A Nation of Christians

To the editor:

The author of a recent editorial wrote: “the United States was not founded as a Christian nation.” It is true that the United States was not founded as a Christian nation. It is also true that the United States was founded by a nation of Christians.

For the sake of brevity, I will quote only a few lines from George Washington’s farewell address to the nation in 1796. “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. ... Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice? And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion.”

In that context, religion meant Christianity. Washington wrote in an earlier paragraph of his farewell address that among the strengths of America were: “With slight shades of difference, you have the same religion.”

Out of the 56 signers of the U.S. Constitution, 53 were Christians. Adams, Franklin, and Jefferson were not Christians but believed in God of the Bible.