United States - A "Christian Nation"?

Because the rest of us still feel like we should have rights, and shouldn't have someone else's religion forced on us just because we're in the minority. I grew up in a town that was almost solely Christian, and I had to deal with discrimination for my beliefs every single day, from when I was a small child to the time I moved away at 17. It wasn't fun. Prayer in school encourages discrimination because it makes any child who doesn't want to participate an outcast. Likewise, any public endorsement of a specific religion by people in power encourages such discrimination. If the United States is a Christian nation, does that mean that I'm not an American because I'm not Christian, even though I was born here?

What about the theory that America already is run by the "religion" of capitalism. A person cannot, ultimately, serve two masters and at their moment of truth, most capitalists will look to make money, or at least survive financially, instead of living devoted to their "God". If you argue that capitalism is not a religion, it ultimately doesn't matter what you call it if it takes people away from what they call their religion. Should the dollar say, "In Profit We Trust"? Certainly don't see anywhere near 75% of Americans ACTING "Christian". They can call themselves whatever they want.

You ask a lot of questions in this post so I decided the easiest way to respond is to take it one question and statement at a time. "I have recently seen a lot of studies that suggest that between 75 and 82% of citizens in the United States claim to be mostly Christian." I touched on that in a response to another response here; I'm not at all sure how accurate that figure is because there are many people I know personally who would probably list themselves as "Christian" but if the truth were told they're more "religion neutral", if there is such a thing. "If this is so, then why are so many people opposed to basing the country on what we put on our money; "In God We Trust" and why is it so hard to have the 10 Commandments up in Public places?" Quite simply, since we have a Separation of Church and State, Bible passages are not appropriate on government buildings. "Why is prayer a difficult thing for schools to accept?" Again, in public schools it's not appropriate for a prayer of a particular faith to be recited; as someone else here said, those who choose not to participate would be considered outcasts. However, if someone wants to have a silent prayer, no one can stop them. Why isn't that enough? "Why do people consider themselves Christians? What makes you a "Christian" by what these people have stated to believing? Do you categorize a Christian as being someone who believes the Bible or someone who just thinks that there could be a God out there? Or do you think the 17 - 25% of people who don't claim to be Christians are the ones who speak out the most in our country?" Obviously , some people who "consider themselves Christians" truly are very devout Christians who live the total Christian life. However, many among this 75-82% are considered Christians because they haven't told anyone any different. Maybe they got married in a Christian church or were baptized as a baby or child. Possibly their parents or grandparents were church members but they themselves rarely set foot in a church but they're still part of this questionable statistic. I believe it should be as our founders intended - we have the right to worship or not as we please and the government shouldn't have any say or control over it either way. Annie

I think USA is a secular country, and most of developed countries are secular country. There's secular people who don't go to Church, Mosque, Temple, etc.. they mostly think about science, economic, and how can they develop their country rather than how can they be a good religious person and spread their religion. Sometimes being secular is better than being radical. Indeed, many Hollywood artists are not Christians. I heard that Scientology will become the most popular religion among the celebrities.