U.S. not founded as `Christian nation,' says Cal Thomas. (People & Events).

Columnist Cal Thomas worked for the Rev. Jerry Falwell in the late 1970s and helped launch the Moral Majority, but these days he no longer believes one of Falwell's core articles of faith: The United States was founded to be a Christian nation.

Thomas, a conservative and an evangelical Christian, outlined his views on America's alleged "Christian" status and a host of other issues in an interview with John W. Whitehead of The Rutherford Institute in October. During the interview, which appeared in Rutherford's online magazine Oldspeak, Whitehead asked Thomas about the claim that America was founded on Christianity.

Replied Thomas bluntly, "It wasn't." Whitehead then asked Thomas to respond to the argument that "the goal should be to reclaim America for Christ and, in effect, have the Christians take over."

"Well, it was never the Christians' country to begin with," said Thomas. "I personally don't want it to be a Christian nation for the same reason that I don't want the federal government aiding the church. I think Bush's whole faith-based initiative thing is one of the biggest camel noses in the tent that I have seen in my life. I wasn't aware that God declared bankruptcy under Chapter 11. There is no mandate or expectation in Scripture that the state should fund the work of the things of God. I think that is extremely dangerous.... Then the government shows up at the church door and says, `I'm from the government, and I'm here to help you.' We ought to shut them out as fast as if it were Satan showing up and saying, `I'm from Hell, and I'm here to help you.' I think that's a bad bargain."

Elsewhere in the interview, Thomas discussed a New Testament passage that many politically conservative fundamentalists use to support church-based politicking. The passage, Matthew 5:13-14, commands Christians to be the "salt of the earth" and the "light of the world."

Asked why he is now critical of political efforts by the Religious Right, Thomas responded, "Well, I simply went back and took a close look at Scripture. As a result, I took those out-of-context quotes and misquotations you hear from a lot of people and began to read them in context. For example, the most misused Scripture for political agendas by conservatives is the one about salt and light in Matthew 5:13. This verse, in particular, is one that is ripped out of context with the implication that Christians can change an unbelieving generation, culture and government system that cares nothing about the true things of God; that is, other than a couple choruses of `God Bless America' on the Capitol steps after a terrorist attack or a stupid argument over whether `Under God' should be left in the Pledge of Allegiance. This is all civil religion taken to the extreme. If you read in context the salt and light verse along with the rest of the New Testament and what God expects out of unbelievers and the government and the state and even by extension culture, there is no expectation and no commission for believers to change the hearts or minds of unbelievers through the power of a fallen state in a fallen world made up of fallen people. There is, however, a commission to go out and make disciples--disciples of Jesus Christ, not the Republican Party. But this is not to be done as part of a conservative movement and not as an agenda and certainly not as part of a fundraising scheme."

Other highlights from the Thomas interview include:

* Some Religious Right leaders, Thomas said, need to get their own houses in order before criticizing others. "Well, I would like to pass a few laws that would ban lying and bearing false witness and all of that," Thomas said. "However, some of these preachers and others who are so heavily involved in some of the issues that you mention have no problem with gluttony or with 300 pounds and lying about people and bearing false witness and sending out fundraising letters that are flat-out lies and spending the money on other things. That's just the way it is.

For the full text of the interview, see www.rutherford.org/articles/oldspeak-calthomas.asp.