 "Photo: Parker Jeanette <i>The Daily Gamecock</i>")
Is America a Christian nation? A debate about the issue was held at the Belk Auditorium Thursday night between Rev. E. Ray Moore and Dr. Herb Silverman.
Moore is a retired Army Reserved Chaplain and one of the leading directors of the Exodus Mandate Project, which encourages parents to enroll their their children in faith-based schools. Silverman is the president of the Secular Coalition for America, an organization that represents the agnostic and non-believers of this country. Silverman is known for winning a long battle with the Supreme Court for atheists holding public offices in the state.
The debate was hosted by the Pastafarians at USC. Its president, Andrew Cederdahl, was the moderator.
“I thought it was very successful,” said Cederdahl, a third-year political science student. “We had a diverse crowd, a lively debate and good responses.”
Moore said he thought that America has Christian origins but no longer is a Christian nation.
“The drive for this nation to be secular and godless prevents America from being a Christian nation,” Moore said.
Moore provided facts that suggest that America was primarily Christian in its early colonial days. Explorer Christopher Columbus, he said, came here with a strong Christian background, and the many forms of civilizations that followed him were of Christian emphasis. But Moore also said that key moments such as the 1892 Supreme Court case Church of the Holy Trinity v. United States, in which justices refered to America as a “Christian Nation”, are being “erased from history,” as if to say that politicians and historians are ignoring America’s Christian past in order to become more secular and “godless.”
Silverman said British colonies in America were only Christian because of the strong, religious influences that originated from Europe. He said that religious conflict caused much bloodshed in Europe, and that even the colonies of America had a significant amount of religious violence through its relentless Salem Witch Trials. He said that the U.S. Constitution did not mention Jesus Christ or God at all. Moore countered, saying that the Constitution does indeed refer to “divine providence,” “Laws of nature, and nature’s God” and that Article 1 Section 7 declared Sundays as a day of rest, as a reference to the Sabbath.
Moore said he strongly believes that America is becoming an increasingly godless nation . Silverman rebutted by saying that he does not believe that Christians should be persecuted for their beliefs. He said that everyone, regardless of religion, race or even sexual orientation should be treated equally and fairly. Nearly everyone applauded at that statement.
Moore closed by saying that America will become like the Soviet Union if this trend continues. He does believe that church and state should be separated, but he just thinks that the government should have morals based on Christian principles, which was very popular with audience. Silverman reiterated his previous statement by saying everyone should be treated fairly, despite religious preferences.
3 comments
Here is my question, why do they only go after Christians?
Are they afraid to question Jews and Muslims? What a wasted existence and what wasted potential.