A "Christian Nation"
America has alwasy been, and lord willing will always be, a Christian Nation. But what exactly does that mean? Well obviously the United States is not a theocracy governed by religious leaders. We do not have an established church of the state. In fact our First Amendment directly prohibits Congress from making any law respecting the "establishment of religion." Our founding fathers were clearly afraid of the government establishing a church. This was in large part because the first settlers in the new world had crossed the ocean to escape the religious persicution of the Church of England. Which, with government approval, burned people at the stake for opposing the official theology of the state.
So what do I mean when I say we are a Christian nation? I mean that the moral foundation and predominant worldview of our country is based firmly on Christianity. That does not mean that we have always adhered to the Christian moral code without fail, but it is undeniable that we base our morality upon the principles of Christianity. In fact founding father John Adam's famously said
Human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge or gallantry would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution is designed only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for any other.” - John Adams
Our founding fathers knew that without a strong moral backbone the constitution would be little more than words on paper. In fact, the Bible was the number one most cited document at the Constitutional Convention. Not even John Locke or Montesquieu were referenced as many times. Our founders were not afraid of Christianity or its influence on our nation. They were afraid of the government forming a corrupt relationship with the Church to expand it's power.
Over the years we have watched as our country has lost any sense of morality. Our culture rejects God and the morality onwhich our country was built. If we want our country to thrive we have to return to the Biblical worldview we were build upon. America is not a Christian theocracy. We are however a nation built around a moral code and that moral code comes from the Christian Bible. Our views on right and wrong are always anchored in some sort of a worldview, whether Christian or not. To assume that we could detach ourselves entirely from our faith would assume that we can ignore our conscience and reject our morale code. There are few things more dangerous than that.
For more on this subject, catch my podcast titled "Separation of Church and State."