Capstone Paper (Essay Sample)

U.S HISTORY
Name:
Institution:
Introduction
United States of America and religion is a vast topic that stretches back to centuries back prior to American Revolution.America is a nation of pluralism in religion which is imminent in its multi-cultural base. To be unique to Christianity, it was introduced to America by Europeans who were escaping religious oppression from the Roman Catholic Church which was state-affiliated back in Europe. Those who flew had a mission of developing churches that were independent of the state. This led to a series of amendments that later gave birth to various denominations that exist in the current United States (Keillor, 2006). However, this leads to a big question; Was America founded as a Christian nation and should it pursue a unique identity of a Christian nation?
Definition of terms
Religion is a set of beliefs, customs or norms that are practised and are assumed to be in context with human being’s relationship with God
Christianity is a religion based on the person and the teachings of Christ.
A Christian nation is a nation that has laws that enforce the doctrines of Christianity
The question ‘Was America founded as a Christian nation and should it pursue a unique identity of a Christian nation’ does not require a yes or any answer. This is because of it being a subject of evidence from colonial, revolutionary and constitutional conventions of the American foundation and not patterns of behaviour of Americans over time. The topic has been subject to lots of discussions over the years by clergy, lawyers, judges, scholars and historians. According to this context, America was founded in its colonial days by Christian forefathers and later the constitutional convention which championed for equality irrespective of religion. This shaped the American Revolution.
America is not founded as a Christian nation.
A Christian nation from its definition means that all preferences whether economic, political or social should be awarded to those who follow the doctrines of Christian faith. This sparks controversy because the constitution is a secular document that was written by the American forefathers who were so aware of the dangers of state-affiliated churches in Europe. This union between church and the government in Europe had led to human oppression and discrimination (Keillor, 2006).
The constitution in all its chapters does not give a particular recognition to Christianity. There are no privileges awarded to Christians whether social, economic or political. The article of the constitution is, in fact, concrete by banning religious tests in the resumption of public office.This guarantees both Christians and non-Christians to hold a federal or public office. This is a clear indication of the nation not being constitutionally built on Christian foundation.
The declaration of independence is another document that many base on saying that America is a Christian nation. The paper mentions God. However, the God in the statement does not describe a Christian God. “The laws of nature and nature’s God.” This as well fails to explain the country’s independence based on Christian faith.
Article XI of the Treaty of Tripoli, which was a significant declaration of separation of the nation from Britain and depicted how the future government was going to be upheld observed everyone as equal. The speech dos not depict rights reserved for Christians nor anything about the country being based on Christian foundation. The common law in the treaty of Napoli was again misinterpreted by Christians to mean Christian organizations. The common law instead originated from the settlement of the Saxons in England which originated from the Romans which over time had developed on independent lines.
The American forefathers were not conservative Christians. John Adams, for example, was a Unitarian, who refused to believe the core concepts of Christian faith and in his papers considered them incomprehensible. Gorge Washington in the other hand, though being an Anglican, assured American Jews that they would enjoy complete religious liberty in the new nation. Gorge Washington, who is the American renowned founding father, outlines a vision that has nothing about a Christian nation (Pynn, 2001, March 22).
Thomas Jefferson, the third president an Orthodox Christian admired Jesus as a moral teacher. He even edited the New Testament cutting away the stories of miracles and divinity and leaving behind a very human Jesus. This shows that he was only interested in the morality aspect of Christianity and not the core.
The American constitution was amended September 1787 and five years later in 1793 conservative Christian ministers realized that the document was secular and not officially Christian. They then pushed for amendments. This led to the formation of National Reform Association (NRA) which pushed for various reforms like no commercial activity on Sunday and mandating worship in Protestant schools. Most of the reforms were successful except the passage of America being termed as a Christian nation.

America founded as a Christian nation
Bible-believing Christians founded America as a nation and based on Christian principles. The forefathers had a vision of a government that that would promote Christianity. This is evident by the educational set-up of American universities. All but 2 of the first 100 colleges were Christian. This can be a clear evidence of how the nation wanted to pass knowledge to their future generations; according to the person and teachings of Jesus Christ (Carey, 2005).
When the American Constitution was amended in September 1787, it was signed and ratified by delegates in the year to date called “year of our Lord”. Christians felt it made a direct reference to Christianity. This is found ...