What Would the Founders: A State Church

"Declaration of Independence" (1819) by John Trumbull

What would the founders have done differently if they could see the future?

When the United States was created, the founders—most of whom were Bible-believing Christians— avoided establishing a state church, something never before conceivable. I’m not entirely sure why they did this except that they must have had been influenced by Enlightenment philosophy. Perhaps they thought it would limit internecine conflict between different kinds of Christians. It was certainly not because they were attempting to prevent the Church from interfering in politics as many people today mistakenly assume.

The founders presumed that the principles of Christianity would remain a predominant force in government even without officially granting the Christian church a place at the table of government. Every other Christian nation that has ever existed allowed the Church to have a prominent role in the operations of state, but the United States made no provision for it, despite being one of the most Christian nations ever established. Christianity was so preeminent in their day that the Founders did not feel the urgency to cement its authority by giving its representatives a place in government. There were no other serious contenders: no Jews, no Muslims, no Buddhists. They took Christianity’s continuing preeminence in America for granted.

What the founders did not realize was that secular humanism lurked amongst them in the shadows, waiting for the opportunity to evolve from a deceptively tantalizing idea into a full-fledged religion, complete with official ensconcement in the halls of power.

In retrospect, it is clear that the lack of an official state church in America is what allowed Secular Humanism to become the de facto state religion. This filthy cult---the faith that pretends to not be a faith---has now evolved far beyond whatever the Founders thought it was, and you can be certain that most of them would reject it and its fruits entirely if they could see it today.

The secular humanists of today have concocted a creation myth for themselves that the United States was founded on Enlightenment philosophy, that “Separation of Church and State” has always meant what they think it does. Even many Christians have fallen for this lie, thinking that the Enlightenment and Christianity can be synthesized somehow.

The reality is that Enlightenment philosophy slipped into the Founding like a thief through an unlocked window. If the Founders (perhaps even those few secular humanists among them) could have seen the state of American society in our day and how western society as a whole has followed America’s lead into many kinds of insanity, they would have established a state church in two shakes of a lamb’s tail.