In 2006, then-Senator Obama said that America wasn’t only a Christian nation but a religiously diverse one. Many conservative Christian circles criticized him. Now, it turns out, many evangelical Christian leaders agree with him.
In a statement issued Tuesday, the National Assn. of Evangelicals said that when it surveyed selected evangelical leaders about whether the United States was a Christian nation, 68% said no.
“Much of the world refers to America as a Christian nation, but most of our Christian leaders don’t think so,” said Leith Anderson, the association’s president. “The Bible only uses the word ‘Christian’ to describe people and not countries. Even those who say America is a Christian nation admit that there are lots of non-Christians and even anti-Christian beliefs and behaviors.”
The association said that some respondents to its June survey said, in essence, that “perhaps the United States was a Christian nation, but it is no longer.” Others rejected the idea of that a nation can be “Christian” altogether.
In his 2006 speech to a liberal Christian group, then-Sen. Barack Obama said: “Whatever we once were, we are no longer a Christian nation – at least, not just. We are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, a Buddhist nation, and a Hindu nation, and a nation of nonbelievers.”
Variations of those remarks have circulated endlessly on the Internet, and were injected into the presidential campaign in February, when Mitt Romney was interviewed by Fox News host Sean Hannity. Hannity played a shortened clip of Obama’s remarks during a discussion that also featured the president’s relationship with his former pastor, the controversial Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
America may not be Christian, but it can be again one day:
The National Assn. of Evangelicals did say that, while a majority of evangelical leaders did not view the U.S. as a Christian country, many expressed a hope that missionaries could make it more Christian. “America is one of the world’s great mission fields that the Church has been called to reach in this generation,” said George Wood, general superintendent of the Assemblies of God denomination.
NAE spokeswoman Sarah Kropp said the survey was conducted among the organization’s 101-member board of directors, which includes prominent pastors, denominational leaders, Christian university presidents and editors of Christian publications. “You have to keep in mind that it’s just 100 people,” she said, when asked about the validity of the survey. Still, she said, it was enough to “give you a look into evangelical thought.”
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Why is it that we (society in general) allow these folks to define “Christian” only on their terms? I’m really tired of their self-appointed roles— along with the Bishop of Rome— acting as spokespersons for the rest of us.
What sounds like sour grapes?! O_o
“there are lots of … anti-Christian beliefs and behaviors.”
I daresay a lot of the NAE’s described “anti-Christian beliefs and behaviors” are anti-Christianist beliefs and behaviors, from (God help me) Christians like me.
JC Fisher
Very true, Michael. Evangelism was called for, though and if you get enough Christiians in one place it becomes a Christian neighborhood, village, etc. That sounds like sour grapes coming from someone in a denomination that can’t baptize enough people to survive the death rate. It would be good if TEC figured that out. Perhaps if fewer bishops made choosing Christianity from the world’s religions sound like choosing Mexican or Italian food for dinner…
Chris Harwood
We were never called to create Christian Nations. It would be good if Fundagelicals figured that out.