Not, we are no longer a Christian nation.  But rather a far more dismissive, "we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation".  

That is correct in one sense.  We are not a theocracy.  We were not founded, did not evolve, and have never sought to be a theocracy.

However, we were founded as, evolved as, and it could be argued that by and large, have sought to be - a Christian nation.

This does not mean what President Obama thinks it does, apparently.  And it does not mean what the increasingly vocal anti-Christian (or anti-divine) groups assert that it means.  It has not, does not, and has never intended to mean that Christianity is the official state religion, or that anyone is compelled to believe in the Christian God against their will.  It does not mean the very negative and warped interpretations of Christianity that certain individuals and groups characterize Christianity in America as, are Christianity.  

Rather, it means what President Obama attempts to use as a contra-distinction.  We are not simply bound by amorphous, undefined  "ideals and a set of values".  Rather, what has bound us, all of us - regardless of personal religious affiliation or not - are Christian ideals and values.  The sanctity of life.  The equality of all people (as people, not in an functional sense).  The necessity of justice - which demands that justice can be known to some extent.  Ideals and values that assume a context in which they have meaning - a Christian context.  And it is the uniqueness of that Christian context that has facilitated and protected the rights and liberties which it is now becoming popular to accuse Christianity of blocking or preventing.   

Rather, it means that we were founded on the Biblical assertions that people are created equal, and therefore that human rights are not an option or a whim of a king or emperor or legislative assembly.  We had the audacity to ground individual and governmental authority within the larger theological framework that says mankind is not the ultimate arbiter of truth.  We broke tradition with our European forefathers who were bound up in notions of kingship and primogeniture, who sought - often with the complicity of the Church - to bend God's authority to their own devices and traditions.  

Whether President Obama or others like it or not, the fact that our nation was founded directly upon Christian principles is an important and audacious historical reality.   It is this audacity that has for so long fostered the growth and openness of our society, which is now accused of being a shackle that holds us back.  It is this audacity that made us a beacon to the world, and propelled us to - in both the best and worst senses of the idea - become the champion of the oppressed.  Imperfectly, to be sure.  Deeply flawed sometimes, of course.  But in a way and at a level unparalleled by any other contemporaneous country on earth.  

It is this audacity that has guaranteed wave after wave of immigrants of every ethnicity and belief system could find refuge on our shores, that  has ensured - falteringly at times - that their voices were heard, and that they had the opportunity to become a part of the fabric of our nation.  It is this audacity that has ensured that dissidents could be heard, minority groups could be heard, that different religions could express themselves.  It is this audacity that guarded against the paranoia-infested enforced religious uniformity of Saudi Arabia or many other Muslim nations.  It is this audacity that has guarded against the rabid anti-religious, state-enforced atheism of politically progressive experiments such as the Soviet Union or China.  The argument is often raised that a removal of religion from the social landscape (or a religious expression that is neutered to an equivalent state to nonexistence) is the surest protection of every person's freedom and liberty.  But positive examples of this are sorely lacking.  America - an America founded on Christian beliefs about the nature of the world and the nature of mankind and the nature of government - is unique in the history of the world.  While Mr. Obama may not see any particular reason for that uniqueness, I see that uniqueness quite clearly bound up with the presuppositions and assertions of our Founding Fathers, and the Christian Bible.  

I see quite clearly that it is very possible to be a Christian nation without being a theocracy, or a government that functions as a puppet of a particular religious institution or tradition.  I see this quite clearly, and live this quite clearly.  And so have many, many other people before me.  God willing, so will many, many people who come after me.   It would seem that our President and others are unable to see this distinction.  President Obama may wish to deny the historical reality of America's Christian heritage because he recognizes that he is acting in deliberate, specific contradiction to it.    President Obama may think that by denying the metaphysical basis of our system of government, he is free to reshape it to his own liking, or to the liking of his party and supporters, without backlash or repercussion.  

But President Obama is likely to find, as others have found before him, that simply redefining terms does not change reality.  That the denial of the past does not negate the past, nor emasculate it's influence on the present.   Don't be afraid of our status as a Christian nation, Mr. President.  It doesn't mean that there aren't other religious (or non-religious) groups here - in fact it has directly guaranteed that they can be here.  It doesn't require that everyone accept the Christian faith or Bible as the normative rule of their life - though in fact it has guaranteed that their right to disagree or reject Christianity is protected.  It doesn't mean that the lawof the land must fall lock-step in line with Biblical teaching - though it should ensure that Christians have a right to lobby for what they value and hold to be true every bit as legitimately as those who discount it and mock it.  

It does mean that our nation owes a huge debt of gratitude to the Christian principles that undergird it.  It means that even those who are grated most by that fact ought to be able to acknowledge that, while they may not choose to believe or accept Christianity or the Bible as truth, the truth is that their ability to reject it for themselves is in fact a direct benefit of how it undergirds our society.  Their right to lobby against it is ultimately uniquely enabled and protected by the very fact that it is there in the first place.  Unfortunately, I would imagine that such gratitude will be lacking - until such a time as that undergirding has been destroyed.  

Of course by then it will be too late.  But at that point, we won't be a Christian nation.