Um... YOU did. Over, and over again.
Stop it.
Okay sure, I'll give you the fact that some Christian ideals are in alignment with US law ... but none of those ideals are uniquely/purely CHRISTIAN in nature. Laws against murder and theft are not "Christian" principles, at least not only Christian. So I don't know how you can, with a straight face, claim some of these laws had a Christian backing without justifying it, other than saying SOME founders were Christian? How can you both invoke the first amendment, and KNOW the founders wanted to keep religious beliefs seperate from law, and yet argue that these men wanted a Christian basis for those laws?
Where in the Bible does it say someone is free to be an atheist?? Where does it say that you can be a Christian and not believe in God?
Of course different people have different interpretations on Christianity, but the bible repeatedly says God is the only god, and belief in Christ are the only way to be on God's good side. You shrug off the consequences like separation from god is some small thing, but if it's anything like what we're traditionally taught, then I don't know how MORE forceful an
idea can be. It's like if I held a gun to your child's head, and demanded you give me all your money. Sure, I'm not forcing you, you can still resist, but the consequences are such that it would be
insane not to comply.
I mean, it's really nice that you believe this lovey-dovey form of Christianity, I really mean that. But ... I hope you acknowledge that, one, your beliefs might be wrong. Also, you DO see Christians force their beliefs on others. Sometimes it's as extreme as something we call the Crusades. Other times it's less sinister, with missionaries in third-world countries promising food if you just listen to a sermon first and accept Christ. It's all the same thing, and it's bad for ya.
But my overall point is please stop pretending that choosing whichever religion you'd like is a Christian principle rather than a secular one.
I don't really care if they were atheists or not. Not all of them were Christian, even though I'm sure you wish that was 100% true.
We all understand that separation of church and state is an application of the first amendment. It doesn't have to say exactly those words. Just like the Bible doesn't have so explicitly say "atheists go to hell" to know that is a main tenet of the belief