my response to a Facebook post of "PETITION: Say NO to the removal of GOD and the American Flag at public & National Ceremonies! "

The 12 Best Reasons Why The U.S. Is Not Now, And Never Should Be, A Christian Nation

1) “Enforced uniformity confounds civil and religious liberty and denies the principles of Christianity and civility. No man shall be required to worship or maintain a worship against his will.” Roger Williams, Puritan minister and founder of Rhode Island, in The Bloudy Tenet of Persecution, 1644.

2) “As the government of the United States of America is not on any sense founded on the Christian Religion, – as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility of Musselmen (Muslims), – and as the said States never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mehomitan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.”
–Treaty of Tripoli

3) “But how has it happened that millions of fables, tales, legends, have been blended with both Jewish and Christian revelation that have made them the most bloody religion that ever existed.”–John Adams, letter to F.A. Van der Kamp, Dec. 27, 1816

4) “Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship… I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between church and State.” –Thomas Jefferson, letter to Danbury Baptist Association, CT

5) “I consider the government of the United States as interdicted by the Constitution from intermeddling with religious institutions, their doctrines, discipline, or exercises.”–Thomas Jefferson, letter to Samuel Miller, 1808 [note that this does not say Christian religion; it refers to all religions, equally]

6) “History, I believe, furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government. This marks the lowest grade of ignorance, of which their political as well as religious leaders will always avail themselves for their own purpose.” –Thomas Jefferson to Baron von Humboldt, 1813

7) “Religious bondage shackles and debilitates the mind and unfits it for every noble enterprise.” –James Madison, letter to William Bradford, April 1, 1774

8) “Who does not see that the same authority which can establish Christianity, in exclusion of all other religions, may establish with the same ease any particular sect of Christians, in exclusion of all other sects?” –James Madison, A Memorial and Remonstrance, addressed to the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of VA, 1795

9) “What influence, in fact, have ecclesiastical establishments had on society? In some instances they have been seen to erect a spiritual tyranny on the ruins of the civil authority; on many instances they have been seen upholding the thrones of political tyranny; in no instance have they been the guardians of the liberties of the people… A just government, instituted to secure and perpetuate it, needs them not.” –James Madison, A Memorial and Remonstrance, 1785 .

10) “During almost fifteen centuries has the legal establishment of Christianity been on trial. What has been its fruits? More or less, in all places, pride and indolence in the clergy; ignorance and servility in the laity; in both, superstition, bigotry and persecution.” –James Madison, A Memorial and Remonstrance

11) “He had no faith, in the Christian sense of the term– he had faith in laws, principles, causes and effects.” –Supreme Court Justice David Davis, on Abraham Lincoln

12) “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” –First Amendment, Constitution of the United States

In addition: "In God we trust" was adopted as the official motto of the United States in 1956 as an alternative or replacement to the unofficial motto of E pluribus unum, adopted when the Great Seal of the United States was created and adopted in 1782. This motto was not adopted at the founding of this MELTING POT country.

 In God we trust has appeared sporadically on U.S. coins since 1864[3] and on paper currency since 1957.

Many have questioned the legality of this motto because they state that it violates United States Constitution which forbids the government from passing any law respecting the establishment of a religion.

While this is a belief that is followed by the main Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, it is foreign to the beliefs of many other religions. For instance, Buddhists do not believe in a personal deity; Zoroastrians and Wiccans believe in two deities; and Hindus believe in many. And the phrase is meaningless to agnostics and atheists. As such, it violates the principle of separation of church and state.

This country was NOT founded on christian principles. Of the 55 delegates to the 1787 Constitutional Convention, 49 were Protestants, and three were Roman Catholics (C. Carroll, D. Carroll, and Fitzsimons). Among the Protestant delegates to the Constitutional Convention, 28 were Church of England (or Episcopalian, after the American Revolutionary War was won), eight were Presbyterians, seven were Congregationalists, two were Lutherans, two were Dutch Reformed, and two were Methodists.
A few prominent Founding Fathers were anti-clerical Christians, such as Thomas Jefferson (who created the so-called "Jefferson Bible") and Benjamin Franklin. A few others (most notably Thomas Paine) were deists, or at least held beliefs very similar to those of deists.

and you can't claim the Pledge of Allegiance as proof of christian beginnings, since the original Pledge didn't contain references to god. The original version in 1892 was "I pledge of allegiance of to my flag and the republic for which it stands: one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all." the current Pledge was not adopted until 1954.

For all those bigoted Christians who do not want immigrants in America:
Leviticus 19:33-34
“When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.

the poem on the Statue of Liberty ends with:

 "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

religious belief is no guarantee of moral integrity. furthermore, there are millions of people who do not believe in god yet love this country. this country is not just about the chrisitian god. I wore the Uniform for 20 years so that ALL Americans, regardless of religious or spiritual beliefs, have the right to enjoy their lives here. this country is a melting pot of many different belief systems. hate-mongering perpetuates hate. As Christopher Barton states: “You know teachings by the fruits it bears. Anti-gay teachings bear no fruit but hatred and harm to others - you see this in how GLBT individuals are routinely demonized. And wrapping your hate in a "highest form of love" is kinda like wrapping fecal matter in gold leaf. It is still crap at its core.” the same holds true for the absolutism that fundamentalist christians (dominionists) who believe that their religion is the only right way.

I, therefore, honor everyone for their beliefs, and subscribe only to the Constitution for governing authority over the general citizenry.

Amendment 1 of the Bill of Rights:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

This also includes freedom from religion. In other words, you do not get to force your beliefs, which work for you, on others.