The Truth About Christianity and America’s Founding: Separating Faith from National Myth

Contrary to popular belief, America was not founded as a Christian nation.

Might sound jarring, and honestly, I hope it is, because it is true.

The idea that the United States was this uniquely chosen, blessed, and divinely established nation just keeps growing. It keeps getting repeated from pulpits, abused in political conversations, and got woven into the way people talk about our history. 

But when you actually look at the foundation of this country, who built it and what they believed, you start to realize Christian Nationalists have conveniently forgotten a few things that never make it into speeches.

Before Taking Up Another #Cause

The Constitution does not establish Christianity as our nation’s foundation. It does not declare Jesus Christ as its king. Our government was intentionally designed to avoid religious control and allow all beliefs to exist freely.

It was a response to centuries of religious conflict and state-controlled faith in Europe that the Founding Fathers did not want to happen in the United States.

Even the Declaration of Independence, while referencing a “Creator,” never defines that Creator in Christian terms. The document also refers to “Nature’s God,” the “Supreme Judge of the world,” and the “protection of divine Providence,” using intentionally broad language meant to include a range of beliefs across the country rather than committing to any one faith.

The Brilliant Balance of Diverse Beliefs

Now for the monkey wrench. The men behind these documents were complex. The Founders did not come from one single faith, let alone a unified Christianity, which is why what they did was so brilliant and balanced.

We had Anglicans, Congregationalists, Presbyterians, former Quakers, Unitarians, and Deists. Some flat-out rejected the divinity of Christ. Others spoke of God in general terms, some emphasized moral reason over Scripture, some rejected central Christian doctrines, and Thomas Jefferson even created his own version of the Bible, removing miracles and supernatural elements (including His resurrection) to focus solely on Jesus’ moral teachings. Some were also Freemasons, reflecting Enlightenment ideas. 

As you can see, this was not a group of people unified by any one theology. It was a group wise enough to recognize that history should not repeat itself, and that when religion and government are fused, both become corrupted. So they built a system not to establish any one single faith above the other, but to protect the freedom for all of them to exist. 

This is a monumental distinction between what actually happened and what is being presented by the Christian Nationalism movement.

Double Standards

I don’t know which is more obnoxious. Barely getting the word Christian out and getting lumped in with a group I want nothing to do with, or watching the double standards play out in the public eye daily. 

For clarification and transparency, I will not support any movement that deliberately changes anything or downplays real, documented facts and history to convince people that God has somehow ordained this country, that it is similar to Israel, or that it carries a divine status it was never given. 

I also will not support the twisting of Scripture to fit political agendas or justify claims that go beyond what the Bible actually teaches. And simply labeling something “christian” does not equate to earning my support. I rely on God, the Son, the Holy Spirit, and the awesome critical thinking skills I was given at conception.

Beyond that, what is even more grating is the double standard. They claim to fight moral decay, defend traditional values, and push back against any ideas they dislike, and condemn the people with those ideas for bending and twisting things to have their narrative in the spotlight while at the same time……………..

They are also bending facts and constructing a narrative that serves their agenda. Please pause on that for a second. If you can’t sit on the truth without bending or tweaking something, then maybe, just maybe, it’s not the truth?

You could say, well, they are doing this for the right reasons, but whose right reasons? Last time I checked, history is full of painful and hellious examples of people trying that.

Christians in positions of power have a long and well-documented history of using the Bible as their backbone to get what they want. From the Spanish Inquisition, where Scripture was used to justify torture and execution, to American slaveholders who cited the Bible to defend human bondage.

History should be a clear reminder of just how one can abuse the other.

Watching this unfold among Christians is not just disappointing; it’s an affront to my senses, faith, and Christ, because it’s trading integrity for another set of ideology, elevating the nation above Christ, and is an abuse of Christianity.

The United States is not the Kingdom of God. It is a nation that was built by men with quite a variety of different beliefs who wisely realized you cannot force a country to be a religion, but you can protect all religions.

Wonder how many people know George Washington said this?

“The government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion…”

Faith Should Not Be Legislated

We need to be honest about what’s happening. This movement is not hypothetical; it is happening right now.

It is dangerously close to idolatry (already is for a lot of people), not because people love their country, but because of how they are elevating it above God. It is also dangerously close to dictating what we can and cannot believe, even within the Christian community. It may sound pretty on the outside, but where are the lines drawn?

What sect of Christianity will be approved, or worse, not approved, over the coming years? Are you going to be told what church you can and can’t go to? Think about that: who gets to determine what you believe? Are you willingly going to hand that freedom over to the people who make our laws? 

Humanity has more than proven that when it is given an inch, especially in the name of religion, it will lead to bloodshed. I love my country, I love my freedom, I respect my leaders, and I pray for them, but my country does not come before God and does not have the right to force my faith on anyone. 

Jesus never once forced a single person to follow Him or believe in Him. 

Not once.

You can not justify something as being “for the greater good” when Christianity has never taught that the ends justify the means. You cannot abuse truth, distort history, and pressure belief, then call the result righteous. A wrong done in the name of good is still wrong.

As a Christian who loves and studies her history, I cannot get behind any movement that tries to force belief through power or pressure. Whether it comes from the left, the right, male, female, or under the banner of religion, it is the same pattern, one that the founding fathers tried to protect us from.

Christian Nationalism in Action Example

2025 — “a Texas Senate panel heard testimony on a bill that would require public schools to adopt anti-communist curriculum. On its face, the bill does not seek to put more Christianity in classrooms. But supporters argued that the bill is crucial to combating godless ideologies that they say have crept into American education and undermined the nation’s true, Christian heritage.” (Texas Tribune)

Other concerning statements:

“America is a Christian country,” said Cruz, who was invited by lawmakers to testify. “And we need to build upon that foundation, because if we build that foundation in our children, everything else will fall into place.” (Texas Tribune)

“In many instances our classrooms are failing us, because they’re following an agenda,” Cruz said. “It is not our agenda. It is a communist agenda that has, like tentacles, immersed itself into our education system. So we need to retrieve our educational system from that evil agenda.” (Texas Tribune)

“Last week, lawmakers heard testimony from Rafael Cruz, a pastor who is the father of U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz’s and an adherent of Christian dominionism, which argues Christians must dominate society to usher in the End Times. Cruz repeatedly argued that America — and thus, Christianity — are under threat from communist and socialist forces who seek to indoctrinate children through Critical Race Theory, diversity initiatives and other things that Republicans have targeted in recent years.” (Texas Tribune)

• “In the decades since immigrating, Cruz has been a leading advocate for Christian dominionism, which argues that the Bible commands Christians to have “dominion” over all parts of society in order to bring about the apocalypse.” (source) (Please tell me, even you paused at this one!)

  
  

Now, before you come running at me, you really need to read this entire article without a political lens and with critical thinking. I’m not saying that what they are testifying about are not valid concerns.

But a valid concern does not give anyone the authority to circumvent the First Amendment and force my faith (or any faith) on another person. This is where the line is getting crossed, from expressing belief to enforcing it, because where does that line stop if you keep letting them cross it?

These are a few examples showing the dangers of Christian nationalist ideology. (This goes for any religion, for that matter) Attempts to codify a particular religious belief into law, elevate a nation above God, and pressure children and citizens to conform to a specific theological viewpoint. (Again, I will ask, whose theological viewpoint?)

Amanda Tyler of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Freedom calls this a long-term strategy, saying that lawmakers often start with seemingly small measures and then gradually build to more extreme legislation.

This is precisely what the Founders were trying to avoid.

America Is In The Outhouse

With everything falling apart in this country, I can see why it is so easy for people to panic and look at the surface of a movement and believe it is a good thing. They desperately want it to be good; they need it to be because they feel like that will solve all their problems.

But we live in a world of open secrets, lies, shared traumas, and frankly lazy and self-entitled people, who would rather have someone else solve their problems, and hand them the new solution, instead of doing one very basic, key thing.

Go back to God. Not a party, or movement, or group.

You have to understand that unless you go to God in all your decisions, others will freely and happily make them for you. You want to make a real difference in this nation, go to God in prayer. You want better politicians, then pray for them. You want a better nation, then lift our leaders up in prayer. (yes, even the ones you don't like) 

You want the hate to stop, then stop hating. You want your children to do better, then be better parents. You want the fighting to stop, then stop fighting. You want moral decline to stop, then be moral. 

What made this country, quote Christian in the first place, was the Christians in it who prayed for it, but that has fallen away, quite severely over the last few decades. Our nation and government are, in many ways, a reflection of its people. Forcing any religion on a nation isn’t going to fix anything; in fact, it is going to further drive wedges between the people who live here.

Do I like everything I see going on in our country? Absolutely not, it breaks my heart, and I will continue to speak and write Biblical truth, but truth NOT dictated by any religious government or church, and truth that a person does have the right to scroll past. (Or yell at me, that happens a lot to. But guess what? I have the right not to engage in that either.)

There is a line, and it is being crossed in politics, and it is dangerous, very dangerous. In a perfect world, we wouldn’t need to worry about the separation of church and state, but this is not a perfect world. 

We need the church and state separated because we have too many power-hungry and self-serving individuals roaming around that will take every inch they can and damn the consequences, and too many people ready to jump on the next algorithm bandwagon, instead of exercising any amount of respectful decorum and critical thinking.

Extra Historical Context

Many references to God that people assume come from the Founding Fathers were added later. The phrase “under God” was inserted into the Pledge of Allegiance by Congress and signed into law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1954. (source)

“In God We Trust” did not originate with the Constitution or Declaration but was adopted as the official national motto in 1956 and first appeared on U.S. coins during the Civil War before becoming standard on paper currency. (source)

Also, the common “so help me God” at the end of a presidential oath is not in the Constitution’s text at all; it became a tradition in the late 19th /early 20th centuries rather than a requirement. (source)

I love my faith, and I firmly believe it can stand on its own, and spectacularly at that. I mean, come on, Jesus rose from the dead! To say or imply that it cannot stand on its own, or that we need to force it on people to help it along, shows me that those individuals have lost faith in God.

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”

© 2026 Jane Isley. Want more content like this? Explore more articles in the Culture & Faith category.

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