The Bearable Secularism of American Constitutionalism

A terrific post by Lindsay Beyerstein noting that to the extent they’re meaningful, claims that the United States is a “Christian Nation” are false. Indeed, I think her point that “[t]he values of the constitution are consistent with many of the values of Christianity, but also with the values of many other religions and many secular ethics. The critical point is that the constitution does not appeal to Christian doctrine to justify authority. I.e., the authority of the constitution does not rest upon tenets of faith, revealed truth, or the dogma of any particular religion” can be pushed even further. She is correct to note, of course, the dispositive point that the Constitution–rather remarkably given the historical context–conspicuously omits any reference to a religious authority. But I would say that the vast majority of the Constitution is neither consistent nor inconsistent with Christianity. Both the text of the document and The Federalist are overwhelmingly preoccupied with the practical problems of government, not the metaphysical grounding of state authority; the failures of the Articles of Confederation and the problems of large-scale republicanism figure rather more largely than the Ten Commandments in constructing our constitution. Indeed, all “Christian Nation” arguments must confront the obvious fact that the Constitution is primarily concerned with procedural structures as opposed to substantive rights. Granting that I lack the specialKaye Grogan edition, I don’t believe that the Bible takes any position on whether separation of powers is preferable to Westminster fusionism, or on whether federal courts should have original jurisdiction in cases involving diplomats. The vast majority of the content of American constitutionalism is wholly irrelevant to any religious text.