Student Voices
By Gabriel Akinporoye
The huge generational shift in the religious attitude of Americans remains a profound shock to many people because things are becoming foreign. Pew research suggested that while 90% of Americans identified as Christians in 1970, only 65% recently claimed to be Christians. Americans are still divided on the extent to which religion should influence public affairs, but this case was long concluded in 1791. It is evident that before independence, Americans represented a spectrum of Christian religious perspectives, especially in the south where the Church of England enforced state control over religious praxis. There were government-appointed clergymen, compulsory attendance for church services, and mandatory religious taxes with sanctions for non-compliance. Specifically, Virginia mandated church attendance in 1610 with a death penalty if violated the third time.
These practices established various form of Blue laws in many U.S. states. These laws were designed to restrict certain activities on the Lord’s Day or Sundays. They prevented commercial activities and prohibited work, entertainment, and alcohol sales on Sundays. Similarly, Massachusetts Bay Colony’s law of 1641 required public officeholders to be Christians and the Constitution of North Carolina outrightly disqualified non-Christians “unbelievers” from holding public offices. These array of religious affairs in public life laid the debate for the role of religion in public affairs at American independence. While James Hutson argued that “religion played a major role in the American Revolution by offering a moral sanction for opposition to the British”, Edmund Burke in 1776 argued that “the religion most prevalent in our northern colonies is a refinement of the principle of resistance: it is the dissidence of dissent, and the Protestantism of the Protestant religion.”
However, during the summer of 1789, former president James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and other group of politicians gathered in Philadelphia to draft a new U.S. Constitution but adopted on December 15, 1791. The first amendment declared that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”. Thomas Jefferson emphasized that this Establishment Clause is a “wall of separation” between the church and the state. This means that the government cannot support or endorse any religion. All U.S. states formally disestablished religion by 1833, but religious symbols and references remained consistent with American practices. While many Blue Laws have been repealed, research in 2024 shows that 28 states still enforce restrictions on entertainment and business operations on Sundays.
The remnants of Blue laws reflect the lingering influence of religious norms on contemporary legal and social practices. Many workers still receive Sundays off as a common day of rest and Christmas remains a federal holiday in the U.S. The U.S. Supreme Court building still features a prominent depiction of Moses holding the Ten Commandments. In the 2014 case of Town of Greece v. Galloway, the Supreme Court ruled that beginning legislative sessions with a Christian prayer did not violate the Establishment Clause. Many U.S. presidents continue to invoke Christian language and biblical references during speeches such as “God bless America” and “So help me God”. President Ronald Reagan often described America as a “shining city on a hill,” echoing the Puritan John Winthrop’s sermon.
Nearly all U.S. states reference God or divinity in their public affairs. Many states are strongly influenced by Christian pro-life perspectives, and the debates over LGBTQ+ rights are often framed around Christian morality. Christian prayers are still said in some public schools, and the dollar have “In God We Trust” inscription. Following these historical religious practices and symbols, recent research by Public Religious Research Institute suggested that many Americans believe that America was founded as a Christian country and should remain that way. Others believe that religion provides moral direction and social cohesion hence, the Bible should influence the U.S laws. Moreso, more than one-fourth of Americans believe that the Bible should prevail over the will of the people if the two are at odd.
However, contemporary liberal perspectives suggested that religious symbols and practices in American public affairs established religious hierarchy and domination. These views argue that the Christian praxis in American public spaces marginalized non-Christian faiths and secular worldviews. Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and non-religious groups in America are forced to conform with American dominant religion of Christianity which they do not share. This does not only raise the concern about if American is truly a secular state, but the tension between freedom and coercion. This discourse also touches on social discrimination because non-Christian groups feel that their values and belief system are not represented, worse or actively opposed by the government. This may reduce their engagement in public affairs whereby reducing diversity of voices in governance and policy making.
Conclusively, Christian religious connotations in American public spaces also reinforce cultural dominance which triggers legal, social, and political challenges. These issues manifest in the ongoing legal battles over church-state separation, social struggles for religious inclusion, and political debates over policies shaped by Christian values. Examples of these battles included Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022), Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission (2018), Hobby Lobby v. Burwell (2014), McCreary County v. ACLU (2005), Newdow v. Elk Grove Unified School District (2004) and many more. As the U.S. becomes more religiously diverse and secular, these conflicts are likely to intensify which could potentially increase polarization and threaten democratic norms. The contemporary emerging questions include: Is America a religious state or secular? Should religion shape American norms, values and governing structures and shared public spaces?
References:
Gallup. (2023). How religious are Americans? Gallup. https://news.gallup.com/poll/358364/religious-americans.aspx
History. (n.d.). First Amendment. A&E Television Networks. https://www.history.com/topics/united-states-constitution/first-amendment
Hochman, D. (n.d.). Ronald Reagan and the shining city upon a hill. Our Lost Founding. https://ourlostfounding.com/ronald-reagan-and-the-shining-city-upon-a-hill/
Justia. (2018). Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/584/16-111/
Justia. (2014). Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/573/682/
Justia. (2005). McCreary County v. American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky. https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/545/844/
Morris, S. (2017, January 28). Text of Trump’s executive order on 7-nation ban, refugee suspension. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2017/01/28/politics/text-of-trump-executive-order-nation-ban-refugees/index.html
National Endowment for the Humanities. (n.d.). Lesson 2: Religion and the argument for American independence. EDSITEment. https://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plans/lesson-2-religion-and-argument-american-independence
National Constitution Center. (n.d.). Everson v. Board of Education of Ewing Township. https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/supreme-court-case-library/everson-v-board-of-education-of-ewing-township
National Constitution Center. (n.d.). Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/supreme-court-case-library/dobbs-v-jackson-womens-health-organization
Editor: McKenna Kostyszyn
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