Our Secular Legacy
By Steve Berthiaume
It seems we can hardly turn the corner these days without bumping into a "God Bless America" sign. In the wake of September 11th, the recent Pledge ruling, and our war on Islamic terror, it has become fashionable to make one's adherence to religion (in particular Protestant Christianity) a prerequisite for being able to express one's love of country. The flag and the Christian God have become so synonymous, in fact, that Christian god-belief now seems necessarily implied wherever the flag is displayed, whether on storefront, car bumper, or lapel pin.
The mob mentality driving the idea of the United States being a Christian nation ignores an inconvenient fact: many of the most important figures in American history were non-believers.
Take the Founding Fathers, for example: Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison -- not a Christian among them! They considered themselves "Deists"; that is, they believed in an impersonal Creator, unconcerned with human affairs, and certainly not one to worship. The Deism of Jefferson et al is particularly evident in the Declaration of Independence, which refers to "Nature's God" and man's "Creator"; generic terms that made clear to King George that the new colonies were no longer subject to his Christian authority.
The Founding Fathers also made their contempt for religion clear in their personal writings. Jefferson: "Christianity neither is, nor ever was, a part of the common law." Washington: "The United States of America should have a foundation free from the influence of clergy." Madison: "Religious bondage shackles and debilitates the mind and unfits it for every noble enterprise." John Adams: "This would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it." Hardly the sentiments of even liberal Christians!
Perhaps most damaging to Christian America's self-image is the Treaty of Tripoli (1797), which states in part, "The government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion." The treaty was approved unanimously by the Congress of our nascent secular nation.
Since our country's rejection of divine authority, other Atheists and Freethinkers have continued to pave the way for the rest of society, fighting, for example, against Biblical sanctions of slavery and misogyny. That's right ladies, if you think Religion helped to get women the rights they have today, think again. Suffragettes were led by, among others, Elisabeth Cady Stanton ("The Bible and the Church have been the greatest stumbling blocks in the way of womens' emancipation.") and Susan B. Anthony ("To no form of religion is woman indebted for one impulse of freedom.") Do you practice birth control? Thank Margaret Sanger ("No gods, no masters") and Bill Baird, who's still working hard fighting for reproductive freedom.
What does such a list say about our American way of life? I believe that it shows that despite President Bush's recent declaration to the Chinese that "America is a nation guided by Faith," many of our most unique and cherished American ideals were developed while fighting the oppressive religious mentality of the 18th and 19th centuries. Our government "of, by and for the people," for example, is a direct refutation of the idea that leaders are granted their power by a god.
Where are these battles taking place today? America's tolerance of religious freedom and our fluid Constitution will ensure that Church-State Separation issues will always be with us, but I think the major issues to which our descendents will look as representative of our generation's contribution to the American Ideal are the so-called "Soul Issues": Abortion, Stem-Cell Research, Cloning, and Euthanasia. Reminiscent of the 16th-Century European battles between Religion and Science over the doctrines of Heliocentricity and the Spherical Earth, these issues promise great benefits for all humankind, but further threaten the ever-diminishing relevance of Religion in a modern world.
America, in the 21st Century, stands at a crossroads. Are we to be at the forefront of social revolution once again, fighting the stranglehold of Religion on human advancement? Or will we come to be seen by our progressive European allies as the Christian equivalent of the Taliban -- oppressing its citizens with fabricated religious dogma? It is the duty of all who love freedom to ensure that our secular heritage remains intact.
By Steve Berthiaume
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The mob mentality driving the idea of the United States being a Christian nation ignores an inconvenient fact: many of the most important figures in American history were non-believers.
Take the Founding Fathers, for example: Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison -- not a Christian among them! They considered themselves "Deists"; that is, they believed in an impersonal Creator, unconcerned with human affairs, and certainly not one to worship. The Deism of Jefferson et al is particularly evident in the Declaration of Independence, which refers to "Nature's God" and man's "Creator"; generic terms that made clear to King George that the new colonies were no longer subject to his Christian authority.
The Founding Fathers also made their contempt for religion clear in their personal writings. Jefferson: "Christianity neither is, nor ever was, a part of the common law." Washington: "The United States of America should have a foundation free from the influence of clergy." Madison: "Religious bondage shackles and debilitates the mind and unfits it for every noble enterprise." John Adams: "This would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it." Hardly the sentiments of even liberal Christians!
Perhaps most damaging to Christian America's self-image is the Treaty of Tripoli (1797), which states in part, "The government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion." The treaty was approved unanimously by the Congress of our nascent secular nation.
Since our country's rejection of divine authority, other Atheists and Freethinkers have continued to pave the way for the rest of society, fighting, for example, against Biblical sanctions of slavery and misogyny. That's right ladies, if you think Religion helped to get women the rights they have today, think again. Suffragettes were led by, among others, Elisabeth Cady Stanton ("The Bible and the Church have been the greatest stumbling blocks in the way of womens' emancipation.") and Susan B. Anthony ("To no form of religion is woman indebted for one impulse of freedom.") Do you practice birth control? Thank Margaret Sanger ("No gods, no masters") and Bill Baird, who's still working hard fighting for reproductive freedom.
What does such a list say about our American way of life? I believe that it shows that despite President Bush's recent declaration to the Chinese that "America is a nation guided by Faith," many of our most unique and cherished American ideals were developed while fighting the oppressive religious mentality of the 18th and 19th centuries. Our government "of, by and for the people," for example, is a direct refutation of the idea that leaders are granted their power by a god.
Where are these battles taking place today? America's tolerance of religious freedom and our fluid Constitution will ensure that Church-State Separation issues will always be with us, but I think the major issues to which our descendents will look as representative of our generation's contribution to the American Ideal are the so-called "Soul Issues": Abortion, Stem-Cell Research, Cloning, and Euthanasia. Reminiscent of the 16th-Century European battles between Religion and Science over the doctrines of Heliocentricity and the Spherical Earth, these issues promise great benefits for all humankind, but further threaten the ever-diminishing relevance of Religion in a modern world.
America, in the 21st Century, stands at a crossroads. Are we to be at the forefront of social revolution once again, fighting the stranglehold of Religion on human advancement? Or will we come to be seen by our progressive European allies as the Christian equivalent of the Taliban -- oppressing its citizens with fabricated religious dogma? It is the duty of all who love freedom to ensure that our secular heritage remains intact.
October 23, 2002