Apparently Barak Obama has uttered the daring statement that the United States is not a Christian nation and some people seem to take offense to this. Some may wonder why we have not heard more about this statement; it could be because Mr. Obama is correct. Maybe Mr. Obama is correct in that the United States is not a Christian nation, but interpreting this to mean the United States is an unholy nation is an error in judgment. An examination of the facts surrounding the founding of this nation and a definition of what a theocracy is may help to alleviate some concern.

First, one of the bedrock foundations of our nation is the right to freedom of religion. History shows us that this was done in order to escape Protestant England. The first amendment to the U.S. constitution states that "Congress shall make no law establishing religion..." That simply means that the United States will not be a theocracy, more on this term later. The constitution prohibits the government from telling people how or whom they must worship.

Next, the Declaration of Independence says that people are "endowed with certain unalienable rights by their creator..." Again, there is no reference to Christ in this passage, simply a creator. Our founding fathers were very careful in how they broached the subject of religion in our founding documents.

As a more modern reference we can refer to United States Currency. Printed on our currency is the phrase, "In God we trust." No reference to Christ. Our founding fathers made clear and undeniable references to God or a creator, but no where did they make reference to Christ. It seems as if this was done with careful consideration in order not to alienate any religion or to prohibit the establishment of any particular religion as dominant in the United States.

Allah, Buddha, Yahweh, and God all mean the same thing. They are simply names, given to a supreme being, by certain peoples. Even the ancient Greeks and Romans had names for supreme beings that reigned over their various gods. The point is the idea of a Supreme Being is not new; the new concept is the Supreme Being's only son coming to earth.

Now for a word on theocracies, a theocracy is a nation governed by the tenets of a religion. Saudi Arabia, Iran, Israel, and a host of other Middle Eastern countries are theocracies. Of the ones listed, Israel enjoys the most personal freedom. The tenets of Islam impose harsh restrictions on the citizens of Islamic nations. In order for the United States to be a Christian country, we would have to become a theocracy. We would need to amend the constitution to recognize Christianity as the only allowable religion.

No, the United States is not a Christian country. Christianity may be the most widely practiced religion but the country itself is not a theocracy. Because of that fact we enjoy the most personal freedoms of any country on earth. In the United States a Jew, a Muslim, or a Buddhist may become president. In the United States you may go to a Catholic church today and a Jewish temple tomorrow. In the United States you may even chose not to believe and not risk scorn or ridicule. I think that is what Mr. Obama meant when he said the United States is not a Christian nation. His intent was not to deride the Christian religion, merely to emphasize the fact that the United States is a bastion of openness that is worth preserving.