The Godless Constitution

996 Words2 Pages

The Godless Constitution

When some people here the words “the godless constitution” uttered the shrill up their noses and get very defensive. Kramnick and Moore address this idea of the United States Constitution being godless. They speak about how America has misinterpreted views and how society would benefit from an understanding of what the Constitution stands for and how to correctly use it. They strive to help America understand that politics driven by religion and faith would do the most damage to the political agenda. They also emphasize that America created the Constitution was created to make a person’s religious standing irrelevant to hold office or voice a political opinion. They cover many topics addressed by the American public when trying to decide on the placement of God in our Constitution. They are writing to help Americans gain a greater understanding of what our forefather’s intended when writing the Constitution.
To understand why these two men are writing about The Godless Constitution, an approach on what they believe are America’s views is needed. In the first paragraph of the first chapter they state that they believe America argues over foolish things. They have come to the conclusion that Americans misinterpret the intentions of the constitution in providing a government for the people of the United States. They ask the question, “Is America a Christian Nation?”. They do not condemn religion of any sort but merely state that one God is not in the constitution. One main focus is on the founders of the document. A major point made is that even though most of the founders were Christian and lived by Christian principles, the envision was of a godless government. Their reasoning behind this idea was not of irreverence but confidence in religion too serve civil morality without intruding into politics. They believe in letting humans exercise their free will to believe in a God or to reject the idea without their decision affecting their role in government.
They refer to the one time God is mentioned in the constitution, Article 6. This merely states that “no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States”. This one statement is used to declare that America stands as a unity and full...

... middle of paper ...

...ted States to gather knowledge on how to regard religion in our government. They give a timeless solution to an understanding of what our government is trying to establish. They propose the conception of America using this awareness of which the object was designed instead of seeing one-sided views to our nation.
As citizens in a democratic government an understanding of the reasons laws were created help gain knowledge about how society is to proceed. This government protects people from politicians who stand for issues on religion. The Godless Constitution acknowledges the large population of Christians that created our Constitution. It does recognize they held the religious values strong while making the laws that govern our country. It also encourages the idea that they desired a godless government to protect the rights and freewill of mankind.
Kramnick and Moore write not to solve problems of society, but to help the public gain awareness of our forefather’s intentions when creating our government. The Constitution is godless, and for good reasons. It is up to the individual to decide whether or not our nation is.

Open Document