At a campaign rally in 2006, presidential candidate Barack Obama told a group of supporters that America is no longer just a Christian nation. His exact words were:
“Whatever we once were, we are no longer a Christian nation – at least, not just. We are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, a Buddhist nation, and a Hindu nation, and a nation of nonbelievers.”1
Was he right? Well in 2012, presidential candidate Obama, running for a second term, received support for his position. Surprisingly to some, a great deal of his support for this position came from a large group of evangelical leaders surveyed by the National Association of Evangelicals. Sixty-eight percent (68%) of those surveyed agreed that America was not a Christian nation.2 Were those evangelical leaders right?
Before answering those questions, it is important to define a Christian nation or Christian State. A Christian State refers to a political body in which the government rules in all matters through a State Church or State Religion. In America’s case and for the questions we contemplate above, the State Church would be Christianity or the Christian Church and a resident could neither be counted as a citizen nor hold any political position unless he or she was part of that church. This would be exactly the same political scenario for which the Separatists (Pilgrims) departed England in 1620. Escaping the overbearing and controlling Church of England and its autocratic leader, King James the 1st, the Pilgrims resettled in Holland, along with their pastor, John Robinson, leaving their homes and most of their families behind. They understood that living under a State Church made living with religious freedom impossible. After 12 years of study under Pastor Robinson in Holland, they became fluent in the ideals of liberty and the biblical principle of being a self-governed people. The Pilgrims settled in America in 1620 under the covenant we know as the Mayflower Compact. They commenced their new life as stated in that signed document,
“In the Name of God… having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith”.3
The Pilgrims began living their lives in liberty and regarded that condition as their God-given right found in Jesus Christ. Their faith, their pledge to God, and their pledge to each other became the bedrock upon which America’s Founders stood and memorialized the inalienable right of religious freedom for every American. Doing so, outlawed a State Church and the Framers of the U.S. Constitution codified that irreversible right into law through the First Amendment. The celebrated First Amendment, added to the Constitution in 1791 as part of the Bill of Rights, reads:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
Specifically, the Establishment and the Free Exercise clauses found in the First Amendment guarantee freedom of religion to American citizens. Those two clauses prohibit the government from passing legislation establishing an official state religion or church and outlaw preference of one religious belief above another. The Establishment and Free Exercise clauses forbid the government from interfering with a person’s practice of their faith, or lack of faith. Therefore, creating a State Church in America and by extension a Christian State is unconstitutional.
Consequently, we can declare that Barak Obama and the evangelicals, who agreed with him, were correct to say, “We are no longer a Christian nation – at least, not just.” However, Mr. Obama did not go far enough. It seems the objective behind his comment was push back on anti-Muslim sentiments. I honestly do not believe he genuinely knew the Constitutional truth behind what he said. At the expense of losing some of you, please hang in with me when I say, “America never was a Christian nation” in the strictest sense. That particular construct is contrary to everything America’s founders, and Pilgrims for that matter, ever expected to create on the North American continent.
America’s Forefathers knew that if the American experiment was to be successful, its foundation must consist of biblical principles. They understood the nature and heart of man, which cannot be trusted (Jeremiah 17:9). They recognized that we required a Republic ruled by law and the foundation of this new nation’s law must be God’s word. They also knew that establishing a state church would create the same set of circumstances they left in England. Therefore, I can tell you with certitude that America is not a Christian nation by pure definition, but… America is a nation built on Christian principles. More so, I can say there has never been or will ever be another nation on the face of the earth like America until Christ establishes His government on earth. God is our bulwark. Unfortunately, over the last 60 years or more, Americans shoved God out of every facet of our country and we are suffering now for our contempt of Him. A review of our recent history confirms the more we shove Him out, the more evil fills the vacuum and the further we fall into self-indulgence and decadence.
This tragedy continues. Those who want to remove God from American life are still pushing forward with their objective. Out of constitutional ignorance, the mainstream media and the left co-opted a term over the past three of four years called Christian Nationalism. I know you have heard it. The goal behind using that label is to debase and silence anyone who stands for biblical values in our culture. Anyone who attempts to bring back our biblical heritage receives the moniker of Christian Nationalist. Christian Nationalist is the modern day “Jewish star” forced on Jewish people in Nazi Germany to degrade them. Using the label Christian Nationalists to identify someone equates to saying this is someone who wants to form a state church or state religion. Those who apply the term intend to debase any dissenter pushing back against the moral disintegration of America. The intention is to tag someone who is against the leftist objectives for America as an unstable right-wing zealot and, therefore, a danger to democracy. However, in doing so, they miss the whole point of the First Amendment. A Christian standing up for biblical values is exercising his or her religious beliefs and fulfilling Jesus’ call to be salt and light to the world. This freedom is the exact foundation upon which America arose. We can trace America’s true foundation all the way back to 1620 and the Mayflower Compact. Plymouth Rock, in essence, became a stepping-stone to our Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution.
We are not a Christian State and we do not have a State Church in America, but it is clear we are a nation built on Christian beliefs. The Pilgrims and our founders expected Americans who know Christ to live as “salt and Light” before fellow Americans by sharing the Gospel message of Jesus. We must never allow those who call us Christian Nationalists to succeed in their attempt to silence us. That tag is a dog-whistle used by leftists who hate God, hate His Word, and hate His children. Do not let anyone keep you from speaking your conscience or making you feel guilty for standing up for truth. When someone suggests you are a Christian Nationalist, refuse moving to defensive. Move to offense and challenge them to define Christian Nationalism. I guarantee they will not be able to define the term correctly and if they do manage a definition, their definition will not fit the constitutional constructs outlined above.
Besides, face it, they have the logic and grammar all wrong. Saying Christian Nationalist implies that nationalist is the noun modified by the adjective Christian. We need to turn that around. Christian is the important word. It should be the modified noun. I hope that you will agree with me that it sounds much better to say, “I am a Patriotic Christian?” Let the Atheistic Globalists chew on that!
Speak the truth in love, but do not fail to speak. The world needs to hear the truth. If we, as Patriotic Christians, do not give them truth, who will?
3 https://pilgrimhall.org/mayflower_compact_text.htm
I’m thankful for the American Patriots who led by example! May we continue to do so with the remnant still fighting for Truth, freedom, and liberty.
Great article! So very clear!
This country was founded on Christian values and we must never allow those who disagree and kneel to the almighty dollar to have a voice in our churches.
These words from a former president are said by a man who hasn’t a clue of what salvation is all about. Anything else is a cult.