USA: Hijacked by Extremist Christians?

Despite the ongoing rhetoric by religious and present-day political leaders, the United States was not, in any sense of the word, founded as a Christian nation.  Just as the Bible has been misremembered, misused, and misquoted by those who wish to hold sway over large groups of people, so have some of the foundations of the United States of America.  Just as I hold Christians accountable for using their own Book of the Law (See “Be a Good Christian: Kill Your Children?“), I can just as easily do the same when using the words of our founding fathers.  Their own words provide more than ample evidence against the Christian right that works tirelessly to rewrite history in order to further their justifications and rationalizations for everything from teaching Creationism in schools, to fighting to have the 10 Commandments on display in the lobby of court houses.

And this should come as no surprise since the Bible has been translated, re-translated, shaped, re-shaped, and molded to the whims of whomever happened to be in power at the time, so why would we expect Christians to stop when it comes to American History and the cornerstones of our nation?

How the Christians hijacked and entire nation is perhaps the greatest conspiracy of all-time, but the voice of our founding fathers have been drowned under the loudmouths and murderers who have come since them, all but drowning out the original dream and vision for this country.  And what further evidence do I need than the simple fact that if I do not profess my faith as a Christian or speak out against the fact that the United States is not and never wan intended to be a Christian nation, I risk a slew of unpleasantness ranging from insults to branding from my community and/or family, or, as has happened in the past; threats of death?

Christians like to use this as evidence of how they must be “right” but that is also another one of their many tactics that hold no validity whatsoever.  “Mob mentality” is the closest analogy I can provide to what the Christians are now faced with.  Despite the disturbing fact that most who claim to be Christians or followers of the Bible, have never read the Bible for themselves.  Couple that with Christians who have never read the Bible but claim to be Christians with Christians who claim to be Americans but who have never read the United States Constitution.  Should they be doubly dismissed?

In fact, when I alert my fellow Americans that the word “god” doesn’t even appear once in the Constitution, they look at me as if I have just sprouted antlers.  When I show them the words of founding father Thomas Jefferson, who publicly criticized Biblical truths such as the Great Flood and the 6,000 year-old age of the Earth, nostrils flare and faces turn red.  Also, not to add insult to injury, but once Thomas Jefferson became president, he took steps to ensure there was a continued wall of separation between church and state; he firmly believed that religion was a very personal matter and that the government had absolutely no business meddling in religious affairs.  (See Thomas Jefferson’s letter to the Danbury Baptist Association in 1802 for his own words on this subject.)

It is reasonable to assume that a document who’s purpose was to guide an entire nation by vividly defining its future down to the detail including how they intended about going about achieving it, would not have accidentally left out something as critical as the deity that they wanted to have as part of their government.  Although Christians like to tell us what god “really” meant in relation to many of the disgraceful passages in the Bible, they often try to do the same with the Constitution.  But this argument does not lessen the plain fact that the founding fathers intentionally kept religion separate from government from the earliest days of this great nation.

Declaration of Independence

What typically happens next, is Christians who have learned some of the talking points in relation to American History sometimes shoot back with the fact that “God” is mentioned in the Declaration of Independence.  The problem is, is that it’s not the God they believe it to be and via the typical centrist thinking and lateral reasoning by Christians who feel that the mere mention of “God” is “proof” that we were a Christian nation founded on Christianity.

Unfortunately, most of the Declaration was penned by aforementioned deist, Thomas Jefferson (who believed that religion was far too personal to be any business of any government).  Furthermore, the Declaration describes “the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God,” and not “the Laws of Nature and of our Christian God” like many Christians like to believe.  When rights that were “endowed by their Creator” was mentioned, if there was such a unifying belief in the God of the Bible, it is more than reasonable to arrive at the conclusion that there would be some specific mention of this is in at least document, but it is conspicuously left out of this one as well.

And, compared to the Constitution, this was nothing more than that; a formal Declaration alerting England that ours was going to be a government of people and for the people, rather than one based on tradition, religion, superstition, or kings and queens who hold the ultimate power.  Our founders were radicals, but Christians do their best to not only forget these things, but to make those who disagree with them seem un-American to boot.

More Inarguable Facts

If none of these facts are enough for Christians, I offer a few, among many, of the most devastating and inarguable piece of evidence I have encountered, taken from the mouths of the very people they often hold up as emissaries of their assertions:

Taken from the opening line of a treaty signed by George Washington and John Adams in 1797: “As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion”¦”

A quote from Abraham Lincoln: “The Bible is not my book nor Christianity my profession. I could never give assent to the long, complicated statements of Christian dogma.”

I offer three quotes from our 4th President of the United States; James Madison: “What have been the fruits of Christianity? Superstition, bigotry and persecution.” He offered further clarification of his position by stating; “The purpose of separation of church and state is to keep forever from these shores the ceaseless strife that has soaked the soil of Europe with blood for centuries,” but perhaps the most damning observation he made is taken from “A Memorial and Remonstrance” in 1785: “Rulers who wish to subvert the public liberty may have found an established clergy convenient auxiliaries. A just government, instituted to secure and perpetuate it, needs them not.”

Despite these impossible-to-misinterpret words of some of our founding fathers, many like to point to the religion that each of these men was brought up with as evidence that they were indeed Christians.  Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, and many more went to great effort to separate themselves from the dogma of the Church’s they were raised in, offering a much wider and more tolerant view of their religious leanings, yet somehow that original spirit has been trampled, buried, murdered, and shouted away for many unfortunate years now.

Freemasons and God

The fact that 15% of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were confirmed Freemasons should also be a clear indicator of the meaning of the term “God” as well.  Freemasons believe in a Supreme Being that they often refer to as “God” but certainly not the God of the Bible as Christians like to try to claim.  I actually find it extraordinarily arrogant that Christians attempt to argue someone else’s beliefs regarding their own meaning of the word “God”.

And, in relation to this “God” concept, Wikipedia states: “Supreme Being is often defined simply as ‘God’, and it is used with this meaning by theologians of many religious faiths, including, but not limited to, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Deism. However, the term can also refer to more complex or philosophical interpretations of the divine. Many fraternal organizations, especially those which admit members of diverse religious backgrounds use the term as a generic description, allowing the candidate to adhere to whichever deity or concept he holds to be appropriate.”

Some Conclusions

Despite these numerous quotes, Christians will still often repeat their mantra that the United States was founded on Christianity, and all people like are attempting to do is rewrite history.  Or if that doesn’t work, they’ll throw their original examples to the wolves and shift their argument to; “This country was built by many founding fathers, and singling out just a few does not express the ideals of the Christian majority,” even though we have the very words of the widely accepted most notable founding fathers; the ones who most shaped our early government proving otherwise at our disposal.

But any thinking being can see how shallow and desperate all of those arguments are, and for me; I just feel bad that something has been so deeply ingrained in these people’s heads, that even when faced squarely with the facts; they are unable to accept them.  But that’s been the tactic of Christians since the early days of Christianity, so it, unfortunately comes as no surprise.  And it’s really just another tool (as explained in my “Christian Tactics Revealed” section) that Christians have no choice but to use, hoping that by saying something enough times, loudly enough, or with enough force and intimidation, that it will transform their assertions into the truth.  Oddly enough, this tactic has proven far more effective than one might imagine possible, and if one believes this is a far-fetched claim on my part, it only takes looking to a history rife with examples that would take up entire volumes on their own.

In fact, it doesn’t take looking too deeply under the surface of things to see how powerful the religious right has become; they have a lobby so powerful that Congressmen and even candidates running for the presidency MUST appeal to if they have any hope of being elected.  Although not nearly as fanatical then as politicians are now, anyone in early government office still had to put on religious airs if they hoped to remain in office.  Despite our founding fathers being adamant and vividly clear about keeping religion out of politics, I hate to think what they would think about the hijacking of this country by the religious right.

I can’t help imagining what a different world we might live in if Christians took the time to at least read the few things that they base their entire belief systems on; the Bible, their own Constitution, and their own Declaration of Independence.  I have a feeling that there would be far fewer Christians, and what I find most interesting, is that coinciding with the advent of the internet in households the world over, those who claim to be Christians have their numbers dwindling. Could the walls of ignorance be crashing down and being rebuilt with truth, facts, and education, at least in relation to religious dogma?  I like to think so, and only time will bear out whether I’m a prophet or a fool, but I predict that this isn’t an isolated trend, and that membership in the Christian Church will continue to fall as the internet grows.

———————————–

“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.” – U.S. Constitution, First Amendment

Share Post :