Robert Flynn

I’m proud to be an American but I’m not proud of everything Americans have done. Some came to this land for religious freedom and denied it to others. Some believed God had given them the land and were willing to kill to take it. Some for personal profit ravaged the earth, waterways and air that belonged to all. Some kept human beings as slaves. Some of us applauded targeting civilians and firebombing cities. Some believe we have the right to occupy other lands, control other territories, torture POWs for our security. Some wish to deny health care to others.

To call such a nation Christian does not honor our Savior and is not true. Thomas Jefferson’s “wall of separation” does not appear in the Constitution but the Supreme Court cited the metaphor in a unanimous decision in 1879, and again in 1947.

In 1797 the Treaty of Tripoli was ratified by the Senate. Article 11 of the treaty begins, “As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion...” The treaty was reaffirmed during the Spanish American War.

Our first presidents disappointed some Christians. Washington attended Episcopal services but refused Communion. Adams was Unitarian. Jefferson believed Jesus was only a moral teacher. Madison’s “Memorial and Remonstrance” led to the Virginia statute for Religious Freedom, and later the First Amendment. After retiring from the presidency, Madison argued for a stronger separation of church and state, opposing religious proclamations he himself had issued.

The tenth president, John Tyler, wrote, “The United States have adventured upon a great and noble experiment...that of total separation of Church and State.” Abraham Lincoln thwarted attempts to pass a Constitutional amendment that would have established the US as a Christian nation and imposed Christianity as the official state religion. Lincoln was the first RINO.

It’s not simply a matter of teaching factual history. When Iraq attempted to rewrite their constitution, the government wanted to declare the nation the “Islamic Republic of Iraq,” similar to the official names of Afghanistan, Iran, Mauritania and Pakistan. Arab nations have declared their willingness to recognize the “State of Israel” but not the "Jewish State of Israel” for fear that Muslims and Christians will be second class citizens. American authorities vetoed the effort of the Iraqi government to declare itself an Islamic state for the same fear for the rights of minorities.

The attempt by some to declare the US a Christian nation is not an idle gesture. It is an attempt to gain power and control over those with other or no belief.