I will apologize in advance for the brevity and limited scope of this diary. It could indeed be said in a comment to other diaries or in an open thread, but, with the delusional yammering that is sure to follow our president's speech this morning in Cairo, I want to make one thing clearer than beer pee:
The United States is not a Christian nation. That is the law.
Article VI of the US Constitution deals very briefly with the status of debts incurred by American states organized under the Articles of Confederation, declaring them the obligations of the new entity, the United States of America, before going on to define, in clear, inarguable terms, what constitutes the law of the United states.
To wit:
This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.
If that isn't simple enough, here's a summation: The Constitution and subsequent laws drafted to implement it, and treaties entered into by the federal government and ratified by the US Senate, make up the "Supreme" law of the United States. Nothing else, not a state law or state constitution or a judge's ruling.
The very first treaty entered into by the new nation, after our peace with England, was the Treaty of Tripoli, formally known as "Treaty of Peace and Friendship between the United States of America and the Bey and Subjects of Tripoli of Barbary."
The treaty, drafted by Joel Barlow, was signed by our second president John Adams, one of the principal architects not only of our revolution but of the Constitution that made us a united nation. I mention this simply to say the treaty was signed by an illustrious "Founder" who certainly understood the implications vis-a-vis Article VI of the words thereof.
Article 11 of the treaty states unequivocally
As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquillity, of Mussulmen; and, as the said States never entered into any war, or act of hostility against any Mahometan 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.
Again, to simplify: One of the chief authors of the Constitution, which defines treaties as inherently a part of the supreme and binding law of the United States, signed our first post-war treaty which explicitly stated that we were not founded as a Christian nation.
The members of the Senate, all of whom were contemporary to the writing and ratification of the Constitution and surely understood the implications of the treaty's wording, ratified it on June the 7th, 1797. Three days later, President Adams put his signature to the document.
I am sure all of these facts are familiar to habitues of this blog, as well as the implications therein, but, with the s--tstorm underway and sure to come regards President Obama's statements overseas and the intentions of our "Founders," I wanted to say, as simply as possible:
We are not a Christian nation. The greatest of all our Founders said so, specifically. And signed it into the supreme law of the land.
That is all. Thank you for your indulgence.