Well, I’d like to see his documentary evidence first. Two reasons I can think of immediately: 1) I’d like to see what he’s been reading, so I can avoid reading it, and 2) I’m always up for a good laugh.
All seriousness aside…
Were the framers of the Declaration of Independence (which split us from UK) and the Constitution (which created the nation we know) “Christians”?
Answer: They had all been brought up that way, but I doubt that they would identify themselves that way, and certainly they would not identify themselves the way your correspondent is identifying himself. Some (like Franklin) were Deists. Some (like George Washington) were raised as Anglicans but vociferously resisted calling themselves Christians. Washington in particular was known to resist saying “God,” preferring “Providence” instead, to the eternal annoyance of the priests who had him at services.
Of course this points one problem: if I attend church every Sunday am I a Christian? Depends. These days, probably. In 1776, who knows? Lots of people back then attended church so they could see their friends who lived a ways away. I can just see Washington sitting in the back grumbling every time the padre mentions the “G” word…
Washington was also an avowed Freemason. You ought to run that by your correspondent and see what happens!
The FF also had the heritage of the Cromwellian Revolution and the “Glorious” revolution of 1688 to guide them. Even if they were devout Christians they were not going to let religion have anything to do with the government, and vice versa. Forget it! Look at the history of England from 1600 to 1688? You think anybody in his right mind wanted that sort of mess? No, the FF wanted nothing to do with organized religion.
Now, I think there’s another question to answer: Is the US a “Christian” nation because it’s founded on beliefs, attitudes, and culture that are markedly Christian? Who the heck knows? The US is founded on some ideas that were mighty lofty, theoretical, and radical in their day. It’s also founded on the heritage of nearly 1000 years of English government. Neither set of ideas grew up in a vacuum, they had to be influenced by Christianity. So, the US was founded on Western European Enlightenment principles, which have some basis in Christianity as opposed to, say, Buddhism.
And a rant, to finish: your correspondent doesn’t mean any of what I’ve said. I’m certain he means that the FF founded the US based on the teachings of Christ and the idea that the nation had to follow Christian values, which in turn means that it’s perfectly Constitutional to have prayers to Jesus in public schools, yada yada yada. He probably believes the crap that’s written about Washington, how Washington was a Christian who insisted that Christ was important in the government.
Your correspondent is absolutely dead wrong; he’s being led around by neo-conservative Christians who want to believe this junk even though there’s not a shred of evidence for it.
And, since I’m MOT, I will conclude by saying that there is no such thing as a Judeo-Christian heritage! I wish the Christians would stop dragging me into this crap! Look, the Christians are entitled to their opinions, but they do not speak for the Jews. So quit it!