261 — Are We A Christian Nation? Were We?
This is Memorial Day. Remember our fallen heroes. As you go through this day, I’ll look at this question:
Was America ever really a Christian nation? Was this country built on principles of the Bible? I hear so often that we used to be a Christian nation, but how could a Christian nation enslave Africans kidnapped from their land and kill off most of the Native Americans? This doesn’t seem very Christian. Weren’t several of the founders of the US deists?
I really hesitate to approach this subject for a variety of reasons. Passions run high on all sides of these issues and, believe me, there are lots of sides to take, all of them argued ad nauseum by pundits, historians, experts, and neighbors. Add to this the fact that,when I speak about this I am often dismissed as being an outside commenter. Let me remind you: I was born in this country. While I consider myself a Scotsman, I have the right to call myself an American and not just by accident of birth. My family has lost more than two dozen men in America’s wars from the Civil War on to the present day. My uncles and my father joined the US Navy to fight on behalf of this flag and the freedoms you have here. My grandfather chose to join the US Army during WWI. My son raised his hand and joined the USMC. We have skin in this game and blood in this ground. I have presided over more than a score of funerals of those aged 18-25 who died in battle or by wounds sustained in battle. I’ve heard taps and the sound of rifles more than I ever wanted to.
I am particularly sensitive about this subject right now, if I’m honest. As the senior minister for a large-ish northern congregation, I have to constantly balance how we will address issues that touch on politics as well as our faith. I would guess that a third or so of those in this congregation who voted in the last election voted Democrat and a half or more voted Republican. A few voted Libertarian and we have a sizable contingent who believe it is wrong to vote at all. At least one brother is passionate that you should not vote in national elections but you can in local elections up to and including elections for sheriff (his logic is well thought out and not as arbitrary as I am making it sound here. I don’t agree with him but I have immense respect for how much thought he has given this).
Still, on Sunday, I had a man come and ask if he could start making announcements to get a large group of people to go with him to Glenn Beck’s march in Washington in late August. I had to tell him that he was free to talk to individuals and ask them to go but that we could not make such announcements by word or in our print publications. He was disappointed in me. Another man — an elderly man of good character who served in World War two — posted on his Facebook page that “Rochester Church completely ignored Memorial Day” and went on to indicate that we had disrespected his buddies who had not come home from that war. I wrote him quickly to let him know he was mistaken: I had taken the first few minutes of my sermon to remind people of the holiday, its meaning, and added a request for special prayers for the families of those who had fallen. He acknowledged that I had done so but since we did not have “the National Anthem played, the display of our flag on the stage, nor did we recite the Pledge of Allegiance” we had shown disrespect and disregard for those who have died in service. He has been a member here for years and we have never had such demonstrations in worship so I am not sure why he expected them this time. I know that passions and emotions are running hot and high in our current govermental and economic situation. Still… he was right on one point. We didn’t march, sing, or recite. And we won’t, not in worship.
You see, in my opinion (and I’ve been wrong before), our celebration time on Sunday should be reserved for the worship of God, the praise of Christ, and the encouragement of the saints to live out His life. Period. We don’t do announcements about kids winning the spelling bee but we do announce how they did in Bible Bowls. We don’t bring the Scouts up when they get any awards unless that award is one connected with faith and Christian service. We don’t sing patriotic songs except when those songs are primarily hymns. Our praise is reserved for Jesus. That said, we have often had veterans stand for recognition and applause on Veteran’s Day and we frequently ask first responders of all types (EMT, Nurses, Doctors, police, etc.) to stand and be recognized. We are celebrating the PERSON, not the politics or government or nation. And I get shelled for it almost every time. When I speak of the love and respect I have for our military heroes I get email and calls from pacifists and from those who do not approve of our current wars. Each are full of disappointment in me and, sometimes, rather harsh attacks. When I go speak to Christian high schools, I will join them in saying the Pledge of Allegiance for that is part of their assembly time. Teaching the kids about government and their place in society is part of the school’s job. It is not the job of Rochester Church. (By the way, if the school then pledges allegiance to the Christian flag, I respectfully stand quietly. My religious allegiance is to Jesus, not a flag designed by Protestants in recent decades).
Some of the Founders were Deists, yes, and Thomas Paine was an atheist (he sometimes called himself an agnostic) but a great many were committed Christians. Just read the Federalist Papers (please) and the Anti-Federalist Papers (please, again. You can get these on your Kindle for just a few dollars. These are the papers written by the founders who feared a big government. Prescient, I’d say) and you will see that there was nearly unanimous agreement among them that we were not a Christian nation but that we HAD to be a nation where Christian behavior was the norm and where Christian morality directed the steps of free men (sorry, women. It was assumed you would just follow the guys). Slavery was something that gave many of the founders sleepless nights. They wanted it made illegal immediately but knew that southern states would then not join the confederation and, later, the new nation so they wrote the Constitution and the Declaration using terms that they knew would either lead to eventual suffrage for all men or to war and the dissolution of the Union.
We were a Christian nation? Are we one now? Here, I get in trouble again. I don’t believe that there is any such animal as a Christian nation. You CAN have (and I pray that we continue to have) a nation that is leavened by the presence of a great many committed Christians, including believers serving in all levels of government. When people do not live by Christian principles, government grows. For example, when people do not take care of each other, we need multiple levels of welfare. When people do not help their neighbors and lay down their lives and finances in behalf of others, we have to have insurance, FEMA, and a hundred other agencies and non-governmental agencies. When the state becomes our religion, we are in deep trouble. While I love and honor the military (can any regular reader of this blog doubt that?), I do not worship it. Those who serve are my heroes but they are not my gods. We must make that distinction and remember it.
I know Christians who are stockpiling ammunition and food as they see this current administration (and the last several, to be fair) copying the sins of Woodrow Wilson and FDR by stealing away freedom from the common citizen and giving largess to their constituencies in order to ensure their continued reign. I know Christians who heartily approve of that loss of freedom for they see the leveling of socialism to be a Christian goal. I know Christians who are too busy watching The Batchelorette and Dancing With The Stars to know what is happening on the political scene. They vote according to how they “feel” at the moment; “thinking” has nothing to do with it.
All I know is that God was God before there was a Scotland, a USA, or a Rochester Church and that He will still be King and God when we are gone. While I wish my government was staffed by more believers and that those believers actually lived out what they claim they believe (keep your pants on, people, and keep other peoples’ hands out of your pockets, too), I do not count on my government. I count on, and rely on, the providence of God, the love of my family, and whatever strength and blessings God gives me. Whether or not this is a Christian nation (even assuming such a beastie can exist), I am required to be a Christian while in it.
Give to Caesar the things that belong to Caesar and give to God the things that belong to God.
May 31st, 2010 at 9:14 pm
Patrick, I think you have covered all the bases on this issue. People have different ideas what it means to be a Christian nation. To many (perhaps a majority), it means a nation where a large majority of the citizens consider themselves to be Christians. In that sense, we were more a Christian nation than we are today.
I tend to think of the issue in the same way you do. I debate with some who believe that only America’s failures are important, and with those who think that all government is essentially evil. I deal with others who almost worship Glen Beck, and who are quick to throw even a brother from their own congregation under the bus if he doesn’t.
This is a nation. It’s my nation, and I think it’s the best one I’ve found. But it is not the New Israel, nor is it the best that it could be. I will not withdraw from it because I see the good, and I know that my job is to leaven it as best I can.
I pray protection for you from all those who would attack you from either side of this issue, and peace for you.
June 1st, 2010 at 7:59 am
This country is not the only thing that is not following Christ, the so called Church of Christ has fallen way short of being a Christian church, oh there are sprinklings of Christians within the Church, but calling the Church Christian is like calling America Christian, there are Christians in America but it falls way short of being fully Christian.
I really worry about Preachers (their life) who follow the teachings of Christ, and their safety, especially like you Patrick, who really seem to want to do what is right and teach what Jesus would teach if he were here today. You would be surprised at some of the threatening emails I get, most of them claim they are Christian. I had a preacher call me a “baby Killer” because I am a democrat, I tried to explain I don’t condone abortion, but I do believe in the personal freedom given by God.
You will be surprised how many “christian” friends one can loose just by expressing his or her opinion. Actually I believe the younger generation Christian is more like Christ than the older one.
While I appreciate your kind words, Laymond, I don’t share your pessimistic view of the Church of Christ. I am a big fan of the CoC, especially as I see it recovering from the excesses and narrowness of its past. The Spirit is moving in our churches and it is a joy to see it. We have a long way to go… but doesn’t everybody?
June 1st, 2010 at 8:04 am
PS. I believe the time is not to far off when the preachers are in more danger standing in front of a congregation, than sitting down with sinners, the righteous will persecute you, the sinful will listen. you know there are crazies in all walks of life.
June 1st, 2010 at 12:56 pm
Patrick, I thoroughly agree with you that this country, nor any other, has been a “Christian” nation. Most of the founding fathers did have a belief in God, and in the 10 commandments, but may not have recognized Christ as the Savior He was. I grew up in an era when Christ and God could be mentioned, the Bible read in schools, and no one spoke out against that. It is so amazing that the communist countries such as Ukraine and Russia are now using the Bible in their schools, while we cannot even post words from our historical papers because God’s name is mentioned, though Muslim, Buddhist, et al are allowed.
June 1st, 2010 at 2:10 pm
While living and working in Belfast, Northern Ireland from 1977-1981, I learned more about myself than anything else. One of the most astounding things I learned was a whole list of things I thought I believed because I am a Christian. It was a very painful and shocking experience to discover that I actually believed them because I am an American.
June 2nd, 2010 at 1:06 am
Couldn’t agree more. When I’ve mentioned some of the same reasoning at church, I was all but burned at the stake by some people whom I consider friends! After leaving Long Beach, I simply could not attend the local coC … a major step backward for us … but I do miss the fellowship and I miss being a part of the movement away from legalism and toward Jesus that is gaining strength.
June 2nd, 2010 at 8:32 am
Great blog. It is very tiring to have to endure the folks who believe that simply because you are a Christian or attend the coC that you are a Republican so they forward you all kinds of E-mails or make comments to you with the assumption you will agree with them. Not that I am a Democrat (far, far from it) but it’s just that I simply try not to wear the party blinders or the jersey with the big “D” or “R” on it. Just like I try not to wear the big “coC” on my chest either.
June 2nd, 2010 at 11:01 am
A very good article!! It amazes me how in the ’60′s to be Christian meant “Democrat,” in the 90′s… “Republican,” and now I see more and more a linking between “Christian” and some type of “Independent.” I worry how much we are blown around as the state religion. There is a wonderful chapter in Charles Colson’s “Kingdoms In Conflict” about how the German government of the 30′s pulled the church in as an “arm” to support the state.
It also occurs to me the wisdom of God. We complain about governments, but government is based upon the values of the populace. The common values of the man on the street eventually become the values of the people leading the country (whether by coup or influence). Our system of government is genuis because it facilitates those values getting there faster than most any on earth. The work of the kingdom changes the soil (populace) from which the government grows. We change elections by changing people. That is not the way men would do it, we like power. Fortunately, God is wiser than men.
June 2nd, 2010 at 11:37 am
Danny, that is very true. What I am finding more and more now though is that the “Christian = Republican” is changing to “Christian = Democrat because Democrats believe in helping people and Republicans are just about big business.” In fact, I have had see “big names” in our brotherhood say almost exactly that.
The label business has really gotten out of hand.
June 7th, 2010 at 10:59 am
All of the founding fathers (those who participated in drafting the constitution) were members of a denomination, when such membership meant signing a confession of faith. They could not just assert that they were a member, you had to be registered with a local congregation, and sign the confession of faith.
Let’s also note that Christian values guide most of what our government does. Let’s consider Medicare, FEMA, Social Security, etc. The underlying principle (take care of those who can’t take care of themselves) is an especially Christian principle. Have the workers in those areas, and the congressmen thought out the origins of the idea? Not likely, but it is only because of our Christian heritage and values that we care about such things.
The Romans had some houses where soldiers could get medical coverage, but anyone else was treated in their home by doctors they hired themselves. When the British went into India there were no hospitals for the poor (in a population of over 100 million there were 0 hospitals). Yet here we debate not whether the poor should be treated at hospitals by someone else’s money, but how we allocate that money as a society. We don’t turn away children for a broken arm just because they don’t have money as was the case through most of the world for most of history.
That said, I don’t think we can claim to be a Christian nation. I hope we maintain Christian values, and I hope that more of those in office hold to Jesus and live out that life, but in the end we are a Republic. We have leaders of the Executive, Judicial, and Legislative branches, and none of those leaders is named Jesus Christ. Jesus will come back and bring this country (if it still exists) under his lordship just as he will N Korea, Nazi Germany, and the Roman Empire, but until that day our citizenship will never be in the land were we set our feet.
June 7th, 2010 at 6:20 pm
I really believe that my government shouldn’t have anything to do with my religion. It is disappointing to read the views of Thomas Jefferson on religion, but I admire his ability to let me choose my own. As long as we are free to choose a path and practice it, I feel that is the most important part. As a libertarian, I side on freedom for anyone to choose that right as long as it doesn’t infringe on mine. I think Jesus would encourage us to help the people to be more Christian and not the laws. No one becomes a Christian by force (or shouldn’t), it is a choice. I disagree with gay marriage, but I also believe my government has no right to approve ANY marriage, not even heterosexual ones. My government should focus on protecting all freedoms and not limiting those of the minority. Try bringing a Bible to Qatar. Some places understand the problem of government limiting freedoms that they don’t agree with.
June 9th, 2010 at 9:18 am
Tim, I agree. I sometimes startle people when I say I am opposed to any sort of “marriage ammendment”. Govco should not have anything to do with marriage, be it gay, straight or whatever.
June 9th, 2010 at 10:27 pm
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a HOLY NATION(emphasis mine), a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” 1Pe.2:9. Right there is the only Christian Nation I know: the Church! Great article Patrick, AAAAAAmen!