I have in recent months written a great deal about the bogus-history-based Christian nationalist movement. (I also discussed this a great deal in Eternal Hostility: The Struggle Between Theocracy and Democracy.) Most if not all of the leaders of the Christian Right advocate the the view that the U.S. once was — and must be yet again, a Christian nation. But a reasonable study of history shows that the framers of the Constitution not only did not found the United States as a Christian nation, indeed, they were explicitly rejecting the idea.
History is a powerful and vastly underused tool in support of religious freedom and separation of church and state — and in opposition to Christian nationalism and the theocratic Christian Right. Jonathan Hutson has also persuasively written on this point at Talk to Action.
Bruce Prescott has scooped up today’s buzz of the blogosphere on the anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Tripoli, a landmark document in American history for many reasons:
“The Anniversary of the Treaty of Tripoli: Two hundred and eight years ago today, President John Adams (F-MA) signed the Treaty of Tripoli. Three days earlier the U.S. Senate had unanimously approved the treaty. Why is this important today? Because Article XI of the treaty was a proclamation that 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 Musselman (Muslims).’ Upon signing the treaty Adams issued a statement which said, ‘Now be it known, That I, John Adams, President of the United States of America, having seen and considered the said Treaty do, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, accept, ratify, and confirm the same, and every clause and article hereof.'”
See Bruce’s site for more, and some interesting links.
And while we are at it, let’s not cede our history — or our future — to the snake-oil salesmen of Christian nationalism.
[Crossposted from FrederickClarkson.com
Christian historical revisionists are hard at work trying to reclaim a version of history that never was.
I may be posting this out of ignorance, but I do get the impression that these right-wing rewriting of history, to some extent, does get traction in many segments of American society. Part of that I suppose is the dominant position of white male christians in the social structure, but I’m also wondering if part of it’s easy acceptance (assuming that is the case) is the fact that it interfaces smoothly with the standard mythic tropes of “America” (e.g., exceptionalism, freedom, whatever else). In other words, is fighting specific acts of historical rewriting might ultimately be a losing battle unless one also attempts to considerably challenge these overarching myths that constitute the dominant version of the national identity?
Interesting tidbit that provides quite a lot of strength to the argument against the “Christian Nation” bullshit: near the end of the 19th century, when the Christian Science Monitor was being created, the editorial board of the paper objected to the presence of “Christian Science” in the title. They were afraid that it might frighten off secular readers, who were a large enough market that this would have a drastic impact on the paper’s success.
Frederick, thank you so much for this. I am kind of astonished that I’ve never heard of this before in any of the arguments against the Fundies. An actual unambiguous statement from a Founding Father–not the mention the unanimous Senate–that we were not established as a Christian nation! That is a very useful thing to have.
Here’s an excerpt from a comment on the Prescott blog: Another point to consider about that treaty. Much of it was actually written while Washington was the President.
When the treaty was passed copies of the whole thing were published in papers in the major cities, including the not a christian nation clause, and no fuss was raised.
http://www.laweekly.com/ink/05/29/features-ireland.php
Wasn’t sure where to put this article as it is about how all the whacko ‘christian’ groups are trying to get big companies to basically blacklist gays…and mention this as the article mentions that there were 3 major journalists writing about this religious takeover, one being our esteemed Mr. Clarkson.
And yes, I think very very few people know about the Treaty of Tripoli. I know I didn’t know about it until 4 or 5 years ago. Amazing isn’t it how that rather important piece of history is so patently ignored.
I appreciate your diligence and perseverence in bringing to light the many myths, misperceptions, misconceptions and outright lies the religious reich continues to inundate the American people with daily. I also wish to say thank you for all your hard work in trying to preserve the wall of separation that is so succinctly written into our Constitution. Supported by many of the writings in the Federalist papers and the personal papers of many of the founder of our Republic. I work diligently to keep myself apprised of what is happening in reichwing religious circles and your writings are one of the ways I keep abreast of their onslaught upon our freedoms. Thank you again for your hard work.
I’ll happily second that.
Many thanks, all. Glad to do what I can, in what small ways are available to me.