Does America Have a Christian Foundation?

A growing concept in today's culture is that America is a secular nation, with no room for a public Christian faith. One argument for this is that some of our founding fathers were not Christian. Thomas Jefferson is one example of this, as one of his quotes is, "In every country and every age, the priest has been hostile to Liberty." 

Though it is true Thomas Jefferson had no religious affiliation, he did believe in God. And he might not have liked priests, but he still acknowledged that they should be allowed for the sake of religious freedom. In his document, "Virginia Declaration of Religious Freedom," he very clearly states some points which demolish the "secular America" argument:

1. "God has created the mind free."

2. Civil rights have no dependence on our religious beliefs.

3. Civil leaders should not intrude their power into religious ideas except when those ideas break out into overt actions undermining peace and order. 

In point one, he says that because God has created the mind free, a person should be able to believe and practice what they believe is the truth.

Secondly, our rights and responsibilities should have no bearing on our religious beliefs, says Jefferson. Just because one may be Catholic or Hindu should not determine whether or not he/she gets different rights than another person. 

The final point is that civil leaders should not interfere with religious ideas and practices except when they erupt into a disturbance of peace. For instance, if a group of Catholics decided to block all the streets in New York and demand people to become Catholic, the authorities would be able to stop this activity because it undermines order. Yet they have no power to stop Catholics promoting the common good, e.g. going to Mass, peaceful and unobtrusive protests, or evangelical work. 

So, though Jefferson himself didn't have a religion, he saw clearly that free practice of it was essential to liberty and the common good. 

Another argument for a secular America is that God is not mentioned in the Constitution. First of all, God is mentioned in the Declaration of Independence. Additionally, the Bill of Rights guarantee religious freedom. As if this isn't enough, nearly all of the early Americans were deeply religious, and so I think that God wasn't mentioned in the Constitution because there was no need. In other words, it was assumed that He was a crucial part to America and freedom. And just because He wasn't mentioned in this particular document, how does that justify banning all mention of Him from public life?

Thus it can be clearly seen that America and her founding fathers had a strong base of religious freedom. So why are we trying to stamp out public displays of the Ten Commandments, "Merry Christmas" signs, and other witnesses to faith? 

References: 

Virginia Declaration of Independence: http://www.vahistorical.org/collections-and-resources/virginia-history-explorer/thomas-jefferson

Constitution: http://www.earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/freedom/constitution/text.html

Declaration of Independence: http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/

declaration_transcript.html