U.S. not Christian nation

I read far too many letters that seem to support the idea that the United States is a "Christian nation," was "founded by Christians" or was "founded on Christian principles."

This idea is patently false. We are a secular republic. The founders were largely deists, had a collective distaste of organized religion and ratified the Treaty of Tripoli in 1797, which explicitly states that the U.S. government "is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion."

While the vast majority of the population may enjoy a legacy of Christian religious tradition, the assertion that such a tradition has any role to play in legislative or judicial affairs is false. Being a nation with a majority of Christians is a far cry from being a "Christian nation."

Gavin Wilde

Holladay