The United States is a Christian Nation

I will go over my opponent's case and if I have space, I will follow with my own. While it is true that most of colonial America were Christians and so therefore many key elements of America's past, such as the Declaration of Independence, my opponent fails to take into consideration the fact that there are 3 main monotheistic religions with a "God." He or she has mentioned that Jefferson's use of the word "Creator" is vague, but gives an equally vague counterexample to this, because my opponent fails to take into consideration the possibility that Jefferson, as a Christian, might view the encroachments of the British crown with a Christian opinion or bias, for lack of a better term, therefore his Christian opinions might only reflect himself and not the nation as a whole. The counterexample also is vague because "God" itself is a vague term because multiple religions believe in a God. In my opponent's second example in his or her first contention, my opponent states that since the "Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom" contains "uniquely Christian" words, therefore the United States is Christian. I could also argue that when Jefferson states "from the plan of the holy author of our religion," my opponent defines "our" as the nation as a whole, but never stops to think about what else "our" could be referring to or who "our" is. "Our" could be referring to a each person as an individual, and therefore any American of any religion, but my opponent has merely assumed that the word refers to the U.S. as a whole and not each U.S. citizen. Jefferson, like many forefathers when writing documents, leaves his statement open for interpretation from the individual. In the last example of my opponent's third contention, it is stated that "One cannot stay in line with traditional literary criticism, and yet deny that the Creator in Rights of British America, Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom, and the Declaration of Independence is uniquely Christian." While I agree that Jefferson believed that God provided us with our rights, this alone does not mean that the United States as a whole is a Christian religion. Jefferson's writings may have been influenced by his religion, but this does not mean that the United States is a Christian nation. One man's (Jefferson's) opinion on Christianity and the United States does not make the United States a Christian religion. The elements that do make a religion the religion of a country will be addressed in my contentions. My opponent talks about Jefferson being a "self described Christian." He states that since Jefferson is a Christian, the preamble of the Declaration of Independence must be Christian, and therefore the U.S. is Christian. Tell me this: if I were of a certain religion, let's say Christianity for simplicity, and I wrote an article in a newspaper where the topic of my article was not Christianity, yet I use "uniquely Christian" words such as "Almighty God," would that make my article Christian? No. Perhaps it would contain Christian references, but it would not be a "Christian" article. it certainly would not make the newspaper "Christian," and it would most certainly not make the town that reads the newspaper Christian. This relates to my opponent's claims because he states that since Jefferson is Christian, the preamble must be Christian, so the entire Declaration of Independence is Christian, so therefore the U.S. is Christian. John Quincy Adams' view on the correlation of human government and Christianity does not also guarantee that the U.S. is Christian. In my opponent's third contention, he states that Jefferson affirms the influence of Christianity on America. Let me ask this: was Jefferson around at the time of the Revolutionary War? Yes. Was he around in the early 1800s? Yes, up until 1826. [1] Therefore he was not around in the late 1800s up until the present, which means he never saw the effects that mass immigration from Asia and Europe, had on the U.S. Jefferson was never around to witness the Jewish immigrants passing through Ellis Island in an attempt to escape an oppressive government. Over 2.5 million Jews immigrated to the U.S. from 1821 to 1924. [2] Jefferson, facing his final days, never saw the full mass immigration that we saw and continue to see today, and he never got to experience the melting pot. His opinions reflect life at his own time, not how it has developed and changed over the centuries. In my opponent's last contention, he covers the phrase "Almighty God" again, something that I previously addressed. I will now begin with my own contentions. Contention I: The Melting Pot The period from 1820 to 1924 is known for the mass immigration to America from Europe and Asia. Large scale Chinese immigration began around the time of the California Gold Rush, where labor was needed. [3] Jews also migrated to America seeking religious freedoms. [4] These newcomers brought not only their culture, but their religion as well, believing that the 1st Amendment and the "Separation of Church and State" as written by Thomas Jefferson [5], guaranteed that the United States is not a nation of one single religion but a nation of religious freedom and a variety of different religions. This leads into my second contention. One could argue that the majority of the people in the United States are Christian, and people define their country, don't they? I would like to elaborate on the fact that there is indeed a difference between a Christian nation and a nation with Christians. A Christian nation would have openly stated that their religion is officially Christianity, something which Jefferson was opposed of, writing: '"I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . ."' [5] This quote not only shows that the legislature is forbidden from choosing a national religion, but the people of the United States are opposed to having their country defined by a single religion, like Christianity. Therefore, the religion of the United States cannot be Christian, because no religion has been chosen, nor will a religion ever be chosen. Doing so would be a violation of the Separation of Church and State. The freedom of religion is a simple concept, which states that all Americans are free to choose their religion as they wish. Not all Americans choose the same religion, or even a religion at all, which goes against the pro because this mix of religions and the lack of a required religion shows that the United States is truly a "mixed" religion, not a Christian one. [1] http://www.monticello.org... [2] http://www.loc.gov... [3] http://library.thinkquest.org... [4] http://www.loc.gov... [5] http://www.loc.gov...