Christian nation? : the United States in popular perception and historical reality

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Christian nation? : the United States in popular perception and historical reality

T. Adams Upchurch

Praeger, c2010

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"An imprint of ABC-CLIO"

Includes bibliographical references (p. [177]-191) and index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

This fascinating study examines America's complex and confusing history of arguing with itself over religion and secularism, God and politics, church and state. Hundreds of books are devoted to the ever-timely subject of the separation of church and state in America, but none does exactly what Christian Nation?: The United States in Popular Perception and Historical Reality does. Unlike other studies, this intriguing examination asks the right questions, defines the terms of the debate, explores the widely diverging points of view with equal respect for all sides, and provides insightful commentary and factual conclusions that cut through the clutter. The book begins with several questions: Is the United States a "Christian Nation?" Has it ever been? Was it ever meant to be? What did the Founding Fathers say? How has this issue been interpreted by various individuals and factions over the centuries? The author then surveys the vast literature on this topic, including the U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence and the competing and/or complimentary views of various Founding Fathers to arrive at the answers—and, at long last, the truth.

Table of Contents

Preface Introduction: The Church-State Issue as Historical Entertainment Perceptions Historiography 1. The American "Way": Fabricating a New Creed for a Nascent Nation The National Paradox The Founders and What They Founded Nationalism, the Civic Religion, and Peer Pressure 2. The American "Israel": Considering the Annuit Coeptis Theory A Chosen People Religiosity and the Numbers Game 3. The American "Pie": Considering the History of E Pluribus Unum Ingredients Recipe Move to America, Shake Well Serve Hot 4. The American "Magna Carta": Congress Shall Make No Law … So Neither Should the Supreme Court Division of Labor Developments in the Revolution and Early Republic The Philosophy of Separationism Exploring the First Amendment 5. The American "Orthodoxy": Nonconformity among the Founders Freethinkers and Freethinking Deism Freemasonry 6. The American "Irrationalism": The Founders and the Reasonableness of Religion The Declaration of Irrationalism The Irrational Constitution A Utilitarian Faith? 7. The American "Exemplars": Founders Who Led by Example The Bit Players Benjamin Franklin George Washington John Adams Thomas Jefferson James Madison Alexander Hamilton 8. The American "Duality": The Art and Science of Equipoise Faith and Reason God and Mammon North and South Conservatism and Liberalism Conclusion: A Novus Ordo Seclorum? Notes Bibliography Index

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