I think President Truman said it the way I and many other Christians believe.
When President Harry Truman wrote to Pope Pius XII in 1947 that "This is a Christian nation.", he certainly did not mean that the United States has an official or legally-preferred religion or church. Nor did he mean to slight adherents of non-Christian religions. But he certainly did mean to recognize that this nation, its institutions and laws, was founded on Biblical principles basic to Christianity and to Judaism from which it flowed. As he told an Attorney General's Conference in 1950, "The fundamental basis of this nation's laws was given to Moses on the Mount. The fundamental basis of our Bill of Rights comes from the teachings we get from Exodus and Saint Matthew, from Isaiah and Saint Paul. I don't think we emphasize that enough these days. If we don't have a proper fundamental moral background, we will finally end up with a totalitarian government which does not believe in rights for anybody except the State."
Please provide links for all citations and quotes.
Is America a Christian Nation?
CARL PEARLSTON
Pearlston, Carl "Is America a Christian Nation." Connecticut Jewish Ledger (April, 2001)
Reprinted with permission of Carl Pealston.
THE AUTHOR
Carl Pearlston is an attorney in the Los Angeles area, specializing in arbitration/mediation, a former professor of Constitutional Law, an Annapolis graduate, and a Jewish conservative active in various organizations including Toward Tradition.
Dblad, historically Christian Nation means Christian Theocracy; would you concede that the USA is NOT a Christian theorcracy and SHOULD NOT be?
Dave, if you would read my post without prejudice, you would know that I have said and continue to believe that the USA is NOT repeat NOT a theorcracy, Christian or otherwise and that it should not be nor should it ever become such.
Dblad, historically Christian Nation means Christian Theocracy; would you concede that the USA is NOT a Christian theorcracy and SHOULD NOT be?
Dave, if you would read my post without prejudice, you would know that I have said and continue to believe that the USA is NOT repeat NOT a theorcracy, Christian or otherwise and that it should not be nor should it ever become such.
dblad,
I know you well enough to realize that. As I recall, you were one of those who used to help me in my arguments with Friend!
"When it shall be said in any country in the world, my poor are happy; neither ignorance nor distress is to be found among them; my jails are empty of prisoners, my streets of beggars; the aged are not in want, the taxes are not oppressive; the rational world is my friend, because I am a friend of its happiness: When these things can be said, then may the country boast its constitution and its government." -- Thomas Paine: The Rights Of Man (1791)
Dblad, historically Christian Nation means Christian Theocracy; would you concede that the USA is NOT a Christian theorcracy and SHOULD NOT be?
Dave, if you would read my post without prejudice, you would know that I have said and continue to believe that the USA is NOT repeat NOT a theorcracy, Christian or otherwise and that it should not be nor should it ever become such.
dblad,
I know you well enough to realize that. As I recall, you were one of those who used to help me in my arguments with Friend!
So do I. He kept this forum hopping. He stopped posting on almost the same day President Obama was Inaugurated. I've often wondered if there was a cause and effect involved.
"When it shall be said in any country in the world, my poor are happy; neither ignorance nor distress is to be found among them; my jails are empty of prisoners, my streets of beggars; the aged are not in want, the taxes are not oppressive; the rational world is my friend, because I am a friend of its happiness: When these things can be said, then may the country boast its constitution and its government." -- Thomas Paine: The Rights Of Man (1791)