The Myth That the United States Was Founded on Christian Beliefs

One counterfeit idea that circulates with frustrating stubbornness is the claim that America was founded as a Christian nation. It’s one of the Christian Right’s mantras and a favorite talking point for televangelists, religious bloggers, born-again authors and lobbyists, and pulpit preachers. (Walters, n.d.) The purpose of this presentation is to show evidence of the manifestation of this myth in modern culture and to disprove this myth. The claim that America was founded as a Christian nation has gone relatively mainstream. This is the case largely because the media-savvy Christian Right is good at getting across its message. And there are not many willing to step out and dispute this notion. One presidential hopeful is quoted as saying, “This nation was founded primarily on Christian principles” and that he personally would be disturbed if a non-Christian were elected to the highest office in the land. (Walters, n.d.) These are the words of then Arizona Sen. John McCain spoke when he was interviewed during his race for president against Sen. Barack Obama, so as you can see this myth is widespread.

A 2007 First Amendment Center poll revealed that 65 percent of Americans believe the founders intended the United States “to be a Christian nation”; over half of us think that this intention is actually spelled out somewhere in the Constitution. (Walters, n.d.) These numbers show a widespread view of America as a Christian nation, not to mention the fact that we have, “In God We Trust” imprinted on our currency. You can also reference to God in the pledge of allegiance with the statement, “One nation under God” These stats alone show how this myth made its way into the fabric of American culture, So is America a Christian nation, or is this notion a myth?

Through my research of this matter I have found many references to the contrary of the idea that the United States is a Christian Nation. I also found evidence that America had some Christian influence. Like, “The...