Letter to the editor: A Christian nation first and foremost?

Written in response to "Anti-Christianity an ugly problem" by Adrianna Boris in the Nov. 4 issue of WSN.

In her column, Adrianna Boris expresses outrage that a Home Depot employee was fired from his job for displaying a button that stated, "One nation under God, indivisible." However, she neglects to note that the Home Depot employee in question was not fired for his religion, but rather for a simple violation of Home Depot's dress code.

Many Christians these days act neurotically in response to treatment of religion in the public sphere. They cry foul at every attempt to remove the Ten Commandments from a courtroom, every objection to the inclusion of God in the Pledge of Allegiance, every use of "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas." Some even expressed outrage when President Obama referred to "nonbelievers" in his inauguration speech, as though the recognition that atheists exist in America was some kind of affront to Christianity.

Boris cites blue laws and the presence of the phrase "under God" in the Pledge as evidence that the United States is a "Christian nation." The reality is that both are examples of the past oppression of minorities by the Christian majority. Why should the rest of us be prohibited from purchasing liquor on Sundays because Christians hold that day holy? Furthermore, the inclusion of "under God," conceived originally as a subtle propaganda tool to distinguish Americans from their "godless" Soviet counterparts, has contributed to the vilification of nonbelievers in America for over 50 years. What kind of society do we live in when the playground bully complains because he lost his ability to victimize others?

America was not founded as a Christian nation. Prior to stating its protection of "free exercise," the First Amendment explicitly states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion." As noted in Thomas Jefferson's autobiography, when delegates at the Constitutional Convention were confronted with the possibility of inserting "Jesus Christ" into the Preamble, they specifically rejected it so that the "mantle of its protection" would cover Americans of any religion, including "infidels" with no religion at all.

Beyond that, it is ludicrous to believe that basic, universal human morals are in some manner Judeo-Christian by nature. Almost all societies, including the infamously anti-religious Soviet Union and China, have had the same basic system of laws that prohibit behavior such as murder and theft. It is true that the Golden Rule, which is considered by many to be the foundation of modern human rights, was stated by Jesus in the book of Luke: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." However, it was also stated by Confucius and Socrates before that and is a basic tenet of almost every religion and moral system on earth.

Perhaps Boris, and Christian alarmists like her, would be wise to apply the Golden Rule to their own situation. I shudder to think of how she would react if school children were forced to recite "there is no God" every morning or if she were forced to fast during Ramadan.

What Boris needs to realize is that a lack of endorsement for any one religion does not constitute a rejection of it. As Jefferson once said, "It is error alone which needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself."

- George Zhang, Sterm sophomore