A middle-aged man dreaming of the day when he can stop begging for scraps and write for a living.

Friday, December 12, 2014

What is a Christian Nation?

I still see this being brought up, so here are some reminders of why the US is not a Christian nation.
http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/articlevi
The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the members of the several state legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both of the United States and of the several states, shall be bound by oath or affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.
http://constitution.findlaw.com/amendment1.html
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
http://www.usconstitution.net/tripoli.html
As the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion, — as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility of Musselmen, — and as the said States never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mehomitan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.
A nation's laws determine its character. If we were a Christian nation our laws would be based on Christian laws and claims, but we are not and we are prohibited from basing our laws on any religion. We are a secular nation with a population dominated by Christians. But a further point can be made in showing how our laws violate what the Bible requires of Christians. Credit goes to /u/Xenolan for compiling this list. It was so good I felt it should be mirrored here.
Constitution: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. (Amendment I)
Bible: I am the Lord thy God… Do not have any other gods before Me. (Exodus 20:2-3)
Constitution: Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. (Amendment XIII, Section 1)
Bible: Both thy bondmen, and thy bondmaids, which thou shalt have, shall be of the heathen that are round about you; of them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids. Moreover of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy, and of their families that are with you, which they begat in your land: and they shall be your possession. And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them for a possession; they shall be your bondmen for ever. (Leviticus 25:44-46)
Constitution: We the people of the United States… do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. (Preamble)
Bible: It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. (Jeremiah 10:23)
Constitution: No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States. (Article VI, section 3)
Bible: He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. (Mark 16:16)
Constitution: The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. (Amendment XV)
Bible: An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the LORD for ever. (Deuteronomy 23)
Constitution: The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex. (Amendment XIX)
Bible: Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the law. And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church. (1 Corinthians 14:34-36)
Any questions?

2 comments:

Xenolan said...

Hi, this is Xenolan. I'm glad my list was useful to you. Here's something I originally composed at the end of it, when I first posted the list on the SAB message board:

One has to wonder, where did the American Christians get this crazy idea that their country was founded upon the tenants of their religion? Clearly, it wasn’t. If it were, we wouldn’t even need a Constitution; we’d just follow the Bible. We would use the Ten Commandments instead of the Bill of Rights. We would have our public officials place their hands on a Bible, and swear to uphold the Bible.

I think that the answer is simply wishful thinking. People raised in America are often brought up to revere both human freedom and God, and so they naturally will decide in their own minds that God loves freedom and liberty for all people, that God loves the ideals of America, and that “God Bless the U.S.A.” is more than a bumper sticker. I’ll say this much: they may actually be right! But if they are, then the Bible is dead wrong, because the Bible condones no such thing. It is very clear in the Bible that God loves freedom only insofar as it means the freedom to worship Him, and that we are utterly unfit to determine for ourselves what is just and good as opposed to what is wrongful and evil. The Biblical God would see the United States as a nation of sin – not just in practice, but in theory. But Bible-thumping, flag waving Christian Americans ignore this simple, blatant fact because they crave their freedom and their power over their own lives, but they also need their invisible sky-father protector and their guarantee of a comfy afterlife.

Bottom line: A genuinely free, democratic republic is the diametric opposite of a nation based upon “Christian Values.” America is not a Christian Nation, never has been, and we can only hope that it never will be. Those who think it is are deluding themselves.

Anonymous said...

>Do not have any other gods before Me. (Exodus 20:2-3)
So there are other gods...