Article: A Christian nation

I apologize for posting another one of these church/state posts, but I ran across a really good article (and I wasn't even looking for it). It seems to be a very strong topic this week. :)

Mr. Jim Walker goes into GREAT detail about how the seperation of church and state was a very large issue at the founding of this country. The premise of the article is to give a very detailed and thoroughly researched argument that the country was NOT founded on Christian principles (as so many people claim today). He talks about the lack of Christian beliefs commonly found with the founding fathers (and, in fact, cites written letters stating their distaste for them), mentions that "In God We Trust" wasn't introduced until after the civil war, reiterates how "One nation, under God" wasn't introduced in the pledge until 1954, talks about the misconception that common law derived from a Christian template (since it originated with the Saxons), and discusses multiple letters (and even an official federal document) that explicitly state that the country was not based on Christianity or its beliefs. And that's only SOME of it.

If you are of the opinion that the government was not founded on Christian ideals, then this will be a very interesting read for you. If you are on the other side of that fence, you should STILL read it. Reading about a little objective research never hurt anybody (except for folks who are willing to argue these points on faith alone).

I'm not going to add any personal bias to this post. I've probably said too much just by posting it in the first place. :) I do encourage folks to read it though regardless of which side of the debate that they're on. It's a very good read and very well researched. I'm not one to care who takes which side on this, but I am definately a believer that everyone should at least TRY to keep an open mind about all things.

I would also ask a favor to all the readers of this post. I would greatly appreciate it if someone could point me to some reference or documentation for the OTHER side of this argument that is as well researched as this one. Also, if anyone could find an official federal document which makes such statements as well, I would like to read it. I'm very interested to read about all aspects of this debate. Please don't get me wrong....this is not a challenge. I simply wish to improve my education of the subject from all angles.

Enjoy...and God bless! ;)