Part 1
Nations, churches, and families are often identified as Christian. In years past many have said that the United States of America was a Christian Nation. We refer to churches as Christian, as opposed to being some other religion. We say that certain families are a Christian family.
What would be the factors that would qualify a nation to be considered Christian? Why in times past was the United States considered a Christian nation? The answer to this question is found in the laws and the mores of a nation. And the laws of a nation are based on the moral code of the nation, which is based on the lives of the people who are making the laws
Some of the people who came to America before it became the United States of America, came seeking religious freedom from persecution in Europe. These people wanted to live in a place where they could practice their religious beliefs without the government or the state church telling them what was acceptable.
Most of the people who came to the Americas from Europe beginning in the 1600’s did not have that as their goal. They came for many other reasons, but mostly those reasons centered around seeking a better financial life. So in the beginning of this Nation, you had two groups of people who had to come together to establish the laws of the nation. This is why you can trace the heritage of the USA and see what appears to be conflicting opinions, perspectives, and laws.
In the Declaration of Independence it states, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” In this famous statement we see the conflict. God as Creator is specifically sighted as having the power to grant rights to all people. And it is clearly acknowledged that all men are created equal by this powerful God. So you see the influence of the people who came to this land because their Christian belief in this God was their highest motivation.
On the other hand, you see as you read the rest of the Declaration that financial circumstances are the driving force behind why most of the signers of this Declaration saw the need to separate from England and her King.
You also see this conflict played out in the early years of this Nation. Men are given rights in this new government that they had not previously had in Europe. Those men claim those rights are inalienable and for all men, yet the ones who were not privileged to be of caucasian, European descent were not seen as having those same rights. So the native Americans (as they are called now) and the black Africans who were brought here as slaves suffered greatly at the hands of many of these European people.
But the United States could qualify as a Christian nation in the sense that many of its laws were based on the Holy Scriptures. This basis was because the Christians that came here had an influence on the people and the laws those people were writing. So freedom of religion was written into our laws. The balance of power in our government with the three branches of government came from the Old Testament, where you had the prophets, priests, and King. The authority of the Government to write laws to protect the citizens from within and without is scripturally based.
The right to a fair trial, with sufficient witnesses and evidence to convict, was based on the precepts of Scripture. The six day work week and the Sabbath laws of this nation came from Scripture. The laws against sodomy, public nudity, and other similar laws came from the Bible. These laws and others like them are why the United States of America could be considered by many to be a Christian nation. But over time many things have changed. People’s moral views have shifted and therefore the laws of our nation have changed.
If we were able to ask some Christians who lived in this nation in the 1800’s, what they would think about this nation now, we should not be surprised if they were dismayed by what they would see. Our laws allow murder of the unborn, allow divorce for no reason whatsoever. We have laws now to protect sodomy. And because of these laws, these activities have been “normalized” in our society. Those Christians of the past would be aghast at what has happened to their country.
So in no way can the United States be considered a Christian nation today. We are a nation that once had Christians who influenced greatly the moral values of society which then was reflected by the laws of the land. But looking at the laws we have now, looking at the practices of our society (i.e. pornography) and looking at the confessing Christians, we can say assuredly the United States is not a Christian nation.
