America: Christian In Her Moorings, Thus Gracious in Her Judgments

Debates over whether America is a “Christian nation” have gone on for a very long time. But clarity in those debates has been in very short supply. A July 4 CNN.com column on the subject by Kenneth C. Davis is, sadly, no exception.

In it, Davis appealed to Thomas Jefferson’s famed “Letter to the Danbury Baptists” and used tiny snippets here and there from George Washington, John Adams, and James Madison, in attempt to show that ours is a “secular government.” That it was so at its beginning, that it continues so even now, and that it will remain so as long as those intent on refashioning it a “Christian nation” can be held at bay.

The problem with Davis’ assertions is that he appeared to twist the meaning of those whom he quoted in order to make their words support an argument with which he agrees, even though the argument is demonstrably false. Because of this, a careful look at the persons he quotes and the context from which he took their words versus the context in which he used them, reveals a picture of America’s founding that in no way resembles the one Davis’ op-ed presents.

For example, Davis began his column with the claim that those who argue for the Judeo-Christian roots of our government like to seize on Jefferson’s appeal to the “Creator” in the Declaration of Independence, while avoiding his mention of a so-called “separation of church and state” in his letter to the Danbury Baptists. He seems to think Christians who are quick to embrace Jefferson’s reference to God as Creator are equally quick to distance themselves from the Danbury letter because, in Davis’ opinion, the Danbury letter shows that Jefferson sought a “secular republic” rather than one built on appeals to God.

To bolster his position, Davis cited a passage from Madison which he believed demonstrated Madison’s desire for a “secular government” as well: “No man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened (sic) in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief ...."

With all respect to Mr. Davis, the premises he used to support his argument actually serve to undermine it.

For example, the “Letter to the Danbury Baptists” was not a letter written to convince citizens that ours is secular government, but that our government was one that would not recognize one religion as a national religion. And more specifically, writing as he was to Baptists, Jefferson wanted to assure those church-goers in Danbury that the government would not recognize one denomination (i.e., Baptists, Episcopalians, Quakers, etc.) as nationally predominant over another.

And this is exactly what Madison was communicating when he wrote that “No man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever….” In other words, the First Amendment tied the hands of the government, while the leaving churches, and those who might attend them, free.

Moreover, and perhaps most importantly, Jefferson’s use of the phrase “a wall of separation between church and state” in the letter to the Danbury Baptists is not at all indicative of anti-Christian sentiment. The idea of two God-created spheres, one heavenly in its grounding and one civic, is part of Christianity 101. Our Founding Fathers, including Jefferson, drew from centuries of thought passed down to them from the Apostle Paul, St. Augustine, John Calvin, and Martin Luther, among others, to comprehend the church and state as separate but complementary: the role of the church was to preach the gospel and guide men to heaven while the role of the state was to enforce order and provide defense, military and otherwise, of civil life.

Although Davis, and those who share his worldview, have chosen to take another view altogether of Jefferson’s “wall of separation between church and state,” they cannot change what Jefferson meant in the context in which he wrote those words. As John Adams, the second President of the United States, said: “Facts are stubborn things, and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.”

So the overarching problem with Davis’ argument is that while he correctly understands that our Founders did not want an “established religion,” he unjustifiably equates that with a pursuit of secularism. And as history shows, such secularism frequently results in the use of the “separation” metaphor as a call to action against the National Motto, the National Day of Prayer, and even the posting of the 10 Commandments or the Pledge of Allegiance: all of which actions would have amazed the Founders, many of whom we can judge even now by what they did as much as by what they wrote.

For example, Davis’ strained reliance upon Jefferson and Madison notwithstanding, it is undeniable that both men attended church regularly in the House of Representatives during their respective presidencies. As a matter of fact, their attendance was so frequent that in the Library of Congress, part of the history of the two administrations begins thus: “It is no exaggeration to say that on Sundays in Washington during the administrations of Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809) and of James Madison (1809-1817) the state became the church.”

The summation presented by the Library of Congress – that “the state became the church” on Sundays under presidents Jefferson and Madison – is demonstrably stronger than the distorted premises on which Davis contrived a “secular republic.”

I get so tired of the never-ending attempts by atheists to justify their non-belief and falsely impose it the Founders. Any reading of the Federalist Papers, the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution shows clearly that the Founders recognized God as Creator and Supreme Judge of mankind. Such a reading will also show that they formed a secular government in the sense that the government was not bound by any specific religious tenets other than a respect for God and respect for individuals to worship Him freely, without government interference of any kind. It is and always has been ridiculous to twist the Founders words around to try to make the case that they somehow deplored religious influence of any kind. They didn't form a government based on a specific religion but they did form one that relied on basic Christian beliefs. To the atheists, I say: get over it.

We HAVE to recognize that fact...that we are a Judeo-Christian nation for it is the basis of our worldview in our Constitution. Take that philosophy away (which the Postmodernist secular/atheist/marxist/progressives are doing) and you have none of the principles of the Constitution and our legal system since they are based on the philosophy of Locke and Thomas Reid (Common Sense).

You remove logic, reason and science and freedom of religion if you allow the atheist model which allows no freedom of thought and religion and defies the laws of nature (science and common sense)....only makes up arbitrary law...not based on Universal Truths that are the foundation of our documents and found only in the belief in God. Homosexual “rights” are unnatural and not deserving of any recognition or forced government acceptance....goes against nature and forces a denial of God’s design of human beings. You lose freedom of thought and religion by forcing homosexual marriage in a society—but that is the Marxists intent—destroy reason, logic and family—destroy the minds and morals of children so you have a dysfunctional society so government can take over.

God is the only source of Just Law (Cicero) since those laws are for everyone and makes all equal. Man-based laws are arbitrary and political and give power to some over others. It is never equal law and ALWAYS unjust.

You destroy the religious foundation of this country—you destroy all our God-given rights and religious freedom. It is as simple as that and that is why the Marxists are going for the kill—they are close to totally transforming this nation to one founded on Christian ideology to an atheist one, which gives no dignity and worth to the individual—all just animals to be collectively herded.

DADT will destroy the last uncontaminated institution in the US which has been undermined by government forced injection of Wicca and islam recently by their forcing moral relativism in our culture which used to be based on moral absolutes. DADT will destroy Christian paradigm in our military. Forced sensitivity training—all mind control—and thought control—to demean and undermine our Founding principles of government.

Our Marxist government is destroying the Christian concepts that made our military superior to all other militaries in the history of mankind. When you destroy the morality of the military by forcing unnatural demeaning ideas, you destroy their ability to see humankind with dignity—so like the atheist and homosexual militaries of the Russian and the Brownshirt Nazi—it becomes an easy step to kill one’s own citizens.

US military would have NEVER done what the Russians and Germans did to their own citizens while being majority Christians....and that is why they were superior in morality to all other militaries in the history of the world. You don’t get the mind of an Eichman and Stalin and Goebbels, you get minds like Bonhoeffer and Fr. Lichtenberg. There is a huge difference in the humanity of the godly v. atheist which is proven throughout the history of man.

Old Tom NEVER intended to suggest a separation, at ANY level, of Faith and State.

But Jefferson, himself a man of faith, wisely distrusted religious organizations and their hierarchies. He also distrusted the federal government to the same degree.

His famous quote about the "wall" came in his reply to the Danbury Baptist Association after receiving their message expressing concern that the federal government might seek involvement in their affairs. They were concerned that the establishment clause was part of a legislated amendment and thus possibly considered a right granted by government. They desired assurance that freedom of religion be considered an "unalienable" right endowed by the Creator as mentioned by Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence. He assured them it was protected by government, NOT created by it or subject to regulation by it (at least not at the fed level).

Misguided folks quote the wall line while arguing against such innocuous activities as prayers being invoked at graduation ceremonies. These people forget Jefferson’s famous letter was written more than a decade after the First Amendment and it closes with then PRESIDENT Jefferson stating "I reciprocate your kind prayers for the protection and blessings of the common Father and Creator of man, and tender you and your religious association, assurances of my high respect and esteem."

Oooops!!! How did that manage to slip through the imagined wall! On the very day it was supposedly built. By the very man who supposedly built it?

Of course, America had state level intermeddlings with religion during Jefferson's day. And, as president, he correctly had no problem with that despite the fact that, as a citizen/guv of VA, he worked against it locally.

Such principled adherence to the Tenth Amendment is extinct today.

The First Amendment only specifies what the FEDERAL gov't can NOT do.

Jefferson was also a political prophet predicting the condition we find ourselves in today. His (and other Founders’) fear of "tyranny" and "despotism" coming from the judicial branch are now reality despite their efforts to make it the weakest branch. The Supreme Court now lords over the legislative and executive branches, the states and individuals in ways never intended by Jefferson who said:
"The germ of dissolution of our federal government is in...the federal judiciary; an irresponsible body...working like gravity by night and by day, gaining a little today and a little tomorrow, and advancing its noiseless step like a thief, over the field of jurisdiction, until all shall be usurped from the States.""

Unfortunately, the court’s theft of power was complete by the time Chief Justice Rehnquist, in a disgusted dissenting opinion (Jaffree), reminisced about our first President George:

He recalled how Washington, on the very day the First Amendment passed Congress and at THEIR behest, proclaimed a day of "public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God."

Wrote Rehnquist regarding that event: "History must judge whether it was the Father of our country in 1789, or...the Court...which has strayed from the meaning of the Establishment Clause."

"The God who gave us life gave us liberty at the same time...And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure if we have lost the only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God? That they are to be violated but with His wrath?"
-Thomas Jefferson

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