Happy 247th Birthday, America! To what extent are we a “Christian nation” with a “Christian government?” Can we truly celebrate religious diversity? I asked those questions in my March 9, 2020 open forum, over which the DN-R editorial staff placed the headline: “US Was Founded As A Secular Nation.” I did not bother to correct it at the time, but I was attempting to characterize the “government” which the U.S. constitution formed as secular, not the “nation” itself. The “nation” constitutes the territory and the people, while the “government” is the network of administrative, legislative, and judicial systems which governs the nation. The major historical point in my forum was that the U.S. constitution created the first religiously pluralistic government in world history, and that this was perhaps the most creative contribution the U.S. has given to political science. Rabbi Jeffrey Kurtz-Lendner picked up this theme in his May 11 open forum titled, “Uniquely American,” calling this a new concept introduced to the world. That “our country could thrive on the contributions of all its inhabitants regardless of particular religious belief.” It does not lessen our founders’ marvelous achievement to realize that this newly-declared nation had little choice but […]

By : Markus McDowell Tags: