Is America a “Christian Nation”?
I have a confession to make. I have changed my mind 180 degrees on this subject the last few months.
Prior to my interest in Romney’s candidacy, I had considered America a “Christian” nation, called by God to play an important role in the world. And since the majority of Americans are (more or less) Christian, I simply accepted the claims of the Religious Right that America is a “Christian nation.” But to be honest, I didn’t think about the subject very deeply. I certainly didn’t know what they meant by the phrase.
The events attending Romney’s campaign revealed that many in the Religious Right are openly prejudiced against Americans who do not fit their definition of “Christian.” This disturbed me and motivated me to rethink the subject.
I have recommitted myself to the principle of separation of church and state. I still believe that God inspired our (imperfect) founding fathers to write the Constitution. The Constitution was not and never will equate to holy writ. But if there is any divine spark in that document, it lies in its guarantees for relgious freedom. I am deeply appreciative of the Constitution’s rigidly neutral stipulations regarding religion. Maintaining strict separation between civil law and religion is the only way to allow Americans to worship as they please.
Government must consider as irrelevant all religious issues that do not pertain to the here and now. Excluding others from full civil participation based on tests of religious correctness is unconstitutional, wrong, and un-American.
Is America a “Christian Nation”? No! — not in the sense that the “Christian” faith (whatever that is) should enjoy special privileges in Government. All faiths in America (including atheism) must be treated equally before the law.
Should the Republican Party strive to be America’s “Christian Party”? Again, the answer is No!
This is subtlety that Mitt Romney understood. He will never taste a drop of alcohol, never put a cigarette between his lips, but he doesn’t see the government’s role to make a law to enforce the same. He will also preach vigorously that people should say their daily prayers, read their scriptures, attend church meetings and such, but would never think of writing a law to do such.
The LDS religion is quite clear on where the line between faith and government is drawn. Government should protect people’s rights, especially their right to worship as they see fit, and government should never invade the privacy of one’s thoughts or beliefs. At the same time, religions should preach which beliefs are good and evil, what kind of actions we should take in public and in private, etc… Mixing the two has always resulted in terrible consequences.
It takes a certain level of maturity to see that Christ’s admonition to “Do unto others” means “let them worship according to their conscience”, and “don’t hold people’s religion against them” as well as “think carefully when legislating morality”. This is a maturity that isn’t taught very well, apparently, in many Christian churches.
If America is to be considered a Christian country, let it be considered Christian because it adopts the Christian principle of “do unto others”. Beyond that, I fear we may tread on the right of the people to worship according to the dictates of their conscience.
Jonathan Gardner
February 16, 2008 at 7:58 pm