The United States is not a Christian nation.
It is not a religious nation.
It is not a theocracy.
It is a political nation, a nation of the polis.
It is based on Native American, Greek, Roman and Eastern
Political thought.
It is a revolutionary experiment in equality with a
Solid foundation of morals and ethics.
It is a constitutional republic —
A representative democracy.
It finds room for religion and seeks to keep
Religion and the state separate to the benefit of both
While allowing religion’s critique of the state and the
State’s tolerance of religion.
It is a home for all, for all religions, for no religion,
For all ethnicities.
It affirms there is but one race, the human race.
It stands for all citizens protecting them from
The contrivances, legalisms and prejudices of religion.
It has elasticity and not rigidity
But it stands strong for the rights of the individual
And advances community based on freedom
And shared core values enumerated in the Bill of Rights.
It is that which stands between us, its residents, and chaos.
I give thanks that I live in a country which allows differing
Philosophical, economic, political and religious views while
Protecting the safety of the individual as those views are expressed —
However vehemently but not violently.
I write this as a Christian deeply appreciative that
My father’s family moved here from Sweden when my
Father was a child and that my agnostic and later religious
Father always expressed gratitude that he studied for and
Passed the examination for citizenship in the United States of America —
A bold idea, a fragile experiment, a place, a home with room for all.