The historical lie that the United States is a Christian nation

Whenever an American politician wants to unethically exploit religion for political purposes (for example, John McCain selling his soul in the 2008 presidential elections - see below), he will joyfully refer to the United States as "Christian nation". Same-sex marriage - not something for a Christian nation. Stem cell research - not something for a Christian nation. One problem - constitutionally, legislatively and historically - the United States is NOT A CHRISTIAN NATION. For example, legally the United States is not a Christian nation:



Historically, the Founding Fathers not only stated that the United States was not a Christian nation, but many of them had very skeptical views about the authenticity of Christianity, with Thomas Jefferson going so far as to prepare the Jefferson New Testament, in which he kept the nice sayings of Jesus and cut out the mythical, fairy tale stuff.

John Adams, Ben Franklin, and James Madison are clearly on record as being for the prohibition on religious tests, and Washington was the chair of the Constitutional Convention that passed it. Madison was also one of the people most active in getting the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom passed, which Jefferson wrote. The first seven (actually, apparently at least the first 19) Presidents were all for a secular Republic and weren't even Christians themselves.

Finally, since the majority of citizens of the United States are not Jews, and since Jesus of Nazareth repeatedly stated his message was only for Jews: "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel (Mathew 15:24, 10:6)", then the United States can never be a Christian nation, at least according to Jesus.

Some historical quotes from America's Founding Fathers:

George Washington, 1st President (1789-1797): "... the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion ...", Source: The "Treaty of Tripoli," negotiated and signed by the First President of the United States, on November 4, 1796

John Adams, 2nd President (1797-1801): "This would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religions in it."Source: A letter to Thomas Jefferson, May 15, 1817

Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President (1801-1809) "Christianity ... (has become) the most perverted system that ever shone on man. ... Rogueries, absurdities and untruths were perpetrated upon the teachings of Jesus by a large band of dupes and importers ..." Source: Six Historic Americans, by John E. Remsberg

James Madison, 4th President (1809-1817), often called the Father of the Constitution: "Religious bondage shackles and debilitates the mind and unfits it for every noble enterprise."Source: Letter to William Bradford, April 1, 1774

Benjamin Franklin: "I have found Christian dogma unintelligible. Early in life I absented myself from Christian assemblies."Source: "Toward the Mystery"

Thomas Jefferson: "In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot ..." Source: Thomas Jefferson letter to Horatio G. Spafford, 1814.

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865): "The Bible is not my book, and Christianity is not my religion. I could never give assent to the long, complicated statements of Christian dogma." Sources: Salvation for Sale, Gerard Thomas Straub; also quoted by Joseph Lewis



"I could not do otherwise without transcending the limits prescribed by the Constitution for the President and without feeling that I might in some degree disturb the security which religion nowadays enjoys in this country in its complete separation from the political concerns of the General Government."U.S. President Andrew Jackson, 12 June 1832, letter to the Synod of the Reformed Church of North America, explaining his refusal of their request that he proclaim a "day of fasting, humiliation, and prayer."

"...Is it not strange that the descendants of those Pilgrim Fathers who crossed the Atlantic to preserve their own freedom have always proved the most intolerant of the spiritual liberty of others?" Robert E. Lee, in a Letter to President Pierce

Not a single one of the first seven presidents was a Christian in the sense most people then accepted (believer in the Trinity, member of a church, and partaker of communion):
--Six Historic Americans, George Washington, by John E. Remsburg, 1906

From the U.S. Constitution written by the non-Christian Founding Fathers, which never mentions God or Jesus, but does mention religion twice to state that the federal government should stay out of religion:


This link has details on how God was voted out of the Constitution: (

As an example of a politician unethically exploiting religion for personal gain, we have John McCain, a long time U.S. Senator who should know something about the Constitution, stating the following in an interview for the Web site (from a New York Times article):

Senator John McCain said in an interview posted on the Internet on Saturday (9/29/2007) that the Constitution established the United States as a Christian nation ... "I just have to say in all candor that since this nation was founded primarily on Christian principles ... Mr McCain said in the interview that he agreed with the results of a poll that showed that a majority of Americans believe the Constitution establishes a Christian nation. ... "I would probably have to say, yes, that the Constitution established the United States of America as a Christian nation."
These statements are false, and Senator McCain knows so. That he lied for votes is unethical. And all that the poll shows is that churches refuse to teach their members much of the truth.