Dr. Rick Swanson's Philosophy Club Meeting
Handout - 11/11/04
Was the U.S. founded as a “Christian Nation” or as a “Secular Nation”?
It is critical to emphasize that the question “Was the U.S. founded as
a Christian nation?” is entirely different from the question “Were a
majority of Americans in 1789 Christians?” The answer to this
latter question is probably yes, and so it would naturally be expected
that Christianity would be practiced by a majority of Americans, and
their corresponding elected officials, through things like church
attendance, declaring and observing religious holidays, praying,
etc. BUT (and this is critical) to found a nation on a religion
requires MUCH more than the fact that a majority of the public and its
officials practices a particular religion and is accommodated
accordingly by the government. To found a nation on a religion
means that a particular religion is the primary, and probably sole,
basis upon which the national government exists and is
structured. Here are some fundamentally key things we would
expect, then, from founders of a Christian nation versus founders of a
secular nation:
Nation founded as a Christian Nation (one could substitute any other
religion for Christianity and these would still apply)
Nation founded as a Secular Nation (that is, a nation not founded
on any religion but merely on human reason and authority alone)
_ Declare in the Constitution that the nation is founded on
Christianity _ Make no declaration in the
Constitution that the nation is founded on any religion, let alone
Christianity.
_ Declare in the Constitution that the government is ordained by God,
as a covenant between God and the people _ Declare in
the Constitution that government is ordained by humans, as a social
contract between humans
_ Declare in the Constitution that God’s law is supreme
_ Declare in the Constitution that human-made law is supreme
[***Note that for a Christian, this is idolatry]
_ Declare in the Constitution that if there is a conflict between the
human law and God’s law, judges must uphold God’s law
_ Declare in the Constitution that if there is a conflict between
laws, judges must uphold the supreme human law
_ Declare in the Constitution rulers rule by the will of
God _ Declare in the Constitution that rulers rule by
the will of the people
_ Require in the Constitution that rulers take an oath to uphold God’s
law as highest law. _ Require in the Constitution
that rulers take an oath to uphold human-made law as the highest law.
[***Note again, this is idolatry]
_ Require in the Constitution that rulers must profess to be
Christians. _ Prohibit any religious tests for the
rulers of the nation.
_ Declare in the Constitution that Christianity is established as the
official religion of the nation _ Declare in the
Constitution that government may not establish any religion as the
official religion.
_ Require in the Constitution that citizens profess Christianity or be
punished for heresy/blasphemy _ Declare in the
Constitution that all citizens are free to profess any religion or no
religion whatsoever [***Note again, this is idolatry]
_ In drafting the Constitution, its writers would frequently appeal to
Biblical scripture, Biblical principles, and god’s
commandments _ In drafting the Constitution, the
debaters would make almost no mention of the Bible, Biblical
principles, or god’s commandments
_ Upon release of the proposed Constitution, its writers would declare
they had founded the nation on Christianity. _ Upon
release of the proposed Constitution, its writers would declare they
had founded a nation on the power of human reason.
_ In arguing for the adoption of the proposed Constitution, its writers
would appeal to Biblical scripture and godly principles for
support. _ In arguing for the adoption of the
proposed Constitution, its writers would appeal to human reason alone
for support.
_ In arguing for the adoption of the proposed Constitution, its writers
would compare the nation to other Christian nations in world
history. _ In arguing for the adoption of the
proposed Constitution, its writers would compare the nation to
non-Christian nations in world history
_ In arguing against the adoption of the Constitution, non-Christians
would attack it for being too interconnected with
Christianity. _ In arguing against the adoption of
the Constitution, Christians would attack it for going against God and
the Bible.
_ Once the Constitution was adopted, in relations with foreign nations,
the government would formally declare it is a Christian
nation. _ Once the Constitution was adopted, in
relations with foreign nations, the government would formally declare
it is not a Christian nation.
_ Once the Constitution was adopted, the new rulers would be professed,
generally mainstream orthodox Christians. _ Once the
Constitution was adopted, the new rulers could by chance be of any
religion, including non-Christian religions.
_ Once the Constitution was adopted, when the question arises in the
highest court of the nation, it would declare that god’s law is
highest. _ Once the Constitution was adopted, when
the question arises in the highest court of the nation, it would
declare that human law is highest.
_ Once the nation was created, foreign observers would recognize the
fact that the nation was founded on Christianity. _
Once the nation was created, foreign observers would recognize that the
nation is not founded on any religion.
What are the historical facts, especially considering the framers knew
how to clearly found a nation on a religion (as above) if they wanted
to?
_ Nowhere in the U.S. Constitution is there any statement that
even hints that the U.S. is founded on Christianity, or even religion
in general.
_ “We the People of the United States . . . do ordain and
establish this Constitution . . .” --U.S. Const., Preamble.
_ “This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States . .
.shall be the supreme Law of the Land—U.S. Const., Art. VI
_ “This Constitution . . . shall be the supreme Law of the Land;
and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby . . .” –U.S.
Const., Art. VI
_ “[The President] shall take the following Oath or
Affirmation:--"I will . . . defend the Constitution of the United
States."--U.S. Const., Art. II
_ The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members
chosen every second Year by the People . . .—U.S. Const, Art. I, Sect. 2
_ ”. . .no religious Test shall ever be required as a
Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.:
--Constitution, Art. VI
_ “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of
religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . .” --U.S.
Const., Amend. I
_ The source of information for the 1787 Philadelphia
Constitutional Convention are Madison’s notes. These include
nearly zero mention of the drafters referring to the Bible, scriptural
principles, Jesus, or God in their discussions over the proper nature
and structure of the U.S. government.
_ The Federalist Papers are the arguments by supporters of the
proposed Constitution, yet make basically zero references to the Bible,
scriptural principles, Jesus, God, or past Christian Nations, yet they
frequently (over 30 times) compare the U.S. to past pagan democracies
(e.g. ancient Greece).
_ “[Regarding] the formation of the American governments . . . it will
never be pretended that any persons employed in that service had
interviews with the gods, or were in any degree under the influence of
Heaven . . . these governments were contrived merely by the use of
reason and the senses. "A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of
the United States of America" 1788, (future President) John Adams
_ Christian ministers in 1787-89 denounced the proposed
Constitution as godless, anti-Christian, Jewish, Islamic, Deistic,
pagan, and atheistic.
_ “[T]he government of the United States of America is not in any sense
founded on the Christian Religion.” U.S. Treaty of Tripoli, Art. 11,
negotiated during Washington’s administration, then unanimously
ratified by the U.S. Senate and signed by President Adams in 1797.
_ At least 3 of the first 4 presidents were deists, not
Christians: Washington, Adams, and Jefferson, according to themselves
and/or close acquaintances.
_ “If one free man [is] an original sovereign, . . . why
may not an aggregate of free men, a collection of original sovereigns,
do this likewise?. . . constructed on this principle, that the Supreme
Power resides in the body of the people.” – U.S. Supreme Court,
Chisholm v. Georgia, 1797.
_ "[The Americans] all attributed the peaceful dominion of
religion in their country mainly to the separation of church and state.
I do not hesitate to affirm that during my stay in America I did not
meet a single individual, of the clergy or the laity, who was not of
the same opinion on this point." --Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in
America, 1835
Philosophy
Club, HLG 563, 141 Rex St., Lafayette, LA 70504,
(337) 482-6806, philosophy@louisiana.edu,
http://www.louisiana.edu