A Christian Nation

I was watching a TV news program and a man in Texas was complaining about foreign religions infiltrating into our “Christian Nation” and we needed to put a stop to it. There are others like him and I do not think that they understand the term “Christian Nation” or they would not make those statements. Perhaps they would any way for that is what they think they want. While we are a country whose citizens are predominately members of the Christian faith, we are not now nor have we ever been a “Christian Nation” and as a Protestant Christian Pastor I do not want us to be so.

The term “Christian Nation” denotes a country that has established an official relationship with a Christian church. England is a “Christian Nation” because it has established an official Church/State relationship with the Church of England. Queen Elizabeth is officially the head of the Church of England. Spain is a “Christian Nation” because it has established an official Church/State relationship with the Roman Catholic Church. There are also Islamic Nations and Buddhist Nations where the government has official standing with their religions.

Our founding fathers established this country as one that provides us with total freedom of religion with a clear separation of church and state. As a Christian Pastor I believe that freedom has been a major blessing for the Christian faith in America. With great wisdom they placed in our constitution the first amendment:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

We have always had other faiths than the Christian faith in our country and their rights to freedom of religion have been respected here. There are over three hundred denominations of Christian church in the USA and their rights of freedom of expression in the practice of their faith are respected here. That would not be true in a country where a religion has been established as a state religion. Think about it folks we do not want the government telling us what church to belong to, not even my church.