45% Say U.S. Should Be a 'Christian Nation' But hold differing opinions about what that means

[Demovictory9]

45% of Americans Say U.S. Should Be a ‘Christian Nation’
But they hold differing opinions about what that phrase means, and two-thirds of U.S. adults say churches should keep out of politics



For instance, many supporters of Christian nationhood define the concept in broad terms, as the idea that the country is guided by Christian values. Those who say the United States should not be a Christian nation, on the other hand, are much more inclined to define a Christian nation as one where the laws explicitly enshrine religious teachings.

Overall, six-in-ten U.S. adults – including nearly seven-in-ten Christians – say they believe the founders “originally intended” for the U.S. to be a Christian nation. And 45% of U.S. adults – including about six-in-ten Christians – say they think the country “should be” a Christian nation. A third say the U.S. “is now” a Christian nation.

At the same time, a large majority of the public expresses some reservations about intermingling religion and government. For example, about three-quarters of U.S. adults (77%) say that churches and other houses of worship should not endorse candidates for political offices. Two-thirds (67%) say that religious institutions should keep out of political matters rather than expressing their views on day-to-day social or political questions. And the new survey – along with other recent Center research – makes clear that there is far more support for the idea of separation of church and state than opposition to it among Americans overall.

This raises the question: What do people mean when they say the U.S. should be a “Christian nation”? While some people who say the U.S. should be a Christian nation define the concept as one where a nation’s laws are based on Christian tenets and the nation’s leaders are Christian, it is much more common for people in this category to see a Christian nation as one where people are more broadly guided by Christian values or a belief in God, even if its laws are not explicitly Christian and its leaders can have a variety of faiths or no faith at all. Some people who say the U.S. should be a Christian nation are thinking about the religious makeup of the population; to them, a Christian nation is a country where most people are Christians. Others are simply envisioning a place where people treat each other well and have good morals.


https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2022/10/27/45-of-americans-say-u-s-should-be-a-christian-nation/

[LakeArenal]

1. I don't care how reliable the source...."

I don’t believe 45% believe that. I never will.

[malaise]

12. Still 55% is a decent majority

[cbabe]

2. The Christian ideal

"The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried." ― G.K. Chesterton

[Genki Hikari]

10. Utter rot

It has been tried, and found wanting. All of the sects have followed the book--as they interpreted it, and still they're a hot mess.

The problem is that the book it's all based on says a bunch of stuff, much of it contradictory/paradoxical and little of it good. The vast majority of it is flat out immoral. It condones the subjugation of women, child abuse, slavery, rape, child rape, kidnapping, murder, mass-murder and, worse than murder, torturing people who don't believe the same thing. There are so many acts of cruelty and violence in the book that, averaged out, there would be close to an act of violence per page of most modern printings of the book.

https://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/cruelty/long.html

And, no, the horrible isn't limited to the Jewish part of the book. Matthew 5:18 makes it clear that the slavery, rape, child rape and all the rest of the nastier Jewish laws are not only A-OK with the deity of the sequel religion, but expected to be followed.

What we're seeing play out is exactly what one could expect of people following the religious tenets as laid out in their primary text.

[Bluethroughu]

3. Those 45% don't understand what American history is.

Facts matter.

[relayerbob]

4. People seem to think Christianity is monolithic

There is no single Christian religion, so attempts to put everyone in one box is impossible.

[keithbvadu2]

5. We have plenty of folks who want to be the Christian Ayatollah of America

[Bayard]

6. Then 45% need a history lesson

A 'Christian Nation' is not what the founding fathers had in mind.

"Christian values," apparently mandate attacking old men with hammers in their homes, and sending toxic substances to political offices you don't like.

[nakocal]

7. And zero percent of this 45%

actually practice the teachings of Christ.

[Talitha]

8. THIS!!!!!

[Genki Hikari]

11. You might want to read the book

Because there's plenty they're in agreement on.

I'd start with a thorough reading of Matthew to see just how much they have in common. Like promoting divisiveness if people don't agree with Dear Leader (Matthew 10).

Oh--and don't forget the laws about forcing rape victims to marry their assailants, child rape, and slavery still being laws that must be followed That's in Matthew, too. Matthew 5:17-18, to be specific. Right there in the middle of the sermon on the mount, supposedly the best the religion's deity could come up with.

Which doesn't speak well to people's taste or morals if they find that moral and good. If anything, it's a guide for malignant narcissists to create plenty of gullible masochists to prey on, and the flying monkeys to help them do it. Just like we have now!

https://archive.ph/IKI4O

[Simeon Salus]

9. The 45% need to figure out which brand of christianity they want.

When they decide which denomination they agree should be the national faith, then we can all reject it together.

Freedom of religion means my right to reject your religion and the legal baggage your religion drags along to oppress mine. That's no disrespect of your freedom of worship, that's me exercising the freedom of mine.

This is a core tenet of what dad always replied when asked about his faith: "none of your freakin' business."

For my part, I'm fine with churches mixing religion with politics, so long as they start paying taxes like any other corporation.

Mixing pigsh#t with ice cream always ruins the one, but doesn't injure the other.

It's the assholes who want it both ways, they spoil it for religious communities which abide by the rules.

[ProfessorGAC]

13. If It Wasn't Pew...

...I'd dismiss it out of hand.
I still have my doubts about this high a number, but Pew doesn't have leaky methodology.
I need to know more about how they sampled & stratified, and exactly how the questions were asked.
45% just seems too high.

[Timeflyer]

14. There was a time when one religion ruled them all--called "Dark Ages"--good times!

United States founders beg to differ. They thought theocracy led to "torrents of blood," but hey, god's will.