Few matters ignite more controversy than America ’s Christian roots. The issue reverberates anew this electoral season where the faiths of both major candidates have been questioned. Religion imbues politics.

The battle over America ’s beginnings muddles wishful hero worship with efforts to commandeer America ’s past so to steer her future. The most vocal proponents of Christian America and their counterparts advocating a completely secular state necessarily cherry-pick data to prove exaggerations while discarding inconvenient details.