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The term, "Christian Nation", implies an exclusivity towards religion that is in direct opposition to the founding principles upon which the United States was founded.

"Freedom" is the overriding principle. This word, and its synonym, "liberty", occur prominently in the documents that form the country's foundation. Liberty is one of the three unalienable rights of all men specified by the Declaration of Independence. The quest for these rights led to the overthrow of Britain's colonial government. Similarly, the preamble to the United States constitution lists securing the "Blessings of Liberty" as one of the six purposes for drafting the document.

In contrast, "Christian" or "Christianity" does not appear at all in the U.S. constitution. The word "religion" appears only once - in an amendment. "Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." states the constitution's first amendment. The wording makes clear that no religion, Christianity included, will gain a predominant status through the passage of any laws legislated by congress. The United States was not automatically declared a "Christian nation" by the documents that spawned and defined the new country. The high esteem in which freedom and liberty was held by its founders did not allow that to happen.

A debater who argues that the United States was founded as a Christian nation has to convince listeners that the constitution's first amendment really means that no sect or denomination of Christianity can be established by legislation as the nation's official religion.

This argument would seem to have merit. In 1789 some members of the United States' newly formed Congress which drafted the first amendment argued for wording that was close to this, though without explicitly naming Christianity. A book on the subject, "Religion and the Continental Congress: 1774-1789" by Derek H. Davis, lists three alternate wordings that were considered: "Congress shall make no law establishing one religious sect or society in preference to others"; "Congress shall not make any law ... establishing any Religious Sect or Society"; and "Congress shall make no law establishing any particular denomination of religion in preference to another". All three alternate wordings were rejected. The original, broader language was adopted. As a result, all religions can compete with Christianity for the hearts and minds of the nation's citizens, free from the favoritism that

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