Is America a “Christian” nation? In what way can any nation be Christian? How should Christianity be treated in public school textbooks?
These are questions educators and parents have battled over and struggled with for decades. I have a strong opinion about whether America is a Christian nation, and I have strong feelings about how Christianity should be treated in public school textbooks.
I ran onto an interesting news story about textbooks in Texas, and the impact two men — neither of them historians and both of them advisers to the textbook selection committee — will have on social studies textbooks and teaching in the next few weeks.
Now if you choose to follow Christ and be a Christian, I think that’s a wonderful decision. You are absolutely free to express your faith, worship and the church you choose, send out first communion invitations to family and friends if appropriate, and all the rest.
But to use your faith as a litmus test for American history is going too far. In fact (and I am a historian), Christian faith and teachings played a role in the founding of the nation. BUT — that has never made America a “Christian nation,” nor should it give Christianity a special position in textbooks.
Simply put, I believe PEOPLE, not NATIONS, can be Christians. If you choose to believe that there are biblical mandates for America as a Christian nation, you simply are wrong. If you believe the personal faith of some of our founding fathers was Christian and therefore our nation is somehow Christian, you simply are wrong.
If you are a strong “Bible believer” or whatever conservative label you wish to use for yourself, leave a comment contrary to my statements above and I’ll be glad to discuss it further. And if you do leave such a comment, then I expect you to give me biblical evidence that America is somehow “Christian.” I would love to see the Bible references you might offer.