The Founding Principles

Usually this time of year (Christmas being the other time), the fight over which religion is right, is more frantic than ever.  I guess birth and death does bring out the worst or best in people.  It is like multiple siblings arguing whom mom/dad loves best. Guess what? They love us all. 
I for one want to state yet again, I think Religion is a gift from God.  He looks at us, His children, and helps us decide how best to know him.  And just like we are all individuals, so is the way we pray to Him, and bring Him into our lives.  God knows what His individual children need-who am I to question that?
But the healthcare battle has brought this yearly shout-match to new heights.  All over the news, I hear people shouting about the "Christian Principles" this country was founded on, and how we need to get back to that.  Granted, I won't proclaim to be a world scholar on Christian Principles, but I am pretty confident that Jesus was kind of a peaceful fellow.  And there is nothing in the Bible that says he stuck out his tongue and flipped people off as he walked across the water.  So a little less shouting and screaming would be nice.
My second point would be that this nation was NOT founded on Christian Principles.  I feel like I am beating a dead horse here, but the Constituion that these loud mouths keep waving around has a brand new idea in there-Freedom of Religion.  Okay, The Constitution has been around for a few centuries now, but in the larger scope of history, that isn't long.  And although the Founding Fathers were pretty much hoping that everyone was Christian when they put in the Freedom of Religion part, the fact of the matter is, they didn't say Freedom of Any Christian Denomination You Choose.  They said Freedom of Religion.  That wording matters, way back then in thar good al' dayzzz, just as much as it does now.  Freedom of Religion is exactly what it means-that this nation was founded on the belief that people have the right to worship as they choose.  That no matter what the current leader may be, you as a private citizen does not have to follow that and at no penalty to you or your family.  The Mother Country didn't have that provision.  When Mary was queen, Catholics every rejoiced.  As soon as her sister Elizabeth I took over, Catholics ran for their lives.  Our Constituion was designed to protect us from the religious winds that can blow which ever way.
So should we start agitating to get back to the principles this country was founded on.  Yes, we should.  But the principles this country were founded on include Freedom of Religion, Freedom of Opinion, and Freedom to Assemble-Peacefully (I paraphrase here).  Let's get back to that, and quit giving Christianity a bad name.