Room for World Religions in the US?

I often wonder what the members of the first Constitutional Conress would have thought of including faith traditions (other than Christianity) into their fledgling nation? We could learn a lot about what their intentions were for this young nation in terms of religion if there was a Muslim in the membership of that body. We forget pretty quickly that the signers of the Declaration of Independence were pretty much cut from the same cloth when it came to religion and matters of faith. Sure, there were some from either side of that debate, but the debate generally centered on what it was like to be a Christian, not that we should conform to, condone or accept another religion altogether like Islam or Hinduism. That was completely out of their minds at the time and left for us to face, we were a Christian nation from the beginning whether you subscribe to the idea the Founding Fathers were Deists (a Creator made the Universe and then set it aside to run itself by natural laws) or Evangelicals (God is actively involved in the workings of the Universe with a desire for a personal realtionship with each of us). Do you think our nation was founded on Christian principles, and do these principles still have value for us today?

I have heard a lot of people today comment that they are spiritual but don't want to be involved in religion, I suppose the church in general has given no real reason to dispute that. Constant strife, bickering and a general desire to change the way people live without giving them any relevant need to do so is a difficult way to increase membership. The part I can't seem to get over is why I can't get normal people to come to Sunday School with me, but other people will join a cult with crazy practices that end up fodder for low budget movies. People are looking for relevance, but the church is becoming less and less of the answer for many. It seems the first issue is whether or not religion is relevant to people's lives today, whether the issue is important to their general well being and purpose for life. I have been doing some research for a paper that involves how people lived years ago and why there has been a steady decline in church membership over the last few generations. Seems to me if you could answer that question then that would lead you to the real answer about relevance in people's lives.

I am not talking about government and legal trends that started in the late 1940's and continue to today, about rulings that removed the Bible and prayer from schools and the 10 Commandments from the court houses. That is a topic for another day and worthy of discussion, since those factors do influence the relevance of faith. I believe that something more basic is at work, a combination of advances in technology and ease of life combined with poor overall leadership in the church. A few generations ago, surveys noted that people were less interested in financial goals and getting rich as much as they were in finding fulfillment in their lives. Data also suggests that we were more comfortable with less, not needing houses larger than 1500 square feet or so, only one car in general, one phone line, no need for microwaves, air conditioning, stereos and I-pods that we consider "must-haves" today. What has triggered this new trend? Advances in technology have provided many of these things that make life easier, and each advance in technology that makes life easier has the ability to divert our attention away from matters of faith.

We can occupy ourselves with any means of entertainment and live cushy lives for the most part, in stark contrast with life as a search for fulfillment and general survival not many generations ago. When you are in survival mode, then matters of faith are most important, when we are "comfortable" then it is less so. When you combine this with organized religion asking us to conform our lifestyles to join their clubs, it becomes pretty evident why church membership is declining. I am not for giving up my hot shower or microwave or suggesting that from anyone else, but I will ask that you truthfully consider how your life and matters of faith would be different if your focus was elsewhere.

So back to our original question, was our nation founded on Christian principles, and do those principles still have value today? I can only imagine the scene if it could happen today. Thomas Jefferson sitting in one corner, telling whomever would listen to beware of the clergy because they were only interested in taking away people's personal rights in order to conform them to their version of Christianity, any number of the 55 licensed clergymen that participated in the signing roaming the room to offer up their testimony of how belief in Christ had changed their lives, to the point of being willing to die for the right to tell others, and George Washington in the middle talking about how life is made better by following the practices of the Bible and how can we try and work together to make America stronger. About that time a Muslim walks in the room and everyone stops talking, like an EF Hutton commercial. This adds a new twist to the conversation altogether.

I would be willing to bet that if that Muslim asked for the same rights and priviledges to practice his religion as had been afforded the early Americans, his request would have been brushed aside with no second thoughts and great indignation. The rights and priviledges of free practice of religion were intended solely for those practicing the Christian religion, not for other faith choices. Now I am sure the debate would center on letting people have the freedom to make their own choices vs. not allowing false religions to sway the hearts and minds of simple people, but would have returned to the general premise that only Christianity was intended as the faith choice for America. The same men that penned "all men are created equal" and then allowed the slave trade to continue would have come to this conclusion quickly, there was no room in their world for weak acceptance of religious diversity. They would have accepted a person's right to choose their own path and rejected the incorrect choice as one not to be made or suggested to others.

Freedom of religion through the Bill of rights in 1789 was intended for Christian denominations, and resulted from the desire of the leaders of the day to avoid having a State mandated denomination as existed in European nations. We have taken that a step further and perverted it years later by trying to remove Christianity from the mainstream altogether by building a "wall of separation" between church and state (Did you know that was not in the Constitution, but in a letter sent by Jefferson to the Danbury Baptist Church ansering a query about which denomination was most important? This letter was used later by the Supreme Court to create a law that changed the original intent of the Constitution and Bill of Rights). We are a nation of personal freedoms, but have continued to water down the original intent to the point that the church has to make much better decisions or our nation's heritage and history is lost. Other religious choices have to be tolorated as a personal right, but acceptance of other faiths on the same level of Christianity in our government, schools, courtrooms, etc. is unacceptable and should not be allowed any more that having a State Denomination shoudl be allowed.

What can the church do to make a comeback? Is is even possible? Absolutely. The church has to return to the basics, every denomination must focus on the core belief that Jesus Christ is the only way to a personal realtionship with God the Father and Creator. Christianity is the only world religion that can make that claim. If we can agree on that then the rest is semantics. People need to be introduced to this man as the Savior of mankind, the conduit to eternal life. People have to be told the message that belief in Him will lead to a changed life, you don't have to change first to be "accepted." If the church can get that message righted again, then the pews will be filled with people who discover the relevance in their lives and want to learn more about His love. As they accept that love, they will be changed forever, and the old things will not hold sway.

We must introduce them to Christ first, and let them make the choice whether he is the greatest fraud in all of history or who He says He is, but that is their choice. This is the most important choice anyone can ever make if He is who He says He is, and irrelevant if not. We must start there, the life change will come after the decision is made, but it cannot come beforehand. Let's get the order corrected, stand fast against other religions that do not put Christ at the center of the salvation plan, and have the fortitude to stand up when others dispute or confuse the message that our forefathers clearly understood. We have already made the mistake of allowing a fringe element attempt to remove the vestiges of Christianity from our daily lives, but now to have that replaced with acceptance of other religions seems doubly incorrect. There are places where other faiths are allowed to operate and Christian churches barred due to separation of church and state issues. There is more diversity allowance for other faiths than the faith that our nation was founded with, and we go on with no concern because Christianity has been placed in a benign holding pattern for many. You can make whatever choice you want regarding faith, but don't try to transform America from a Christian nation. I wonder what that meeting room would have looked like?

"Had the doctrines of Jesus been preached always as pure as they came from his lips, the whole civilized world would now have been Christian." Letter from Thomas Jefferson to Dr. Benjamin Waterhouse in 1822.