THE CHRISTIAN NATION NOTION

Is the USA a Christian nation? Does the USA have a Christian heritage? No and No. The USA is no more a Christian nation than Canada, Mexico, Cuba or Swaziland.

Here are just a few points to ponder concerning this idea that the USA is or ever was a Christian nation or was founded on Christian principles:

What about the people who came to this land looking for religious freedom? What about them? The Pilgrims (Puritans) who landed on Plymouth Rock were but a part of the vast number of peoples who came to this land. The Germans, Spaniards, French and English all had settlements and colonies here, as well as the cavaliers, renegades and pirates. England made it a practice of sending their criminals here. A practice that so angered Benjamin Franklin, that he wanted to catch all the venomous snakes coming out of hibernation and in turn send them to England.
The early Puritans, who supposedly came here fleeing religious persecution, were the perpetrators of the same in the communities they established. If you weren't a believer in the local community's particular religion you could have been flogged or even place in stocks. The Puritans did attempt to convert the aboriginal people here, but when their efforts failed, they believed it was their obligation to slaughter them all. In the middle of the night on May 26, 1637 and once again on July 14, 1637 they killed the unsuspecting Pequot Indian tribe, men, women and children. (They claimed to be under the same providential authority to commit such acts as the Israelites were in the Old Testament.) How Christian is that?
What about slavery? Don't fool yourself slavery was around long before the Civil War and that particular war was not fought to free slaves, it was fought for state's rights. Why would a supposed Christian nation even allow such a practice?

What about the 40 acres and a mule the former slaves were promised after the Civil War? If the U.S. government would have kept that promise, how would today's minority/poverty ratio look?

What about those who believe we should blindly follow the leaders in government because Romans 13 tells us to? If this were true the USA should not exist because no one should have rebelled against the king of England. That's just silly. The only reason such a verse is used is when a particular political party is in office and today's religious leaders don't want them questioned.

The words, "under God," did not appear in the Pledge of Allegiance until 1954, when Congress, under McCarthyism, inserted them. Likewise, "In God We Trust" was absent from paper currency before 1956. It appeared on some coins earlier, as did other phrases, such as "Mind Your Business."

Weren't our laws based upon the "10 Commandments"? Nope. The only things our laws have in common with the "10 Commandments" are: don't murder, don't steal and don't lie under oath. What about the others?

How about the treaty with the Islamic country of Tripoli in 1797? This treaty was negotiated under Washington, ratified by the Senate, and signed by President John Adams. The telling part is a description of religion in America:

"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 [i.e., Muslims] ..., 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" (The Search for Christian America, p. 131).

About March 1, 1790, [Franklin] wrote the following in a letter to Ezra Stiles, president of Yale, who had asked him his views on religion...:

As to Jesus of Nazareth, my Opinion of whom you particularly desire, I think the System of Morals and his Religion, as he left them to us, the best the world ever saw or is likely to see; but I apprehend it has received various corrupt changes, and I have, with most of the present Dissenters in England, some Doubts as to his divinity; tho' it is a question I do not dogmatize upon, having never studied it, and I think it needless to busy myself with it now, when I expect soon an Opportunity of knowing the Truth with less Trouble...." (Carl Van Doren. Benjamin Franklin. New York: The Viking Press, 1938, p. 777.)

Do most people even know that Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence, was a Deist, and opposed orthodox Christianity and anything supernatural?
Should I mention what was done to the Indians? You know, how they were slaughtered, had their land stolen and every time the U.S. government promised them something…they reneged.
The Salem witch trials were a pretty pompous and pious time in our history.
God placed man in charge of the earth to take care of it, so what do the people of the 18th and 19th centuries do? They nearly drive the American Bison to extinction.

ONE MORE THING:

What about how God has blessed the United States because it supports Israel? Whatever!
The United States was founded on July 4, 1776. At the time there was no Israel, and hadn't been for centuries prior, Israel wasn't a nation again until 172 years later on May 14, 1948. How could the United States have been blessed for supporting a nation that didn't exist until around 60 years ago?

When Britain's mandate over Palestine ended the United States was the first nation to recognize Israelis independence, but the United Nations wasn't far behind. The very day Israel declared its independence it was invaded by an alliance of Arab countries and defeated them without the aid of the U.S. Though Israel was considered to be the victors in the invasion, the Arab countries did capture large sections of the country, including such strategic sections as the Gaza Strip. This land was retaken by Israel on October 29, 1956 with the help of France and Britain, and not the U.S.

Since 1948 has the United States of America been any better because of its support of Israel? I don't think so. We have been involved in various illegal wars and unconstitutional conflicts and seen the senseless deaths of many brave soldiers and deaths of millions of innocent people. Among other things we have witnessed the creation of the Federal Reserve, countless useless bureaucracies, insane inflation and unemployment, corrupt politicians, and many other things. (I do not call it the "holy land" either, for it is not holy at all, unless you mean the [bullet] holey land.)

The U.S. is far from a Christian nation and does it have a Christian heritage. To say so is ignorant of the facts and the definition of the word "Christian."