What exactly entails a "Christian Nation?"

We hear this phrase thrown around all the time, and the New York Times has put together a concise piece on why that doesn't make much sense.

The title kind of says it all, and the best point I think the article makes is reproduced here:

"According to Scripture, however, believers are to be wary of all mortal powers. Their home is the kingdom of God, which transcends all earthly things, not any particular nation-state."

It goes on to explain how the Founding Fathers, while yes, most of them were Christians themselves, specifically attempted to keep from defining a state religion. This information is always good to reiterate, I think.

I'm a little exhausted by this type of political rhetoric. People can believe whatever they want about the U.S., but I think that a politician running for president should probably keep in mind that there are plenty of non-Christians who live here, and plenty more who want to have the opportunity to live here due to the freedom our country ostensibly offers to them. Speaking like this does not encourage anyone, except the people voting for this candidate (McCain in the case of the NYT article).

This brings me back around to my issue with the whole voting process. When I was over in Belgium this summer, I spoke with a guy who invariably asked me how I could not be responsible for the Bush administration. I explained that regardless of whom I might try to elect, only 40-some-odd-percent of the voting public actually put Bush in office. The Belgian man was confounded as to how that could happen, and unfortunately, so am I, so I couldn't help make sense of it for him.

As it stands, then, politicians will continue polarizing the public on issues such as this because it will get them an important contingency of votes. I know the system is not their fault, but perpetuating something that's clearly a negative influence on our solidarity as a country seems to be something that should be addressed.

But in the end, maybe it doesn't matter. As long as we all retain the rights to worship (or not worship) how we wish, then things on this front should be all right. At the same time, I feel that the situation could become precarious if the term "Christian Nation" continues to be thrown around too strongly, especially as the tensions between ourselves and specifically theocratic nations continue to rise.

People talk about the fact that we're in a Holy War in the Middle East all the time. I don't think this is the case, but I, for one, would like to make sure it doesn't become that way.

Thanks to Matt for another great tip.