Is America a Christian nation?

[Trek]

?

[fish]

no

[Bill Spillz]

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof"


Nope.

[BradH]

your mom is a christian nation

[BradH]

According to the American Religious Identification Survey, the percentage of self-identified Christians has fallen 10 percentage points since 1990, from 86 to 76 percent. The Jewish population is 1.2 percent; the Muslim, 0.6 percent. A separate Pew Forum poll echoed the ARIS finding, reporting that the percentage of people who say they are unaffiliated with any particular faith has doubled in recent years, to 16 percent; in terms of voting, this group grew from 5 percent in 1988 to 12 percent in 2008—roughly the same percentage of the electorate as African-Americans. (Seventy-five percent of unaffiliated voters chose Barack Obama, a Christian.) Meanwhile, the number of people willing to describe themselves as atheist or agnostic has increased about fourfold from 1990 to 2009, from 1 million to about 3.6 million. (That is about double the number of, say, Episcopalians in the United States.)

Still, in the new NEWSWEEK Poll, fewer people now think of the United States as a "Christian nation" than did so when George W. Bush was president (62 percent in 2009 versus 69 percent in 2008). Two thirds of the public (68 percent) now say religion is "losing influence" in American society, while just 19 percent say religion's influence is on the rise. The proportion of Americans who think religion "can answer all or most of today's problems" is now at a historic low of 48 percent. During the Bush 43 and Clinton years, that figure never dropped below 58 percent.

[Trek]

Originally Posted by Bill Spillz

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof"


Nope.

does the fact that we are arguing the teaching of creationism in texas education, or the restriction of stem cell research during the bush administration challenge your quote?

[Funkenstein]

Originally Posted by Trek

does the fact that we are arguing the teaching of creationism in texas education, or the restriction of stem cell research during the bush administration challenge your quote?

We are a "God-fearing" nation, but I wouldn't call us "Christian". The majority of the populace (in the States) may claim some form of belonging to the Christian faith, but our actions (as you listed here in Texas alone) don't always reflect a Christian tolerance.

If you want a numbers battle, yeah, America is. If by full intent and reflection of the supposed "Christian" attitude towards life, then you will get a resounding hell no from yours truly.

[charlie brown]

I think this is fundamentally the easiest question to answer. I disagree with what most people have said here, and as sad as it makes me to say it, a christian god still pays a giant role in which officials are elected into office [both local and nonlocal]

[Funkenstein]

Originally Posted by charlie brown

I think this is fundamentally the easiest question to answer. I disagree with what most people have said here, and as sad as it makes me to say it, a christian god still pays a giant role in which officials are elected into office [both local and nonlocal]

In the South, possibly. Up North or out West, not so much.

[Trek]

i am not implying that we are a christian nation. currently i cant argue completely for or against the question. but looking at statistics, and pondering the idea of majority rule in (representative) democracy, then its hard to say that we are absolutely not a christian nation.

i understand that were were founded mainly by immigrants seeking economical opportunity, rather than freedom of religion. i also understand that our constitution says that we are not a christian nation and that most of the founders of the country were deists or non christians.

im really just curious of what y'all will say about it.

[Keith P]

We have no central christian authority. Christianity in america is a ragtag cluster fuck of feuding theologies and even "non-denominations" that can't seem to agree upon much of anything. As rufus pointed out, Christian doctrine holds sway over certain parts of the country more so than others.

You can't say something so concrete when there are so many subjective viewpoints. Rome was a Christian empire, they had a seat of religious authority, and held sway over the populace under the word of god.

Nor can a nation be christian when a good number of its citizens are of other faiths or non-believers.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/com...cle5907453.ece

"The nonreligious are now the third biggest grouping in the US, after Catholics and Baptists, according to the just-released American Religious Identification Survey. The bulk of this shift occurred in the 1990s, when they jumped from 8% to 14% of the population – but they have consolidated in the past decade to 15%."

[PETA]

Originally Posted by Bill Spillz

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof"


Nope.

Which refers to government or state action.

A nation is a cultural entity and while the term "Christian nation" may be useless the overwhelming majority of Americans identify themselves as Christians.

So, if self-identification counts for anything, then yes, absolutely goddamn right the US is a Christian nation.... with a secular government.

Originally Posted by Trek

i am not implying that we are a christian nation. currently i cant argue completely for or against the question.

Define what "Christian nation" means first. Then apply facts.

Originally Posted by Keith P

Nor can a nation be christian when a good number of its citizens are of other faiths or non-believers.

Bullshit Keith. If the House of Saud imported a huge number of Hindus to work in the Kingdom it'd still be a Muslim country. England has a state religion but I doubt you'd call it a Christian nation.

I think when 3/4 of the population self-identifies as Christian you've got a much stronger argument that the US is a Christian nation than it isn't.

[-m-]

From my understanding, at a Federal level we're secular but at the State level is where you get into some religious stuff.

[PETA]

Originally Posted by -m-

From my understanding, at a Federal level we're secular but at the State level is where you get into some religious stuff.

At NO level of government is it sectarian. We don't have a state religion as a matter of law. Nothing in the Establishment Clause precludes memers of government from being religious, expressing those views and using that background to guide their choices. It does prevent them from requiring others to be religious, express those views and have their choices guided through that filter.

[-m-]

Sectarian? I was just saying that you don't see as much religious stuff aside from the mention of "God", which can be interpreted universally, at the Federal level. But State constitutions like Alabama and Texas still have straight up scripture in them. And from my understanding that was part of the architect's design to get everyone on the same page. Let the pious run their own back yards how they wish but not allow it to dictate how everyone else runs their back yard. Does that make sense?