America has never been a Christian nation, so it is not possible to "return" to being a Christian nation "again". It was, however, founded by predominantly Christian-professing, land-owning, white males, who also claimed ownership of God's black children. They profited from the nearly cost-free labor of other human beings. Every Sunday at church they read from the same Bible as we do of the accounts of Moses and the enslavement of the Israelites. Our predecessors were not ignorant of the nature of slavery.

That issue alone illustrates their imperfection, yet they were able to set on course the development of the greatest nation in all of the world's history.

Our success has historically been rooted in the fact that our country provides a fabric, or matrix, upon which the best of all cultures and belief systems are invited to participate. We are now tampering with that idea at our own peril.