On America's 250th birthday, she is officially old enough to forget how, and why, she was born in the first place.

Recently, some politicians have tried to distance America’s origin from the principle of separating church and state. Even claiming there “is no separation of church and state in the Constitution.” And technically, they’re right! But the argument leaves out the part that matters: the founders were explicit about their fear of religious authority merging with government, and they knew the Constitution didn’t go far enough to protect individual liberties. That’s why the Bill of Rights was created.

The First Amendment contains two clauses that act as guardrails between church and state:

• The Establishment Clause: The government cannot establish a national religion or promote religious doctrine.

• The Free Exercise Clause: The government cannot stop you from practicing your faith, or force you to profess one.

America was founded in 1776.

The Constitution was signed in 1787.

The Bill of Rights was enacted in 1791.

Many of the founding fathers advocated for religious freedom from the onset. This video contains their direct quotes and writings from the early years of America.

Freedom is nuanced if you want it to be genuine. Change requires ongoing effort. And freedom for all has been America’s unfinished work for 250 years.

The founders made it clear that declaring a national religion would threaten the very liberties the Revolution was fought to secure.

On America’s 250th birthday, the best way I can think of to honor this country is to remember the truth:

America is not a Christian nation.

#IndependenceDay #AmericanHistory #ReligiousFreedom #hexhavenpodcast