Stuart Whatley: The Dangers of Seeing America as a 'Christian Nation'
[Stuart Whatley is a writer and journalist in Washington.]
...A hefty segment of American Christians believes that its specific version of God is the inspiration for all men’s conception of freedom. If the United States is a wholly Christian nation then the syllogism follows that the liberty it affords to all is specifically Christian-furnished....
When the Roman Emperor Constantine first brought Christianity into the political fold, his motivation was purely autocratic. And most of the centuries of Roman Catholic rule that followed were not kind to individual liberty. The 16th-century Reformation challenged the extant church-state alliance and certainly embraced a fresh platform of human individuality in religious affairs, but to say that Protestantism championed democratic political liberties – as many do – goes too far.
Martin Luther and his immediate followers opposed all calls for a popular revolution and, according to the English historian Lord Acton, “constantly condemned the democratic literature that arose in the second age of the Reformation.” According to Acton, even John Calvin, despite his moderate republican leanings, saw the general populace as “unfit to govern themselves,” and instead advocated a form of aristocratic rule.
Thus historical arguments for Christianity’s role in securing the modern American notion of freedom are seriously impaired, as there is equally compelling evidence opposed as in support.
Read entire article at CS Monitor
...A hefty segment of American Christians believes that its specific version of God is the inspiration for all men’s conception of freedom. If the United States is a wholly Christian nation then the syllogism follows that the liberty it affords to all is specifically Christian-furnished....
When the Roman Emperor Constantine first brought Christianity into the political fold, his motivation was purely autocratic. And most of the centuries of Roman Catholic rule that followed were not kind to individual liberty. The 16th-century Reformation challenged the extant church-state alliance and certainly embraced a fresh platform of human individuality in religious affairs, but to say that Protestantism championed democratic political liberties – as many do – goes too far.
Martin Luther and his immediate followers opposed all calls for a popular revolution and, according to the English historian Lord Acton, “constantly condemned the democratic literature that arose in the second age of the Reformation.” According to Acton, even John Calvin, despite his moderate republican leanings, saw the general populace as “unfit to govern themselves,” and instead advocated a form of aristocratic rule.
Thus historical arguments for Christianity’s role in securing the modern American notion of freedom are seriously impaired, as there is equally compelling evidence opposed as in support.