John McCain blatantly sucked up to the Religious Right yesterday, telling a group called Beliefnet that ”the Constitution established the United States of America as a Christian nation". I wonder, Senator, if you could point me to the section of the Constitution you were thinking of? I know I’ve read the document once or twice, and I don’t think the word “Christian” appears anywhere in it. I can, however, think of one provision that looks a whole lot like a prohibition against the establishment of a national religion. To be fair to the Senator, he made that remark while also stating that although he would prefer to see a President of his own faith, he could also imagine a Muslim President doing a good job. Nevertheless, this is a meme that needs confronting because it keeps on cropping up everywhere. McCain’s “clarifying” remark later was “We are a nation that was based on Judeo-Christian values. That means respect for all of human rights and dignity. That's my principle values and ideas, and that's what I think motivated our founding fathers," but that’s a) not quite the same thing, and b) that’s still not quite true.
Senator, if you’re saying that
Now, maybe you could argue that “Judeo-Christian values” are more complex than just treating other people well, and if so, I would agree. It seems to me that “Judeo-Christian values” by definition involve the mandatory worship of Jehovah. But it also seems to me that the Constitution is quite clear that no one can make me worship Jehovah if I don’t want to, and that there should be no penalties to my standing as a citizen regardless of my choice. Thus, the “Judeo-Christian value” of worshipping Jehovah as a moral requirement stands in opposition to at least one of the core principles of
Or maybe, Senator, you’re referring to the ethical, philosophical, intellectual, educational, and religious background of the Founders and the universe in which they operated. That would be the ethical, philosophical, intellectual, educational, and religious background of the European Age of Enlightenment. Many of the prominent thinkers and philosophers of that era were Christian, to be sure, but there were also many (including many of the Founders) who were Deists if not outright atheists. Which most certainly did not make them evil men; quite the contrary, these were intelligent, moral men infused with the spirit of their times (what we today call “liberalism”), a love of learning and morality, and the principles to defend and act on their beliefs.
The meme that
"I refuse to accept that – particularly when I know that people like me, meaning lawyers who were very skeptical about religion – were present in abundance at the drafting of the Constitution."
ReplyDeletea very revealing statement
America is a Christian nation with a secular government.
Now you're doing it too.
ReplyDeleteAmerica is a pluralistic nation with a majority of its population self-identifying as Christians. That is not the same thing as a "Christian nation."
"E pluribus unum"
ReplyDeleteRudy looked pretty good the other night.