President Barack Obama stated at a press conference in Turkey last week that we Americans “do not consider ourselves a Christian nation, or a Muslim nation, but rather, a nation of citizens who are, uh, bound by a set of values.”

Obama has made similar statements in the past. In June 2007, he told CBS, “Whatever we once were, we are no longer a Christian nation — at least, not just.  We are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, a Buddhist nation, and a Hindu nation, and a nation of nonbelievers.” Note the progression. In 2007, he said we are no longer “just” a Christian nation. Now, in 2009, he says we “do not consider ourselves a Christian nation” at all.

There is a sense in which this writer agrees with him. Unlike England at the time of our nation’s founding, we do not have an official state church. And I don’t want one — I don't want Barack Obama to be the head of the church.

But that’s not what the U.S. Supreme Court meant when, in Church of the Holy Trinity v. United States, 143 U.S. 437 (1892), they held that “this is a Christian nation.” They meant that this nation was founded on biblical principles, and that those who brought these biblical principles to this land and who implemented those principles in our system of government were for the most part professing Christians who were actively involved with Christian churches. In my own book Christianity and the Constitution: The Faith of Our Founding Fathers (Baker Book House, 1987, 2008), I demonstrate that at least 51 of the 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention were members of Christian churches, and that leading American political figures in the founding era quoted the Bible far more than any other source.

And the ideals on which they framed the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution — that man is subject to the laws of nature and of nature’s God, that God created man equal and endowed him with basic unalienable rights, that human nature is sinful and therefore government power must be carefully restrained by the Constitution — are ideals that they derived, directly or indirectly, from the Bible. Some of these ideals may be shared by those of other religious traditions. But the Founding Fathers, with few exceptions, did not read the Koran, or the Upanishads, or the Bagavigita. They read the Bible, and they heard the Bible preached on Sunday mornings.

Besides denying that America is a Christian nation in his April 6 news conference in Turkey, President Obama told the Turkish Parliament on the same day: “We will convey our deep appreciation for the Islamic faith, which has done so much over the centuries to shape the world — including in my own country.” Arguably, this is a true statement — if by his “own country” Obama was referring to Kenya! 

But seriously, the suggestion that Islam has shaped America in any substantial way is ludicrious. As Robert Spencer asks,

Were there Muslims along Paul Revere’s ride, or standing next to Patrick Henry when he proclaimed, "Give me liberty or give me death"? Where there Muslims among the framers or signers of the Declaration of Independence, which states that all men — not just Muslims, as Islamic law would have it — are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? Were there Muslims among those who drafted the Constitution and vigorously debated its provisions, or among those who enumerated the Bill of Rights, which guarantees — again in contradiction to the tenets of Islamic law — that there should be no established national religion, and that the freedom of speech should not be infringed?

The primary contact our Founding Fathers had with Islam occurred during their struggles with the Barbary pirates, who from 1500-1800 carried over a million European Christians — including some Americans — into Muslim slavery. For centuries the Knights of Malta protected Europe from the Barbary pirates, but after their demise the European powers decided that paying tribute to the Barbary rulers in exchange for protection was easier and cheaper than fighting them. But this galled the Americans. In 1786, while Thomas Jefferson and John Adams were in Europe, they asked the ambassador from Tripoli by what right Tripoli could claim tribute from nations which had done his country no injury. Jefferson and Adams reported the ambassador’s response:

It was written in their Koran that all nations which had not acknowledged the Prophet [Mohammed] were sinners, whom it was the right and duty of the faithful [Muslims] to plunder and enslave; and that every muslim who was slain in this warfare was sure to go to paradise.

When Jefferson became president in 1801, he refused to pay tribute to the Barbary states, and Tripoli, Algiers, and Tunis declared war on the United States. The American Navy blockaded the coast of North Africa, and American marines stormed “the shores of Tripoli” and captured the city, forcing the Barbary rulers to agree to terms of peace. The Barbary states soon broke the treaty and demanded tribute again, and President James Madison again sent the U.S. Navy to the Mediterranean, forcing the Barbary states to again sign a treaty of peace.

Clearly, Islamic influence on the United States was minimal, and what little influence there was, was mostly negative. 

Much of the Muslim world has a negative view of the United States. Sadly, President Obama seems to think the Muslim world will warm up to our country if our president shares their negative view. But the lessons of history clearly demonstrate that the world’s leading super-power is never popular. But to what country do the tired and poor of the world seek to immigrate — Afghanistan? What nation’s constitution do other nations look to as a model — China’s? And when other nations are stricken with disaster, to what nation do they turn for help — Sudan?

No, they temporarily set aside their “Yankee Go Home” placards and turn to America, the most generous nation in the history of the world, for help that is seldom denied. And America’s generosity is a response learned from our Christian heritage.

Photo: AP Images

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (14)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

..., Lowly rated comment [Show]

Mikk said:

wow Wow...he says "bound by a set of values" Does he not realize those values we are bound by are in fact CHRISTIAN values...not muslim not jew or any other religion. He needs a lesson or 2 in American History. And not the history taught in public schools either...

April 15, 2009

Arrogance, Lowly rated comment [Show]

Thomas Paine said:

I read the Koran Go buy a Koran at the bookstore, only $5 for paperback. You will gain a new appreciation for the Old and new testaments of our Jewish/christian Bible. The Koran has no rhyme or reason. Just a bunch of poetry back to back with no start or finish. All written by one man (Mohamed) who would rule many countries with a militaristic iron fist. Whereas Jesus only motive was to be executed and rule from heaven. His intentions were pure. The Bible is true. God blessed the Jews and the christians. We owe our decency to this truthful gospel from Adam to Moses to Jesus. It was Jesus that said,"you who love the least of my people love also me", and "the least shall be the greatest, and the greatest shall be the least". How empowering is that?

April 16, 2009

PeterM said:

... Wow. This is an excellent piece. Thank you so much for this!!

April 16, 2009

Charles Byrd said:

Popular Revolutionary War Slogans. Here are a couple of popular slogans from the Revolutionary War: "No King But King Jesus!" "Resistance to tyranny is obedience to God."

April 16, 2009

America was founded by persicuted christans, Lowly rated comment [Show]

mtthwmlls said:

... It has been the "business" of statesmen to globalize our economies and erode our national soveriegnties for 100 years. Obama is the latest recruit to this global agenda. He firmly believes that he is among an elite group of international thinkers who have figured out that a unified world will create utopia. Contrary to their reasonings, a unified globe is in fact a dictatorship that will ultimately enslave all known societies. A world leader will emerge. One man. One man to oversee it all. The embodiement of the spirit of antiChrist. Obama, along with this Turkey governance have systematically separated themselves from their nation's religions, just as Europe has done, along with Great Britain, and thereby embraced a new world religion of reform. There is an idea among these world leaders, that morality is better understood by an enforcing of world laws. Nevermind that God is our supreme authority. World leaders will have you believe that the only true God, is the one they will soon elect, the supreme world leader.. or the AntiChrist. I'm not saying that Obama believes this, I am saying however that he is well aware of a global unification, and his treasury is supporting a new world currency. Obama knows inflation will destroy our dollar, he also knows that will be the time to accept the IMF credit system. This NWO started with a global military, and now a global economy, and will finish with a global religion. The worshiped one will present himself to the world. He himself will declare to be God. Your allegence will be manditory.

April 16, 2009

Stupid ppl, Lowly rated comment [Show]

Christ said:

... The following is a direct quote from a treaty ratified in 1796 by the United States of America! It seems our President know American history better than this writer. These are the words of founding fathers! "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."

April 17, 2009

ckmarks said:

... "that at the name of JESUS every knee should bow, of things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that JESUS CHRIST is LORD, to the glory of the FATHER. While this all makes good discussion this statement is truth. It dosen,t matter what you think to be real, there is only one true GOD. The question is where do you stand in your relationship with him and how did you get there "not by works but by faith", " Iam the way, the truth, the life no man cometh to the father except by me." I dare all who read to try to prove me wrong by commiting to reading the scriptures daily and asking GOD to show Himself real.

April 19, 2009 | url

Reverend Brown said:

Reverend Brown I see all these things happening and I am sure that we are quickly approaching the Last Days. I don't know what gives Obama the Authority to say we are not a Christian Nation. I feel we have been sold out as a Nation and Obama is Anti_Christian. Its sad to witness, but as a Christian I can only say that we must hold on to our faith no matter what this earthly govenment may say or do. Lord Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and will return soon to rule, as the worlds true and perfect King.

April 20, 2009

Rick said:

Hypocricy I am always entertained by comments from unbelievers about their high moral standards apart from Christianity. And that in fact their "moral code" exists in spite of Christianity and the bible. That they (and the rest of the world?) maintain the same moral standard anyway, in spite of the fact that they hate it when Christians stand up for what they believe. I find that a completely ignorant, and hypocritical attitude. Face it folks, if not for the Christian belief that anyone can practice any religion, and that all people are endowed by the Christian God (an authority outside of government BTW) with equal rights, we would all be living under a totalitarian monarchy, or worse. Keep pushing it you idiots, and you'll be living under a socialist state with your every move scrutinized, wondering where all the Christian morality has gone. The Christian religion also believes in justice, and the just reward of them that do not learn from history, is to repeat it.

April 21, 2009

So much for freedom, Lowly rated comment [Show]