What do you think?

“The Constitution clearly states the government cannot impose religion on citizens, but setting aside a day to encourage expression of voluntary spirituality is in no way an imposition,” said Bill O’Reilly Thursday night on the O’Reilly Factor as he opened a segment with Sarah Palin.

“Why do you think America is a Christian nation?” O’Reilly asked Palin, who joined him for an interview to defend her position.  Her defense included a reference to the Founding Fathers of this country, and the historical documents that connect their decisions to their faith in the God of Israel.

O’Reilly continued, “The Founding Fathers did base not only the Declaration of Independence but the Constitutional protections on what they thought was right and wrong, and what they thought was right and wrong came from the Ten Commandments which is Judeo-Christian philosophy. That is beyond a reasonable doubt. But here’s what’s happened. America has…as they say in California…”evolved”, and now we are much more a secular nation than we were back in 1776.”

This led to O’Reilly’s second question: “The opponents of spirituality in the public marketplace say “Hey, this is a violation. We can’t be pushing any kind of spirituality.” And you answer?”

As I listened to O’Reilly’s questions and Palin’s answers, I began to wonder how I would do if asked to defend the same questions. O’Reilly rounded out the segment with these: “What do you say to the people in Chinatown…the Asian Americans who come from a different religious culture? Do they not participate in the Judeo-Christian tradition? They don’t believe it; they believe something else.” “What do you think drives a Judge Crabb to say, “Hey, this should be illegal”?” (with regard to Crabb’s recent ruling that the National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional) And, “Why would Crabb do it? What does she want to accomplish by this?”

All too often, the Christian church as a whole downplays the responsibility of the believer to have an intellectual faith. While a simple faith pleases the Lord, a sincere intellectual faith pleases Him and challenges the culture. If we are to follow Jesus' example, we won't shy away from challenging cultural norms through respectful, convincing debate. O’Reilly’s questions should be answered intelligently by every believer, not just public figures such as Palin.

So, why do you think America is a Christian nation? And why is the National Day of Prayer constitutional? (If you don’t know where to begin, go back to the beginning of this very post.)