For some reason, the rhetoric of “America is a Christian nation” has become very popular recently. Apparently conservatives in Texas are even trying to have the idea that America is a “Christian nation founded on Christian values” inserted into textbooks.
But what does that phrase even mean?
Polls show that 76 percent of Americans, including me, consider themselves to be Christians. Clearly that’s a pretty big majority.
But the term “Christian nation” seems to be about more than that. It seems like people who refer to America with that term are saying that we’re somehow “supposed” to be a Christian nation, since that’s how our founders intended it.
This notion, however, is false. I think it’s pretty well-known that many of the Founding Fathers did not consider themselves to be Christians, so I won’t go on about it here.
Some people will point to the original European colonists who came to this country in search of religious freedom as evidence that we are a “Christian nation.”
A quick glance into the annals of history shows that Massachusetts was founded by Puritans seeking somewhere they could be completely free of Catholic influence. Pennsylvania was founded as a haven for Quakers, and Maryland for Catholics.
Rhode Island was founded after Roger Williams had to flee the Puritans on religious differences. Residents there soon set up such ghastly liberal laws such as a ban on witchcraft trials, debt imprisonment and slavery. New Hampshire was also founded by Puritans as an offshoot of Massachusetts.
So if you want to use a loose definition, that’s five of the 13 colonies with a religious-based founding. Interestingly, all five of those states are considered to be among the most liberal states nowadays and are not areas where the “Christian nation” phenomenon is popular.
The other eight colonies were not founded on religious grounds: New York and New Jersey were founded by the Dutch as trading outposts. Early settlements of Delaware consisted of a Dutch whale oil fort and a Swedish tobacco colony. Connecticut was primarily founded to claim the land for England before the Dutch could settle there.
Virginia was founded in the early 1600s as a way for England to replenish and expand its resource base, especially after the costly Anglo-Spanish War. North and South Carolina descended from a single colony which was granted to eight nobles who stayed loyal to the king during the English Civil War.
Georgia was envisioned as a haven for people burdened with debt, though none of the actual first settlers were debtors. It really served more as a buffer between the British colonies and Spanish Florida.
But here’s the kicker: in 1797, the United States signed the Treaty of Tripoli with the North African Barbary state.
Article 11 of the treaty stated, “As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion, – as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility, of Mussulmen, – and as the said States never entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.”
President John Adams sent the treaty to the U.S. Senate (as ratification of treaties is the Senate’s responsibility) with the recommendation that it be ratified.
The entire treaty was read aloud (it’s not even long enough to fill up two 8.5 by 11 pages) to the U.S. Senate and ratified unanimously. There is no record of any debate or dissent over any part of the treaty, and the Senate passed it unanimously.
The treaty was printed in its entirety in several major newspapers of the day, and there is no record of any public gatherings or protests of it.
So it’s pretty clear that during the 1700s, Americans did not consider themselves to be a “Christian nation.” The Founding Fathers didn’t intend that either, and even though the very earliest colonists have a reputation of coming over seeking religious freedom, that wasn’t even true in the majority of colonies.
I think President John Tyler said it best in 1843: “The United States have adventured upon a great and noble experiment, which is believed to have been hazarded in the absence of all previous precedent – that of total separation of Church and State. No religious establishment by law exists among us. The conscience is left free from all restraint and each is permitted to worship his Maker after his own judgment.”
Or, we could listen to President Barack Obama, who said, “One of the great strengths of the United States is … we have a very large Christian population – we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation. We consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values.”
While we are a nation made of people who are mostly Christian, the great thing about America is that we don’t have to be bound by others’ beliefs.
Harry Nelson is the opinion editor of The Reflector. He can be contacted at [email protected].