by Michael Peyton

Created on: August 15, 2009   Last Updated: October 03, 2011

The Christian nation myth is particularly important to evangelical Christians. If it could be proven that the United States of America was founded on Christian principles and ideas, it would create a foothold for them to bring prayer back into the public school system and stop teaching evolution as well as display the 10 commandments wherever they choose. It would also provide an excuse to discriminate against people like homosexuals, Muslims, Jews and atheists. Many evangelical leaders and politicians who follow them would like you to believe America was once a Christian utopia where everyone believed in their god and the streets were free of criminals, addicts, and other undesirables. The idea of a simpler America where everyone shared the same family values and morals is a myth. Taking a look back in history will reveal the truth about the founding of the United States.

Many of the men who were most influential in the founding of the United States were not Christians in the traditional sense though they did believe in a creator. Thomas Jefferson, for example, wrote a book that has been dubbed “The Jefferson Bible” in which he attempted to extract the moral teachings of Jesus from the dogma and superstition of the Holy Bible. Jefferson believed there was something to be learned from the teachings of Jesus the man but Christianity the religion was superstition. Many of Jefferson's quotes hint at his rejection of Christianity. He has said "I do not find in orthodox Christianity one redeeming feature" and in a letter to John Adams he wrote: "The day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the Supreme Being as His father, in the womb of a virgin will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter." He was clearly not a Christian. Many of Jefferson’s writings make it clear that he held a deist philosophy.

The deist philosophy, which was popular during the time of the American Revolution, placed value in logic and reason. Deists viewed god only as the creator of the universe and the natural laws that govern it. They did not hold the Christian view that god directly manipulates the natural world causing changes in the weather or natural disasters such as earthquakes. The deist god was not a god that answered prayer or performed miracles. Deists rejected supernatural phenomenon such as miracles, prophecy, and the resurrection of Jesus. This is why Thomas Jefferson’s book ends with the burial of Jesus

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