The Myth of a Christian Nation

When did the United States cease to be a “Christian” nation? The US officially sold its soul on May 28, 1830 when President Andrew Jackson signed the “Indian Relocation Act” into law. Read an excerpt from President Andrew Jackson’s appalling 1831 State of the Union speech to Congress here.

A highway road sign telling you of an upcoming town does not indicate, "We are thinking of starting a town up ahead. What do you think?" It simply announces what is already established. The law of 1830, leading to the Trail of Tears, was a signpost officially declaring the moral and spiritual destiny this nation had established at its inception. The social and moral foundation of the United States rests in large part on racism and white narcissism. Of course, the “annihilation” of non-Christian "savages," as Jackson blithely reminds Congress, had been going on already for decades… add the slavery issue which was an accepted social norm from our beginnings just a generation earlier, and one has to ask, “When exactly was the United States Christian?”

For all those fighting today’s culture wars, thinking that there is any value whatsoever in having a copy of the Ten Commandments on display inside the county courthouse, maybe this bit of perspective might help. There is no “leak” we can stop; no “moral slide” we can slow or reverse.

The United States, like every other nation, sits in a flat spot morally and spiritually. It is sitting in the same spot it always occupied.

What is the solution? There is none on a geopolitical scale. Christians can’t “take back” what they never owned. The spiritual fabric was torn from the beginning of the nation; it remains to this day. Anyone who has spent any time on a Native American reservation has experienced the shock of institutionalized, ongoing hopelessness.

Am I suggesting repatriating Native Americans back to their original properties?

True repentance is always costly. We as a nation don’t have the stomach for such things and most church people would say, “I personally didn’t do that. I’m not responsible for what happened 200-plus years ago.” If I put my hand over my heart and pledge allegiance to the flag, then why am I not responsible? At that point I am saying that the United States is “my liege,” the feudal lord who defines me and determines my destiny.

Nothing of any positive, sustained spiritual significance will ever happen through politics. I am strongly suggesting that Christians give up hope of affecting moral and spiritual change through the political process.

To give up hope in one thing doesn't mean one is therefore despairing of change. What I am suggesting is that we can have only one focus when it comes to hope.

It's time to be a patriot for the right organization.

Which country really holds your citizenship? From which country do you expect change to occur? Perhaps instead of pursuing the delusion of “turning things around” politically, followers of Jesus should adopt what Jesus suggested. To be called “light” implies that we live in a dark place. Let’s live like citizens of a country, like the heroes of Hebrews 11, that doesn’t just have different rules; it has a completely different orientation toward life and reality.

What might happen if followers of Jesus stopped spending their energies and resources on protecting and enhancing their “Christian” way of life, safely sequestered in their churches and Christian subculture and waiting things out until they "go to heaven"? What might happen if those same people redirected those same energies and resources into a fully-embraced life with those still living in moral, spiritual and economic shadows?

What might happen if the Church could be re-visioned as relational rather than political?

 This is the message, the mission and the example of Jesus.

It’s way past time to re-evaluate what it means to live in a non-christian culture. Corrupt human culture can never bring about life-giving change. But it’s never too late to change personal allegiances: what might happen in our circles of influence if we did?