Was America Founded on Christian Principles?

There seems to be an ever growing movement in America to blur historical facts concerning our nation's beginnings. This trend coexists with other movements to try and explain our origins as an evolutionary stroke of luck, or by pure chance. What is the truth? Have you ever read Thomas Jefferson's letter concerning the separation of church and state? How much history do you remember?

I grew up learning that America was founded on Christian principles by a group of men who believed in the Judeo Christian God, and wanted to create an environment where all men and women could be free to pursue their dreams. They expressed that we all have certain "inalienable rights given to us by our creator, and among these life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" and were willing to die for these principles. 

These principles were held dearly by men who desired to live and practice their faith in freedom. They expressed these principles within our founding documents, as well as on buildings. Local municipalities also joined this expression of our Christian roots through crosses and nativity scenes during Christmas. We even have people place their hand on a bible and swear to "tell the truth and nothing but the truth" in our courtrooms. With that said, why is there such an attack on these principles? Why is the American Civil Liberties Union, a government sponsored organization paid for by our tax dollars, taking legal cases by anyone that wants to remove any symbol of the faith our nation was founded on? 

At the center seems to be two issues. The first is what the religious orientation of our "founding fathers", including the 56 signers of our declaration of independence, and the second, what is the true definition of the separation of church and state. These two topics have been hotly debated by many. So what is the truth? Did we really start out as a Christian nation? Did the founding fathers really intend for the first amendment to mean that our government should remove our Christian belief system from our approach to governing or from public expression? 

I started to look for myself at both of these issues, starting off with what a "founding father" really meant. By definition, a "founding father" included everyone who participated in the founding of our nation. With that said, there were really 204 unique individual signers of our founding documents: the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution of The United States of America. Signers included the better known founding fathers such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Adams, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, John Hancock, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton. While many belonged to certain denominations, all of them were Christian denominations. Four of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were current or former full-time preachers, and many more were the sons of clergymen. With that said, what would be the agenda to distort the truth?

Next, we have our first amendment right to freedom of religion. By definition, the amendment gives us the right to choose a religion (or no religion) without interference by the government. It states that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. How does this statement result in a battle to tear down crosses and remove nativity scenes? 

Have you ever really looked at the founding premise of "separation of church and state"? Did Jefferson's letter really mean that as a nation, we couldn't celebrate our Christian heritage? What really was the meaning of the phrase "congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion" referring to? No establishment of religion exists when a government treats the members of every faith equally, tolerates free, public expression of any religious faith, and enacts no establishment law bestowing a substantial governmental benefit on one religion to the exclusion of all others.  Is this statement being twisted and used as an ideological battle against freedom of Christian expression? 

After reading Jefferson's letter, then reviewing the original iterations of the first amendment in contrast to its final form, it appears to me that, given the political and religious climate of Europe which is where our founding fathers came from, the intent of this amendment seems to apply to the prevention of our government from forcing you to choose a particular religion or not receive recognition or government benefits because of your choice of religion. This should have nothing to do with preventing voluntary prayer in schools, or since "we the people" run the government, an expression of our Christian heritage on government property.    

While religious diversity existed from the beginning of British colonization, the vast majority of Euro-Americans were Protestant - and a substantial minority were Calvinist. Thus, their religion was tied to the need to use their own individual resources to achieve spiritual and material success. This shaped the American psyche and resulted in America becoming the great nation that it is. One that acknowledges and embraces our Christian roots. Perhaps given the rising turmoil and division our nation is experiencing, perhaps returning to our Christian roots is a good thing. 

What say you?