All Comments (15)

prayer for divine blessing,contact and connection
over my business.

Obviously the majority of americans profess christianity. If that is the criteria to be a "christian" nation, than we should meet the criteria. Now, I would that every nation would be a christian nation according to the following definition; a nation whose peoples live the teachings of Jesus Christ.(kindness, service, honesty, forgiveness, justice, mercy, integrity, etc...) By that criteria are we a christian nation? I don't know. While there are many who live these teachings within and without of a christian faith, there are many within and without of christian faiths who do not practice these principles.
I think we are more a christian nation under both criteria than not.

There is a tendency in some countries to say that the French hate the Israelites. I don't subscribe to this point of view when I see all the Jewish personalities and VIP in the French society, (TV, politcs, art, music, business and so on). We may have not the same point of view than other nations of the world concerning the foreign politics, the fact remains that they have been considered as French citizens since Napoleon's time.
If the press echoes some attempts or attacks againts Jewish people in France, that does not mean every French is opposed to them. Don't believe all is written in the newspapers!

Mr. Otterson brings up an extremely important topic. Thanks.

Reading this thread, I am not sure how Christian fundamentalism is the great threat to our country. It is the sporadic, hateful responses of the human heart rather than the Bible itself that poses the greatest threats to any civilized country.

We can learn much from history. It pinpoints so clearly how much we need divine redemption.

As a sidenote - On my blog, I have been wrestling with how America future fits into LDS eschatology. When Mr. Otterson has a free moment, could he explain this?

Louis Kiernan,

In reponse to two of your points:

Hitler signed a Concordat with the Vatican. The Vatican established the "Rat Line" to enable Nazi war criminals to get to South America. Sounds like a cozy relationship, not warfare, between the Nazis and the Roman Church.

It was the French and their elite who provided Israel with the reactor that made Israel's first atomic bomb possible. Doesn't seem that the French elite were aiming to destroy Israel.

A state of war has existed between the United States of America and religion since the beginning. "The price of freedom is eternal viganlenc" goes back to the beginning. The first amendment is only a white flag.

Religion seeks to establish "the kingdom of God" right here on earth. Different faiths have different versions of both how to go about it and why it must be done. The latter is the common ground, the common goal of all faiths, "it MUST be done."

We can take that back to before God created the world, said "let there be light." The kingdom of God in heaven itself was challenged by the prince of darkness, Lucifer. The first light was the light created by the fires of hell when the faithful angel, Michael the arc light bulb angel put down the coup de gras organized by an immoral minority in heaven. Is that so?

Given, the epic battle between good and evil took place in heaven. But who won? We can say with certainty that whoever won, God or Lucifer would claim at least to be God. I'm worried that Lucifer won. That's what the evidence says.

Is the Bible the word of God or the word of the Devil? Well. People are killing each other, a clear violation of the 5th commandment and expecting to go to the place run by the winner of that incredible fight for control of heaven. That's just one of numerous examples of folks violating the commandments of God while demanding to be let into the place run by the winner of the big fight in the sky. This surely warrants a closer look.

Interpretation 1501, http://www.hoax-buster.org/sellyoursoul will shed light on the problem and perhaps suggest a lot of common ground for all faiths to get to gether and establish the kingdom of IT right here on earth.

To Louis Kiernan,
You say "Do not fear the Christians, they are your protectors."

"We're here to protect you," is what every occupying army has said to the people they're invading since the Romans.
In the name of "protecting" people, atrocities have been committed, civil liberties have been abolished, and cultures have been obliterated.
The British said they were "protecting" the Scots, the Irish, and the East Indians.
The U.S. Cavalry said they were "protecting" the American Indians.
In order to "protect" us, George Bush committed the idiotic fraud called the Iraq War.
In order to "protect" us, every communication you make can be eavesdropped on, without a warrant, without any justification, and you can be imprisoned without charge, without trial, for an indefinite amount of time. Read the Military Commissions Act Dubya signed last month. You are no longer protected by habeas corpus.

Who is going to protect me from my protectors?

This is always a confusing subject. I suggest a distinction has to be drawn between the idea of "nation" (a collection of people, a demographic) and "government" or "state" (as defined by the U.S. Constitution). Technically the U.S. is a "christian nation" in that the majority of its citizens say they are "christian" when polled.

Of course the Constitution intentionally and clearly draws a distinction between any and all religions and the government, separates the two entities and, by law, prohibits the recognition of any religion above any other religion by the state.

So, while most Americans say they are Christian, The United States of America is not a christian state.

Have a warm and peaceful holiday!

Without Christianity there would be little tolerance in America.

If the first Americans, [skip the colonials - esp. non-English], had believed our rights derived from men, instead of our Creator, we would be living in the 5th 'US' Republic or worse. And how many religious massacres were there in revolutionary France? Tens, maybe hundreds of thousands?

Stalin, Mao, & Hitler, made war with Christianity, & see the results.

Now we have Osama & the Taliban. If left to the French elites & many other non-believing Western countries, Israel would have been destroyed long ago.

There was much prejudice against religious minorities, but very little persecution. One of George Washington's first acts was to visit a synagogue.

And yes the US battled the Mormons. But like the Muslims in Europe today, they presented a problem because, at that time,they wanted to be apart from our country's laws & mores. And there was also harm done to Christian travelers.

Do not fear the Christians, they are your protectors.

They would be appalled at the current crop of hypocrites masquerading as "Christians" who have assumed for themselves to tell Americans how they should vote and whom to vote for. By and large they play on superstitions and ignorance of the process of Democracy. Unfortunately these charlatans have been with us since the beginning of the Republic.

Jefferson would have conflicted feelings:

On the one hand he would be relieved that the separation between religion and government had held for this long. And he would be enthralled by the leaps in scientific understanding that have been made since 1826. But I think he would be amazed and dismayed that with so much real knowledge accumulated, superstition would still have such a hold on the minds of his countrymen.

According to various things I have read, the 'jury is still out' on whether or not many of the founding fathers were, in fact, Christians, and indeed whether America was truly founded on the principles of Judeo-Christianity. Many believe that Jefferson, Washington, Franklin and Paine were actually deists, and the mention of the separation of church and state in our Constitution came from those holdings. The Puritans were looked upon in their homeland as overly religious, if that is the proper phrase, much in the same way as many view the current day fundamentalists. I, for one, firmly believe that the separation of church and state is a two-way street. People should be free to worship as they choose, yet our government should operate unfettered by the attempts of ANY religious group to redraw our country as a kind of theocracy.

While the United States could be construed as a basically Christian Nation, other religions have come in. It would seem that all roads began at a common starting place, then separated, only to converge and return to the beginning.

I am against all three main religions. All are too narrow, too political, too eager to destroy to get their own way. I belong to the world's oldest religion, one that recognizes the presence of others, but doesn't impose its ways upon those others. My greated fear for this country is the emergence of an American Taliban, one made up of Christian Fundamentalists who do not recognize anything but their own interpretation of the Bible. These are the most dangerous of all America's enemies, and must be destroyed before they gain strength, and destroy the country.

I also agree. "E pluribus unum" applies to the religious sphere as well. All beliefs from Christianity to atheism is part of the American experience and needs to be valued as such.

There is a common set of ethical beliefs that underlie Christians, Muslims, Hindus and secular humanists. America's ultimate strenght lies in acknowledging and putting into practice those common beliefs.

But I also agree we've come a long way. It's time for us to complete that collective journey.

There are those who would point out that we still have a long way to go, but that does not discredit how far we have come.