America: A Secular Or Christian Nation?

By Reenee of Santa Maria.

In the increasingly bitter battle over separation of church and state, and what the Founding Fathers had in mind, we now have two sides pitted against each other in a Harrisburg, Pennsylvania courtroom.

A trial is taking place as we speak...er...blog, to determine who is right and who is wrong in the ongoing battle between Intelligent Design and Evolution. Yep, it's another battle over what can be taught in school.

Why does everything always have to come down to "I’m right, and you’re wrong?" Why can't we simply embrace our differences and celebrate them as we all dance around a Maypole? No? OK, sorry, I went to LalaLand for a moment.

Heathens vs God?

The eight outraged families that are suing the Dover Area School District in Harrisburg, maintain that the district policy in effect promotes the Christian's Bible view of creation, violating the constitutional separation of church and state. The rural school district of about 3,500 students argues it is not endorsing any religious view and is merely giving ninth-grade biology classes a glimpse of "differences" over evolution.

Well now, if they were really seriously offering a "well rounded" glimpse, wouldn't the school district also be teaching students about the Koran, or the Torah, or the Sacred Texts of Wicca and Neo-Paganism? What about the Vedas of Hinduism? Or, perhaps the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism? I could keep going, but why?

What A World It Would Be

I think we all know what would happen. People that never go to church, except to show off their "Easter Duds" would be arm in arm with those that think going to church is all they have to do to not only keep their ticket to Heaven valid, but to absolve their own weekly "misdeeds." People that truly believe and follow their own belief system's Golden Rule, will not be telling you that you're wrong.

Then there's the fear factor. Anything different than what we're used to or at least somewhat familiar with, is frightening to most people. Fear can overwhelm, paralyze, or cause odd and bizarre behavior.

Speaking of oddities, why you might ask, is this argument raging again? Well, despite what so many people believe about the founding of our nation, this country was founded as a secular republic by the Founding Fathers. Over the years, several factions have added to the original document and ideals.

Start At The Start

Let's look at the original motto. It was, "E Pluribus Unum," which means "one from many." However, 72 years later, in 1861, eleven Protestant denominations began their campaign to add references to God to everything they could think of. They finally got to the Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase and in 1863 he asked the Director of the U.S Mint to prepare "some suitable wording" to be used on some coins.

Ultimately, "In God We Trust" was chosen. My previous contribution here covered what the 1950's Congress did to the Pledge of Allegiance 165 years after the constitution was adopted, along with other references to God. For those of you interested, "In God We Trust" did not appear on currency until 1957.

Many Reasons Immigrants Came To America

People originally arrived on these shores looking for treasures or to claim more land for their governments. Others came for the fishing, trapping and trading opportunities. Still others, fleeing religious persecution all over Europe often ended up on this side of the Atlantic as well.

Certainly there were many reasons for arriving in America besides freedom from, or of, religion. From the first recorded sighting in 1000 to the 1791 finalization of the Constitution, many people of many different religions and cultures arrived, much to the consternation of some of the Native Americans. After the Revolutionary war ended in 1784, Congress got busy and by September of 1787, the final draft of the new Constitution was approved.

In 1789 Congress submitted 12 proposed constitutional amendments to the states for ratification. The first ten were be ratified and added to the Constitution in 1791 as the Bill of Rights.

Framers Specifically Wanted Separation

In the first Amendment, the Constitution clearly established that there was to be a separation of church and state. Since then some people have argued that because the words, "separation of church and state" do not appear in the constitution, it does not exist.

How about the phrases, "right to privacy" or "right to a fair trial"? They aren't in there either, so using that same argument, they also don't exist. I guess some people will cherry pick what they need in order to make their cases. The words that do exist are, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." Apparently "no law" was not, nor has it proven to be, clear enough.

Others argue that the Constitution refers to Christianity and Jesus due to the fact that authors and signers of the Constitution relied upon a dating system which marks as its beginning the birth of the founder of Christianity. OK, how about the names of the months and days that have Pagan rather than Christian origins? This entire argument falls flat in the face of that contradiction. Even though some now argue that the Constitution somehow reflects fundamental Christian morals and principles, the Quakers were fit to be tied about how the authors of the Constitution showed "general disregard of" and "cold indifference towards religion."

Document Unlike Others At The Time

The Constitution is, in fact, unusually secular for the time when it was written. That this was very obvious to the people at the time can be seen in the fact that so many Christian preachers stood up and attacked it specifically because it lacked any overt protection or promotion of Christianity.

Arguments will continue to go on and on about what the Founding Fathers meant or implied or believed. From the people who say that widespread belief in God may contribute to the dysfunctions of a society, all the way to the other side where the Christian Right hang out with their assorted agendas. Extremism can be found on both sides of the argument.

None of this will be answered easily or to everyone's satisfaction. As long as we have people in high profile positions who do not really know the history of the Constitution and what the Founding Fathers meant, we will have people like Alberto Gonzales and George W. making statements based on their own misinterpretations. This will ultimately lead to further confusion.

Lenin once said, "A lie told often enough becomes the truth," and Franklin D. Roosevelt said, "Repetition does not transform a lie into a truth." Confusing isn't it? So, agree or disagree, just go get your popcorn, because it's going to be an interesting battle.