Is the United States a Christian Nation?

“The theologically sound response to Christian nationalism must be both ‘Yes’ and ‘No.’ On the ‘Yes’ side: The call for nations and rulers to submit to Jesus the Christ is inherent in the gospel message. Few Scriptures are cited more often in the New Testament than Psalms 2 and 110, both of which are interpreted as prophecies of Jesus’s enthronement as King of kings and Lord of nations. We hope and pray that Christ’s commandments are reflected in the institutions, laws, policies, customs, symbols, and character of our people.

On the ‘No’ side: American Christians often displace the Church from the center of faith, which results in a religious individualism that makes them easy prey to the lure of a nationalism that finds solidarity primarily in common citizenship. But the Church, not America, is God’s people at the heart of God’s plan, and the Church is an international body composed of people from every tribe, tongue, and nation. Membership in this ­communion necessarily limits, qualifies, and loosens our loyalty to our homeland. A Christian immigrant from Zambia or Guatemala is my brother in a far deeper way than an atheist American; we are members of one another because we are members of Christ. Any substitute is a false church, politically dangerous and theologically damnable. Unchecked by the Church, nationalism can only deform the soul.”

“Our nation’s history provides overwhelming evidence that America was birthed upon Judeo-Christian principles. The first act of America’s first Congress in 1774 was to ask a minister to open with prayer and to lead Congress in the reading of four chapters of the Bible. In 1776, in approving the Declaration of Independence, our founders acknowledged that all men ‘are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights…’ and noted that they were relying ‘on the protection of Divine Providence’ in the founding of this country. John Quincy Adams said, ‘The Declaration of Independence laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity.’ Also, the signers of the 1783 Treaty of Paris, which ended the Revolutionary War, insisted the treaty begin with the phrase, In the name of the most holy and undivided Trinity…

While America has always welcomed individuals of diverse faiths and nonfaith, we have never ceased to be a Judeo-Christian nation. That small minority could tear references of faith off of every building and document across our nation, but it would not change the fact that we were built on Judeo-Christian principles. Indeed, these beliefs are so interwoven into the tapestry of freedom and liberty upon which our nation is built that to begin to unravel one is to begin to unravel the other.”

“Listen long enough to any … left-wing group and you’ll believe [the secular] history of America. You will come to believe that America was founded by men with a large diversity of religious belief … all united by one dream. They wanted to build a secular nation. … Their goal was to build a large unscalable wall around this country … that would protect this country from any religious influence seeping into public life…

That version of history belongs in the same category as the story of George Washington and the cherry tree. It is a complete myth! … America was founded predominantly … by Christians who wanted to build this foundation, this Christian nation, on the foundation of God’s will.”

“Can America still be called a Christian nation?… There are millions of Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Shintoists, Unitarians, Hindus, Wiccans, Naturists, Agnostics, and Atheists, but Christians comprise roughly 84% of the population. Our constitutional legal system is still based on the Jewish/Christian Bible, not the Koran or other holy book. We still observe Sunday, the Christian Sabbath, as an official holiday. Easter and Christmas still have a special place in the holiday lexicon. The Ten Commandments are still on the wall behind the Supreme Court Justices when they take the bench. Our coins still display the motto ‘In God We Trust.’… We live, not under a Christian government, but in a nation where all are free to practice their particular religion, in accommodation with other religions, and in accordance with the basic principles of the nation, which are Christian in origin. It is in that sense that America may properly be referred to as a Christian nation.”

“I would probably have to say yes, that the constitution established the United States of America as a Christian nation… The lady that holds her lamp beside the golden door doesn’t say ‘I only welcome Christians.’ We welcome the poor, the tired, the huddled masses; but when they come here they should know that they are in a nation founded on Christian principles.”

“America was not founded as a Christian nation in the sense that Saudi Arabia and Iran are now Muslim nations where mosque and state are one. There is no coercion to follow a particular faith, and it was simply stated in the first Amendment: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion. Or prohibiting the free exercise thereof… It is, however, my contention that the nation was founded by Christians upon Judeo-Christian principles, and without the guiding force of Christianity this nation would not be the most stable, longest running constitutionally based republican government in the world.”

“[I]t seems clear that generalized governmental endorsements of monotheism are consistent with the Establishment Clause. It seems clear that, despite all the lip service to equality, the United States Constitution is best interpreted to be consistent with monotheistic ceremonial prayers that do not involve coercion. Indeed, Justice Douglas was on to something when he said that our institutions presuppose a divine being.”

“This nation was founded predominantly by persons who were followers of Jesus Christ. And numerically something like 85 percent of all Americans would profess to being at least Christian oriented.

Now that is not a negative thing. That’s a positive thing. The reason why this country is so tolerant… the reason why Muslims – unlike Christians and Jews in Islamic states – can come here and build their temples and mosques with absolute freedom is because it is a Christian nation.”

“If religion in the public forum had to be entirely nondenominational, there could be no religion in the public forum at all. One cannot say the word ‘God,’ or ‘the Almighty,’ one cannot offer public supplication or thanksgiving, without contradicting the beliefs of some people that there are many gods, or that God or the gods pay no attention to human affairs. With respect to public acknowledgment of religious belief, it is entirely clear from our Nation’s historical practices that the Establishment Clause permits this disregard of polytheists and believers in unconcerned deities, just as it permits the disregard of devout atheists. The Thanksgiving Proclamation issued by George Washington at the instance of the First Congress was scrupulously nondenominational–but it was monotheistic.”

“I believe no one can read the history of our country without realizing that the Good Book and the spirit of the Saviour have from the beginning been our guiding geniuses… Whether we look to the first Charter of Virginia… or to the Charter of New England… or to the Charter of Massachusetts Bay… or to the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut… the same objective is present: a Christian land governed by Christian principles…

I believe the entire Bill of Rights came into being because of the knowledge our forefathers had of the Bible and their belief in it: freedom of belief, of expression, of assembly, of petition, the dignity of the individual, the sanctity of the home, equal justice under law, and the reservation of powers to the people… I like to believe we are living today in the spirit of the Christian religion. I like also to believe that as long as we do so, no great harm can come to our country.”

“Americans have always been extremely religious and overwhelmingly Christian. The 17th-century settlers founded their communities in America in large part for religious reasons. Eighteenth-century Americans saw their Revolution in religious and largely biblical terms. The Revolution reflected their ‘covenant with God’ and was a war between ‘God’s elect’ and the British ‘Antichrist…’

Americans tend to have a certain catholicity toward religion: All deserve respect. Given this general tolerance of religious diversity, non-Christian faiths have little alternative but to recognize and accept America as a Christian society.”

“During World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt prayed over national airwaves to ‘Almighty God’ for the success of the D-Day invasion and the war effort in a manner that today would surely unleash a torrent of protest. Roosevelt’s prayer begged God’s blessing in America’s ‘struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization.’

That’s right. Our religion. It wasn’t Hinduism or Shintoism that President Roosevelt had in mind when he uttered that phrase. It was America’s Judeo-Christian beliefs, which have been a pillar of our society since the nation’s founding.

Current attempts to deny, stifle, and eradicate Christianity are a much more recent aberration. Still, today the official U.S. Military Code of Conduct (Article Six) states: ‘I will never forget that I am an American, fighting for freedom, responsible for my actions, and dedicated to the principles which made my country free. I will trust in my God and in the United States of America.'”

“I have said enough to show that Christianity came to this country with the first colonists; has been powerfully identified with its rapid development, colonial and national, and today exists as a mighty factor in the life of the republic. This is a Christian nation…

“The government should be allowed to endorse monotheism. But such an endorsement would not allow the government to endorse different monotheist religions, such as Christianity, Judaism, or Islam. In keeping with the intent of this nation, this is indeed a reasonable interpretation of the Constitution, as an endorsement of monotheism would allow for the presence of God in our nation’s courtrooms, classrooms, and government buildings.

It would also keep frivolous ‘Newdow’ lawsuits from falling into the hands of activist judges who could potentially threaten the belief system this nation was built upon.”

“Among other matters note the following: The form of oath universally prevailing, concluding with an appeal to the Almighty; the custom of opening sessions of all deliberative bodies and most conventions with prayer; the prefatory words of all wills, ‘In the name of God, Amen;’ the laws respecting the observance of the Sabbath, with the general cessation of all secular business, and the closing of courts, legislatures, and other similar public assemblies on that day; the churches and church organizations which abound in every city, town, and hamlet; the multitude of charitable organizations existing everywhere under Christian auspices; the gigantic missionary associations, with general support, and aiming to establish Christian missions in every quarter of the globe.

These, and many other matters which might be noticed, add a volume of unofficial declarations to the mass of organic utterances that this is a Christian nation.”

1892 - Holy Trinity v. US