One of my fellow bloggers posted that the United States is not a Christian nation because the founders did not have that in mind. He sounds very astute but, in my opinion, in error.
Many of the founders, including Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin, Were generally considered “Deists” as a product of the Age of Enlightenment. Thomas Jefferson though a deist, wrote his own version of the bible. John Adams was a Christian through and through.
John Adams and Thomas Jefferson vigorously debated virtually every topic, including religion, to the point of separation between the two until only in the twilight of their lives reconciled and ironically both died on July 4, 1826, within five hours of each other, in their own homes.
Jefferson was a slave owner, but from all accounts was a compassionate master. Let not the irony of this go unnoticed after all he did and accomplished, he died pennilessly and left his widow and family deeply in debt. In the end, just another imperfect man trying to form a more perfect union of mankind in a nation that relies upon the freedom of all to use their God-given free will as they choose and take up the consequences of the right and wrong decisions with their maker.
Adams, a strong abolitionist, died a modest farmer. Three things these men had in common. They were both farmers, both loved this newborn country they fathered, and both believed that this nation in order to survive must be guided by the principles and will of our Creator, whether through Jesus Christ, like John Adams believed, or in an Almighty Creator God, like Thomas Jefferson believed. Just my observation, the questioning mind of Thomas Jefferson probably had trouble with the concept of the Trinity. Father, Son, Holy Spirit, like that’s easy for any of us to grasp, but Christians accept it as another thing we don’t understand in our pursuit to rationalize what we can only sense but cannot see.
I was watching yet another episode of “How the Universe Works” on the Science Channel in the middle of the night while the TV gave me medication for my depression when the scientist was trying to explain the theories behind the creation of the universe or multi-verse and the concept of inflation of the small heavy mass that started the whole thing when the bloviating was finally at the end, he said possibly the most profound four words ever spoken. He said the truth is, “WE DON’T KNOW.” At last, maybe a universal truth has been uttered, I would add, but God does. Only this Creator God could keep all these celestial plates spinning, break a few as they collide and meticulously gather them up and make something new. This same Creator has the same power to breathe love, not Chaos into our lives, and yes, our nation. Maybe sometimes we just need to get out of the way and let Him do his work and as King David did at a young age be a man after his own heart and like his youngest son Solomon ask not for riches but discernment with wisdom and know the difference between right and wrong. Come on, America, we can do this, we being God and us on the path Jesus laid out for us.
All these men collaborated on the idea that men should be free to worship as they choose. Still, the country should have religion and abide by its noble principles, particularly Judeo–Christian tenants and natural law. Most of our law today is based upon Mosaic law (i.e., 7-year judgments,10 Commandments, etc.) These tenants can’t be lost, or we don’t have the land of opportunity we have kept together for 154 years. I would recommend strongly to read the book by W Cleon Skousen, The 5000-year Leap. It really gets to the heart of how America gets its roots.
My blogger friend is right in one very regrettable sense. We ARE not a Christian nation today mainly because we’ve lost our Christian core values, institutionalized the church, commercialized it, and made idols of our celebrities and sometimes made our religious leadership into celebrities, losing the whole point of the humble but infinitely powerful Jesus. True Christianity is freedom by its very nature truth, and free will brought together to allow everyone. I mean, everyone to determine their relationship to God with their own free will or at their peril, no relationship at all. And America guarantees those rights under the constitution.
Let’s go back a bit; the nation really had its roots in the Puritans and Pilgrims that were being persecuted as Christians by the religious corruption of the times, not specifically the state. However, the state was complicit in the institutional churches’ iron rule of its many times unwilling to be ruled, congregants. As in anything too big, be it government, corporations, or institutional church (does the inquisition ring any bells, the Holocaust to name a couple). So, in a nutshell, it’s not the noble principles of Christianity or other religions that we should fear or despise or cut off. Its the same thing that the Puritan and Enlightenment founders boldly put forth, at the risk of their own lives, to protect from autocratic tyranny run by a few.
There are many flavors of “Christianity,” and they all exist in varying ways in America. We Christians many times, choose to pick doctrinal fights instead of preaching the Gospel. That is to say, spread the word if it is not accepted, that is where God takes over. If we live like Christians inside and out, then others will want what we have and not banish it from the town square.
We don’t have that anymore, just social media platforms. It would be better for us all to go down by evil as Jesus did and summon the power to overcome than these petty snipes, especially when they come from within. Be it a misguided movement or inter-church fighting. It was 150 years from the Mayflower Compact to the US Constitution and 244 years until now, and we are dangerously close to being thrown back 5000 years and lose it all.
Tales from Depression and Dealing with it. 