A Christian Nation?

Followers of my blog know that I hold organized religion as quackery - it is based on myth and fantasy no deeper than that of Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny. Still, our politicians preach gospel as if it was the beating heart of our democracy. Recently John McCain told a reporter that “the Constitution established the United States of America as a Christian nation.” But that simply isn't so - our founding fathers came here to escape religious persecution and those who wrote the constitution wrote it in such a manner as to prohibit the persecution of those wishing to avoid a religion forced upon them.

The following is from a good (from my perspective) editorial in the New York Times. In order to read the rest of it, you may need to register (free).

The kingdom Jesus preached was radical. Not only are nations irrelevant, but families are, too: he instructs those who would be his disciples to give up all they have and all those they know to follow Him.

The only acknowledgment of God in the original Constitution is a utilitarian one: the document is dated “in the year of our Lord 1787.” Even the religion clause of the First Amendment is framed dryly and without reference to any particular faith. The Connecticut ratifying convention debated rewriting the preamble to take note of God’s authority, but the effort failed.