Many Americans have embraced one of two myths concerning the role of religion in the American founding. The first, widespread in nineteenth-century America and kept alive by popular Christian authors today, is that virtually all the founders were pious, orthodox believers who sought to establish a Christian nation. The second, which became widespread among activists, academics, and jurists in the twentieth century, is that most of Americaâ??s founders were Enlightenment deists who created a secular republic that strictly separated church and state.
Steven Green, a law professor at Willamette University and former director of legal affairs for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, is primarily interested in the first of these myths. As used in the book, myth â??means an explanation of events that assists in the development of a cultural and national identity.â? Thus a myth can be true, but Green believes that there is very little truth in the idea that America was founded as a Christian nation.
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