Secularism in the United States: An Analysis of the Secular Founding Theories

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Résumé

This paper brings an answer to the following question: To what extent did secularism influence the founding of the United States? No matter the way scholars may have presented the founding of the nation, they do not try to understand the original intent of those who have founded it. In this debate, the founders’ own words are generally overlooked. By using hermeneutic theory and specifically, Schleiermacher’s approach to hermeneutics, the article argues that even though the United States of America was founding on a Constitution, which First Amendment has forbidden any federal sanction of religious group, it cannot be proved with historical facts that the nation was founded as a secular nation. An objective analysis of the secular founding theories in the light of the Founders’ own words and practices shows that the United States has always been the most religious country among the developed nations in the world. From their own word, it appears, contrary to the secular founding theories of the United states, that the Founders intended only to prevent the establishment of a single national religion or denomination, and not to exclude religious expressions in public sphere. That is why, in spite of the First Amendment, prayers were delivered in the legislative halls in addition to “the appeals to the Almighty in the messages of the Chief Executive,” the “proclamations making Thanksgiving Day a holiday” ; the "so help me God" in the courtroom oaths, and many “other references to the Almighty that run” through laws, public rituals, or ceremonies, and “the supplication” with which every session of the Court are opened: "God save the United States and this Honorable Court.” These practices and expressions certainly cannot be accepted in a purely secular nation like France after the French Revolution.

Mots-clés

Secularism, Secular Nation, Religion, Founders, United States