So let’s talk about this cute little bedtime story: “The United States was founded on Christian principles.”
Because nothing says “Christian nation” quite like a government that goes out of its way, in an official treaty, to say:
“The Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.”
Not “a little.”
Not “partially.”
Not “spiritually aligned.”
In. Any. Sense.
You know how strong that is? That’s diplomatic language for “Stop projecting your theology onto our foreign policy.”
This wasn’t some blog post. This wasn’t a drunk tweet. This was a treaty — a legal, ratified document. Unanimously approved by the U.S. Senate and signed by President John Adams, one of the big‑name Founding Fathers. The same crowd people love to quote when they’re yelling about “Christian America” on talk radio.
So here’s the picture:
- On Sunday, the myth says they were holding hands, humming hymns, founding a holy republic.
- On Monday, they’re telling a Muslim state: “Relax, our government isn’t Christian at all, we’re not in a religious war with you, we don’t do that here.”
If that’s a “Christian nation,” it’s a very interesting kind of Christianity where the official line is:
“We’re not Christian. Please don’t shoot our ships.”
And then, 200+ years later, you get people saying, “The Founders clearly intended a Christian nation.”
Really? These Founders? The ones whose treaty explicitly says the government is not founded on Christianity, and who signed their names to it like it was no big deal?
- John Adams: signed it.
- The Senate of the United States: unanimously ratified it.
- Nobody stood up and said, “Hold on, this says we’re not founded on Christianity; we need to fix that, we’re a Jesus start‑up!”
Nope. They read it, nodded, and said, “Looks good. Send it.”
If they truly believed the government rested on Christian foundations, this is where they would have drawn the line. This is where some pious senator would have stood up and said: “Excuse me, Mister President, we can’t tell the world we’re not founded on Christianity. That’s our whole brand!” But they didn’t. Because that wasn’t the brand.
So now, centuries later, here comes the modern “Christian nation” crowd, trying to retrofit the past. They want the Founders to be something they weren’t. It’s like historical cosplay: powdered wigs, Bibles that weren’t actually in the meeting, and a treaty they hope nobody reads too closely.
The reality is simple and very un‑romantic:
The Founders built a secular government that allowed religion, but wasn’t based on it. They then told a Muslim power, in writing, that religion wasn’t the foundation of the state. That’s not a bug. That’s the design.
If you want a “Christian nation,” fine, argue for it honestly, in the present. But don’t drag the ghosts of Adams and company into it and pretend they opened a megachurch instead of a republic.
