"As the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion,-as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility of Musselmen,-and as the said States never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mehomitan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries."
Did you read that? If not, go back and read it, because it’s important.
Did you read it yet? Ok, good.
This is the watered down version of what it says:
1.) America is not a “Christian” nation.
2.) America is not at odds with the Islamic faith.
This infuriating debate has been going back and forth for over a decade now. You’ve all seen the politicians and pundits on TV saying, “Our Founding Fathers intended for our nation to be a Christian nation! These Muslim Terrorists don’t belong here!” And you’ve all seen the typical counter-reactions about multiculturalism, pluralism, and religious liberty from Progressive leaders. And somehow the progressive reaction is nowhere near as noticed as the initial conservative outrage.
This pattern happens over and over again. Every few months or so. Most recently, we’ve seen it in the past few weeks in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing.
There are many reasons why this never-ending debate is agravating. For me, this is the most frustrating thing about this question of America’s Christian-ness:
WE SETTLED THAT DEBATE IN 1797!
That quote above, it’s from the Treaty of Tripoli of 1797.
Translated and signed by our Ambassador. Read aloud and voted on by our Senate. Submitted and approved by the second President of the United States of America: “America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion...”
So on the question of this ongoing debate: did our founding fathers intended for America to be a Christian nation? The answer is clear. They voted on it. And it was a resounding, “No, we are not a Christian nation.” Unanimously. Our Founding Fathers. In the Treaty of Tripoli. 1797. More than 200 years ago. We are not a “Christian” nation and we are not at odds with the Islamic faith.
Here’s the other reason why this debate is so infuriating:
Even if our country were a Christian nation, that doesn’t mean we would be at odds with the Islamic faith.
Ambassador Joel Barlow, who translated the treaty from Arabic, and who may have even added the passage in question himself, grew up in my church, the First Church of Christ, Congregational in Redding, CT. Before his successful career as an Ambassador, Barlow worked as chaplain in the US military. Imagine that. A Christian chaplain, in the 1700s, writing a treaty, proclaiming that America is not a Christian nation and has no reason to view the Islamic faith as antagonistic. I would argue that it was not in spite of his faith, but because of his faith that he held this progressive view.
And this is why I am proud to be a minister here in Redding. When the media paints a picture of Islam as a religion of violent extremists, we paint a picture of peaceful pluralism. When the politicians tell a false history of a Christian nation, we tell our kids about a more diverse America. When televangelists preach sermons of division, we preach a more open-minded kind of faith.
We preach about John 18: 33-37 when Jesus says, “My Kingdom is not from this world.” Christ didn’t come to be King of America; Christ came to be King of my heart. Christ didn’t come to expand political boundaries; Christ came to subvert political boundaries.
We preach about Genesis 25:9 when Isaac and Ishmael grieved their father Abraham together. Despite their cultural differences, they came together in times of tragedy. Despite their past family feud, they came together in a time of loss. Despite their division of faith, they came together to mourn in a common religious ceremony.
And this has happened throughout history. Time and time again, when tragedy strikes, Christians, Muslims, and Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, and Atheists, people of all faiths and non-faiths have come together to mourn. Despite our past inter-religious family feuds, despite our cultural differences, and despite our divisions of faith, we still come together to honor and mourn with each other.
So don’t fall for it. Don’t fall for the media’s stories of division. Don’t fall for the politician’s diatribes of exclusion. Don’t fall for the televangelist’s sermons of hate.
Just tell them to read the Treaty of Tripoli and get over it, because we settled that debate over 200 years ago.
Did you read that? If not, go back and read it, because it’s important.
Did you read it yet? Ok, good.
This is the watered down version of what it says:
1.) America is not a “Christian” nation.
2.) America is not at odds with the Islamic faith.
This infuriating debate has been going back and forth for over a decade now. You’ve all seen the politicians and pundits on TV saying, “Our Founding Fathers intended for our nation to be a Christian nation! These Muslim Terrorists don’t belong here!” And you’ve all seen the typical counter-reactions about multiculturalism, pluralism, and religious liberty from Progressive leaders. And somehow the progressive reaction is nowhere near as noticed as the initial conservative outrage.
This pattern happens over and over again. Every few months or so. Most recently, we’ve seen it in the past few weeks in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing.
There are many reasons why this never-ending debate is agravating. For me, this is the most frustrating thing about this question of America’s Christian-ness:
WE SETTLED THAT DEBATE IN 1797!
That quote above, it’s from the Treaty of Tripoli of 1797.
Translated and signed by our Ambassador. Read aloud and voted on by our Senate. Submitted and approved by the second President of the United States of America: “America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion...”
So on the question of this ongoing debate: did our founding fathers intended for America to be a Christian nation? The answer is clear. They voted on it. And it was a resounding, “No, we are not a Christian nation.” Unanimously. Our Founding Fathers. In the Treaty of Tripoli. 1797. More than 200 years ago. We are not a “Christian” nation and we are not at odds with the Islamic faith.
Here’s the other reason why this debate is so infuriating:
Even if our country were a Christian nation, that doesn’t mean we would be at odds with the Islamic faith.
Ambassador Joel Barlow, who translated the treaty from Arabic, and who may have even added the passage in question himself, grew up in my church, the First Church of Christ, Congregational in Redding, CT. Before his successful career as an Ambassador, Barlow worked as chaplain in the US military. Imagine that. A Christian chaplain, in the 1700s, writing a treaty, proclaiming that America is not a Christian nation and has no reason to view the Islamic faith as antagonistic. I would argue that it was not in spite of his faith, but because of his faith that he held this progressive view.
And this is why I am proud to be a minister here in Redding. When the media paints a picture of Islam as a religion of violent extremists, we paint a picture of peaceful pluralism. When the politicians tell a false history of a Christian nation, we tell our kids about a more diverse America. When televangelists preach sermons of division, we preach a more open-minded kind of faith.
We preach about John 18: 33-37 when Jesus says, “My Kingdom is not from this world.” Christ didn’t come to be King of America; Christ came to be King of my heart. Christ didn’t come to expand political boundaries; Christ came to subvert political boundaries.
We preach about Genesis 25:9 when Isaac and Ishmael grieved their father Abraham together. Despite their cultural differences, they came together in times of tragedy. Despite their past family feud, they came together in a time of loss. Despite their division of faith, they came together to mourn in a common religious ceremony.
And this has happened throughout history. Time and time again, when tragedy strikes, Christians, Muslims, and Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, and Atheists, people of all faiths and non-faiths have come together to mourn. Despite our past inter-religious family feuds, despite our cultural differences, and despite our divisions of faith, we still come together to honor and mourn with each other.
So don’t fall for it. Don’t fall for the media’s stories of division. Don’t fall for the politician’s diatribes of exclusion. Don’t fall for the televangelist’s sermons of hate.
Just tell them to read the Treaty of Tripoli and get over it, because we settled that debate over 200 years ago.