Hats off to you President Obama and your family. Thanks for tightening the love between our Jewish and Christian brothers and sister.

Why cant the president mention Easter also?

Probably because it isn't Easter till Sunday, Clay.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/video/Your-Weekly-Address-April-11-2009

What I would like to see is for the president to give Christ more than just a token mention. Something from the heart.

Seems a bit arrogant for you to presume you know what is in the President's heart, Clay. Even more so for you to discount his words with no evidence or jsutification.

When the Holy Spirit is in someone, you hear it coming out of them.

...unless one is made deaf by political bias or racist insularity....

Well maybe then someday we will hear the president say this. "My fellow Americans. One thing I want to make clear is my strong love for and belief in the Lord Jesus Christ. I dont know how I couldnt have gotten here without Him and I cant thank God enough for His Son Who came here to die for me. I was wrong if I insinuated that I see myself as a Muslim first and I apologize for saying in Turkey that America is not a Christian nation. America must be a Christian nation if we are to continue the traditions of our successful forefathers. I was wrong to have the cross covered before my speech at Georgetown University. In spite of the current problems facing the Catholic Church, they are my Christian brothers and sisters. I also apologize for having a Muslim priest give a prayer at one of my functions. My behavior as a Christian was inexcusable, but now I have changed. Why? Because the Lord Jesus is now my personal Savior. I am now ready to lead this nation as the man whom God wants me to be, and I will never stop telling others of my love for my Savior and what it can mean to them if they dont know Him already. Please join me in leading this nation. With God's help, we will succeed." Not bad huh? I am waiting. Easter would even be a great time for the speech.

Clay,

Did you ever hear your hero, GW Bush make such a speech? No, because even he understood that he was President of a secular, diverse nation (not a "Christian nation" at all). Your hero, GW Bush, although he must have impressed you with his protestations of Christian piety, launched an unprovoked war against Iraq by lying to the American public. Hardly the values espoused by Jesus.

The day you hear any President make such a speech will be the day our Nation dies.

Your fantasy is a very frightening one, Clay.

Clay - America is not nor has it ever been a Christian nation. The constitution itself says that with the establishment clause. Has any president ever called America a Christian nation or made such a speech?

Whichever president cannot make such a speech, George Bush or anyone, is not leading the nation the way God wants it lead. Like I said, if they are full of the Holy Spirit, you will know it. Now Martin Luther King Jr had promise as a president, even if he wasnt a politician. Our current president is a politician but not a Christian. Being a Christian is the more important characteristic because if leaders do what God wants them to then they will get blessed for it, and that blessing will include us. Thanks.

Like I said, if they are full of the Holy Spirit, you will know it.

Well Clay, clearly you are full of something, but I don't think it's the Holy Spirit.

Clay. Our President, Barack Obama, said last month:

"I come here to speak about the ways my faith informs who I am -- as a President, and as a person. But I'm also here for the same reason that all of you are, for we all share a recognition -- one as old as time -- that a willingness to believe, an openness to grace, a commitment to prayer can bring sustenance to our lives.

There is, of course, a need for prayer even in times of joy and peace and prosperity. Perhaps especially in such times prayer is needed -- to guard against pride and to guard against complacency."

Like you said, if they are full of the Holy Spirit, you will know it.

Why would those words impress you that the president loves Christ? He doesnt even sound like an on fire Muslim.

Clay,

So if the President's words about his faith don't conform EXACTLY to your script, he is not a Christian? I am amazed by your arrogance (well...not really, come to think of it).

I think that the president would mention Christ's name, and he would from the heart. Thanks.

Clay,

Only in your fantasy-driven mind would the President of the United States use such sectarian language. He is, after all, President of all of us -- Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Atheists, and Christians. Furthermore, we don't look to the President for spiritual guidance (or at least we shouldn't). That's why we have pastors.

ravensfan, "American is not nor has it ever been a Christian nation?" Really?

Of the 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention, 29 were Anglicans, 16-18 were Calvinists, and among the rest were 2 Methodists, 2 Lutherans, 2 Roman Catholics, 1 lapsed Quaker-sometimes Anglican, and only 1 open Deist--Benjamin Franklin, who attended all Christian worships and called for public prayer. John Quincy Adams said "From the day of the Declaration...they [the American people] were bound by the laws of God, which they all, and by the laws of The Gospel, which they nearly all, acknowledge as the rules of their conduct."

Now we all know that Christianity is founded in Judaism, and that the 10 Commandments given to Moses are the bases for most of our laws. But it was overwhelmingly Christians who came to American, settled land, established colonies, states, sought religious freedom, etc. It can best be summed up by the words of Revolutionary leader Patrick Henry who said: "It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship."

Yes, Steve, really.

Article 11 of the first (1796) treaty concluded between the United States of America and a foreign nation (Tripoli--modern-day Libya) reads:

Art. 11. 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 Mussulmen,—and as the said States never entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mahometan 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.

According to Frank Lambert, Professor of History at Purdue University, the assurances in Article 11 were "intended to allay the fears of the Muslim state by insisting that religion would not govern how the treaty was interpreted and enforced. John Adams and the Senate made clear that the pact was between two sovereign states, not between two religious powers."

Article 11 has also been cited by 21st-century church/state separatists as one of several documents — including the Federalist Papers papers and the Declaration of Independence — that demonstrated, according to Author Brooke Allen, that that the Founding Fathers "... were not religious men".

The Senate's ratification was only the third recorded unanimous vote of 339 votes taken. The treaty was printed in the Philadelphia Gazette and two New York papers, with no evidence of any public dissent.

Steve,

By your logic, it's also a nation of old white men. Not sure you want to go there....

Steve, the treaty that BankStreet cites was ratified by the same congress that ratified the Bill of Rights. We can set Patrick Henry's opinions to the side. He refused to attend the Constitutional Convention of 1787, thus opting out of any say in the founding of this great secular nation.

Sure, we can agree that most of the founding fathers were christian. But it is equally clear that their stated intent was to establish a secular government.

In the same speech that I mentioned earlier the President said "...progress doesn't come when we demonize opponents. It's not born in righteous spite."

Steve - That proves we are a nation founded by men who were predominately Christian. Those same men went to great lengths to keep religion out of government as well. If they wanted a Christian nation they would not have enacted the establishment clause in the Constitution. They also would not have drafted the treat Bankstreet mentions.

However, by saying that congress cannot enact a law concerning a religion they assured that their dominant faith would prevail anyway. Did it stop them from saying prayers in congress or from putting "In God We Trust" on money? Did anyone object later to the mention of God in the Pledge of Allegiance? Without the laws of God, no government will last. As Patrick Henry stated, we thrived because of Christ, not in spite of Him. Now that we are straying from Him we take a hit in our economy as well as in our military operations. Perhaps 911 was God's way of warning us at the Pentagon and Wall Street, and certainly innocent people were hurt, even though Christ doesnt say so in the bible.

Clay - In God We Trust first appeared on a coin in 1864 during strong Christian sentiment emerging during the Civil War.

The original Pledge of Allegiance written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, a Baptist minister, did not mention God.

"I pledge allegiance to my Flag and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

What the founding fathers wanted was a nation were every citizen had the right to practice their own beliefs or lack of beliefs. Where no one was persecuted because of what they believed or didn't believe. God is looking for us to accept him on our own. I doubt He is concerned with having His name on money or in a pledge to a nation.

Clay,

You have an extremetly short view of American history, if you believe this current recession is unique or that the US has never faced military challlenges before.

We falter, not because of divine displeasure but because of human failings (greed, timidity, misguided priorities). We prevail, not because of providential intervention but because we find strength in ingenuity and diversity.

And hardly because of palaver we engrave on our coins and ask our children to recite.

And we exist because God created us. As the Declaration of Independence says: "that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights." There never will be, nor should there be, a U.S.A. that doesnt make God a large part of its daily rountine. Government and God must unite and stay that way. Otherwise we dont get blessed.

Clay - One of those unalienable Rights is freedom of religion which requires the government to be separate. Didn’t Christ say give to Cesar what is Cesar’s and to God what is God’s?

Clay, If you were paying attention in Civics class, you know that the Declaration of Independence has no bearing on the governance of the United States, except as an historical artifact. The Constitution, on which that governance *is* founded, contains no reference to God. The Constitution is, you should pardon the expression, "godless."

Some of us like it that way --as did, apparently, the Founding Fathers.

There seems to be an underlying battle of semantics here that neither side can win. By saying that the United States is a Christian nation, I simply mean that it was founded by predominantly Christian men who used Judeo-Christian values to formulate all of their laws. Yes, there IS separation of Church and state, and for good reason. No one wants any religion forced upon them as was happening all over the world at the time. I'm sure we can all search the web for the arguments for and against this notion, but the answer is simple. 84% of people living in this country are Christians. Outside of Federal holidays, the biggest holidays--by FAR--recognized by our own government are Christmas and Easter. Other notables are St. Patrick's Day, St. Valentine's Day, Thanksgiving (begun by Christian pilgrims), Halloween, etc. I mean no offense to those who are not Christians, but if Hindus or Muslims started a new country based on their religion's moral values, and populated it with their people, would they not then be Hindu or Muslim nations?

When Christ returns, He will be the head anyway for 1000 years and eventually forever. Why have a government that goes in another direction? It doesnt make sense. Thanks.

Steve,

When I hear folk refer to the US as a "Christian Nation," I assume what they mean is that Biblical teachings and laws somehow supersede the Constitution ... or that the Constitution needs somehow to be brought into alignment with scripture.

Individuals are certainly free to live their lives according to whatever set of rules "floats their boat," so long as they don't violate or ignore civil law ... and so long as they don't require me to adhere to some sort of Christian sharia.

I will concur that Christianity is professed by the majority of US residents, but, under the Constitution, we remain (officially) a secular Nation. For now.

Clay - Having read all your wants and desires above for how you want the president to act, I think you are wearing your sphincter muscle as a helmet........again.

Steve, it may be the case that 84% of the people living in this country are Christians, but you might want to run that number by Clay since apparently he is the one who gets to decide who is a Christian or not.

The definition of Christian varies depending on who's doing the defining.

http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_defn1.htm

BankStreet, as I stated earlier, I think it is clear that no matter which denomination they claimed to belong to, our founders based the Constitution on solidly Judeo-Christian values. And to my knowledge, I've never heard anyone say that the Constitution in any way goes against Christian teachings. The problem is that in more recent decades, today's political parties have begun to reinterpret what the founders very words said to align with what THEY now want the nation to be--even more secular and far-removed from those values. And ultimately, it's because they've figured a way to line their own pockets. What a shame.

Steve,

Just because you believe the Founders "based the Consititution on Judeo-Christian values"

a) doesn't make it true

and

b) doesn't require that the Consitution be bound by yours any anyone else's definition of those "values"

For example, if you have follwed this blog for any time at all, you know that I am a Gay man, with no relgious identity. I define myself either as an agnostic or a non-believer. My religious affiliation (or lack thereof) is irrelevant to my rights and responsibilities under the Consititution. My rights should not be determined by religious teaching, per se. Religious communities (e.g., churches) are free to teach whatever they wish. My rights as a citizen are determined by the Consitution.

The Fourteenth Amendment, for example, says: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

Nowhere does the Amendment include a reference to religion or "religious values." And, like it or not, my exercise of my rights under the Fourteenth Amendment may well run counter to your sectarian values. Once again, the First Amendment allows you a refuge, though: your house of worship.

Yes, we may be a "Christian Nation," by demographics (but see earlier comments); however, our "values," at least as codified in the Constitution, are secular. Even "majority rule" cannot (or at least should not) trump my rights.