Classical liberalism, at least the America version of it, was very illiberal by the standards of modern liberalism.
If America was founded as a classically liberal nation, consider all the evidence of our Christian founding:
*The Mayflower Compact was explicitly Christian in character and content
* 75% of those who declared independence were of Puritan background/conviction, including several high ranking military officials in George Washington’s army
*Most states had Christian blasphemy laws for much of American history
* 9 of the 13 original states had established churches
* Sodomy was universally criminalized in US until well into the 20th century
* The only God that fits the description of “Nature’s God” in the Declaration of Independence – a God who created us with unalienable rights and who is the Supreme Judge of all – is the biblical God. This God is mentioned 4 times in the Declaration, and the Declaration ends with an appeal (really, a prayer) to this God
* Most states originally had religious test oaths for civil magistrates that required loyalty to some version of the Protestant faith
* Most of the founders were members of orthodox Christian churches and in their writings they quoted the Bible more than any other source; it’s clear their intent was to found a generically Protestant nation
* As late as 1892, the Holy Trinity Church vs. The United States SCOTUS ruling provided extensive evidence for America’s Christian founding and heritage
* The basic principles of the common law tradition, which America inherited from Britain (due process, judgement by a jury of peers, presumption of innocence, impartial justice) are all principles derived from biblical law and no other source
* John Adams said the Constitution was constructed for a Christian (“moral and religious”) people
* Most states required jurors to swear an oath “so help me God” as a prerequisite to serving and some states limited jury duty to Christians
* Early public schools were generically Protestant, controlled locally, and making use of the King James Bible and Protestant catechisms
* Early American history is shot through with Christian language and symbolism, eg, the motto “In God we trust” (adopted in the 1950s but used long before that); in the early days of our nation’s history, no one doubted which God was being invoked in our public documents and memorials
* American military cemeteries are usually crosses as far as the eye can see
And so on. If America was founded as a classically liberal nation, this American brand of classical liberalism was thoroughly and deeply Christian. At the founding America’s Christian pluralism (the variety of Christian denominations present in the states) prevented the possibility of a federally established church, along the lines of Europe. But we certainly had an informal establishment. This is not to say America’s founding was without flaws. For example, many of the founders wanted to keep religion as such private. But it inevitably bled over to public life.
The collapse of classical liberalism, rooted in and shaped by and drawing support from Christian faith, into modern secular liberalism, is simply due to our nation’s gradual turning away from our founding heritage and the faith that built our nation. Christians who want to make America great again want to recover and renew this tradition. We want our heritage to be our destiny. Our hope is that Christian America 2.0 can build on the foundation and greatly improve Christian America 1.0.
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