Angles: Should America still be rooted in faith?
When the United States was established in 1776, the founders wrote mentions of “God” and “a Creator” into the Declaration of Independence. However, the Constitution, the core legal document that was written within about a decade makes no such mention of religion. Another century later, the Pledge of Allegiance — which is still recited in classrooms around the country today — labeled us “one Nation under God.”
America has always had a complicated relationship with religion, seesawing back and forth between the insistence that belief is too integral to be excluded from politics and the reminder of our foundational principles of freedom.
Throughout the years, our country has become a melting pot of different backgrounds and religions. While many of us view this diversity as an asset to our nation, the presence of such differences causes increasing controversy as to whether religion — especially a culturally dominant one — has a place in government at all or if our allowance of it suggests that one belief reigns supreme over another.
Below, two writers discuss whether our country should still be rooted in the religious values that many of its founders held or if we in the modern era must adapt to the ever-changing demographics of our nation.
Madisyn Stogsdill, Forum Editor
Yes, learn from history
Trey Tumbleson is a junior religion, psychology and philosophy triple major.
America is the land written in metaphor: the city upon a hill, the melting pot, the great experiment and the land of opportunity, all visions of what it stands for and hopes to become. Yet, for anything to stand, it must be rooted — government is no exception. America’s foundation and growth as a land of freedom were undeniably nourished by religious involvement and virtue.
I would like to lead by stating that this is not an argument for removing the separation of church and state; rather, I view the separation as a safeguard for religious liberty.
The founders believed that virtue imposed by force is no virtue at all. While the phrase “separation of church and state” is not written in the Constitution, the principle comes from the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
Thomas Jefferson described in his 1802 letter to the Danbury Baptists “a wall of separation between Church & State,” later adopted by the Supreme Court in Reynolds v. United States (1879) and Everson v. Board of Education (1947).
However, even with the growth of America as we see it today prefaced by these separations of church and state, religion has remained one of the deepest roots feeding America. The Declaration of Independence grounded rights in “a Creator.” George Washington called religion and morality indispensable supports, and Abraham Lincoln invoked divine judgment over the nation’s fate.
From the Constitution’s framing to our public life — “In God We Trust,” “One nation under God,” — religion has shaped the liberty, justice and human rights on which our laws were built. It stirred abolitionists to condemn slavery as sin and civil rights leaders to proclaim equality as God’s design.
This is not to be said without acknowledging the disgusting misuse and deliberate perversion of the beauty of religion to further one’s agendas, such as using it to defend historical events such as slavery throughout history, seventh-century Muslim conquests or the Salem witch trials.
It would be ignorant, even hypocritical, to deny how faith has been twisted across history in Christianity and beyond. But to view these corruptions, past or present, as what religion truly is amounts to intentional ignorance.
I have seen the right distort it for power and the left dismiss it because of those distortions, they are united by willful hatred. As a man of faith, I too have been guilty of this way of thinking.
Both extremes hollow out religion’s meaning and hack at the roots of America. Religion is not the enemy; it is the foundation that gave us freedom and rights. What America needs is not to abandon that, but to return to what it truly is: love, justice and human dignity.
A nation that severs itself from its root cannot stand. If we continue inappropriately using religion to a point where we fail to see its necessity, not only will we lose America but our freedom as well. To cut a root is to kill a tree. It is then that we will watch the tree rot from within.
Our freedoms will not fall in one sudden collapse but dry slowly, leaf by leaf, until nothing remains but a hollow trunk pretending to be alive.
No, it never truly has been
Scarlett McGuinness is a sophomore English and journalism double major.
Religion has a profound impact on American law and way of life. But for many, that impact is persecution, prejudice and unequal opportunity.
It’s no secret that our government uses its tenuous tie to religion as an excuse to persecute its own. Although our founding fathers wrote religious freedom into the Declaration of Independence, religion continues to be a serious issue in this country.
The events of Sept. 11, 2001, are a prime example of this type of conflict. Islamophobia was at an all-time high after Al-Qaeda’s terrorist attack, with anti-Muslim hate-crime rates increasing by over 1500% according to data released by the FBI.
The Bush administration did little to quell violence and harassment towards Muslim-Americans afterwards. In this way, religious hatred became a political tool.
Social issues raised to the Supreme Court, like abortion or gender-affirming care, are frequently subject to the politicians’ religious beliefs, even though they aren’t supposed to be. This continues to divide Americans both religiously and politically, our two greatest evils.
“I have observed how faith-related issues increasingly map onto and intensify our sociocultural divides, influencing everything from legal battles to electoral politics,” Asma Uddin, visiting assistant professor of law at Catholic University of America, said in a 2024 article on the impact of religion and politics in America. “The widening polarization in American society is often mirrored in religious affiliations, with religion playing a central role in shaping individuals’ cultural and political identities.”
While it may not be reflected in the decisions of our current politicians and lawmakers, much of the American population is fed up with religion’s tendency to encroach upon the state.
The population of religiously unaffiliated Americans has risen dramatically over the past decade and a half.
Statistics from a 2022 report by the Pew Research Center show that 29% of Americans don’t identify with any religious group — a number that has almost doubled since 2007.
The problem here is not religion itself. It is how those in positions use our country’s religious roots to oppress the people they’re meant to serve. Moreover, leaders often claim to be devout worshippers or “good Christians” themselves in order to advance their standing and garner public approval.
Whether or not they truly act in accordance with their proclaimed beliefs matters less to them than the advantages of a faith-based campaign.
America’s claim to be rooted in religion is a falsehood, and we must stop pretending our history says otherwise. Religion has always been a serious weapon: a powerful one wielded by leaders and politicians whose beliefs are insincere and self-serving.
Our country’s founders left Europe to pursue religious freedom and declared it a right, but our own actions have repeatedly undermined it.
From our treatment of Native Americans and Muslims to the struggle during the civil and women’s rights movements, America shows that its true loyalty is not to God, nor has it ever been. Instead, it lies with the rich and powerful who memorize Bible verses to justify maltreatment.
