The title of this post is one of my personal quotations that I have been using for years.  I use it whenever I get one of those spam emails from godly folks who want to ban this or that because we’re “a Christian Nation”.

We’re not a Christian Nation.  You can surf plenty of websites and learn that; from the proclamation “As the government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian Religion, . . .” found in Article XI of The Treaty of Tripoli to our Constitution that derives its power from no higher power than “We, the People”.

That’s the genius of America; the audacious thought that the People had all the authority they needed to govern — not the will of the king, the tyrant, the powerful, the rich, or the priests and their gods.  Part of that genius is our First Amendment, that keeps government neutral in matters of religion.  To the power that rules the People, no religion will be any better or any worse, nor will lack of religion.  Anything less invites the god of the majority to be elevated above the People.
One of the best writers on the subject of atheism is Sam Harris.  His latest column in the LA Times is worth a read.  He points out that Rep. Pete Stark is the first atheist in Congress, which is a surprise, since polls often show people would rather vote for a thrice-convicted Communist goat-rapist than an atheist (ok, I may be exaggerating about the goat).  A surprise for me, anyway, since Article VI of the Constitution states “no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.”  I guess that’s not really in question: the government doesn’t require you to be a Christian; the voters do.

You’ll hear plenty from me about the emerging American Taliban, and sometimes listeners will scold me about being anti-religion or anti-Christianity.

It’s not true; some of my best friend are Christians! 

I’m not against anyone’s freedom of thought or freedom of speech.  You want to believe God created the universe in six days and is listening to your prayers?  Great, “it neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg,” as Jefferson would say.

What I have problems with are the attempts to elevate God over the People.  Putting the Ten Commandments in the people’s court houses, for example, when seven of them aren’t even laws.  Restricting female people’s reproductive rights because they don’t trust God to render judgment.  Denying gay people’s civil rights because God thinks pee-pee touching is icky.  Censoring the people’s speech for blasphemous content.  Confusing young people by equating creation myths and real science and neglecting young people by not teaching them about sexual health. 

While this may be the province of a tiny few fundamentalist zealots I lovingly call “American Taliban”, that Harris article explains eloquently why I paint Christians with a pretty broad brush.  If there are so many more “moderate” or “liberal” Christians out there, why is John McCain and every other candidate rushing over to the fundamentalists like Dobson & Falwell?  Why?  Because it’s the same religion of the moderates and liberals, even if they don’t have the same attention to detail the fundamentalists do.  They wouldn’t mind having school prayer even if they don’t agree with stoning adulterers, so when fundies push a “values voter” agenda, the moderates and liberals tacitly offer their support.  Until these Christians openly repudiate these evangenitals, they’ve cast their lot with them.

You’re either with freedom and liberty and a secular America (each requires the other), or you’re against it.

Funny thing about that “separation of church and state” thing.  Jefferson and Adams exchanged many letters about the subject.

Jefferson was a renowned Deist.  He believed in a Higher Power as a Creator, but believed It to be so far removed and above humanity as to be above comprehension.  He famously removed all of the miracles and deity from the Bible, creating The Jefferson Bible which is still in print today.  He directly denied the divinity of Jesus Christ.

Adams, on the other hand, was a devout Christian.  And yet both men agreed to the importance of government neutrality regarding religion.  Jefferson feared that the majority would institute a theocracy and ruin the state.  Adams worried that once the religion began accepting the largess of the government, it would corrupt the church.

Both men are right.  I’d just add this: the problem with bringing God into government is that He automatically ends all debate.  Democracy is about debate, and how does one respond to “God says so!”  You can’t subpoena God, there’s no court-admissible evidence of God, we can only reply on men’s opinions of God.