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Anyone who claims that the United States is a Christian nation must conveniently ignore the preamble of America's founding legal document, the Constitution: "We the people...do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." Noticeably absent from the preamble is any reference to a deity or religion. America was established by and for the People, not Jesus.

In fact, there is not a single mention of Jesus, Yahweh or Christianity in the Constitution. A small, but wealthy and organized group of theocrats point to a customary dating convention found at the end of the Constitution, "in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven," citing it as a nod to our nation's Christian underpinnings. Following their logic, we must assume that the Founders also implied our nation's pagan heritage by using the common names for days of the week and months of the year.

It is perhaps more outlandish to believe that the Founders would insinuate the marriage of church and state, which should be a very significant pronouncement, by inserting a vague reference to "our Lord" as a mere footnote. More troubling for Christian theocrats is the ambiguity of the word "Lord" because many Founders were not Christians.

Although the Constitution is silent concerning Christianity, it defines very important boundaries between church and state.

The First Amendment declares that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." Although the First Amendment does not specifically use the phrase "separation of church and state" (as many Americans mistakenly believe) it is correct to interpret it as such. Thomas Jefferson coined the phrase and wrote the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, a document that later served as the model for the First Amendment. As for the opponents of this interpretation, one should point out that the phrase "Freedom of Religion" is not found in the Constitution, but the First Amendment certainly implies it.

Another example of the Constitutional separation of church and state is found in Article VI, section 3, "...no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States." Certainly, if the Founders had intended the United States to be a Christian nation, they would have required that its leaders be Christian.

The Constitution of the United States is very clear about the relationship between church and state - there is none.

Theocrats do not seem to understand that the secular nature of our government protects their religious freedom. Their repeated attempts to tear down the First Amendment not only threaten the liberties of dissenting Americans, but also their own. The Founders were very wise when they erected the "wall of separation." They knew that a government that endorses one God must inevitably oppress others. They had experienced religious intolerance and sectarian violence first-hand and did not want their newly formed nation torn apart.

Any concerned American who adores freedom, whether they are a theist or a non-believer, must continue to oppose theocratic bullying. Christopher Hitchens, renowned atheist and intellectual, said it best: "Mr. Jefferson, build up that wall."

Learn more about this author, Jeremy Patton.
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