As for the Treaty of Tripoli---it was in arabic and Congress didn't have too much choice in ratifying it, they were the ones crying uncle. And again, government =/= nation.
The treaty of Paris, the one that actually established the United States, begins with "In the name of the most Holy and undivided Trinity"
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Actually, Quailman,
The United States was established in 1776 (seven years before the Treaty of Paris) and was recognized as sovereign by Great Brittan in 1782 (two years before the treaty). Thus the Treaty of Paris in no way actually established the United States, nor does it declare us a Christian nation. Therefore, the subsequent treaty (the Treaty of Tripoli), which firmly states we are a secular nation, would take precedent.
Finally, I must demand that you relinquish your user name as you are a disgrace to Doug fans everywhere.
On a side note, he is correct that nation doesn't have to mean government, but it really a semantic wiggle-word argument that gets no where when you realize that the cultural connotations of our "nation" have no bearing on the laws of our "state."
Typical Fundie response, "I don't like that bit because it costs me credibility and doesn't further my assertions, therefore I'll try to discredit and ignore it"
Next think you know they'll be doing it with their holy text!
Wait... o_O! /hangoverfuelledsarcasm
Um... the nation wasn't even founded, really, when that was signed. The Constitution wasn't even ratified until 1787. Therefore, the Treaty of Paris has no bearing on the formation and character of the nation or government of the United States.
Furthermore, the nations with whom we did sign the treaty were all Catholic nations which would require such things to be written in.
Additionally, such statements were often used out of tradition rather than as declarations of faith and fealty to your silly god thing.
@Vepser: *high-fives!*
... man, I miss Doug.
A law proclaiming the United States to not be a Christian nation doesn't make the U.S. not a Christian nation.
A law which says nothing about whether or not the U.S. is a Christian nation, but does have some fluff about how awesome Yahweh is, does make the U.S. a Christian nation.
Makes perfect sense.
(And I'm not sure the Treaty of Paris carries the full weight of law since it was ratified under the Articles of Confederation rather than the Constitution. Not that it matters, since the Treaty said nothing about the religious affiliation of the U.S. And we have the Establishment Clause.)
Oh, FFS, FAILman needs to STFU and GBTC -- and this time, PAY ATTENTION WHEN THE TEACHER IS TALKING!
Ok, and maybe there isn´t a president in the first place. How on earth do you think that a country, a nation, anyway, keeps on going?
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
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