When people call America a “Christian” nation, they don’t mean to tell everyone else to get out. But, if you think about it, when all is said and done, those words mean, “get used to having our religion crammed down your throat, or find a new place to live.” If America is a Christian nation, that means my non-Christian neighbors are second class citizens. I am one Christian who finds that deeply offensive.
Recently, a pastor introduced Rick Santorum by saying,
“This nation was founded as a Christian nation, the God of Abraham, the God Isaac, and the God of Jacob. There’s only one God — there’s only one God and his name is Jesus. I’m tired of people telling me that I can’t say those words. I’m tired of people telling us as Christians that we can’t voice our beliefs, or we can no longer pray in public. Listen to me: if you don’t love America and you don’t like the way we do things, I’ve got one thing to say: Get out! We don’t worship Buddha. I said we don’t worship Buddha. We don’t worship Muhammad. We don’t worship Allah. We worship God. We worship God’s son Jesus Christ.”
When one Christian says that kind of thing to our neighbors, the rest of us have a duty to rise to the defense of those of other faiths, or those of no faith. America belongs to us all. If we remain silent when others speak in our name, we become a part of the dead weight of other peoples’ oppression.
To read a Rabbi’s Response, click here