Who said this statement?

Thomas Jefferson, though it is still being debated whether or not he actually said this since it was not written down and was only overheard. Being hearsay, its possible that he was heard incorrectly or that, through passing it on, the message has changed like a game of telephone.

Is the United States a Christian nation?

By JEAN-MARC LE DOUX

Special to the Hollis Brookline Journal

Published: Friday, Jul. 17, 2009

Article Tools print

ShareThis contact us

Many times have people said that the United States is not a Christian nation. But what does this mean? What is the definition of “Christian nation?”

According to Supreme Court Justice David Brewer (1837-1910), we can say that the United States, “of all the nations in the world . . . most justly called a Christian nation” because Christianity “has so largely shaped and molded it.”

This seems like a reasonable definition. A nation in which Christianity has “so largely shaped and molded” its history can thereby be called Christian. If this is the case, then yes, I’m afraid the evidence is irrefutable, we are a Christian nation . . . or were.

Many presidents have declared our nation to be one built on Christianity and its principles. Even John Adams, who many call a Unitarian and thereby a closet atheist, had this to say: “The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were . . . . the general principles of Christianity.”

Teddy Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Herbert Hoover, and Richard Nixon are among the many presidents that have declared, “This is a Christian nation.”

Thomas Jefferson, one that many call a “deist/atheist,” was instrumental in establishing weekly Sunday worship services at the U.S. Capitol. He regularly attended them without fail, not allowing weather to dissuade his weekly travel to the Capitol church. He even recognized the importance of Christianity in government saying, “No nation has ever existed or been governed without religion. Nor can be. The Christian religion is the best religion that has been given to man and I, as Chief Magistrate of this nation, am bound to give it the sanction of my example.” His commitment to this position can be seen in the presidential documents he frequently signed and dated “In the year of our Lord Christ.”

it is attributed to thomas jefferson, but likely wasn't ... see... http://www.monticello.org/library/reference/spurio...

ghandi???