TNG Pisses on Your Christian Nation

Here's an NPR interview with Pulitzer-prize winning historian and author Gary Willis on the history of the church-state divide, and how the founding fathers didn't think we needed an official cult. Smart guys.

Willis just published a new book called "Head and Heart: American Christianities", which argues that church/state separation was meant as "the great protector of religion, not its enemy." He challenges "The American myth that we were founded as a religious country and have steadily been declining since", stating that 17% of Americans were church-goers in the 1770s, and that the fad or religiosity didn't explode until AFTER the constitution was written.

I've heard arguments before about whether or not we were founded as a "Christian Nation", but I've never heard the argument that we are more religious BECAUSE we keep church and state separate, but I guess that makes sense. If only one group of religious persecutors are allowed be the designated asshole, it's no fun, but if everyone get a chance to be a dick, everybody wins.