as exclusively Christian.  Many people of different faiths or no faith embrace those same values, and it is offensive to non-Christians to imply otherwise. To call ourselves a Christian nation simply denies value to anyone who does not wear that label.  

(For further comments on "Values" see my post on March 14th of this year.)

5 comments:

happy internist said...

amen!

happy internist said...

amen to that!

happy internist said...

amen!

Gus said...

Very well put.

I am old enough to remember when we did not say "under God" as part of the pledge, and I remember those days fondly.

b

fairfreda said...

Very well said Bill.The most important part of the founders is that freedom. Europe had a history of torture and death for anyone who dared to choose another belief. That separation has become blurred in some parts of the country. I was appalled to see that the city council begins with a prayer.Let us not go down that road