[laughter] and, you know, what is a christian nation? how do you define christian in this case? how do you define nation? how do you define founded? you know, there's many on the right and the christian nationalists who, you know, argue, well, america was founded in 1620 when the pilgrims came over, and as a result, they tried to establish a christian civilization, and, thus, there it is, the christian nation. of course, we have john's evidence that suggest in virginia there was, clearly, no emphasis at least from jefferson, madison and all of those evangelical baptists who supported them that they were trying to create a christian nation. so let me, let me just for the sake of time here, let me throw out four or five very quick conclusions that i've drawn about the role of religion in the american founding, the religion of the founding fathers and so forth. the week is divided into -- the book is divided into three parts. the first thing i try to do is to try to trace the history of the idea that america was founded as a christian nation or america is a christian nation. so i tr

that's just not going to push back against that chorus is not a christian nation it is not a christian nation and our constitution guarantees that no religion will have any special status or special privileges that our constitution guarantees separation of church and state our constitution is a bar where we get the ocracy yes there's also the issue of what we're trying to do another set of that speaks to to saying that your belief system and i have to you know i have to say you know it. there are other people who would say they have detected spiritual person and you say you haven't been so well they haven't done it with science but those are proper for all apocryphal generally perhaps they have or have science i don't expect if you want to get into into the subtleties of that i mean we're not actually seen each other or the retinas of our eyes or are converting photons into intellectual impulses that are being converted into chemical impulses in our brains or reassembling these things where you know we're not actually hearing things i mean every so how do you know anything as. well we

all over the world places like uganda iraq india her first book kingdom coming the rise of christian nationalism explore the rise of religious fundamentalism particularly within the republican party and a more recent book the means of reproduction sex power and the future of the world documents the fight for women's reproductive rights around the planet and that vocal on the j. anthony lucas work in progress or currently she is the senior contributing writer at the daily beast and newsweek it was to say she brings in the light and perspective to many of the issues we're tackling both at home and abroad today so i'm pleased to welcome from our new york studios michelle goldberg michelle welcome to the program. thanks so much for having me thanks for joining us what motivated you or motivates you to do the work you do and take on the topics you. why don't i narrow it down i can tell you a little i've always been fascinated by religion and idiology you know i grew up in buffalo new york my first political experience was standing head of arm in arm outside of our city's abortion clinics which were t

this country was founded on judeo christian principles it was founded as a christian nation not it is true definitely true and i did so as your sign through the new testament and all the mirror that suffered by thomas is still. on the status of he was one person why he was that he was the d.s. and i'm here most of the other phones wide open george washington i'll use the other him up until nineteen sixty two we had a reading and prayer in school and it was an atheist that got rid of that and since the one nine hundred sixty s. that country is believed because of course there will be constant a.p.'s filed a suit and i think that the atheists have really hurt our nation the overwhelming majority of americans are christians over seventy eight percent profess to be christians even though they don't live like christians they profess to be christians so let's let people have their religion have their worldview have their perspective and live in peace but let's not have the government not having go you know if rick perry was was a mormon or if he was a buddhist or if he was hindu or somethin

america was founded as a christian nation and we've gotten away from those principles because of atheists and believe that part about decline is because of the choices that we are making that are unbiblical. and so our curry i don't know how sincere he is maybe just being a politician i don't know that pierre and i do know that prayer works and i know that america needs to change course that we have found in the wrong prayer and a lot of it is coming from the secular humanists and atheists they are leading us down the wrong the secular humanists and atheists accepting those who are evangelical who are trying to convert us all religions are the only ones in america that on the seat. of the atheists are under siege they will be the first to tell you garbage right in the universe of the. people here in this country it's a quick path to persecution to declare atheism and frankly any kind of nonstandard religion it's like. and it is a leap in this being under the seat right now how i mean i mean one example all the time one example if you me one example just one example you don't know when you

well religious leaders from post soviet nations are uniting in ukraine to celebrate their christianized nation or ancient russia ukraine's capital kiev used to be the center of the ancient state when it turns you off the doxy more than a thousand years ago nazis alexy he is following colorful festivities. the head of the russian orthodox church the real has a right to the ukrainian capital kiev to take part in the celebrations along with his counterpart from georgia and the head of the russian orthodox church in ukraine . it's been exactly one thousand and twenty three years since this part of the world orthodox christianity now when. arrived at the solemn liturgy in front of the. monument in kiev the central monument dedicated to the baptism to the adoption of christianity in this part of the world. he was greeted by tens of thousands of people who were chanting that. is the real well clearly this shows that the the attitude towards the russian pressure off in ukraine is still very warm and he's being greeted here with much respect lately kiev has been named as one of the single capitals of t

and claims we should not elect pagans anymore like obama and perry also wants to establish a christian nation. does that sound familiar to you remember the last man from texas claim he was called yeah that was george bush over no matter all the christian knees perry's record isn't all sweetness and light texas has high job growth rate but it has some of the lowest high school graduation rates and the highest poverty rates in the country in other words this one folks rick perry wants you to move to texas and get a job that pays you peanuts and he doesn't want you to believe he doesn't want to believe you should be educated in the competitive way that helps americans as a whole in other words perry talks with two tongues he's a modern day wolf in sheep's clothing rick perry is one that jesus would call a viper affair a c. one speaks words with little action backing it up you see folks perry may well be a good christian guy but the faith claims is near religion that he uses for his own benefit he remembered matthew chapter five blessed that are you the poor remember the least of these apparently

well the docs christians from nations christianization of russia thousand years ago the main celebrations take place in ukrainian capital kiev. the ancient state. reports from the spots where the talks message started to spread across the nation three countries of the post soviet space ukraine russia and belarus are celebrating a very important religious holiday it's been exactly one thousand and twenty three years since this part of the world adopted orthodox christianity in the year nine hundred eighty seven who reigned. baptized the first citizen to become orthodox christian choosing this religion over. other religions as well now. the head of the russian orthodox church the real has a right to the gradient capital t. have to take part in the celebrations along with his counterpart from georgia and the head of the russian orthodox church in ukraine. it is a large scale celebration which is being held in the capitals of ukraine belarus and russia kiev minsk and moscow after the collapse of the soviet union in the early one nine hundred ninety s. the orthodox church in ukraine was split

the law. >> reporter: this proposal may seen unlikely, christians say it force them to stand against increasing islamic influence in their nation. cbn news, brad ford england. >>> coming up christians in japan praying for a spiritual awakening. why they believe god is using disasters to draw people to him. >> welcome back. christians in japan struggling to share the gospel. however the recent disasters are causing many japanese to reconsider their lives. japan's churches are praying for a spiritual shaking in the country. >> reporter: whether they're in church or standing on a street corner, the members of this church loudly sing their songs of grace. these young people are part of new youth movement that many japanese christians hope will revive japan's churches. this philippinos pastor was born and raised in hawaii. the church in japan is small and getting smaller everyday. the average japanese church has 30 people and many have less than 10 members. church historians says, traditional churches are dying out. >> after the war, a lot of them came to japan as christians. so, after the war, you know, the japanese church went a l

enemy you must do good to those who hate you and so so often what i see on the news from a judeo christian nation which espouses those beliefs in church i don't see us walking those things and this is not the point the finger out but i believe each of us has to heal those own things in our lives before we find fault with our brother you know there's there's so much hypocrisy i think that each of us if we each healed in our own life would then help to cleanse the energy that's even outside of us so you know i believe in revolution and what i believe in what thomas merton called the the true revolution which is the personal revolution one of my favorite sayings is from thomas a campus from the imitation of christ and it's study to overcome that in yourself which disturbs you most in others i'll say it one more time study to overcome that in you which disturbs you most in others so i see this a lot you know that we're so upset about the inflexibility of that guy well if we look inside that means we are inflexible and people who are inflexible we are intolerant the people who are intolerant so i do b

that's because we recognize only one christian nation, the church, the holy nation that is bound togethern by man-made, blood-soaked borders. let me ask you this. how do you reconcile that with our history and the system of government that you live under every single day that allows you the freedom to even say the things that you're telling me right now? >> well, i would ask you where do you believe that your freedom comes from? you know, there are a number of people, as i was reading through, there are a number of comments, over 4,000 comments, writing that they thought that i only recognized one nation and i was very careful in my language that i only recognize one christian nation. and that is the church. i don't expect the united states government to do the mission or be the part of the ministry of the church. i want the church to be the church. and the government to be the government. and i would also say that my freedom does not come from the blood of my enemies. i believe that my freedom comes from the blood that was shed by jesus on the cross so i would have a different understand

our country is not a christian nation, and -- >> do you really think that people, when they hear atheistn't say automatically, but still in your mind that equates for them that you're not patriotic. do you get that response from people? >> we do get some of that, yes. part of it has to do with the pledge of allegiance. when the words "under god" were inserted, it became a christian pledge. then we are excluded. and that is seen to be less patriotic. >> now, people have their own religious beliefs, very strong, and some would take that as offensive, like, okay, you want to believe what you want to believe, that's fine, but why god-less america? >> it's just an introduction to the fact that there are millions, tens of millions of americans who are atheists who do not believe in deities of any kind. and the banners, there are two banners, there's the got-less america, and then there is atheistism. >> do you want people to come over to your side, or do you simply want to dispel some of the rumors and myths and want to make sure your atheists are patriotic, or do you want to convert them, if

. >>> how these christians responded to their needs. a new nation born in africa, welcome to "christian world news" george thomas and wendy griffith on assignment. public of south sudan seceded from the north on july 9th. part of the 2005 peace agreement that ended a 20-year world war. more than 2 million people died. the south population is heavily christian and black african, 2 groups targeted by bashar. >> joining us in gary lane. i know you covered the civil war and witnessed the suffering of christians. what does the independence mean to them? >> they have been fighting for 22 years for independence. 2 million died, another 4-5 million left homeless. they have suffered. this is the moment they have been waiting for. they wanted to stop the advance of islam into the south. many were forced to attend mosques and learn islam. this way they can practice their faith freely. >> speaking of faith, this group of people are mostly christian. >> as muslim was atempeding to reach them, this is a christian group call the sudan people's liberation army. the

data could be misused and not just by the tabloids but i think that where this does become a christian for national security is the idea that police is selling private phone numbers and private contact details of people like the royal family in the prime minister yes well this is not necessarily the same to sell these things to a newspaper as it would be to sell them to a terrorist organization but if you can do one you may be able to do the other so yes it's very serious but i think what people like to talk to and. expecting is full the scandal to go up through rebecca brooks who's the chief executive of news international to james murdoch and james murdoch himself many people say should step down and take a break. turning now to some other stories making headlines across the globe a protestant parade has again turned violent in northern ireland's capital belfast bonfires were lit to mark the annual twelfth of july celebrations catholic protesters threw stones and fire bombs at protestants and police security forces tried to separate the opposing factions at least seven police officers were injure

his new book is called "was america founded as a christian nation?" fea has written about religion in american history and contemporary culture in scholarly articles, newspapers and online publications including a blog called the way to improvement leads home. with that, barbara clark-smith. >> thank you. well, my book offers a new interpretation of the american revolution. you only get a few minutes of it, but it does that by

, that were born here are black liberation theology out of slave religion that is about christianity and the nation of islam. right, so there are two forms of islam that find their way here but immigration islam only finds it somewhere because the nation exists as an indigenous institution. part of what makes that initial slur towards president obama muslim and then what we know that when they say muslim what they mean is "n" word. we know that those things are linked and so part of the pain, the absolute pain of the moment of the killing of bin laden is that we all feel the jz ha-ha barack obama did it. he had to kill the muslim to do it. if a black president had to kill the muslim hoping -- and then the white folks still gave the credit to the white president who ain't around these parts no more. [applause] >> for having done it. so we feel that because we know that there is -- it was like black people wearing the nypd hat post-9/11. i never felt the moment because when i saw black men in the city of new york, while rudy giuliani was the mayor, wearing nypd hats, right, as a reflection of their s

a lot of these nations are not recognized as christian nations which a lot of americans have problemsith. we have the problems in the middle east, which again, a lot of those problems carry over into the problems you are talking about. it's funny you represent peace and supposedly these organized religs do. they seem to be the cause of a lot of these wars. i want to know your thoughts on that. host: go ahead. guest: it's an important question probably one that's on the minds of many. looking at the index, the states closest to fail, generally it's not ruled by religion. you find muslim states near the top, you find christian states near the top. that r i think that caller is hitting on something. other issues. where there are these divides between religion, it can cause serious instability just like other pressures that may exist within society. i don't think we should discount the importance of understanding how religion could lead to conflict. it's one of many thing that's can lead to conflict. a broader conversation might look at how the other splits will look at proxy's. host: nex

typically, he'll show a christian film and invite people to follow christ. in a nation that struggled for generations to free itself from poverty, trimble's messages well received. >> we are able to bring the gospel into the living rooms and homes of haitian people in a practical way and make them feel good about their country and themselves but the principles of god. >> the devastating earthquake of 2010, nobody knows how many dies, estimates go as high as 200,000. for the past year, the world has focussed on the needs of the survivors. >> government estimates a million people lost their homes. they came to live in places like this. this used to be a golf course. life is hard in these tent cities. many are finding hope for the future right here. [singing]. haitians still flocking to church services in this tent city and throughout the capitol. evidence, trimble says of a growing spiritual revival. >> we never imagined revival would come in the form of a disaster. people would say haiti would be a good example if it turned around. i can say not just the beginning of a t

prayer and fasting for our nation to seek god's guidance inviting governors from across the nation to join in christian prayer summit in his. as an elected leader all too aware of government's limitations when it comes to fixing things that are spiritual in nature that's where prayer comes in and we need it more than ever with the economy in trouble communities in crisis and people adrift in a sea of moral relativism we need god's help that's why i'm calling on americans to pray and fast like jesus did and as god called the israelites to do in the book of job but rick perry is just like jesus or god the website promoting the event says that the summit is necessary because as a nation we must come together and call upon jesus to guide us through unprecedented struggles because some problems are beyond our power to solve. and to quote yesterday the freedom from religion foundation follow the laws.

by who by by his christian fanaticism religion or nationalism who isn't brainwashed by i don't know if anybody is just saying that in central local all that is fine and if you are just there will be approached by it was all. ok well thank you very much for that insight into what the suspect all of anderson thank you very much is a spokesman for the union of russian communities in sweden and again he had no adverse préfet thank you. now the enervation prime minister said more democracy and openness is the answer to the violence but hello lure us from the inner region institute of international affairs believes it's a country's policies of multiculturalism that turned the gunmen against his own. be higher than the increasingly. intense and heated debate about immigration. about both immigration is doing to no region culture or multiculturalists and is really not of aid to go forward to marginalize the region and feel their voices are not being heard in the political establishment. the reaching people have never been consulted democratically about whether a bump immigration on or not and

network social activist says there are parallels with some nations white. christians who can make an analogy i think on an international scale between what happens in takeovers so the united states and britain took over iraq and what do they bring the power who they employ they employ to slow slow and i think that same thing has happened in the tabloids where we have them immense power in the against murdoch and a few of the other barons and who they hire what type of boat they hire not painting every journalist with that brush but certainly if you look at the murdoch world whether it's on television where you've got paid verbal assassins like o'reilly and hannity and the united states i don't know about britain. it's a whole culture of power and control and deception for an agenda and that engendered i think it was the gender. both in britain and the united states. we are asking what you think of the tabloids tactics and get into the story let's have a look at the numbers here and see what you're saying at r.t. dot com so far the most votes say such reporting methods

the home of god's chosen people christians who now you can eat for israel israel israel and israel thousands gathered here in washington to show their support for the nation of israel god says i will bless those places. and personally i would i would like to be part of that thank you very much. organized by pastor televangelist john higgins the christians united for israel summit plenty of big names including glenn back john bolton and members of congress i want to keep the liberty of the strike yesterday in the words of the orange to destroy all those years in each oh. oh. oh those were really.

into the city, looks great f you're traveling nationally, here is spencer christian. >> happy to reportoss most of the nation air traffic is pretty much on time. and on the east coast, much-needed thunderstorms are rumbling, bringing cooling to areas hard hit by the heat wave. but thunderstorms are producing air traffic delays in atlanta from 30-45 minutes and washington, longer there up to an hour and around new york, all three airports jfk and la guardia and newark experiencing delays. more on our forecast later as abc 7 news at 4:00 continues. ñkx >>> the woman who accused former head of the international monetary fund of sexual assault is now coming forward to tell her side of the story. >> this is an unusual move that could turn the case upside down. prosecutors in new york still deciding whether to proceed with the case. >> in an abc news exclusive, the made is talking about why one of the most powerful men in the world needs to be in jail. scott goldberg reports. >> reporter: in exclusive interviews with abc news and news week magazine, the woman is speaking publicly. >> i was li

nation of islam in the 60s as well. this was shocking. this was, you know, we were raised in a very christian family.this was extremely shocking, and yet what came out of it was a kind of respect, it made us curious. it didn't shatter the love and the relationship for something that, you know, we didn't really know much about. what we knew about the nation of islam we knew because of mohammed ali and malcolm x, no other markers within our community to tell us something about the nation of islam, and those two things we knew were regarded as positives, so it created this opportunity, it created this door through which we did begin to open our minds and we did begin to open our ideas about the range of black experiences that were out there. what's disturbing today, i don't know if this answers the question, but what's disturbing to me today is that post-9/11 and the immediate aftermath of 9/11, we had an opportunity to further that opening of our minds. it was actually the blast was -- you know, should have opened our minds, but the horror of this thing should have opened our minds and should have made

criticism and to engage with it. >> reporter: parsons asserts that christians are treated better by israel than by other middle eastern nations. and he raises another controversial question, the role rising islamic fundamentalism may play in the christian exodus. >> a lot of people look at the conflict, they look at the plight of palestinian christians, they look at so many of them leaving, and ey want to understand why, and most of them know that the main culprit in this is islamic militancy, both towards jews and towards christians. >> reporter: palestinian christian leaders acknowledge there are some tensions with muslims, but say overall the two communities have lived together peacefully for centuries. >> our relations have been really normal relations, like neighbors. there are sensitivities in the sense that sometimes palestinian christians would like less of religion in the public sphere, yes. but that is not the cause for leaving. >> reporter: sabella says many christians here see themselves as bridge-builders for peace and democracy. >> if you lose the palestinian christians, then you lose, in a sense, the promise of

thousands for the celebration and tonight a recent towson high school graduate will sing the national anthem. as christian hoff's name is familiar it is for a good reason. >> for the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming. >> he is warming up before his star spangled performance saturday night. >> i'm singing the national anthem with the v.s.o. >> he is one of the three winne winners contest. they competed against more than 30 of the region's best vocalists for the chance to sing the national anthem. for him and his parents being for his singing talent is somewhat new. he started playing piano at four and studied for years but didn't find his voice until seventh grade choir. >> i kind of made the switch. >> we didn't know and he didn't know that he loved to sing until then. >> the first time i heard him sing solo was about a month ago. >> spectacular children for the haufrs is not new. his sister is an olympic medalist swimmer. she doesn't play piano and christian doesn't swim. >> that is correct. we kind of split off. >> christian is also a song writer. he just graduated from towson high school

a lot of these nations are not recognized as christian nations which a lot of americans have problems with. we have the problems in the middle east, which again, a lot of those problems carry over into the problems you are talking about. it's funny you represent peace and supposedly these organized religs do. they seem to be the cause of a lot of these wars. i want to know your thoughts on that. host: go ahead. guest: it's an important question probably one that's on the minds of many. looking at the index, the states closest to fail, generally it's not ruled by religion. you find muslim states near the top, you find christian states near the top. that r i think that caller is hitting on something. other issues. where there are these divides between religion, it can cause serious instability just like other pressures that may exist within society. i don't think we should discount the importance of understanding how religion could lead to conflict. it's one of many thing that's can lead to conflict. a broader conversation might look at how the other splits will look at proxy's. host: n

sherry fowler clearly conflated the american nation with christianity. jimmy carter was always very hesitant, such as in the moralizer, very hesitant to god's purpose with america's purpose. after the i love america rally, no surprise again we get the formation of the moral majority and we get the rise of what is known as the new right during the period. and many of the members of a new right also were very sure that jimmy carter was quite vulnerable on a bunch of cultural issues, which is some ways didn't prove to be afraid if they wanted it to, but they had a point. none of this would matter. sure to falwell's opposition, none of this anonymous there was a candidate they are ready to articulate the concerns and also in office. and course we have that as well and that's ronald reagan. during the period of time that i'm dealing with it, ronald reagan will start to take the lead in the republican party primary. he was there to pull ahead, pull ahead of a number of contenders, most famously essentially chasing john connally and philip crane. it's also duri

so is being a theocrat and promising to run the nation in this under christian shari'a law no requirement to be a republican running for president this is just one swenson's that's right you know i think that that's a very tricky line you have to walk down as a christian i'm a christian and as a public policy person you know because you want to to appeal. a key voting element but you also don't want to come across as evangelists like you just said and michele bachmann may have made a mistake by signing this just because it does seem to be quite a. i'm also a person and i i definitely agree i think there's a difference between showing people you know that your faith is. your values and that you are good solid person and saying that people who are gay are the downfall of society and that black children would be better off if they were slaves i mean that's ridiculous all it's sort of just fell out and say. she's obviously playing to a certain base and so far she seems to be doing a pretty good job of it but i think that's sort of pushes that limit and it's going to park fire i think if you c

americans need to stop pretending christianity is the religion of this nation. it's unconstitutional. christian says, absolutely. this whole church versus state thing has gotten so far out of control that i'm surprised god isn't on the fbi's most wanted list by now. angel says the only guidance from above politicians receive is from the checkbooks of lobbyists. facebook.com/carolcnn. please continue the conversation. i'll be back with you in about 15 minutes. >> all right. perfect. thanks so much, carol. appreciate that. >>> so the debt debate stalemate. what does the public think about all that bickering in washington? a new cnn poll tells who the american people are actually blaming. that's coming up in the political ticker. >>> and perhaps you're away from your television set. we don't have to be out of your lives. there are other ways in which you can watch the "cnn newsroom" right now, whether it be on your phone, your computer or, of course, your ipad. have one of these? it's very easy. just use your cnn app that you want to download there. when you get to

national anthem. if the name sounds familiar, it is for a good reason. >> 18-year-old christian is warming up before his performance saturday night. >> i am singing the national anthem. >> he is one of three winners of a singing contests. he competed against 30 other vocalists. for him and his parents, being recognized for his singing talents is somewhat new. he started playing piano at four years old and studied for years. >> we did not know and he did not know that he loves to sing. >> the first time i heard him sing solo was one month ago. anchristian's sister is olympic medalist. she does not play piano. christian does not swim. >> that is correct. we kind of split off. >> christian is also a song writer. he just graduated from townsend high school. he will study music education. he is excited to perform with the bso in front of thousands. >> it is an amazing opportunity for me. i have not had a lot of solo performance opportunities. i am excited. >> you can get tickets to the bso spectacular. >> still ahead on 11 news, the a college student who died is suing the university. then there has been anot

marina say with the business but religious leaders from a post soviet nations uniting in ukraine to celebrate the christianization of ancient russia georgians patriotic is on his first official visit to kiev he meets with his russian counterpart to discuss the strained relations between the two states cut off diplomatic ties more than five years ago. the head of the russian orthodox church bought out of the real has a right to the ukrainian capital kiev to take part in the celebrations along with his counterpart from georgia and the head of the russian orthodox church in ukraine . it's been exactly one thousand and twenty three years since this part of the world adopted orthodox christianity now when sharkey real arrived at the solemn liturgy in front of the. monument in kiev the central monument dedicated to the baptism to the adoption of christianity in this part of the world he was greeted by tens of thousands of people who were chanting that. is the real well clearly this shows that the the attitude towards russia and ukraine is still very warm and he is being greeted here with much respect lately kiev has be

christian science monitor." we'll talk with cat kyley of the national journal. that is our lineup for the fourth of july on "washington journal" enjoy the rest of your weekend and we will see you tomorrow. ♪ [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> this morning, "newsmakers" senator rand paul. he talks about the debate over raising the debt ceiling. after that, senate armed services committee would senior military commander later. , the president's top home security adviser tom brennan unveiling a new counterterrorism strategy and afghanistan. >> shogash had decided several days before mckinley arrive that he was going to kill him. he had gone out and bought a pistol and the fall of mckinley's whereabouts in the newspapers which were reported in great detail. he began tracking him throughout the fair. >> on december 6, 1901, two fatal shots were fired at president mckinley. tonight, scott miller looks at the president and his assassin and the changing era in which they lived on cspan's "q