Dimension 7

Faith may be a necessity for some, but many of us don’t care who—or what—you worship, as long as you know right from wrong and don’t push lies as truth. I tend to disregard anyone who insists that:

1. Christianity is under attack in America,
2. The U.S. was founded as a Christian nation, or
3. Christianity as practiced in America is a religion of love and kindness.

The Founding Fathers—while many avoided publicly aligning with a specific religion—were deeply spiritual thinkers. That’s the page I’ve taken from their book. Personally, I can’t reconcile the idea of an eternal being who created all that exists, yet focuses its attention on this one tiny speck of dust in a remote corner of the universe. But I also can’t rule out the existence of a spirit or force that flows through all living things. What I imagine is less a divine overseer and more a kind of shared consciousness.

The way Christianity is practiced in the U.S. today is, frankly, deeply hypocritical—if not outright cruel. Jesus preached welcoming the stranger, feeding the hungry, and sheltering the homeless. But modern Christians too often refuse to support any of that if it comes via taxes, or if the people in need don’t meet their personal definition of “deserving.”

People exist. They are alive. That should be all the justification needed for food, shelter, and protection.

As for the Founders, dismissing them because of today’s political climate feels like an attempt to erase history. Their religion—or lack thereof—shouldn’t influence whether we acknowledge their role in shaping the nation. The fact is: they already did the work. That alone qualifies them.

It’s like discounting Thomas Jefferson entirely because he owned slaves. Yes, I despise slavery. We should have abolished it far sooner, and the racism that persists today is inexcusable. But slavery was, tragically, a reality of the time. Can you name a prominent businessman of that era who outright rejected the prevailing financial and social structures and still succeeded? Jefferson’s contradictions don’t erase his contributions, though they absolutely deserve scrutiny.

And remember—the Founders lived during the Age of Enlightenment. They asked questions. They used their brains. They challenged what they were told. We could use a little more of that today.