The simple answer to the question was "No, America is not a Christian nation."
On that, the home-schooler, the Muslim faith leader and the professors could agree.
The meaning of the answer was harder to determine at a panel Sunday at the Virginia Commonwealth University Student Commons Theater.
"America was founded on biblical ethics. That's quite different from being a Christian nation," said John C. Rankin, president of the Theological Education Institute and the Mars Hill Society of West Simsbury, Conn.
He traces the Declaration of Independence's concept of inalienable rights to the God described in the first two chapters of Genesis, a text revered by Jews and Muslims as well as Christians.
If America had been created as a Christian nation in the mold of England, all citizens would have been required to adopt a statement of faith under penalty of law, said Michael P. Farris, chancellor of Patrick Henry College and chairman of the Home School Legal Defense Association.
On the other hand, Farris said, "It's a myth to say that America was founded for religious liberty." Massachusetts was founded by Puritans who wanted a sanctuary for themselves but did not want religious liberty for others, he said.
Some still believe that Christianity has a special status in America, however, said Robison B. James, Cousins Professor of Religion, Emeritus, at the University of Richmond and chairman of the religious Liberty Committee of the Baptist General Association of Virginia.
"I do believe that some of my good Baptist brothers and sisters would like to create what for them is a more ideal situation," James said. "They feel unable to exercise religious liberty" because they can't say a prayer at football games or have a National Day of Prayer carried out as originally written.
Jalal Malik, a U.S. Army major in the reserves and an Islamic faith leader for the military in the National Capital Region, said if you measure only by numbers, then America is a Christian nation. The Founding Fathers kept the word God out of the Constitution because they felt that the mixing of religion and government was dangerous. It has led to trouble in all religious traditions, he said.
Farris took issue with those who call for religious tolerance. "I don't want tolerance, I want liberty," he said, including the freedom to educate his children in a religious tradition. "All education is religious," he said, because children must learn values as a part of their education.
Malik and James said universal values can be part of education without adopting a specific religion's teachings.
"We share the majority of values," Malik said. "That's what should be taught in school."
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