Arts & Humanities >
Colonial & Early American History
RSS FeedWas America founded as a Christian nation?
Results so far:
| Yes | 59% | 653 votes | Total: 1108 votes | |
| No | 41% | 455 votes |
Yes
Write now
Print
Invite a writer™
Add to FavoritesOur great country has long been a beacon of hope and freedom to everyone around the world since before it was even a country, let alone the incredible super power it is today. People still come from all over just to experience their own personal pursuits of happiness, and the freedom to practice their own religions.
While freedom of religion is a great concept that we Americans pride ourselves on, most people tend to overlook the fact that America was in essence, completely founded upon the ideas and teachings of one single religion.
We like to think of the early English settlers as heroic fighters of freedom, fleeing persecution in their country in an attempt to start anew in a place they could make their own; where everyone could be free to choose. However, this wasn't always the case.
Because of the insistence of Queen Elizabeth I (1558-1603), a group of Protestants called the Puritans began to rise in power in England. The Puritans strongly disagreed with the hierarchy of the Anglican Church, and this began a long and bitter confrontation between the Puritans and the English monarchs, with the Puritans continuing to press for reforms of the Church of England along Calvinist lines.
So, when the first English settlers came in the 1600s, they were not simply fleeing in order to be free to practice their religion unhindered. They came to set up their own religion in their own way, and even set up entire settlements based on their ideas.
And if you think the Puritans were all for freedom of religion, take a look at the Salem Witch Trials.
Besides the English Puritans, the other settlers who helped establish this great Melting Pot were the French Huguenots, the German Lutherans, the Spanish Catholics, the Scottish and Irish Catholics, and the Dutch and the Portuguese, who came from a variety of Protestant religions.
And where did all of these Protestant sects originate from? Catholicism, of course.
By the late 1700s, in the time of our founding fathers, there were several different religions circulating throughout the colonies. They were all different branches of Protestantism. The top three religions were Episcopalian-ism, Presbyterianism, and Congregationalism.
And our founding fathers themselves all belonged to one of these. Of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence, 32 were Episcopalian, 13 were Congregationalists, 12 were Presbyterian, 2 were Quakers, 2 were Unitarian, and 1 was Catholic (http://www.adherent s.com/gov/Founding_F athers_Religion.html ).
In fact, our entire Constitution is loosely based on the 10 Commandments, as well as many every day American concepts.
Let's look at the facts.
1-"In God We Trust" is written on our currency. (I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery)
2-According to a Newsweek poll 90% of Americans believe in God and 80% believe the Bible is the Word of God. (you shall have no other gods before me)
3-Cursing is looked down on (thou shalt not take the Lord's name in vain)
4-Many places are closed on Sunday (Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy.)
5-Children are taught to respect their parents and their elders (Honor thy mother and father)
6-Murder is a crime (thou shalt not kill)
7-Adultery is a crime and polygamy is illegal (thou shalt not commit adultery)
8-Stealing is a crime (thou shalt not steal)
9-You cannot lie under oath. (thou shalt not bare false witness)
10-A jealous person is frowned upon and considered greedy in everyday society (You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's.)
Many may disagree and cry that America was simply founded on the best notions to make the country run smoothly, but the fact remains that the very people who decided these which notions were best were ALL Christian.
It may not be pretty, and it may not be right, but it is undeniable that this country was indeed founded on Christian beliefs.
This does not mean that we are forced to abide by these beliefs, and it does not mean that our freedom of religion is any less. But just because we wish for our country to be perfect, does not mean we can deny our country's roots.
We were founded on the ideals of the Christian religion. It doesn't matter if you don't like it. Because the present is more important than the past.
And today, we have the freedom to choose.
http://www.wsu.edu/~ dee/AMERICA/IDEA.HTM
http://elane.stanfor d.edu/wilson/Text/3d .html
http://www.allaboutt ruth.org/10-commandm ents.htm
Learn more about this author, Blair Bordelon.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
No
Was American founded as a Christian Nation? I say, "no"
By 1727, the first Unitarian Church, Kings Chapel in Boston established a new home for emerging American belief systems. These new ideas were distinctly liberal in their outlook, especially for their time, and included such radical notions as peaceful co-existence between peoples of different ethnic and religious backgrounds. One people, under the King of England, would gather together to pray. Their prayer book: Henry VIII's prayer book from the 1530s brought back and approved under the second charter for Boston after the first, drafted by the Puritans, had to be discarded after additional settlement from France and other parts of Great Britain.
In addition, the founders were keenly aware of the dangers of too much mixing of religion and politics. Which is precisely why the Constitution and the Bill of Rights were written to forbid establishment of a state religion or state sponsored religious activities.
The founders had no problem looking back at the 16th century and seeing the birthing pains that Britain went through with Henry VIII's three children, all of whom were caught up in a time were politics and religion were one and the same and could not secularize their reigns. We remember Mary Tudor as "bloody mary" because she burned so many protestants at the stake-disent with Rome was treason against her authority as Queen. Elizabeth's reign too was plagued with issues created, one way or another, with the mingling of politics and religion. Whether it was religiously-motivate d attempts on her life or war with Spain, the Virgin Queen had a problems in her reign rising from a time where politics and religion were largely the same thing.
The founders knew it and had the good sense to try to keep the American government out of it for the sake of the American people.
That's not to say that the founders were not religious. Certainly they were. But they recognized that tyranny comes whenever religion and politics mix. A major reason why the English system had as much freedom as it did compared to other countries is because Magna Charta secularized to a degree the English Crown's authority-whereas for Spain, France, the Holy Roman Empire, etc. their monarchs ruled through divine right of kings. The founder's new this and were careful to attend to this lesson. Only through a SECULAR government system can liberty be assured.
Today, we need to remember that government can only protect us by staying religiously impartial. Government must never favor one religion nor should we say America was founded as a Christian nation. When we do this, we justify persecution of minority religions and rarely retain the objectivity we need to rectify the situation.
And should one wish to argue that America WAS founded as a Christian nation, I must ask the obvious question: how then do we move to a greater objectivity to avoid persecuting minority beliefs and ensuring "justice and liberty for all?" For whether a person is Wiccan or Muslim or Hindu or Daoist or any other religion in the world, our nation was founded, above all else, on the idea that everyone should be able to worship freely and not fear persecution-not abroad and especially not here.
In closing, we must remember always that regardless of what was in the minds and hearts of the founders, we must ever be diligent to ensure that religious liberity truly exists for all people and create freedom for people to worship-no matter what they believe-as long as they are not harming anyone else nor breaking the laws of the land. We must never allow our personal biases towards a religion cloud our willingness to protect another's right to free worship-be it in a house of worship or an open sky. For freedom of conscience is the most important freedom of all.
Learn more about this author, Laurel A Rockefeller.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
