American Government and Politics Today, Brief Edition, 2014-2015

24 PART oNE • THE AmERiCAN sYsTEm

The second Continental Congress

By the time the Second Continental Congress met in May 1775 (all of the colonies were

represented this time), fighting had already broken out between the British and the

colonists. One of the main actions of the Second Continental Congress was to establish

an army. It did this by declaring the militia that had gathered around Boston an army

and naming George Washington as commander in chief. Congressional participants still

at issue

Christianity utterly permeated the world of the first

English settlers in America. The oldest colonial docu-

ments are filled with endorsements of Christianity.

Regular church attendance was often mandatory.

Nine of the colonies had churches that were estab-

lished by law.

The Declaration of Independence, however,

makes no reference to Christ. The word God does not

appear in the Constitution. By 1790, officially estab-

lished churches were found only in Connecticut and

Massachusetts, and the Congregational Church in

Massachusetts had drifted so far from its Puritan ori-

gins that many of its members no longer accepted the

divinity of Jesus. That is, they belonged to Unitarian

congregations. One result of this development was

that in the national elections of 1796 and 1800, nei-

ther major party fielded a presidential candidate who

was, by modern definition, a Christian. John Adams,

Unitarian, squared off against Thomas Jefferson,

freethinker.

These facts raise the question: Just how Christian

were the founders? More to the point, did the found-

ers intend the United States to be a “Christian nation”?

Scholars and school boards often differ on these issues.

By and Large, the FOunders

Were devOut Christians...

Christian conservatives point out that numerous

American leaders throughout history have charac-

terized the country as a Christian nation, beginning

with John Jay, the first chief justice of the United

States Supreme Court. The revolutionaries of 1776

often viewed the struggle in religious terms. Quite a

few believed that God had a special plan for America

to serve as an example to the world. The overwhelm-

ing majority of the colonists considered themselves

Christians. Today, 78 percent of Americans identify

themselves as such. If the term Christian nation merely

identifies the beliefs of the majority, it is undeniably an

accurate label.

To Christian conservatives who would like to

change what is taught in the schools, however, the

term means much more. They contend that American

law is based on the laws of Moses as set down in the

Bible. They also believe that America’s divine mission

is not just an opinion held by many people—it should

be taught as literal truth. Finally, according to this

group, the separation of church and state is a liberal

myth. The language of the First Amendment means

only that the national government should not prefer

one Protestant denomination over the others.

WhO OppOsed Mixing ChurCh and state

Mainstream scholars disagree with the previous

arguments, often vehemently. For example, Steven K.

Green, a professor at Willamette University in Oregon,

has searched for American court cases that reference

the laws of Moses. He found none.

Ultimately, opponents say, to argue that the found-

ers were not serious about the separation of church and

state is to ignore the plain language of the Constitution.

True, most of the founders were Christians, but they

were also steeped in Enlightenment rationalism

that rejected “enthusiasm” in religion. Enthusiasm

meant the spirit that allowed Protestant and Catholic

Europeans to kill one another in the name of God over

a period of two centuries. For the founders, mixing

church and government was a recipe for trouble.

FOr CritiCaL anaLysis

Today, candidates for president clearly benefit when they use reli-

gious language and when they are comfortable discussing their

faith. Is this at all troubling? Why or why not?

Just hOW Christian Were the FOunders?

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