[dude1394]

Sorry, it's not what you wish it to be but what it is. This country was founded by Anglo-Protestant settlers. Almost primarily from 17th and 18th century settlers from the British Isles. Their values, institutions and culture shaped America for the centuries that have followed.

It is a mis-conception that this country is a country of "immigrants". It is a country of anglo-protestant settlers. They came over, created the country and the culture that we see today. Immigrants came over into that culture and assimilated into it. For most of our history we didn't even welcome immigrants. As late as 1924 we prohibited large scale immigration.

Settlers and immigrant are fundamentally different. Settlers leave an existing society to createa a new one. They come with a communal purpose, to create a new country on the hill, a better one than they left. They have a decisive and infuential effect on the culture, they are the charter group. Immigrants come as individuals to live in that culture.

In 1790 the total population of the US, excluding Indians was 3,929,000. 698,000 were slaves. The white population was 80 percent British and 98% protestant. John Jay stated in the Federalist "Providence has been pleased to give this one connected country to one united people--a people descended from the same ancestors, speaking the same language, professing the same religion, attached to the same principles of government, very similar in their manners and customs, and who, by their joint counsels, arms, and efforts, fighting side by side throughout a long and bloody war, have nobly established liberty and independence."

If we were not an Anglo-Protestant society but French we would be Quebec, if Spanish..Mexico, Protuguese Catholics....Brazil. Certainly as you say there were non-deists involved in the making of our constition, but even they realized the dominant protestant nature of our country and invoked religion to justify the Revolution. America was founded as much on a constitution as it was a new covenant.

America has a secular government, but it is not a secular nation, it is an Anglo-Protestant nation.