Were We Ever A Christian Country?

June 08, 2021

We Say One Thing, Our Actions Throughout History Says Another

We are defined by what we are taught. For many, idealism and objective facts become one and the same. Many don't seek knowledge or information, but a pep rally populated by pretty cheerleaders screaming at the top of their lungs. It's in this environment that folklore such Washington not telling a lie or chopping down that cherry tree become validated facts for those who want that sugar-coated history. One can't blame those who latched onto such stories though. They sound great.

Besides, their are many things that we should be proud of. We fought for our independence against a superpower and won. We reunited a country after a bunch of spoiled brats succeeded because they selfishly wanted things their way. We freed millions in the process. We built up a industrial powerhouse built on the hard work of immigrants who made great contributions. We stopped a unfunny and insane Charlie Chaplin impersonator from Germany who conquered half of Europe. We eventually liberated half of the continent with international support. We went to space and put a man on the moon. The digital revolution started in our country. Their are too many contributions to count.

However, blood was shed and people were hurt in that drive for greatness. For many who settled here, Christianity didn't become a instrument of spiritual outreach and Salvation, but a tool to control people. Many of these self-righteous, insincere Christians would use their faith as a weapon to justify the enslavement of millions in bondage because of the color of there skin. These actions were justified as they were quote "doing them a favor". Many who professed the name of Christ terrorized those newly freed slaves in the name of Jesus. Many who professed the name of Christ drove hundreds of thousands off of there native lands into reservations because it was quote “God’s Destiny”. The Native Americans were pushed out of the only homes that they ever knew. What was their only crime: they weren't white. Factory workers were overworked, abused and punished by industry titans who justified there cruel work ethic by declaring that it was their quote “God Given Right” to do so.

Many professing the name of Christ continued to humiliate those with different skin color through segregation. While many were paranoid of that Communist Revolution that was never going to happen, many were oblivious to the real terror that the KKK was causing.

While we wanted to live by the ideal of the “City on the Hill”, reality and idealism rarely meet. Our country is an awesome as stated before. Our ideals is what gives us our unique identity. However, we failed to live up to the very ideals that define us. We are haunted by some very overbearing demons. There is nothing wrong with saying that we’re not perfect. We do not become unpatriotic Americans when we state that our country isn't perfect. We can address our wrongs and strive for those ideals that we always championed.

The Screams Of The Self-Righteous

For many Christians consumed by their own hubris, this can be a bit of a challenge as they feel that their is nothing to apologize for. Many blindly believe that everything we did was justified because all of our actions are noble and righteous. Thus, we're incapable of doing anything wrong, and as such, all the pain and suffering inflicted on others in the past becomes justified. Idealism becomes confused with facts as one watches our history through the lens of that 1950's family sitcom that never was while claiming that we lost our way. For those living in that echo chamber that is their spiritual ivory tower, many of these Christians blinded by their own arrogance will scream that we need to go back to our Christian roots. These Christians talk about that perfect Christian paradise (that never existed) that was robbed from them by quote “they“.

Once one moves past that Christian utopia that never existed, one wonders if we were ever a Christian country to begin with. Our country has always been consumed by its inner-demons. These Christians who buried those demons while constructing their spiritual ivory tower screech out at the top of their lungs that we need to quote “taking back the country”. However, are there genuinely concerned about spiritual outreach or are they just consumed with power, privileged, and control?

For these Christians, the red carpet was for them and them alone. It was all about them and nobody else. Chrsitniaty wasn't a instrument for spiritual outreach, but a tool of social control. When these Christians didn't get that red-carpet treatment, they started to weaponize their faith. They pass of their annoyances off as "persecutions" while claiming that they are quote “under assault” and that there faith is being attacked. Many took to conspiracy theories implicating corporate media, the government, and public education conspiring together to hide the quote "truth" (their might be some lizard people in their somewhere, or Alex Jones in a lizard costume).

Many screamed about the removal of the Ten Commandments at the top of there lungs. However did people keep God’s law in there hearts while those tablets were there. Crime was still rampant while those stones were there. The vices that defined humanity still occurred regardless of whether those stones were there.

People didn’t keep God’s law in there hearts while those stones were in front of the courthouses, so why are they getting upset now? Why are many upset that the stones were being removed despite them not following God’s law. Shouldn’t those who professed God’s law have been upholding it the whole time, and not show concern until the stones were removed. Where they genuinely concerned about spirituality or where they simply upset at what they perceive to be as a loss for quote “Team God”, as if this was a empty contest. People who see spirituality as if its some sort of contest have very misplaced priorities. At this point, it doesn't really matter as the self-righteous will flood Facebook with barren memes anyway, because apparently, your spirituality is now defined by whatever worthless memes you post on Facebook.

For One Full Of Faith, The Very Idea Of A "Christian Country" Is Full Of Contradictions

There is another reason why out country isn’t a Christian country. Jesus was to bring Salvation, and not to establish a new order. Jesus wanted people to have that relationship with God, not use his spiritual movement as a tool for social and political control. Jesus wasn't out to create a country in his own image. While Jesus acknowledged the political order of his day, he wasn't consumed by it. He placed distance between politics as they served as a massive distraction in his ministry. He wanted Christians to avoid such obsessions as well.

Jesus knew that if Christians tried to make there own country, they would push his teachings by the side and focus on what there own idea of what a quote “Christian” is. Striving for political control would have been a massive distraction to Jesus’s ministry if he allowed it. When people pray for this, they are not concerned about people’s spiritual well-being, but for control. As such, even the very idea of a "Christian country" is an contradiction to Christianity itself for that very reason.

Our Founding Fathers were devout Christians. They did make this country for Christians. However, they just didn’t make this country for Christians alone. They saw the privileges afforded to Christians and they wanted a country where those privileges could be reflected back in kind to anybody, regardless of there religious or political affiliation. They saw the Golden Rule, and they took it to a whole new level.

Our Founding Fathers saw what the state religion and theocracies of Europe looked like, and it terrified them. They saw how the state churches of Europe horribly abused there positions for the sake of power. They didn’t want to replicate that in there grand experiment. Theocracies are bad, regardless of the religion. Apparently, WallBuilders didn't get that memo though.

When people start lusting for power, spirituality takes a back seat for control. The ideals of that Christian country would never be realized because those leading it would always be consumed with fulfilling what there idea of what quote “Christianity” should be. In short, Christians reach there greatest potential when they focus solely on spiritual outreach. Those consumed with power and control aren't living by the teachings of Jesus. Otherwise, they wouldn't be asking for something that serves as a complete contradiction.

When One Lives False Mental Images

Several consumed by their own mental images see the occurrence of bad events as a very recent development. Several have been so consumed by there own wants and demands that they been blind and oblivious to the fact that bad things occurring was always a thing. Those who feel that they need to get on the ball now because of perceived urgency have neglected their spiritual duties for the longest of times. Those spiritual duties and needs have always been there. Nothing changed, except for one’s dismissive approach to there duties and general apathy for the suffering of others.

These Christians, consumed with power and privilege, have long neglected there spiritual duty. Not wanting to blame themselves (because its never their fault), these Christians will look for scapegoats to blame for there own failures and shortcomings. Secularism is often a popular scapegoat. Personally, I feel that one of the reasons why many gravitate towards conspiracy theories is because we don’t want to blame ourselves. The buck is passed when blame is deflected somewhere else and the more elaborate the plot is, the better.

Christians that cave into there inner fears become there own worst enemy. The biggest threat to Christianity isn’t secularism or Radical Islam, but the person in the mirror who’s angry because there self-imposed idea of what Christianity should be hasn't been realized.

Conclusion

Free from the pursuit of theocracies, the churches now have much more freedom in outreach. The separation of church meant that churches were free from the pursuit of political power, so they could concentrate even more on outreach as they wouldn’t be consumed by control. Our Founding Fathers were devout Christians. Yet, the fact that they worked the separation of church and state into our framework. This showed how important this concept was to them. They were first hand witness to theocracies and state religions, and they saw there shortcomings and failures.

The state churches of Europe was a demonstration of when an idea that is contradictory to Christianity is passed off as such. The idea of theocracies crashes and burns because it wasn't about spirituality, but control. The theocracies of old are gone. They became buried in the past where they should remain. It's now time for others to reap the benefits of civic freedoms that have been exclusive to Christians for the longest of time.

Satan is real. Satan is very real. Satan is running without restraint. He’s called fear, paranoia, ignorance, and arrogance. When we embrace these attributes, we become there own worst enemy. We start seeing boogeymen that aren’t there. We will blindly believe whatever conspiracy theory that comes our way. Our inner demons become as real as mathematical formulas. There is no restraint shown.

Recognizing our faults and shortcomings will help us realize what we must do in order to reach are full potential spiritually. We can move on beyond our fears, preconceived biases, and prejudices and reach out as part of a ministry that helps those in need of Salvation. One we realize that Christianity is and isn’t, we can start embracing the teachings of Christ. Reaching out to the poor and those in need. Reaching out to those going through hard times by lending that helping hand. Giving that person a bottle water, cup of coffee, and that shoulder to cry on when going through intense pain. Maybe that person just wants to listen. Lend them your ear (not literally of course). From there pray, for guidance and strength to get you through the day. Jesus will provide you that strength when you ask for it.

Patheos - We Will Never Be What We Claim to Be Until We Face Who We Really Are - https://www.patheos.com/blogs/shanephipps/2019/08/22/we-will-never-be-what-we-claim-to-be-until-we-face-who-we-really-are/

Patheos - Christian: You Are Upset About the Wrong Things
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/unfundamentalistchristians/2017/06/christian-upset-wrong-things/

Patheos : Unbelievable - https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2019/03/19/unbelievable/
Patheos : 3 Reasons Evangelical Christians Fall for Conspiracy Theories - https://www.patheos.com/blogs/jaysondbradley/2020/05/3-reasons-evangelical-christians-fall-for-conspiracy-theories/

GotQuestions : What is Christian dominionism? - https://www.gotquestions.org/Christian-dominionism.html

Wikipedia - Christian Nationalism : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_nationalism

Dominionism (RationalWiki) : https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Dominionism

What is the seven mountain mandate, and is it biblical? https://www.gotquestions.org/seven-mountain-mandate.html
Politico - Billy Graham Built a Movement. Now His Son Is Dismantling It. https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/02/24/billy-graham-evangelical-decline-franklin-graham-...
Snopes - Did Billy Graham Warn Against Mixing Religion and Politics? : https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/billy-graham-mixing-religion-politics/
NPR - Billy Graham Walked A Line, And Regretted Crossing Over It, When It Came To Politics : https://www.npr.org/2018/02/24/587809173/billy-graham-walked-a-line-and-regretted-crossing-over-it-w...

The Conspiracy Gospel : Spiritual Exploitation of Fear

Bad History : WallBuilders

WallBuilders : Importance of Morality and Religion in Government - https://wallbuilders.com/importance-morality-religion-government/

MBFC : WallBuilders - https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/wallbuilders/

SPLC : David Barton's Make-Believe Version of American History - https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2012/08/24/david-bartons-make-believe-version-american-history

Actual History

Smithsonian Magazine : America’s True History of Religious Tolerance - https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/americas-true-history-of-religious-tolerance-61312684/

Monticello : Jefferson's Religious Beliefs - https://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/jeffersons-religious-beliefs

Wikipedia : Article Six of the United States Constitution - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_Six_of_the_United_States_Constitution

Wikipedia : Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Statute_for_Religious_Freedom

Wikipedia : Deism - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deism

Wikipedia : Deism # Deism in the United States - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deism

Wikipedia : Theism - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theism

Wikipedia : Age of Enlightenment # Religion -https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Enlightenment#Religion

Wikipedia :First Amendment to the United States Constitution - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution

Wikipedia : Separation of church and state in the United States - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_church_and_state_in_the_United_States

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Were We Ever A Christian Country?

We Say One Thing, Our Actions Throughout History Says Another

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