{"id":2604020,"date":"2026-05-18T13:34:02","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T17:34:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/media-livid-over-trump-acknowledging-christian-founding\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T13:37:45","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T17:37:45","slug":"media-livid-over-trump-acknowledging-christian-founding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/media-livid-over-trump-acknowledging-christian-founding\/","title":{"rendered":"Media Livid Over Trump Acknowledging Christian Founding"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmedia-livid-over-trump-acknowledging-christian-founding%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2604020&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Two hundred and fifty years after the Second Continental Congress set a national day of humiliation, fasting, and prayer in 1776, a Trump administration event similarly marked a national prayer and rededication. The article argues that critics-especially outlets like *The New York Times* and like-minded commentators-responded by claiming the <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >event improperly promoted<\/a> the idea that America was intentionally founded as a Christian nation, and by invoking the \u201cseparation of church and state\u201d principle.<\/p>\n<p>The author counters that the Christian character of the founding is not merely a \u201cnarrative\u201d but historically evidenced through writings and beliefs of founding figures, including references to John Jay and statements attributed to other founders about Providence, religion, and morality as foundations for political life. The piece further claims critics apply a modern interpretation of the First Amendment that the founding generation did not share, pointing to historical state practices such as religious offices restricted to Christians\/Protestants and taxpayer-funded churches in multiple states around the time of ratification.<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately, the article frames the controversy as part of a broader effort to downplay Christianity\u2019s role in American history. It concludes that recognizing religion\u2019s moral foundation is presented as compatible with protecting liberty, rather than promoting a theocracy.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The Second Continental Congress called for a \u201cday of humiliation, Fasting and Prayer\u201d in May of 1776 amidst the impending separation with the Crown. As General George Washington stated, the day was set to \u201csupplicate the mercy of Almighty God\u201d and seek forgiveness for the nation\u2019s sins before undertaking what would become the American Revolution.<\/p>\n<p>Two hundred and fifty years later, President Donald Trump\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bidens-first-detention-facility-for-immigrant-border-crossers-opens-critics-mock-change-in-coverage-now-that-a-democrat-is-in-office\/\" title=\"Biden\u2019s First Detention Facility For Immigrant Border Crossers Opens, Critics Mock Change In Coverage Now That A Democrat Is In Office\">administration held<\/a> a national prayer and rededication event. But the day of rededication ignited rebuke from the usual suspects, who framed the event as an alarming attempt to rewrite American history by portraying America as a nation founded in Christianity.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTrump Administration Pushes Narrative of Christian Founding at Rally,\u201d The Times\u2019 Ruth Graham and Elizabeth Dias <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/05\/17\/us\/trump-prayer-rally-national-mall.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">wrote<\/a>. \u201cThe rally aimed to crystallize the narrative that the nation\u2019s founding was an intentionally Christian project, a framing disputed by many scholars.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But it\u2019s not a \u201cnarrative\u201d \u2014 it\u2019s a matter of historical record. Nonetheless, The Times pivots to the familiar talking point that \u2014 in The Times\u2019 words \u2014 \u201cThe separation of church and state has long been a bedrock principle of American democracy,\u201d citing the First Amendment\u2019s prohibition on federally established church. The irony of course is lost on The Times, that is, that the same generation that prohibited a federally established church is the same generation that proclaimed national days of prayer and thanksgiving and openly spoke of religion as essential to the republican form of government they created.<\/p>\n<p>The Times\u2019 dispute of our Christian Founding is so weak that their strongest rebuttal came from historian Joseph Ellis, who declared the idea that the founders viewed America as an explicitly Christian nation is \u201cnonsensical\u201d and \u201cdead wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInstead, the founders were explicitly pushing back against an assumption that persisted through the Middle Ages, that states needed common religious preference to unite people, he said,\u201d The Times reported. <\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s an odd claim, considering Founder John Jay wrote in Federalist Paper No. 2: \u201cI have as often taken notice that Providence has been pleased to give this one connected country to one united people \u2014 a people descended from the same ancestors, speaking the same language, professing the same religion\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Federalist No. 2 was part of a compilation of writings meant to explain and justify the purpose of the Constitution.<\/p>\n<p>The Times then cites Rachel Laser, president of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, who told The Times that the event showed separation of church and state is \u201cunder extreme attack.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf Trump really wanted to celebrate what is unique and foundational about America, he\u2019d be celebrating our promise of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/supreme-court-rules-for-praying-football-coach\/\" title=\"Supreme Court Rules for Praying Football Coach\">church-state separation<\/a> and religious freedom for all,\u201d Laser told The Times. <\/p>\n<p>Yet the founding generation \u2014 the same generation that created the First Amendment \u2014 did not share Laser\u2019s modern understanding of the First Amendment. At the time of the ratification of the Constitution, at least <a href=\"https:\/\/csac.history.wisc.edu\/religion-and-the-ratification\/religious-test-clause\/religious-tests-and-oaths-in-state-constitutions-1776-1784\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">9 of the original 13 colonies<\/a> had religious oaths of office and limited office holding to Christians and Protestants. In fact, states like Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire had taxpayer-funded churches.<\/p>\n<p>But The Times wasn\u2019t the only outlet mad about the national rededication. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cAn all-day prayer event on the National Mall on Sunday \u2014 backed by the White House through a mix of taxpayer funds and private donations \u2014 marked the latest flashpoint in the Trump administration blurring separation of church and state,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2026\/05\/17\/politics\/national-mall-prayer-event\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CNN\u2019s<\/a> Aleena Fayaz wrote before citing several voices who condemned the rally as Christian nationalism or unconstitutional.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/religion\/2026\/05\/17\/thousands-expected-rededicate-250-prayer-jubilee\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Washington Post\u2019s<\/a> Michelle Boorstein and Laura Meckler said \u201cscholars of U.S. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/tim-tebow-strengthens-bond-with-israel-with-charity-event\/\" title=\"Tim Tebow Strengthens Bond With Israel With Charity ...\">religious history<\/a> and critics of the Trump administration \u2026 point out that, amid much debate, the founders chose to keep religion at arm\u2019s length from government in the Constitution.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For decades there has been a historically illiterate position amongst the left that the Founding generation just all happened to be some denomination of Christian but that their Christian faith had nothing to do with the country they created.<\/p>\n<p>But the United States was not created in a vacuum. It was built by people who overwhelmingly were shaped by their Christian faith.<\/p>\n<p>John Adams wrote in an 1813 letter to Thomas Jefferson: \u201cThe general Principles, on which the Fathers Atchieved Independence, were the only Principles in which, that beautiful Assembly of young Gentlemen could Unite \u2026 And what were these general Principles? I answer, the general Principles of Christianity, in which all those Sects were United.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Even Jefferson, the man invoked by modern secularist for his \u201cwall of separation\u201d <em>letter<\/em>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.loc.gov\/exhibits\/religion\/rel06-2.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">regularly attended<\/a> worship at Christian services held inside the House of Representatives during his tenure as president. Whatever \u201cseparation of church and state\u201d meant to Jefferson and the founding generation, it certainly did not mean banishing religion from the public square or government for that matter. In fact, the founders didn\u2019t think that faith was a threat to the Constitution, they thought it made the Constitution \u2014 and country \u2014 possible.<\/p>\n<p>Adams <a href=\"https:\/\/onlinecoursesblog.hillsdale.edu\/our-constitution-was-made-only-for-a-moral-and-religious-people\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">warned<\/a> that the Constitution was made \u201conly for a moral and religious people,\u201d and that it would be inadequate for any other. Washington said in his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.senate.gov\/artandhistory\/history\/resources\/pdf\/Washingtons_Farewell_Address.pdf?utm_source=substack&#038;utm_medium=email\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Farewell Address<\/a> that religion and morality are \u201cindispensable supports\u201d for political prosperity. Jefferson <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nps.gov\/thje\/learn\/photosmultimedia\/quotations.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">himself wrote<\/a> that our liberties are only secure if people believe those rights are a gift from God. Because if rights come from government, government can take them away.<\/p>\n<p>When America rededicates herself to the foundation of all our freedoms, that is, Christianity, they\u2019re not advocating for a theocracy. But they are recognizing the moral framework that underpins natural rights and our republican form of self government. <\/p>\n<p>The New York Times and the left seeks to deny or minimize our Christian founding because they reject the moral order stemming from Christianity that built this country. In their fight to institute their dystopian Marxist society, they must deny our past in order to shape our future, for with religion, our political prosperity is secured, as Jefferson and Washington warned. <\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In May 1776, the Second Continental Congress called for a \u201cday of humiliation, fasting and prayer\u201d to seek God\u2019s mercy and forgive the nation\u2019s sins before the American Revolution<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":2604021,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-18-at-12.07.22-PM-scaled-e1779120600532-1024x576.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[5695,32274,3634],"class_list":["post-2604020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-christianity","tag-religious-freedom","tag-trump"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-18-at-12.07.22-PM-scaled-e1779120600532-1024x576.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2604020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2604020"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2604020\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2604024,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2604020\/revisions\/2604024"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2604021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2604020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2604020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2604020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}