cover image Believers, Thinkers, and Founders: How We Came to Be One Nation Under God

Believers, Thinkers, and Founders: How We Came to Be One Nation Under God

Kevin Seamus Hasson. Image, $18 (224p) ISBN 978-0-3077-1818-1

In a time of increasing questions about God’s place in America, Hasson, founder and president emeritus of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, provides a history of how the U.S. came to be—and still can be—called “one nation under God.” From Aristotle to the present, he examines how governments have acknowledged the existence of God, even if not all citizens share that belief. Hasson (The Right to Be Wrong) provides insight into the teachings and popular thought that helped shape the opinions of the Founding Fathers, who didn’t all agree on theology but who collectively believed that citizens’ rights in the new nation were bestowed by a creator. The phrase under God was not new to them: it predated the arrival of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock by 400 years. This concept has been affirmed by presidents in their inauguration speeches and by states adopting their own constitutions, and it has successfully survived legal challenges by those who would like to eradicate it from the pledge of allegiance. It is a phrase that remains relevant today as it suggests that our rights do not come from government alone, implying limits to government powers. Hasson formulates a strong argument for the philosophical—rather than theological—place of “under God” in American culture. (Apr.)