"Christian nation" is a wonderfully clever term.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

It is perfectly reasonable to use the phrsae "Christian nation" to mean "a nation the vast majority of the populace are devoutly Christian". And, in this sense of the word, America is a Christian nation.

It is perfectly reasonable to use the phrase "Christian nation" to mean "a nation whose official state religion is Christianity, where Christianity is given special status, and where the laws and governance reflect this".

And no-one can tell if you change the sense you are using the word in half way through a paragraph.

[uriel1972]

1. I suppose it would be more correct

to use the term "Nation of Christians" when you are referring to a country where the population is majority Christian, but Christianity is not the state religion.

That is the United States is a nation of Christians, not a Christian nation. It's clumsy but more accurate.

[cbayer]

4. Agree. That is much clearer terminology.

And even the phrase "nation of christians" is losing ground.

[Bad Thoughts]

2. Or a nation with a Christian mentality

In spite of the legal proscriptions against the establishment of religion, Christian concepts and norms are frequently are used as the foundations of new laws and policies, and Christian sensibilities are often accommodated. More often than not, expressions of Christian identity in the public square are not questioned until they are well established, almost impossible to dismantle, leading instead to find ways of allowing equal access to the public square.

[Adsos Letter]

3. "...devoutly Christian"?

[Donald Ian Rankin]

6. Yes. Do you think the usage is inaccurate or offensive, or something? N.T.

[Adsos Letter]

10. Not particularly.

But I would question whether "the vast majority of the populace are 'devoutly' Christian."

[trotsky]

12. As would I.

When less than 20% of Americans regularly attend religious services, "devout" doesn't seem to be an appropriate description.

[dimbear]

7. It sounds a lot better than doggedly Christian, or loudly Christian. n/t

[hrmjustin]

5. I don't like when people get all this is a Christian nation on me.

The Government is secular. It does not say anywhere in the Constitution that this is a Christian nation. This is a country with a majority of Christians.

[Igel]

8. But the government isn't the nation, now is it?

If it is, then there are a very few citizens.

If you want to argue that the citizens *are* the government, then the majority of those in the government is Xian. If they're going to be allowed to express their values and accommodate the traditions of the majority, then those values and traditions are most likely going to be Xian.

Which is why we have Thanksgiving and Christmas as federal holidays.

"Xian nation" is ambiguous. We can define it for in-house use, but we're hardly likely to be able to impose our terminology on others without their consent. So whenever "Xian nation" is used, ask which meaning the user intends (and if you're using it, say which you mean). Often the user won't have pondered the ambiguity--we often confuse words for things, and allow our thinking to be fuzzy when it suits us. We also often assume that if a sentence can be processed it's clear enough and no clarification is needed or wanted.

[hrmjustin]

9. Yes the people are not the government. I just assume that when most people say it

they mean that there should not be separation of church of state which scares me.

[Phillip McCleod]

11. i usually respond that the u.s. was founded on freemasonic principles.

that usually causes a look of confusion, which is an excellent opportunity to explain further. toss in some iroquois confederacy and a little enlightenment philosophy. maybe drop a reference to hobbes' ideal of the leviathan and plato's republic, and..

..next thing you know.. the history lesson is reversed.