One of the most obvious clues today to the fact that the Churches are not Christian should be conditions in the USA. America is touted as the most Christian nation in the world today. Why do people not think through the contradictions?
Even limited knowledge of the New Testament makes clear what the key elements of Christianity are: Love, Forgiveness, Patience, Love even for enemies, a lack of interest in money, disavowal of the use of violence or force, lack of interest in State power. But what do we see in the U.S.A? A country that outspends the rest of the World on the military, having more soldiers stationed in more foreign countries than any other; a country soaked in wealth and constantly chasing more; a country that, in spite of that wealth, cannot provide it’s people with a proper health service such as is found in all European Countries; a country that incarcerates well over two million of its own people; a country where the conquered indigenous inhabitants often live in Third World conditions; a country more marked by pride in itself than any other; a country where already massive sales of guns spike up at Christmas; a country where where people being murdered, shot dead by police, or killed in mass shootings is commonplace; a country that not only uses the Death Penalty, but uses the Triple Injection which is likely to be torture even when not botched. One could continue about lack of employee rights to decent holidays or sick leave, a profit-centred pharmaceutical industry that has contributed massively to drug addiction, and so on, but the point should already be well made. How can any of this reflect a country deeply influenced by Christianity? It cannot, and does not. It reflects a country where there is a massive following of Churchianity, and where the Churches are powerfully organised to influence Government. In fact, without the support of millions of churchgoers, Trump could not have become President.
Of course, there are also claimed positives to America: winning World War I, defeating Hitler in World War II, winning the Cold War, giving millions in foreign aid, being anti-abortion. But even here, the record is far from good. Abortions are carried out in America on a vast scale; and it would be highly questionable anyway for Christians to legislate for non-Christians on a matter of conscience. The aid money is frequently for military aid, or has strings attached; it is rarely, if ever, genuine charity. Where wars are concerned, the key issue is that Christians should not be going to war, never mind wars thousands of miles from their own borders. Beyond that, a deeper look at history gives a different picture to the standard school text-book and media one. World War I was not fought by any side for any great principal; it was a bloodbath of nominally Christian nations fighting other nominally Christian nations for reasons of imperialism and economics. And followed by the outrageous Versailles “Peace” Treaty that, as many knew at the time, created a highway to World War II. And in World War II, Hitler did not declare war on Britain; Britain declared war on Hitler, giving as its reason that he had invaded an independent nation, Poland. Yet at war’s end, Poland was handed over to Stalin, who as a pathological killer left Hitler streets behind . And the ceding of Poland, together with the rest of Eastern Europe, to Stalin, set the scene for the Cold War. Hitler gets a very bad press because he was the enemy, Stalin’s greater crimes are glossed over because he was “our friend”. The many war crimes against Germany, such as carpet bombing of German civilians by the allies, is somehow OK, as is the massive fire-bombing of Japanese cities, leaving only Hiroshima and Nagasaki to be used as Atomic Bomb testing grounds.
In conclusion, the central point here can be highlighted with the simple question “What would Jesus do?”. The answer with respect to America is “Very little that the U.S. Government does”. The U.S.A. is not a prime example of a Christian Nation, but just another case of a heavily churched nation doing what many other churched nations have done. If there is a difference with the U.S.A. it is twofold: firstly, America does all the wrong things on a bigger scale; secondly, America has within itself probably the best example of a better way of living in the Amish. Virtually everyone in America is keenly aware of the Amish; almost all have great respect for them. And almost all choose to completely ignore their example. America is not an example of a great Christian Nation; it is a great example of a Non-Christian Nation.
See also The Special Place of the Amish in History.