2008 Woodie Awards
Majority of Americans believe Founding Fathers intended America to be Christian
Rachel Alper
Issue date: 9/28/07 Section: News
A poll conducted by the New England Survey Research Associates, released Sept. 11, found that 55 percent of Americans believe the Constitution establishes a Christian nation, and 65 percent of Americans believe the Founding Fathers intended the United States to be a Christian nation.
Political science professor Leslie Goldstein said she believes the study's findings are too vague.
"I think the findings are ambiguous," Goldstein said. " 'Intended the U.S. to be a Christian nation' could mean 'intended that mostly Christians would settle here.' This is factually accurate. It is not accurate that the Constitution, as such, established a Christian nation."
She said the country was not necessarily founded by Christians, but rather by people who rejected supernatural revelation.
"In fact, a great many founders were deists rather than traditional Christians," Goldstein said. "Still, they may have believed that traditional religion made people be good citizens."
Rabbi Eliezer Sneiderman, the rabbi for Hillel, a Jewish student organization, said he believes the study's findings were representative of reality.
"I think the study is very interesting," Sneiderman said. "While the authors and USA Today try to make the findings shocking, I think they are representative of reality. Christianity, while not explicitly stated in the Constitution, was the order of the day."
Junior Paul Meyer said he does not think the question asked by the study is true.
"I do not think that the Constitution establishes a Christian society," Meyer said. "I think it's what they had in mind, but they never would have imagined the changes in demographics that have occurred in the last 200 years."
Graduate student Charles Apple said he believes the Constitution has moral foundations similar to religion.
"I think the Constitution shares some principles which can be building blocks of moral values and thus integrate with religion," Apple said. "While it does have Abrahamic values, it is not Jewish, Christian or Muslim. It is a moral and spiritually-sanctified doctrine, without the closed-minded nature of one specific religion, which can be misconstrued."
Political science professor Leslie Goldstein said she believes the study's findings are too vague.
"I think the findings are ambiguous," Goldstein said. " 'Intended the U.S. to be a Christian nation' could mean 'intended that mostly Christians would settle here.' This is factually accurate. It is not accurate that the Constitution, as such, established a Christian nation."
She said the country was not necessarily founded by Christians, but rather by people who rejected supernatural revelation.
"In fact, a great many founders were deists rather than traditional Christians," Goldstein said. "Still, they may have believed that traditional religion made people be good citizens."
Rabbi Eliezer Sneiderman, the rabbi for Hillel, a Jewish student organization, said he believes the study's findings were representative of reality.
"I think the study is very interesting," Sneiderman said. "While the authors and USA Today try to make the findings shocking, I think they are representative of reality. Christianity, while not explicitly stated in the Constitution, was the order of the day."
Junior Paul Meyer said he does not think the question asked by the study is true.
"I do not think that the Constitution establishes a Christian society," Meyer said. "I think it's what they had in mind, but they never would have imagined the changes in demographics that have occurred in the last 200 years."
Graduate student Charles Apple said he believes the Constitution has moral foundations similar to religion.
"I think the Constitution shares some principles which can be building blocks of moral values and thus integrate with religion," Apple said. "While it does have Abrahamic values, it is not Jewish, Christian or Muslim. It is a moral and spiritually-sanctified doctrine, without the closed-minded nature of one specific religion, which can be misconstrued."
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 3
Edward Bayley
posted 9/28/07 @ 7:33 PM EST
Rachel,
Very interesting story, I am intrigued. I've explored this topic fairly thoroughly since it has implications in all walks of life and disciplines. (Continued…)
Mike Fox
posted 9/29/07 @ 4:17 AM EST
As an atheist, I feel the subject of America's religious founding is sometimes misunderstood. No, America was not "founded" as a Christian nation, although sure then as today Christianity was the predominate religion. (Continued…)
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