Or so it's claimed
Here,
Here, Here. and elsewhere.
From what I've gathered it means that the government adheres to Christian values, as do its citizens. Okay, but to be meaningful these values would have to be strictly Christian in nature. But are they? For those RF members here who subscribe to the notion that America is a Christian Nation, just which of these values are strictly Christian?
Or, perhaps this isn't what is meant by "America is a Christian Nation." If not, just what
does it mean?
.
The phrase seems to mean a few things, depending on the source and context.
The first line of the
first link above reads, "
You’re probably aware of the countless and increasing instances in which our government is ceasing to acknowledge God as our creator God and to allow any display of religious expression in the public spaces. These efforts range everything from banning nativity scenes in the town square to prohibiting the prayer using Jesus’ name at high school football games."
That certainly implies that America's government is not a Christian government. but a secular one. So this author cannot mean by calling America a Christian nation that its government is Christian. So what does he mean?
A little further in, under the heading, "Uncover the Christian foundation of America," the author writes, "
the vast majority of the men that founded our nation were evangelical Christians" Apparently, that's some or all of what some people think calling America a Christian nation means. That would be of no interest to many people. Why should anybody care what the founders' religious beliefs were?
The
second link begins with, "
Pastor Robert Jeffress is fighting back after he says his mega-church, First Baptist Dallas, was forced to take down two billboards advertising his upcoming sermon, "America is a Christian Nation." Once again, that doesn't sound like what a Christian nation would do.
That link later says, "
The gist of my message this coming Sunday is to point out the historical evidence that, in fact, our nation was founded by Orthodox Christians who believed that the future of our nation's well-being depended upon our adherence to Christian principles," Jeffress told CBN News. This might be what Jeffress means by America being a Christian nation. If so, once again, even if he is correct, so what? Why should anyone alive today care if some of the founders held that opinion?
The
third link seems to deal with cultural values. The author writes, "
It is important to remember that America is set apart from every other nation on earth because its values and ideals were derived from the biblical notion that religion is a matter of conscience between every individual and his God."
This author seems to think that America has a unique set of values derived in part from his Bible, or that America was based on freedom of religious belief. Once again, to whatever extent that that is correct, so what? How does that make America a Christian nation? That's not a Christian principle and is not a biblical message, which includes commandments to worship and obey a particular god and no other.. Freedom of and from religion is a bedrock principle of secularism.
It seems that different thinkers mean different things when they make the claim that America is a Christian nation.
The only sense in which America is a Christian nation is that the majority of its population self-identify as Christians. Living amongst people who go to church on Sunday is meaningless to those that don't go, and such people have no reason to consider their nation Christian in any other sense.
America is a secular nation founded on principles not found in the Bible such as divided, limited, transparent government, democracy, church-state separation, guaranteed personal freedoms, and the like. Many of its citizens call themselves Christians, but neither they nor their religious beliefs define America's essential nature or the American experience.
