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It has become common in Christian circles in the United States of America to assert that the country was founded on Christian principles and is therefore a Christian nation, though after the 1930's anti-Semitism in Germany, sometimes defined as being a Judeo-Christian nation.
non-conformist religious origin of many of America's early settlers, such as the 41 Pilgrim Fathers who signed the Mayflower Compact, the Quaker religious background to the founding of Pennsylvania, the Calvinism of Massachusetts, etc. have been material used in the development of this myth. Sentiment aside however, the eventual formation of the United States of America and its founding leaders held a very different position.
One Nation Under God
1797, an international treaty of twelve articles, known as the Treaty of Tripoli, which had been negotiated under George Washington, was ratified by the American Senate on June 7, and then proclaimed by President John Adams on June 10 of that year, which stated in its Article Eleven –
| " | As the Government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity, against the laws of religion, or tranquillity of Musselmen [Muslims]; and as the said States never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mehometan [Mohammedan] nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries." (emphasis mine). |
This article was part of a Treaty negotiated in an attempt to stop piracy on American ships along the Barbary coast of North Africa. |
article, entitled Religious Liberty, was dishonestly omitted from the Arabic version of the Treaty for obvious reasons in a Muslim religious state.
a consequence, some in opposing the actions of the United States Supreme Court in 1947 (Everson school bus case) and 1948 (McCollum 'released time' case) concerning America as a secular state have also tried to cast doubt on the existence of the above article in the agreement ratified by the US Senate in 1797, by pretending that the Arabic version was the true version.
the religious liberty reflected in this Article simply expresses a national doctrine formulated by Roger Williams and later championed by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison (so-called 'Father of the Constitution') – that the American government has no competence in matters of religion and must preserve a strict neutrality toward persons of all faiths and of none.
some of these myth-makers have denigrated President Obama's consistency with this as a betrayal of America's past.
it is written to Christians as a precondition that –
| "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." |
as the Lord Jesus said that "by their fruit you will know them" (Matt.7:20), behaviour attests spiritual identity, the outward (international) behaviour of the United States thus expresses its national spiritual identity.
'Hypocrisy Unlimited'
instance:
| 1. | The American veto (in the United Nations Security Council) of all appeals by its peace keeping force in Rwanda to prevent the resulting genocide of 800,000 men women and children; and the subsequent refusal by the White House spokesperson to even define the horrific mass killings as genocide – "acts of genocide have taken place but we would not call it genocide" simply in order to avoid it becoming necessary for the UN to take action if it were defined as 'genocide'. |
| 2. | The US opposition to the International Criminal Court (ICC) founded in 2002 to investigate and prosecute individuals suspected of having committed – genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. |
| One | month after the International Criminal Court (ICC) officially came into existence on July 1, 2002, the US President signed the American Service members’ Protection Act (ASPA), which – • limits U.S. government support and assistance to the ICC; • curtails certain military assistance to many countries that have ratified the Rome Statute establishing the ICC; • regulates U.S. participation in United Nations peacekeeping missions commenced after July 1, 2003; and then, most controversially among its European allies, • authorizes the President to use “all means necessary and appropriate to bring about the release” of certain U.S. and allied persons who may be detained or tried by the International Criminal Court. |
| The | provision withholding military assistance under the programs for Foreign Military Financing (FMF) and International Military Education and Training (IMET) from certain States Parties to the ICC Rome Statute came into effect on July 1, 2003.
The 109th Congress re-authorized the Nethercutt Amendment as part of the FY2006 Consolidated Appropriations Act (H.R. 3057/P.L. 109-102). Unless waived by the President, it bars Economic Support Funds (ESF) assistance to countries that have not agreed to protect U.S. citizens from being turned over to the ICC for criminal prosecution. The Bush Administration firmly opposed the ICC and renounced any U.S. obligations under the treaty. |
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be understood then that for communities in foreign nations who have suffered at the hands of the US military machine either deliberately or by accident, to identify the United Sates to them as Christian is to blaspheme Christ and the essential nature of Christianity. Separation of Church and State is more than a principle.
