America has something known as 'civil religion,' which is an amalgamation of religion or religious ritual with civic rituals, public government, and other civil functions. Traditionally, the 'religion' portion has been exclusively or almost exclusively Christian - and generally Protestant at that. This has been changing to become more pluralistic, but will Christians accept the changes?

Mollie writes:

Examples of civil religion include the invocation of a non-specific God at political events (“God bless America!”) and the quotation or reference of sacred texts in political speeches. We are quite accustomed to biblical references, but President Bush has begun including the Koran in his political rhetoric. His second inaugural highlighted the truths of the Koran, for instance.

He called Islam a “noble faith” at his most recent State of the Union speech. Civil religion has its own hymns, such as the Star Spangled Banner, and venerates past political leaders and deceased veterans of wars. Since the terrorist attacks of 2001, the nation has seen a rise in religious events gathered by political leaders. These events have become increasingly interfaith.

The Christian character of civil religion in America has been one reason why Christians have been able to regard America as a “Christian” nation. They have defended instances of overt Christianity in civil religion in order to maintain what little Christianity there still exists in public functions. As “civil religion” becomes more a generalized religion, rather than just the Christian religion, it will get more and more difficult to insist that America is a Christian nation. For many Christians, this simply won’t be acceptable. What will they do?

 

Christian Right & Christian Nationalism:

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• Adolf Hitler, Nazi Germany, and Christian Nationalism
• Christian Anti-Semitism, Persecution of Jews
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• Christianism & Christian Nationalism
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• Confederate Southern Nationalism & Christianity
• Religion in America

 

Christian Nationalism & Dominion Theology:

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• Leading Christian Reconstructionists
• Reconstructionism & Christian Right: Common Goals, Beliefs