Is the US a Christian nation? Most emphatically "No!" There is no such thing as a Christian nation (even including the Vatican, because the population of the Vatican does not depend on a birth rate!)
If Christian nations actually existed, there would be no homeless people, no people living in abject poverty, no domestic abuse issues, no persecution of minorities, no racism, no people eating food from dumpsters. There would be peace and harmony, neighbours would care for one another, the physically and mentally ill would be treated, and justice, mercy and compassion would be the hall marks of society.
That doesn't seem to square with Mark 14:
3Jesus was eating in Bethany at the home of Simon, who once had leprosy, when a woman came in with a very expensive bottle of sweet-smelling perfume. After breaking it open, she poured the perfume on Jesus' head. 4This made some of the guests angry, and they complained, "Why such a waste? 5We could have sold this perfume for more than three hundred silver coins and given the money to the poor!" So they started saying cruel things to the woman.
6But Jesus said:
Leave her alone! Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing for me. 7You will always have the poor with you. And whenever you want to, you can give to them. But you won't always have me here with you. 8She has done all she could by pouring perfume on my body to prepare it for burial. 9You may be sure that wherever the good news is told all over the world, people will remember what she has done. And they will tell others.
Is the US a Christian nation? Most emphatically "No!" There is no such thing as a Christian nation (even including the Vatican, because the population of the Vatican does not depend on a birth rate!)
If Christian nations actually existed, there would be no homeless people, no people living in abject poverty, no domestic abuse issues, no persecution of minorities, no racism, no people eating food from dumpsters. There would be peace and harmony, neighbours would care for one another, the physically and mentally ill would be treated, and justice, mercy and compassion would be the hall marks of society.
"God is no captious sophister, eager to trip us up whenever we say amiss, but a courteous tutor, ready to amend what, in our weakness or our ignorance, we say ill, and to make the most of what we say aright." from 'A Learned Discourse on Justification', a sermon by Richard Hooker (1554-1600).
We are certainly not a Christian nation in the sense that Iran is a Muslim nation or Israel is a Jewish nation. There is no doubt that Judeo-Christian principles played some small role in our origins, but that doesn't mean we are a "Christian" nation. Those who insist that we are a Christian nation are really foused on the morality of our nation, not its religious character. Sadly, Christianity, at least as it is applied in the political arena, has been hijacked by individuals who are willing to disgrace the name of God by using it as a tool of politics and demagoguery. They are far more interested in maintaining moral control over the social institutions of our nation than they are in carrying out the true mission of Christ: to care for the poor and preach the good news of salvation.
It's interesting that those very politicians who insist that we are a Christian nation almost never invoke the name of Jesus in their speeches. They refer to "God," but never Christ. I wonder why?
No. Else the first amendment religious freedom article would not exist as written.
We're a nation populated in majority by Christians. However, the first amendment declares Christians have to tolerate the minorities freedom, as ardently as they declare their right to enjoy and promote their own.
A majority in population does not change the inalienable contract of this nation with her people. Freedom of religion. Freedom from religion.
"Remember, Jesus would rather constantly shame gays than let orphans have a family." Stephen Colbert
I'm still trying to figure out what a "Christian Nation" would even look like. I mean I know what the Rushdoony-ites want it to look like, but their political agenda looks nothing like what I read in the Gospels.
-Jon
Well, if we compare it to the one still solidly Christian Nation in the world , the Vatican, I would have to say we are nothing like that. Most Western countries are heavily influenced by Christianity, and some even have a state church, but none have leadership like the Vatican, or policies like the Vatican. I honesty believe that the Vatican is the one Christian Nation left. And I think it says something that everyone else has secularized, many considerably early in their nation's history.
I remember reading a while back about how when the popes wore the papal tiara (symbolizing their temporal and civil authority over the Papal States -> Vatican City) they would remove it when entering into a church for Mass. The Pope, as temporal monarch of the Papal States/Vatican City laid down that authority in a place which represented the kingdom and reign of God.
Something tells me that this isn't what America--as Christian Nation--would look like if the Theocrats and Dominionists got their way. Hardline Dominionists, in fact, are Postmillennialists, specifically of the kind that believe it is the Christian's duty (as well as that of the Church as a whole) to subdue and dominate the secular and political realm. The kingdom of God will only come once the Church has subjected the whole world to the "Christian" mission (use of quotes intentional). A kind of Caesaropapism of the ugliest sort.
-Jon
"When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist." - Dom Hélder Câmara
I'm still trying to figure out what a "Christian Nation" would even look like. I mean I know what the Rushdoony-ites want it to look like, but their political agenda looks nothing like what I read in the Gospels.
-Jon
Well, if we compare it to the one still solidly Christian Nation in the world , the Vatican, I would have to say we are nothing like that. Most Western countries are heavily influenced by Christianity, and some even have a state church, but none have leadership like the Vatican, or policies like the Vatican. I honesty believe that the Vatican is the one Christian Nation left. And I think it says something that everyone else has secularized, many considerably early in their nation's history.
Dark Energy. It can be found in the observable Universe. Found in ratios of 75% more than any other substance. Dark Energy. It can be found in religious extremists, in cheerleaders. To come to the conclusion that Dark signifies mean and malevolent would define 75% of the Universe as an evil force. Alternatively, to think that some cheerleaders don't have razors in their snatch is to be foolishly unarmed.
I'm still trying to figure out what a "Christian Nation" would even look like. I mean I know what the Rushdoony-ites want it to look like, but their political agenda looks nothing like what I read in the Gospels.
-Jon
"When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist." - Dom Hélder Câmara
"Judeo-Christian" - The Jews have to have a nation in the Middle East, a.k.a. Israel, because our interpretation of Scripture requires a war in the Middle East against Israel so Christ will come again and bring us all bodily up to Heaven while the non-Christians (including Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians, etc...) are tortured on Earth.
It's sort of like how when they say Christian, what they really mean is fundamentalist, evangelical Protestants. And when they talk of morals, they're not really talking about not killing or harming others, but the persecution of homosexuals and non-Christians. And when they mention ethics, they don't mean caring for the poor and the sick, but their so called "Gospel of Prosperity:" rich people are rich because they have God's favor, and they shouldn't be taxed because of it."
"Judeo-Christian" - The Jews have to have a nation in the Middle East, a.k.a. Israel, because our interpretation of Scripture requires a war in the Middle East against Israel so Christ will come again and bring us all bodily up to Heaven while the non-Christians (including Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians, etc...) are tortured on Earth.
It's sort of like how when they say Christian, what they really mean is fundamentalist, evangelical Protestants. And when they talk of morals, they're not really talking about not killing or harming others, but the persecution of homosexuals and non-Christians. And when they mention ethics, they don't mean caring for the poor and the sick, but their so called "Gospel of Prosperity:" rich people are rich because they have God's favor, and they shouldn't be taxed because of it."
Not anymore we're not, the founding fathers were Christian except Paine and Jefferson. The Secular revisionist wants to change the past to affect the future of moral decline in the U.S.A.. No, we are not a Christian Nation anymore we're a Nation in decline of morals and Ethics. That makes me sad, I wish we we're a Judeo-Christian Nation like we once were but oh well.!!!
