Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Edward M. Buckner, PhD (Smyrna, GA), formerly the president of American Atheists and executive director of the Council for Secular Humanism, is now a member of the board of directors of American Atheists. He contributed to The New Encyclopedia of Unbelief (edited by Thomas W. Flynn) and the Fundamentals of Extremism: The Christian Right in America (edited by Kimberly Baker), among other publications.

Michael E. Buckner (Decatur, GA) is the coeditor of Quotations that Support the Separation of State and Church with Edward M. Buckner, among other publications. He is the vice president of the Atlanta Freethought Society.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

in freedom we trust

Prometheus Books

Contents

Introduction......................................................................................................................................111. Why Secularism? The Basic Logical and Philosophical Argument...................................................................................272. Atheists Are Not Un-American: Atheists Are, Despite Congressman Rabaut, American Through and Through...........................................373. Religion and Politics Now: The Political State of the Arguments over Secularism in the Context of a Presidential Election......................434. Why Newt Gingrich's Abuse of Language Matters to the Defense of Secularism.....................................................................635. History Is Not on the Side of the Angels: The General History That Supports Secularism and Separation of Church and State......................696. The Unchristian Roots of the Fourth of July....................................................................................................837. The Unchristian Nature of the US Constitution..................................................................................................898. From the Shores of Tripoli ... Why a 1796–1797 US Treaty Matters.........................................................................1019. Ten Commandments—Religious Manifesto or Political Gimmick?...............................................................................10910. Tolerance, Toleration, and Liberty: The Historical Context....................................................................................11711. Secular Schooling: Public-School Policies and Curriculum Questions Affecting Religious Liberty................................................12312. Holy Days and Holidays in a Secular Society: Who Could Be against a Day off, Anyway?..........................................................13313. He Who Is Not with Me Is against Me: Contrary to the Reported Words of Jesus, Secularism Is Not Anti-Christian................................13714. The Naked Public Square? Clearing Up Confusion, Even among Secularists, about the Difference between "Public" and "Civic".....................14315. The Big Lie: Morality and Conscience in a Secular Society.....................................................................................15116. God's Law: Sharia and the Ten Commandments versus the Constitution............................................................................15917. Blasphemy and Heresy: Where Free Speech and Freedom of Religion Must Meet.....................................................................17718. What in the Name of God? Why "God" Doesn't Belong in America's Motto or in Any Official Pledges of Allegiance.................................18519. Questions: Frequent Questions or Claims by Christian-Nation Proponents with Specific Answers to the Claims....................................191Conclusion: The United States Is and Should Remain a Free Country and Not a Christian Nation......................................................209Acknowledgments...................................................................................................................................213Appendix: Key Dates—A List of Important Dates Related to the History of a Secular United States.............................................215Notes.............................................................................................................................................219Glossary..........................................................................................................................................253Selected Bibliography: Sources and Related Writing regarding Secularism and Religious Liberty.....................................................257Index.............................................................................................................................................267

Chapter One

The United States is and ought to be a free country, not a Christian nation. Whatever anyone says or thinks, it cannot be both. Nations, including the United States, have to choose either to endorse and support a religion or to be free. We are going to explain here exactly why the choice is necessary and why the only defensible choice is to be free. Everyone, including deeply religious Christians, should agree with us. And that is not arrogance on our part, nor is it foolish onesidedness—so let us first explain our optimism: Why should readers— some of you are probably Christians, maybe even fundamentalists—why should you listen to a pair of atheists, much less decide that we are right? (After all, there are far more Christians in the United States than there are atheists.) You should agree with us on this for two reasons: first, you rightly pride yourselves, we are sure, on being bright and open-minded, sincere searchers for the truth, as well as strong, freedom-loving, patriotic Americans (readers from Canada and elsewhere are hereby invited to be patriotic to their own "exceptional" nation); and second, we really are right about this.

American history supports this view (see next chapters) and shows conclusively that we are not a Christian nation. And, as many well-documented quotations demonstrate, America's founders supported religious liberty and understood that government support of any religion undermines religious freedom.

There are many "myths"—false things many people think they know about separation of religion and government—that need to be countered. (See chapter 19, "Questions," for specific replies to most of these.) But anyone who wants to claim that our government should support Christianity (or any other religion) must explain away American history, contradict our decidedly unchristian form of government, and, finally and most crucially, demonstrate that separation of church and state is not in everyone's best interest.

This point about everyone's self-interest is the "... and ought to be" part of our argument. Anyone who disagrees would have to show why any of four very basic points don't hold up:

1. Americans do not all agree on religion.

2. Human judgement is imperfect.

3. Religious truth cannot be determined by force or by majority vote.

4. Religious liberty is worth defending.

These four statements, all true, are the bedrock reasons that separation of religion and government is necessary and desirable for all. We will return to an analysis and defense of these four later in this chapter.

Our history and the documented words of the founders and of our governing documents clearly show that American government was not designed to be Christian. But perhaps even more difficult for those who claim that the United States is a Christian nation is the severe conflict between biblical Christianity and our government and society as it is now organized.

Not only was the Declaration of Independence politically radical, it was radical in religious terms as well. (See chapter 6, "The Unchristian Roots of the Fourth of July," for more detail.) The Declaration explicitly denied the old doctrines of "Divine Right of Kings" and aristocracy:

That to secure these rights, governments...