On Sunday, May 17, thousands of believers gathered in Washington, DC, to celebrate the Christian roots of the United States in anticipation of the nation’s 250th birthday. “America was founded as a Christian nation,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said earlier this year. “It remains a Christian nation in our DNA, if we can keep it.” Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, echoed the point by saying the lineup of speakers at Rededicate 250—most of them evangelical—is “pretty much a depiction, a screenshot of our foundation.”
Hegseth and Rodriguez had better check their DNA tests again. The religious ancestors of the evangelicals leading the event on the National Mall—not to mention those of the Catholics and the one rabbi who also spoke—were outcasts in 1776.
Much of the criticism of Rededicate 250 has argued that it conflicts with the separation of church and state (and it does). I want to focus on a different point: For most of early American history, the folks leading this effort would have been viewed as heretics, worthy of suppression. If there was a Christian America, they would not have been included.
