She said, "Why bless yo' heart Miss Kelley, our forefathers were christians. very devout. it was because of their faith that they came here and without that faith, they never would have created this country. we owe being americans to the fact that they were christians. They didn't just say they were christians. No. They believed. They lived very christian lives. don't let anyone tell you otherwise. ONLY Jefferson was a deist. WAshington, now he was a very very devout christian...."
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Yes, this is a very popular story -- the 'founding fathers were devout Christians' -- told by local ministers and televangelists over and over again. Mostly, I've observed, in white churches .
As you know, the most ardent believers tend also to be self-described patriots, passionate lovers of their country. I think the 'this is a Christian nation' story solves what would be a troublesome dilemma for these folks -- specifically, how do you passionately love your country as if it were a god AND properly love your god (who, you're told, demands you have "no other gods before me") at the same time? The answer is to turn the country into an instrument of that same god and therefore, worthy of your devotion.
A neat trick, which has an added benefit of providing the explanation for your efforts to modify the culture along evangelical lines. You're not changing the country, you're merely changing it BACK to its Christian roots.
Rather clever really.
Thus you create a well sealed box of thoughts, impervious to even the most powerful rhetorical and factual weapons.
DRM