The Science of Conspiracy Theories

Is the USA a Christian Country?

Is the USA a Christian Country?

This would seem to be a strange question, but there are many who have questioned what the founders of America actually believed. Most of them were Freemasons. That's a well-documented fact, but what did they believe? And, in particular, what did Thomas Jefferson believe?

This is an important question because Christianity in the United States reiterates that the country was founded on Christian principles and therefore should ascribe to mainline Christian dogma, especially on morals. But, as we have seen in the current election, the country appears to be split along so-called Christian ideals. The Republican Party defends Christian beliefs and moral precepts, while the Democratic Party seems to waffle on these issues. The main issues are Abortion and whether Creationism should be taught in public schools, and I think that most of you know where the two parties are divided on these issues.

This is considered a conspiracy theory because some have proposed that Thomas Jefferson made rather scathing comments about Christianity, saying that Christianity was a parody of Sun worship and that Jesus was simply substituted for the Sun god. This was Thomas Paine's idea, but Jefferson supposedly thought that Jesus was a metaphor for spiritual and intellectual enlightenment. Remember that this was the Age of Enlightenment.

Some have claimed that Jefferson said that Christianity was founded on fables and mythology. He also pointed out all of the bad things (torture of innocent men, women and children) that have been done by so-called Christian zealots. He also said that the clergy had used Jesus' teachings to enslave mankind to gain wealth and power. He even called these clergy the Anti-Christ. Remember that this is coming from the most learned and scholarly member of the founding fathers. He was not an idiot like some of the politicians we see today. He was well versed in the Bible and the current teaching of the Church as well as history and political thinking of that time. He also knew other languages and was well read. His personal library was fantastic.

The truth is that these ideas are not uncommon. There are a lot of ugly truths about Christianity, and extremist Muslims are repeating much of the terrible things that early Christians did back then. People forget this. They look at what's happening now and forget about the past. Christianity was spread by terror and there were some really bad popes that caused all sorts of grief. The early Christians were just as crazy as the Muslim terrorists are now. In some cases they were worse. I think that Jefferson was quite aware of what Christianity had become and how it got there and this rant was his reaction to that knowledge. I don't blame him.

However, I believe that he was still a practicing Christian and that he saw the value in Christian beliefs, and he actually said so. He said that he was a real Christian and a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus. He just had a few bones to pick with the way Christianity had developed. He was upset about it but it didn't deter him from his faith. And, I think that could be said for the other founding fathers.

Actually, I believe that Jefferson became an agnostic and expressed these more radical thoughts after his wife died a few months after giving birth to their last child. He became despondent over her death and tried to remain away from Monticello. He also traveled to France, believing that their revolution would be better than ours, but soon realized that theirs was much worse. These things had to have had a negative effect on him.

However, there is some question as to whether America is a Christian country. Yes, Christian men founded it, but I would suggest that America is a country of all faiths and creeds, and it should be presented in that way to the rest of the world.

Thanks for reading.