Videos

The debate over whether America was founded as a Christian nation has endured for more than two centuries, but what does the historical record actually say? In the final installment of this series, Blake, Marshall, and Mike revisit the evidence, challenge some of the most persistent myths surrounding the American Founding, and examine what the Founders believed about Christianity, government, and religious freedom. Drawing together the evidence from across the series, they separate fact from fiction and ask what the Founding generation actually intended when it came to religion, government, and the identity of the United States. Is America a Christian nation? The answer is more complicated and more fascinating than either side of the debate often admits. For a more immersive experience while you listen, visit our image gallery for this series at https://www.usofamnesia.com/blog/image-gallery-for-a-christian-nation/. Join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61584…

Blake gets our discussion of the Second and Third Great Awakenings in the United States underway as he guides Marshall and Mike through the ancient Greek concepts of "mythos" and "logos" in this excerpt from Episode 305 ("The Awakenings") of the United States of Amnesia podcast's series "A Christian Nation?", which explores the idea advocated by some Americans that the United States was founded as a Christian country. The United States of Amnesia is a long-format podcast exploring the lessons we’ve forgotten, misunderstood, or never learned. Over time, history, politics, and religion have been distorted by bias, oversimplification, and myth. This podcast aims to cut through the fog, reconnecting past and present to help us think more clearly about the world we’re in and the one we're heading toward. Join us as we delve into the great struggle of humanity: to reconcile who we were with who we are becoming. Want to learn about the history you have forgotten — or never knew? We post ne…

History remembers the Founding Fathers. It often forgets the revivalists. Between the Revolution and the modern era, a series of religious awakenings swept across America, changing not only how people worshiped, but how they understood the nation itself. In this conversation, Blake guides Marshall and Mike through the Great Awakenings, tracing the origins of evangelicalism, fundamentalism, and ideas that many now assume have always been part of American Christianity. If today's religious landscape wasn't inherited from the Founders, when was it created? And what happens when centuries of theology, politics, and national identity become tangled together? Sometimes the most influential chapters in American history are the ones we rarely think to read. For a more immersive experience while you listen, visit our image gallery for this series at https://www.usofamnesia.com/blog/image-gallery-for-a-christian-nation/. Join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61584388890…

What were the personal religious beliefs of Thomas Paine, Patrick Henry, George Mason, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton, and what role did they see for religion in the United States? Why did Mason and Madison disagree on the "toleration" of religious beliefs? These questions (and others) arise as Blake leads the second part of our discussion of what selected Founding Fathers held as their religious beliefs, what they thought about the role of religion in personal morality and civic society, how they sought to achieve civic tranquility through religious freedom, and how that played in role in forging the disunited colonies into the United States. For a more immersive experience while you listen, visit our image gallery for this series at https://www.usofamnesia.com/blog/image-gallery-for-a-christian-nation/. Check out our website to learn more about us: https://www.usofamnesia.com/ Email us at usa.amnesia@gmail.com. Chapters: 0:00:00 - Intro 0:01:37 - Thomas Paine 0:10:15 - Pa…

Mike, Blake, and Marshall discuss the complications that would arise in identifying and defining who would be in and who would be out if America adopted "Christianity" as its official religion in this excerpt from Episode 301 ("The Founding Intent") of the United States of Amnesia podcast series "A Christian Nation?", which explores the view held by some Americans that the United States was founded as a Christian country. We are a long-format podcast that makes deep dives into the history you have forgotten or never knew. We drop new episodes every other Wednesday and begin a new series every few weeks. For much more, see our YouTube channel @USAAmnesia, listen wherever you get your podcasts, and visit our website at https://www.usofamnesia.com. Email us at usa.amnesia@gmail.com. This video includes: * Wikimedia Commons photo of incense burning at a mass altar by Stebunik (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Stebunik) licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Interna…

Blake and Marshall begin our discussion of the notion of America as a Christian nation and the problem of defining what "Christian" would mean in this excerpt from Episode 301 ("The Founding Intent") of the United States of Amnesia podcast series "A Christian Nation?", which explores the view held by some Americans that the United States was founded as a Christian country. We are a long-format podcast that makes deep dives into the history you have forgotten or never knew. We drop new episodes every other Wednesday and begin a new series every few weeks. For much more, see our YouTube channel @USAAmnesia, listen wherever you get your podcasts, and visit our website at https://www.usofamnesia.com. Email us at usa.amnesia@gmail.com. This video includes: * Wikimedia Commons photo of Christian nationalists carrying a cross, Attribution: Wolfman5678 (no link available). License: Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.(https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0…

What were the personal religious beliefs of Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Adams, and John Adams, and what role did they see for religion in the United States? Blake leads a discussion of what selected Founding Fathers held as their religious beliefs, what they thought about the role of religion in personal morality and civic society, how they sought to achieve civic tranquility through religious freedom, and how that played in role in forging the disunited colonies into the United States.

Mike, Blake, and Marshall discuss the mythology of the Pilgrims who came to America to found Plymouth Colony in 1620 in this excerpt from Episode 302 ("The Colonies") of the United States of Amnesia podcast series "A Christian Nation?" which explores the view held by some Americans that the United States was founded as a Christian country. We are a long-format podcast that makes deep dives into the history you have forgotten or never knew. We drop new episodes every other Wednesday and begin a new series every few weeks. For much more, see our YouTube channel @USAAmnesia, listen wherever you get your podcasts, and visit our website at https://www.usofamnesia.com. Email us at usa.amnesia@gmail.com.

Did the Pilgrims leave England to flee religious oppression, or to find a place where they could be the oppressors? These and other questions arise as Blake reviews the foundation of each of the 13 colonies and explores the role — if any — of religious belief in establishing each of them. Some of the colonies were founded strictly as commercial enterprises, others for religious reasons, and the discussion ranges from the Anglicans in Virginia to the Quakers in Pennsylvania to the Catholics in Maryland to the Pilgrims in Massachusetts — as well those who fled Massachusetts to form Rhode Island because the Puritans were too strict and those who fled Massachusetts to form Connecticut because the Puritans restricted suffrage too much. For a more immersive experience while you listen, visit our image gallery for this series at https://www.usofamnesia.com/blog/image-gallery-for-a-christian-nation/. Check out our website to learn more about us: https://www.usofamnesia.com/ Email us at usa.…

Marshall and Mike discuss a major conclusion of our multi-part series about how the United States always has misunderstood China — a much broader conclusion that U.S. difficulties in dealing with the world come down to a U.S. lack of cultural literacy. This portion of that discussion is excerpted from Episode 211 ("Another Day, Another Country, Another Misunderstanding"), the concluding episode of the United States of Amnesia podcast series "Tea, Drugs, and Jesus," which examines the U.S. experience in China from the 1780s through 1972. We are a long-format podcast that makes deep dives into the history you have forgotten or never knew. We drop new episodes every other Wednesday and begin a new series every few weeks. For much more, see our YouTube channel @USAAmnesia, listen wherever you get your podcasts, and visit our website at https://www.usofamnesia.com. Email us at usa.amnesia@gmail.com. This video includes: * A FreeImages illustration of the Republican Party elephant and the…

Was America founded as a Christian nation? Some say yes, some say no, and the real answer is more complex than you might think. Blake takes the reins as the leader of this series, discussing the role (or in some cases, perhaps, the lack thereof) of Christianity in the establishment of the colonies, the founding of the nation, and the early evolution of the United States. In this premiere episode, Blake, Marshall, and Mike start with the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, and from there go on to discuss what the Founding Fathers, who wished to avoid the religious strife that had plagued Europe, seemed to have intended for religion in American public life. Did the Founders "design" America as a Christian country? If the United States had an official church, which denominations would qualify as "Christian"? How would the official church function within civic life in matters of law, public policy, voting, and taxation? Would non-Christians be suppressed? The discussion als…

Mike explains the often-forgotten role France played in U.S. military strategy during the interwar period in this excerpt from Episode 106 ("America First — Part 6 — Conclusion") of the United States of Amnesia podcast series "America First," which explores the history and evolution of the 'America First" movement in the United States. We are a long-format podcast that makes deep dives into the history you have forgotten or never knew. We drop new episodes every other Wednesday and begin a new series every few weeks. For much more, see our YouTube channel @USAAmnesia, listen wherever you get your podcasts, and visit our website at https://www.usofamnesia.com. Email us at usa.amnesia@gmail.com. This video includes: * Wikimedia Commons group photo of French soldiers with a rifle, Attribution: G.Garitan (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:G%C3%A9rald_Garitan). License: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.e…