Rep. Mike Johnson, the newly elected Republican House speaker, used to conduct a seminar in churches premised on the idea that the United States is a āChristian nation.ā This ministry, as he has referred to it, is yet more evidence that Johnson is committed to a hardcore Christian fundamentalism that shapes his views of politics and government.
The seminar, titled āAnswers for Our Times: Government, Culture, and Christianity,ā was organized by Onward Christian Education Services, Inc., a company owned by his wife, Kelly Johnson, a Christian counselor and anti-abortion activist who calls herself a āleader in the pro-family movement.ā The website for her counseling serviceāwhich was taken down shortly after Johnson became speakerādescribed the seminar, which featured both her and Johnson, as exploring several questions, such as, āWhat is happening in America and how do we fix it?ā The list includes this query: āCan our heritage as a Christian nation be preserved?ā There were different versions of the seminar running from two-hour-long lectures to retreats lasting two days.
If there is a certain type of Merrikan that is truly insufferable, itās those that claim this is a xtian country.
This is the first instance of a country that was spelled out as a secular one, in writing. Not one reference to any god or gods, including their Yahweh/Allah/Jehovah. And for the dingleberries that want to hang their argument on the mechanism of dating used (anno domini) - LOL.
The closest America comes is in the Declaration of Independence:
āTheir Creatorā is about as non-denominational as it gets. Itās not like itās saying āendowed by Jesus God.ā Itās more of a generic āmen are born with these rightsā statement than any statement of religion.
Yet the Christian Fundamentalists will point to that and say āSee? That means God and clearly it refers to our God so that means itās a Christian country!ā
Oh, and a big reason why the US is secular? We broke off from England where the king was the head of the Church. If you werenāt part of the Church of England, you were persecuted against. The founding fathers were trying to avoid that in the US.
Yep, good points. Even though the Declaration holds no legal bearing, they will try to point to that (but ignore the Treaty of Tripoli, LOL). Though I think some of todayās Christopaths would probably burn the Deist Founders as heretics if they had the chance.
Lastly, yes, the Founders were well aware of the worst impulses and excesses of religion that is given any power, given that the Inquisition was still going during their lifetimes. Given that many were Deists, surely they had to know that kind of heresy [1] would not be tolerated by the most fanatical of xtians.
[1] - Heresy literally means āchoiceā. Kind of ironic that todayās right wing that has co-opted terms like ālibertyā and āfreedomā are the very ones that would be Americaās own Morality Police, zealously trying to stamp out any and all heresy (choice) if they had the chance. Also, the same bunch constantly concern troll over things like āShariah Lawā - more irony, I guess, since they only differ on small matters of doctrine dealing with unverifiable superstitions, but donāt really differ at all on the outcomes and the methods on who should be subjugated (women, LGBTQ, the āotherā faiths).