A Christian Nation?

TimeWatch Editorial
August 23, 2016

On August 17, 2016, our Editorial entitled “The Johnson Amendment,” dealt with the fact that in order to make sure that the United States maintained the separation of Church and State, the IRS was empowered to put in place a “Restriction of Political Campaign Intervention by Section 501(c)(3) Tax-Exempt Organizations.” This restriction prevented any church or church organization that has tax exempt status from supporting or financing a candidate or political party in any election. Included in the restriction are the words “Contributions to political campaign funds or public statements of position (verbal or written) made on behalf of the organization in favor of or in opposition to any candidate for public office clearly violate the prohibition.” We made the point in that editorial that this restriction has effectively prevented the not so subtle agenda of the religious conservative right, to turn the United States of America into a “Christian Nation.” But what is this “Christian Nation” that the conservatives long for?” Jon Meacham published an article on October 7, 2007 in the New York Times entitled: “A Nation of Christians Is Not a Christian Nation.” Here is how he began that article.

“John McCain was not on the campus of Jerry Farwell’s Liberty University last year for very long — the senator, who once referred to Mr. Falwell and Pat Robertson as “agents of intolerance,” was there to receive an honorary degree — but he seems to have picked up some theology along with his academic hood. In an interview with Beliefnet.com last weekend, Mr. McCain repeated what is an article of faith among many American evangelicals: “the Constitution established the United States of America as a Christian nation.” Jon Meacham, “A Nation of Christians Is Not a Christian Nation.” October 7, 2007

This has been the goal of American Evangelicals for years, to officially establish the United States as a Christian Nation. Jon Meacham delivers a powerful sermonette in his article. Listen to what he says.

“According to Scripture, however, believers are to be wary of all mortal powers. Their home is the kingdom of God, which transcends all earthly things, not any particular nation-state. The Psalmist advises believers to “put not your trust in princes.” The author of Job says that the Lord “shows no partiality to princes nor regards the rich above the poor, for they are all the work of his hands.” Before Pilate, Jesus says, “My kingdom is not of this world.” And if, as Paul writes in Galatians, “there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female: for you are all one in Christ Jesus,” then it is difficult to see how there could be a distinction in God’s eyes between, say, an American and an Australian. In fact, there is no distinction if you believe Peter’s words in the Acts of the Apostles: “I most certainly believe now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears him and does what is right is welcome to him.” Jon Meacham, “A Nation of Christians Is Not a Christian Nation.” October 7, 2007

Jon Meacham clearly understands that worship is honor given to God, not man. He understands that the one who determines the acceptability of worship is God, not man. He further explains the constitutional application this way:

“The only acknowledgment of God in the original Constitution is a utilitarian one: the document is dated “in the year of our Lord 1787.” Even the religion clause of the First Amendment is framed dryly and without reference to any particular faith. The Connecticut ratifying convention debated rewriting the preamble to take note of God’s authority, but the effort failed.” Jon Meacham, “A Nation of Christians Is Not a Christian Nation.” October 7, 2007

What is tremendously enlightening is Mr. Meacham’s careful historical review of the founders and Presidents’ expressed opinion of the matter of “A Christian Nation.” In order to paint a distinct picture, Meacham continues.

“Thomas Jefferson said that his bill for religious liberty in Virginia was “meant to comprehend, within the mantle of its protection, the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and the Mahometan, the Hindu, and infidel of every denomination.” When George Washington was inaugurated in New York in April 1789, Gershom Seixas, the hazan of Shearith Israel, was listed among the city’s clergymen (there were 14 in New York at the time) — as a sign of acceptance and respect. The next year, Washington wrote the Hebrew Congregation of Newport, R.I., saying, “happily the government of the United States ... gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance. ... Everyone shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree, and there shall be none to make him afraid.” Andrew Jackson resisted bids in the 1820s to form a “Christian party in politics.” Abraham Lincoln buried a proposed “Christian amendment” to the Constitution to declare the nation’s fealty to Jesus. Theodore Roosevelt defended William Howard Taft, a Unitarian, from religious attacks by supporters of William Jennings Bryan.” Jon Meacham, “A Nation of Christians Is Not a Christian Nation.” October 7, 2007

Meacham describes the founders as religious. Many of them were faithful in their personal lives, and in their public language they evoked God. They truly believed that all men are created equal, and free to pursue the faith of their choice. What the religious right seeks to do is to return to the inquisitorial nature of the past, the very thing that those who crossed the ocean were seeking to escape.

Cameron A. Bowen