Conclusion. Continued from The Myth, Part III
Up until now I’ve concentrated on the Deists,
but there were Christians involved in the shaping of our nation. Their
influence was muted compared to the ideological contributions of Jefferson,
Madison and Adams, who pressed for, and gained popular approval for the
formation of a secular nation.
Historian Clinton Rossiter had this to say
about the composition of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention and
their religious views:
“[T]he gathering at Philadelphia was
largely made up of men in whom the old fires were under control or had even
flickered out. Most were nominally members of one of the traditional churches
in their part of the country--the New Englanders Congregationalists, and
Presbyterians, the Southerners Episcopalians, and the men of the Middle States
everything from backsliding Quakers to stubborn Catholics--and most were men
who could take their religion or leave it along. Although no one in this sober
gathering would have dreamed of invoking the Goddess of Reason, neither would anyone
have dared to proclaim that his opinions had the support of the God of Abraham
and Paul. The Convention of 1787 was highly rationalist and even secular in
spirit.”[i]
At the constitutional convention, Luther
Martin, a representative from Maryland, wanted to include Christian language,
saying that "it would be at least decent to hold out some distinction
between the professors of Christianity and downright infidelity or paganism."
This proposal was rejected.[ii]
Our constitution was drafted as a secular document
with no mention of God anywhere in it. There is only one mention of religion,
and that is in the negative. "no religious test shall ever be required
as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States."
Consider then, if the delegates had intended
to establish our country as a "Christian nation,” as is claimed by
Don McLeroy and so many of his ilk, why would they have inserted a
statement like that in and not refer to religion anywhere else?
One would think, considering the weight of
evidence, that reasonably intelligent grownups would be able to decipher that
if the intention of was anything except the formation of a
"Christian nation." If they had intended such, wouldn’t the document
they authored have some references to the Bible, Jesus, or
anything alluding to the Christian religion? Instead of expressly forbidding a
religious test as a condition for holding public office, would they not have required
some form of sworn allegiance to Christianity? Were our founders so clueless
that they wrote a constitution that ENTIRELY FAILS to mention
Christ or the Bible, when their true purpose was to create a “Christian
nation?” How can there be any doubt that our founders of intended no such
thing?
As further evidence, let us look at a
document written during the administration of George Washington – The Treaty
with Tripoli. Article 11 of the Treaty makes the fact that this country was
not, and was not intended to be a “Christian nation,” specifically stating that
"the government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the
Christian religion..."[iii]
The treaty was negotiated by Joel Barlow,
approved by George Washington while he was in office, and ratified by the
senate under John Adams administration. As Adams signed the treaty, he added
this statement: "Now, be it known, that I, John Adams, President of the
United States of America, having seen and considered the said treaty, do, by
and within the consent of the Senate, accept, ratify and confirm the same, and
every clause and article thereof."
The statement that the United States was not
“founded on the Christian religion” was approved by the first two
Presidents and the entirety of the Senate should dispel any and all doubts that
our founders intended to create a “Christian nation,” or that there was
any intent to do so.
Reason 1 – Superstition 0. Game over… or is
it?
So what might be the last refuge for the
fundamentalists? The logical inductive fallacy, of course.
Premise
#1 – If most Americans are Christian, then America is a Christian nation.
Premise
#2 – Most Americans are Christian.
Conclusion
– America has always been a Christian nation.
Fundamentalists still argue that even if our
founders did not purposefully establish our country as a Christian nation, our
country was founded by people looking for religious liberty, and our population
has always been overwhelmingly Christian, so therefore we are a Christian
nation.
These are dubious assumptions. There
certainly were colonists fleeing religious persecution in the old world, but
history shows these very colonists established theocratic colonies as
oppressive or more so than that which they fled. Heretical Quakers were exiled
from the colony, and executed if they returned. So called "witches"
were condemned and burned on the stake or hanged on questionable evidence. Do
modern fundamentalists want a return to that kind of “Christian nation”?
The majority of the colonists were capitalists,
driven by the desire for free land and profit. Monetary motives played heavily
in their decision to venture into a new world. They very simply wanted to
improve their economic status.
Our founders were learned men. Most colonists
were peasants. So what about the religious beliefs of the general population?
It certainly wasn’t as “Christian” as the fundamentalists would like you
to believe – a fact that rational conservatives admit. As noted by Richard
Hofstadter, some 90% of colonial Americans were “unchurched in 1790,”
that "mid-eighteenth century America had a smaller proportion of church
members than any other nation in Christendom," and noted that "in
1800 [only] about one of every fifteen Americans was a church member."[iv]
Yet another historian, James MacGregor Burns,
states that "[t]here had been a `very wintry season' for religion every
where in America after the Revolution," and adds that "ninety
percent of the people lay outside the churches."[v]
Scientists and historians deal with facts.
Theocrats and fundamentalists play with myth. Fact paints an entirely different
picture of colonial America in our formative years than the image Don McLeroy,
Wendy Lowe and the rest of the gang of revisionists wish you to believe.
America was not founded on "biblical principles," and Thomas
Jefferson was foremost of the enlightenment philosophers – regardless of what
the dogmatists on
the Texas State Board of Education wishes our children to believe.
We were formed as a religiously neutral
nation, and the Christian assault on that freedom has never ceased. The
Fundamentalists are winning, but the voices of reason refuse to surrender.
The church has striven to retard the growth
of knowledge and reason since the origin of recorded history. Copernicus,
Bruno, Galileo, and a host of others have been denied, silenced or murdered in
the name of dogma. Our founders were intent on reversing that trend.
The textbook issue is in my part of the world
so I have made it my battle. The world is laughing at us, and Texas has become
the punch line of editorial cartoons. There are intelligent, reasonable people
in Texas, and we’re tired of this crap. We’re fighting back.
You can join me if you want, by visiting the
following sites and joining the cause. We’d appreciate any help you can offer.
Donations gladly accepted.
P.S. If you still believe that America was
founded as a "Christian nation,"
you're reading the wrong blog.
~~
[iii] Miller,
H., Treaties and Other
International Acts of the United States, ed., Vol. 2, U. S. Government
Printing Office
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