Muslim students prove this is a Christian nation

By Bryan Fischer

Muslim students at Trinity University in Texas are complaining about the phrase "In the year of our Lord" on their diplomas, and inadvertently proving that this is a Christian nation in the process.

Trinity, whose name and motto (Latin: "E Tribus Unum," English: "From three, one") are both explicitly Christian, is being accused by Muslim students of using a "bait and switch" tactic, nefariously tricking them them into enrolling and then springing this politically incorrect diploma on them without warning at the end of the educational process.

We must assume, of course, that these students could not get into Trinity without being able to read, making their accusation ludicrous. Evidence that they were not enrolling in an imam-led institution can be found in the presence of a chapel (not a mosque) on campus, a Bible on the school seal, and the presence of a Christian chaplain. Exactly what about that chain of evidence did these students not understand?

When they choose to attend a school with the name "Trinity," a school founded by the Presbyterian church in 1869, they shouldn't be surprised to find that it is not a madrassa and that is uses an explicitly Christian system of dating.

And this is the problem for them. As Senior Sidra Qureshi says, "A diploma is a very personal item, and people want to proudly display it in their offices and homes. By having the phrase 'In the year of Our Lord,' it is directly referencing Jesus Christ, and not everyone believes in Jesus Christ." (Emphasis mine)

Now Ms. Qureshi has put her finger squarely on a huge problem for secular fundamentalists. She correctly observes that the "Lord" in the phrase "In the year of Our Lord" is a specific reference to Jesus Christ.

But this is precisely the dating formula used in the Constitution of the United States of America. It too, just like the diploma Ms. Qureshi finds so politically incorrect and so multiculturally insensitive, is dated "in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven." For all Muslims, this makes the United States itself indelibly and inexcusably Christian.

And you will notice the Founders compound the problem for Christophobes by identifying the year not just as the year of "the Lord," but the year of "our Lord," meaning that all 55 Framers went on record to declare that Jesus Christ was their Lord.

Proof that this dating formula was not just an afterthought but a conscious, deliberate decision comes from the fact that the Founders added the phrase, "and of the Independence of the United States of America the Twelfth."

So the Founders dated our foundational document from two moments of vast historical significance: the birth of Jesus Christ and the Declaration of Independence.

I've had some secular fundamentalists tell me that this doesn't make the document or the nation Christian in any sense since the dating formula was simply customary. I respond by saying this makes the case worse for them, since my friends are admitting that it was so common for the Founders to think of Jesus as Lord that they had not a moment's hesitation in putting his name in our foundational document and expressing their personal allegiance to him.

If you need any additional confirmation, examine for a moment the way Israel dates all of its official documents. All official institutions in the State of Israel assiduously avoid using the Anno Domini ("in the year of our Lord") dating method, and instead substitute the Anno Mundi ("In the year of the world"). So 2010 AD is not 2010 AD in Israel, it's the year 5770. Why? Simple — Israel is not a Christian nation.

(In passing, it's worthy of note that the Israeli calendar is dated from the creation of Adam, which makes the nation of Israel officially a young earth country. Who knew?)

You've got the same dynamic in Islamic countries. The Muslim calendar is not dated from the birth of Christ or the creation of Adam, but from the year in which Muhammad emigrated from Mecca to Medina, the journey known as the Hijra. For Muslim nations, the system is Anno Hegirae ("in the year of the Hijra"). For Muslims, the current year is 1432 AH. So in Arab countries, the current year is not 2010 AD, it's the year 1432. Why? Simple — they're not Christian nations.

Every time you date a check, or pick up a newspaper in the United States, you are bearing silent witness to the spiritual origins of our country.

Bottom line: America is a Christian nation. Every calendar in the world proves it.

© Bryan Fischer