The United States of America's Constitution is not based on Christianity

The question of whether or not the Founding Fathers were truly Christian and whether or not they truly intended for Christianity to be a major influence in American society is one that is easily answered by truly exploring the full compass of documents, articles, speeches, letters and biographies from our Founding Fathers and the many institutions surrounding them and upon which they had a direct impact. Their writings, biographical comments, documents of Congress, the Supreme Court and dozens of others sources point to the simple fact that these were Christian men with strong Christian faith that set out to establish a new government and new nation based on their own personal convictions and the knowledge of the world's great societies as well. They painstakingly examined themselves, their own intentions and wills as well as numerous historical examples of the great empires and civilizations of the world to flesh out the best method they could in creating America. It is both misleading and disingenuous to use the comments and speeches of these men that were directed at the religious tyranny they had experienced in England as a method to prove they were non-religious, anti-religious or at the very least, not intending to incorporate faith into the process. They were all to well acquainted with what could be done and what could be abused by an infusion of one all-powerful monarch and a corrupt Papacy more concerned with power and money than the virtues faith. And they spoke vehemently against those abuses and corruption of religion as they used that knowledge and experience to forge a Christian nation that could not fall into those traps. You simply can't take out of context a remark by one of these great men and apply it to their future intentions. Just because they had experienced first hand the deplorable misuse of religion in society did not AT ALL mean that they were abandoning their religious principles altogether, but more so, they were anxious to create a society based on their faith virtues administered properly. The first and foremost step in that goal was to avoid the powers and abuses of a Monarchy. The Founding Fathers understood that checks and balances were needed within the governing powers to avoid the abuses of the English Kings. That in itself would avoid any chance of the single-minded establishment of a state religion with which dissenters could be persecuted. Secondly, they were explicit in their intentions that Christianity not be used in exclusion of other faiths or people of no faith but more so to the inclusion of all faiths and beliefs. But never was their intention to exclude Christianity at all. And that fact is supported through literally thousands of documents and writings which clearly expose their true intentions. Before I get into the Founding Fathers themselves and entreat them individually, I want to share some Congressional documents that begin to lay the foundation for this exciting topic. The following is an excerpt of a report by a Mr. Badger of the Senate Judiciary Committee as part of a Congressional investigation for the Congress of the United States of America, January 19th, 1853. It reads... "The [First Amendment] clause speaks of "an establishment of religion". What is meant by that expression? It referred, without doubt, to that establishment which existed in the mother-country...endowment at the public expense, peculiar privileges to its members or disadvantages or penalties upon those who should reject its doctrines or belong to other communions, --such law would be a "law respecting an establishment of religion..." "They intended, by this amendment, to prohibit an "establishment of religion" such as the English Church presented, or any thing like it. But they had no fear or jealousy of religion itself, nor did they wish to see us an irreligious people..." "They did not intend to spread over all the public authorities and the whole public action of the nation the dead and revolting spectacle of atheistic apathy. Not so had the battles of the Revolution been fought and the deliberations of the Revolutionary Congress been conducted." Keep in mind that this was a Congressional investigation conducted by the Senate Judiciary, not some pontificating politician ranting on from the floor of the Senate. This was an official report and was recorded into record of the Senate in 1853 without contradiction or dissent. The report concludes with this comment... "We are a Christian people...not because the law demands it, not to gain exclusive benefits or to avoid legal disabilities, but from choice and education; and in a land thus universally Christian, what is to be expected, what desired, but that we shall pay due regard to Christianity". A little over a year later, in March of 1854, the Congress of the United States of America received a report of Mr. Meacham of the House Committee on the Judiciary addressing this same issue. In the Judiciary's report, they clearly define what the "Establishment of religion" really is. Their clear and detailed explanation totally dispels some of the spurious and loosely applied usage of the term we see today. So many want to define the establishment clause for their own personal desires, but the fact is that there is plenty of testimony as to the true meaning and application of the Establishment clause. Here's their report. "What is an establishment of religion? It must have a creed, defining what a man must believe; it must have rites and ordinances which believers must observe; it must have ministers of defined qualifications to teach the doctrines and administer the rites; it must have tests for the submissive and penalties for the non-conformist. There never was an established religion without all these..." "Down to the Revolution, every colony did sustain religion in some form. It was deemed peculiarly proper that the religion of liberty should be upheld by a free people. Had the people, during the Revolution had a suspicion of any attempt to war against Christianity, that Revolution would have been strangled in its cradle." So Christianity was held dearly not only by the Founding Fathers and the leaders but by the citizens themselves. The same people who risked their lives and fought for the cause of freedom held dearly to their Christianity. Listen to the wisdom and revealing comments in this next passage. "At the time of the adopting of the Constitution and the amendments, the universal sentiment was that Christianity should be encouraged, not any one sect [denomination]. Any attempt to level and discard all religion would have been viewed with universal indignation. The object was not to substitute Judaism, Mohammedanism, or infidelity, but to prevent rivalry among the [Christian] sects to the exclusion of others." Listen to the profound conclusion to their investigation of the intent of the Founding Fathers. It's quite revealing to see how far we've come in our attitudes in this country toward our Christian heritage. "It [Christianity] must be consider