L&T Publisher Earl Watt
When the founders gathered to create a more perfect union, most were devout Christians. But they didn’t fall into the trap of creating a theocracy or Christian nation, and we are much better for it.
The Church of England was the backdrop of this concept, and the religious persecution that took place was a foundational reason many left England and headed to the New World.
Founders made statements similar to John Adams who said, “The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity.”
Make no mistake, the United States of America was established and currently follows Christian principles, but that is a far cry from being a Christian nation.
The biggest challenge if we were to be a Christian nation would be exactly which Christians are we talking about? Baptists? Methodists? Episcopalians?
There is a wide variety of Christianity in America and the world. From a variety of interpretations of scripture to very different policies within churches, to be a Christian nation would pit these groups against one another in a battle to control the government in a way to advocate for one of these approaches over another.
The founders knew of this potential for separation and potential abuse of authority.
So they intentionally kept the government out of denominationalism by keeping the government’s hands tied. So they created the language, “Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, nor prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
The key here is the limitation is placed on Congress, not the people. By preventing Congress from creating a state religion or preventing the people from freely worshiping how they saw fit, the founders intentionally prevented the establishment of a “Christian nation.”
But they did something much better. They established a nation of Christians.
By allowing free worship, the founders recognized the various denominations of faith all at once, which unified people of faith.
And the founders encouraged the people to follow the principles of Christianity, like Thomas Jefferson who said, “The doctrines of Jesus are simple, and tend all to the happiness of man.”
By being a nation of Christians rather than a Christian nation, the people would be free to follow their faith however they saw fit.
The natural question to follow is, “But what about other religions like Islam, Judaism, Buddhism and all the rest?”
Yes, even these can be freely followed in America.
Look to nations where these faiths are the law of the land and you will find turmoil, oppression and in almost every case conflict.
But the Christian principle of not judging those outside the church (1 Corinthians 5:12) leads to peace.
Being Christian is not a forced belief. No one is required to be Christian. It is a voluntary choice a person makes when exposed to the teachings of the Bible.
A Christian voluntarily chooses to love their neighbor as themselves. A Christian voluntarily chooses to follow the teachings of Jesus, which, as Jefferson stated, lead to happiness.
That’s why it is so much better to be a nation of Christians rather than a Christian nation.
Christianity already calls on us to love one another.
That may mean something different to people. For example Romans 13:1 says “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities.”
That means we are to follow the laws of the land. It is biblical to expect us all to follow the laws especially since we are a nation of Christians. The laws are meant to protect all, and only those who disobey the law are putting themselves or their family at risk.
That does not prevent any one of us from showing an act of kindness to another, but violating the law is not how we represent the faith.
The foundational document of our nation, the Declaration of Independence, states clearly that our rights come from our Creator, and it is the role of government to secure our God-given rights.
Everything comes from God. Our nation is a gift from God, not because we have an all-powerful government, but because we recognize we have an all-powerful Creator.
That’s why we should not be a Christian nation but a nation of Christians.
Does our current government follow Christian principles? MAGA voters and apologists, like Earl Watt, ignore a man who has subverted the Constitution at nearly every turn. I believe that makes him, our orange president, a law breaker. The argument that we are a nation of laws only if the laws apply to all of us. If laws do apply to all of us, then how is this criminal, liar, not in prison? He has already been convicted of 34 felonies. Now we see him bribing a convicted child trafficker into not naming him as being a part of the whole scheme.
I thought MAGA voters loved children and hated predators. If this is true then you all should speak up. Otherwise you are all enabling this and that makes you the very thing you claim to hate.
By the way, I do not believe turning a blind eye to this exemplifies the Christian principles that Earl is so quick to lecture all of us about. It shows that MAGA voters are Christian in name only and are only interested in their hate not in the law. It is high time that people like Earl Watt puts their money where their mouths are and call this what it is.
If you believe that I am too fixated on Epstein, I also believe that supporting a nation hell bent on committing a genocide is also a criminal act. We are a nation with ample resources but when you support the starvation of children, you truly are a monster.
Please provide one example of Trump subverting the constitution. You need a doctor to help with that TDS you moron.
What's the matter big guy? Suddenly being balls to the walls MAGA ain't workin for ya?
Be careful! Earls ego is sensitive! If u challenge him on FB he threatens to block u. Like the rest of the conservatives he wants to cover up Epstein and make his boss trump look like a hero. If you talk bad about him or his girlfriend crazy old rita he will delete the comments. But hey Earl is all about the founding fathers and freedom of speech!
Good point! I forgot he removes any bad comments about Reita Isaacs and her qanon articles. Earl is all about that freedom until he isnt. Its okay to bad mouth a mexican but not maga.
There's a reason most people in our fair town wish earl and his rag would go away. But I am enjoying the attempt he is making to sound moderate in this article. Must be trying to deflect from his girl friday named Rieta who does his dirty work.
Careful Earl. Racist rita wouldn't approve of this less extreme almost RINO piece. We all know your beholden to her. What she got on ya?
Would ur boss on the kansas explorer approve of this writing? 1 commenter said hes a white supremacist and we all know u love those. just look at Mrs Isaacs. U hate hixspanics and u sensor people who call u out. Ur a pathetic racist little boi.
The *ONLY* reason I read this paper is to see what crazy crap Earl publishes next. Rita never disappoints. This man would not know about being neutral. Probably hoping for a job with *Faux* news. Notice he will not cover the other view.