This is a major problem I have with McCain specifically, and the Republican party in it's current incarnation. To believe this one must have never actually read the constitution.
I do not disagree with his assertion of a founding on "Christian principles," (honesty, charity, hard work, kindness, love, etc.) but that is very different from being a "Christian Nation." The authors of the Constitution went to great pains to insure religious freedom. A government cannot insure religious freedom for all if it endorses one religion.
He also demonstrates his lack of historical knowledge when he compares "In God We Trust" with Jefferson's "created equal." As I'm sure you know, our very Christian national motto did not become such until about a month before John McCain's 20th birthday in 1956. So he was either not paying attention to politics yet, or he's being disingenuous here. (I use the same argument with Stars and Bars wavers that pretend they're only celebrating our heritage.) Not only that, but Jefferson himself would meet no definition of Christian used by today's right. He was a deist. Not only that, but he created an edited version of the New Testament that eliminated Christ's miracles and ended at his burial, thus changing it from a supernatural text to a moral guide only.
Founded on Christian principles? Sure, the ones that focus on being moral and that all major religions share. Christian nation? Nope.
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Car magnets bearing the Ten Commandments and describing them as the foundation of our nation are popular in these parts. They really annoy me.
Haven't these people heard of the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution and its Bill of Rights?
By my count, four of the commandments directly conflict with the First Amendment (no other god, no false idols, use of the Lord's name, and the sabbath). The prohibitions against murder, theft, and perjury are common to all nations of laws and would exist without the Ten Commandments. The parts about honoring your father and your mother and coveting are basically irrelevant. Finally, the absence of adultery is hardly the sine qua non of a democratic republic.
You can have religious freedom while endorsing a particular religion. Ask Europe.
Maybe, but Curt was implying an endorsement that requires some compliance on the part of the citizenry. It doesn't really matter, though, because the First Amendment prohibits endorsement of one religion.
While we're on the subject, why the focus among modern Christians on the Ten Commandments and the Old Testament? Aren't the Beatitudes and the New Testament a clearer statement of Jesus' teachings?
I don't know. I'm Catholic. I'm unfamiliar with these terms. Old and New Testament? Beatitudes? What's that?
Toluene just obeys the dude in the funny hat.
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