Large numbers of Americans believe the founders intended the U.S. to be a Christian nation. The belief is especially strong among Republicans and their white evangelical base.

The idea of a Christian America means different things to different people. Pollsters have found a wide circle of Americans who hold general God-and-country sentiments.

But within that is a smaller, hardcore group who also check other boxes in surveys — such as that the U.S. Constitution was inspired by God and that the federal government should declare the U.S. a Christian nation, advocate Christian values or stop enforcing the separation of church and state.

For those embracing that package of beliefs, it’s more likely they’ll have unfavorable views toward immigrants, dismiss or downplay the impact of anti-Black discrimination and believe Trump was a good or great president, according to a 2021 Pew Research Center survey.

  • DominusOfMegadeus@sh.itjust.works
    151·
    10 months ago

    They LITERALLY WROTE DOWN that they did not want this. WTAF?

    1. The Establishment Clause: Found in the First Amendment, it states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” This clause prohibits the federal government from establishing a state religion or favoring one religion over another. It has been interpreted to mean that there should be a separation of church and state, preventing the government from promoting or endorsing religious beliefs or practices. 2. The Free Exercise Clause: Also in the First Amendment, this clause says, “or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” This means that the government cannot pass laws that target specific religious practices or beliefs and cannot hinder individuals from practicing their religion freely.
      • pythonoob@programming.dev
        271·
        10 months ago

        I always heard the argument that the founders did not want a Christian based nation because they saw the chaos in the UK with Catholics fighting Protestants, vice versa and every time a monarch ascended from the opposite side it was the axe for you all of a sudden.

        They were probably mostly Christian though, at least outwardly, and so wrote the constitution with Christianity informs ideals and morals.

        That said, separation of church and state is a good thing. Anyone arguing they actually wanted a Christian nation is intentionally ignorant (or a fucking idiot).

        So idk if “we the people” is intentionally rejecting God as much as it’s rejecting the king.

        • GladiusB@lemmy.world
          6·
          10 months ago

          I mean just look at early politics. There were many factions that went to other parts of the colonies to establish their own religious center. But others wanted to keep it separate. This is well documented in so many colonies.

        • Ð Greıt Þu̇mpkin@lemm.ee
          4·
          10 months ago

          Likely they were also considering the 30 years war, especially with a few of the colonies having explicitly been founded as religious settlements, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Mass especially.

    • Seraph@kbin.social
      141·
      10 months ago

      They clearly can’t read the Bible, what makes you think they can read anything else?

    • vortic@lemmy.world
      3·
      10 months ago

      I’m not defending the argument below. It is patently stupid.

      I have heard people make the argument that the founders didn’t expect non-christian religions to become prominent in the US. That they thought they were only protecting the right of people to practice any kind of christianity they want to practice.

      They think that the founders didn’t have enough forethought to realize that people of other faiths might migrate to the US or even the presence to realize that there were already non-christian faiths being practiced in the colonies.

      • Kitty Jynx@lemmy.world
        12·
        10 months ago

        The Treaty of Tripoli signed in 1796 by President John Adams:

        Art. 11. 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 Mussulmen (Muslims); and as the said States never entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mahometan (Mohammedan) nation, 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.