Is America a Christian Nation?

(Part 1 of America as a Christian Nation)

During my many years at Whitworth I taught a research seminar addressing the topic of religion in American public life. The course content often caught students by surprise. Conservative students discovered that America’s Christian identity was more complex than they had assumed. Progressive and secular students discovered that America was more deeply Christian than they had thought. As it turns out, neither group had learned the whole story.

Not that one class at the university level could solve the problem. Mine certainly didn’t. But the class did, I think, enlarge their perspective and expose them to the genius of the American system of government, which is both highly secular and deeply Christian at the same time.

My next four or five blogs are going to explore this topic. I hope to demonstrate that America is in fact a Christian nation of sorts, but not as we often assume and defend.

The Founders and Framers were educated men, and they drew from a wide variety of sources. They studied European political philosophers, who taught them the principles—separation of powers and consent of the governed, for example—that would later be incorporated into the Constitution.

They also studied the Bible and believed that Christianity provided a sturdy foundation for the cultivation of virtue and justice, both of which were deemed necessary in a free and democratic society.

They knew their European history, too, which warned them of the dangers of “established” religion, which could and often did cause great harm. They found ample evidence of such harm in Europe’s past.

Nearly every nation in Europe had an officially “established” religion of some kind—Catholic, Anglican, Calvinist, Lutheran. They observed that the combination of religious and political power tends to lead to abuse. Any form of “established” religion—including the claim of being a “Christian nation”—was anathema to them. It would ruin both religion and nation. Once joined together, church and state could do great evil. The Framers would have nothing to do with it. They favored religious influence, to be sure, but not religious coercion. A nation had a better chance of being truly Christian if it rejected being officially Christian.

Jefferson put it this way: “Millions of innocent men, women, and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined, imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity. What has been the effect of coercion? To make one half the world fools, and the other half hypocrites.”

James Madison added: “What influence have ecclesiastical establishments had on Civil Society? In some instances they have been seen to erect a spiritual tyranny on the ruins of Civil authority; in many instances they have been seen upholding the thrones of political tyranny; in no instance have they been seen the guardians of the liberties of the people.”

America’s founding documents promulgated an official “separation” of church and state. On the one hand, the Constitution is devoid of religion. It does not begin with, “In the name of God . . .” but with “We the people . . .” It never mentions America as a Christian nation. The document mentions religion only once: candidates for public office do not have to pass a religious test (e.g., belief in the Trinity) to run for office.

On the other hand, the first amendment to the Bill of Rights carves out a clear role for religion, though it has to be an independent religion. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Religious minorities are free to believe and practice as they wish. Religious majorities cannot impose their beliefs on anyone else.

Yet the Framers recognized that, of all forms of government, a democratic republic needs the influence of religion more than any other because its success depends upon the character, convictions, and competence of the people. Religion plays a necessary role, though not an official role. It has to function like salt, not like garlic or onions.

What kind of people would govern the nation well? Responsible people, disciplined people, honest people, just people, generous people, educated people, and praying people, the very qualities they believed true religion produces. True religion—by which they meant Christianity—would make people fit for self-government.

Not that the Framers agreed on what Christianity actually is. Jefferson was skeptical and critical of traditional Christian belief, Madison more sanguine about it, Witherspoon clearly orthodox. But the Framers agreed that the great experiment that was America needed Christian influence.

But not Christian coercion.

Do you see the irony here? They opposed any assertion of America as a “Christian nation” because it would undermine the integrity and influence of the very religion the nation needed.

We can actually see this pattern—for both good and ill—worked out in American history. Christianity has inspired movements advocating civil rights; it has also been used to justify white Christian Nationalism. Christianity has inspired people to pray for the nation; it has also justified the attempt to impose prayer in public schools, as if some generic school prayer could make America more Christian.

At this very moment we are deciding what kind of “Christian nation” we want to be. The Framers were clear on this issue. And they were right, too. The quest for an officially established “Christian America” would contribute to the decline and eventual demise of Christianity in America. What will it profit a nation if it imposes Christianity as the official religion but loses its own soul?