Paper Tiger 2.0

We Christians are so beaten down, demoralized, and spat upon, that I can't believe I make it to church on Sunday. So, our friend FreeAmerica feels that this article claims that we are no longer a Christian nation. I felt it was neccesary to point out a very important part of the article which she missed:

While yes, the article does discuss a poll that claims "the number of Americans who claim no religious affiliation has nearly doubled since 1990, rising from 8 to 15 percent", if you read past the title, it also states:
Let's be clear: while the percentage of Christians may be shrinking, rumors of the death of Christianity are greatly exaggerated. Being less Christian does not necessarily mean that America is post-Christian. A third of Americans say they are born again; this figure, along with the decline of politically moderate-to liberal mainline Protestants, led the ARIS authors to note that "these trends … suggest a movement towards more conservative beliefs and particularly to a more 'evangelical' outlook among Christians." With rising numbers of Hispanic immigrants bolstering the Roman Catholic Church in America, and given the popularity of Pentecostalism, a rapidly growing Christian milieu in the United States and globally, there is no doubt that the nation remains vibrantly religious—far more so, for instance, than Europe.

P.

But there's a whole other piece to this. To me, there's a difference between being a nation of [overwhelmingly] Christians and being a "Christian Nation". While the numbers don't lie, I don't believe we are the latter. But this stems from my larger support for the principle of separation. , I'm guessing this would be in the top 10 glaring differences between me and FreeAmerica.

Also, if you ask the question, "Are we a Christian Nation?", it has very different meanings depending on the person. The aforementioned connotation is just one. A wingnut evangelical might claim we aren't after the election of President Obama...simply due to the utter depression they that has overcome them since the election [See: Right America: Feeling Wronged].

But, when you're trying to prop up the straw man that Christians are being persecuted [ala the war on Christmas], none of these nuances are important to you. You simply need to make yourself a victim. Otherwise, you won't be able to scare your constituency into voting against something or someone, regardless of how ridiculous the alternative may be.