I’m still working my way through Greg Boyd’s Myth of a Christian Nation with my Monday night book club–but as so often happens, one book spawns another. When I saw Jon Meacham’s American Gospel: God, the Founding Fathers, and the Making of a Nation, I was curious to hear what he had to say about religion in America. I’ve only read the introduction so far, but it appears that this could be a VERY interesting treatment of the topic.
Meacham clearly sees the United States as unique and exceptional (I’m a bit of an American exceptionalist myself), but attributes this exceptionalism neither to a Christian founding of the nation nor to a non-Christian founding of the nation (as many might). Rather, he seems to attribute this exceptionalism to the interesting balance that the founders merged between secular government and religious freedom. I’m most intrigued by the potential of this book.
On America’s early years:
“America’s early years are neither a golden age of religion nor a glowing hour of Enlightenment reason. Life was shaped by evangelical fervor and ambitious clergy, anxious politicians and determined secularists. Some Christians wanted to impose their beliefs on the rest of the country; other equally committed believers though faith should steer clear of public life. In the fulcrum stood the brilliant but fallible political leadership of the new nation. The Founding Fathers struggled to assign religion its proper place in civil society–and they succeeded.“
On opposing claims made regarding the Founding Fathers:
“The right’s contention that we are a ‘Christian nation’ that has fallen from pure origins and can achieve redemption by some kind of return to Christian values is based on wishful thinking, not convincing historical argument….Conservatives are not alone in attempting to appropriate the Founding for their own ends. Many Americans, especially secular ones, tend to stake everything on Jefferson’s wall between church and state….The wall Jefferson referred to is designed to divide church from state, not religion from politics.
On how religion has shaped America:
“Taken all in all, I think history teaches that the benefits of faith in God have outweighed the costs….Guided by this religiously inspired idea of God-given rights, America has created the most inclusive, freest nation on earth. It was neither easy nor quick: the destruction of Native American cultures, the ravages of slavery, the horrors of the Civil War, and the bitterness of Jim Crow attest to that. And there is much work to be done. Yet while the tides of history are infinitely complex, other major Western powers have had a worse time of it than America, and our public religion, with its emphasis on the supremacy of the individual and its cultivation of moral virtue, is one reason why….Religion alone did not spare America, but the Founding Fathers’ belief in the divine origin of human rights fundamentally shaped our national character, and by fits and starts Americans came to see that all people were made in the image of ‘Nature’s God,’ and were thus naturally entitled to dignity and respect.“
Quoting Robert Ingersoll (in what I view as the most provocative statement yet, especially in light of our discussion group):
“Our fathers founded the first secular government that was ever founded in this world….our fathers were the first men who had the sense, had the genius, to know that no church should be allowed to have a sword…“
I’m interested to see how Meacham develops these thoughts throughout the book!
Collect more quotes from throughout the week with Barbara H’s meme “The Week in Words”.
DEFINITELY sounds like a highly intriguing read! I didn’t know of the book at all, so I’m glad for the mention of it and the quotes!
Sorry to be so late in checking out your quotes! It’s been a crazy week.
I do think the founding fathers had an excellent balance — not shutting God out, as some people seem to want to do to government these days, not not bringing church into a position of rule, either.
I do wish my Christian brethren would focus not on making America back into a what they perceive as a Christian nation by making laws and lamenting the falling away of the culture and the need to reclaim the culture — but would instead focus on sharing the gospel and making disciples. Until people’s hearts are genuinely changed, all the legislation in the world isn’t going to Christianize a nation or a person.
Amen, Barbara. The amazing thing about Christianity, the thing that makes it unique, is the cross of Christ–foolishness to the world and a stumbling block, but the power of God unto salvation. Why are we grasping for political power when we’re not even using the “cross-power” we’ve already got in Christ Jesus?