Religious freedom, at the time the country was first forming, didn't mean the same thing it does today. {snip} Religious freedom for them, at the time, was more about not being forced into a church they didn't want to be part of, rather than having the legal right to worship Allah/money/themselves/Satan/whatever.
It was both. Yes, most of the founding fathers did believe in some deity (though you might want to look up a bit about "Deism," the religion of most of the founding fathers ... they would NOT be considered Christian by any standard). However, religious freedom for them meant the same thing it does for us: not being forced into a church they didn't want to be part of, and having the legal right to worship however they saw fit, or not.
2.Back then, far more people believed in God overall than in present day; if you were not a God fearing, church going man, you were not respectable in the eyes of your peers in those days.
Yes, back then, the vast majority of Americans were not only Christian, but white, anglo-saxon protestants. "Religious plurity" back then meant that maybe there was both a Methodist church and a Lutheran church in town!
And yes, it's quite different today. Not only are there more types of protestants (it seems every year there's a new denomination claiming to have the monopoly on truth), we have Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Wiccans, and all manner of agnostics and atheists. I think that's a good thing!
It's very nearly the opposite in this century- because for the most part, Christians are made out to be fools, weirdos, or fanatics.
I have also found that there are some misconceptions about Christians, and that saddens me. On the other hand, I totally understand it. When we have presidential candidates who claim to be Christian, and then spout of things that would make Jesus' head spin, it doesn't surprise me that the average non-religious American gets the wrong idea about what Christians really believe.
I think, YES, America SHOULD be a Christian nation, but realistically I know that it will never happen. There would be far too much accountability for most people's liking.
It has nothing to do with accountability. The problem is, ***which*** type of Christian should we be? The most populous church affiliation in the US is Methodist. Should we have a Methodist-based government? What would that look like? How would it be different than today?
Or perhaps we should go with the type of Christian that is most populace not here in the US but world-wide: Catholicism. Perhaps we should have a Catholic-run state, with our president taking orders from the Pope? Would that be a good thing?
And every time someone says, "Well, there are things ALL Christians agree on...." I say yes, there are, but precious few. I have yet to see a church where all the members of that one congregation agree on how to make coffee, and you think you can get all American Christians to agree on doctrine? That's a pipe dream if ever there was one.
So my question is: WHAT would a Christian nation look like? What laws would it have that the US doesn't, or what current US laws would it abolish? What would such laws do to the people who live here who are not Christian? Would they need to leave? I will start a new post on this issue.
