Many people have said this, or something similar, over the years. The problem with the statement is that it is very inaccurate. America was not founded to be a Christian nation. Most of the people who migrated over to America in the early days came for opportunity to have freedom of religion. England had established the Church of England as its official church, and many people wanted to leave the country to seek their own beliefs. (See source)
For all intents and purposes, the word "church" represents all places of religious meeting. This means that the word "church" covers temples, synagogues, etc.
What most people do not realize is that Separation of Church and State was put in place more for the benefit of the religious individuals than for the benefit of the government. Take a look at this excerpt from the Bill of Rights (it's the third Article):
Take a look at the first half: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion." This means that the government cannot and will not establish a national or "official" religion for the United States. In the government's eyes, all religions are created equal and are therefore all equally respected. A person may do whatever their personal religion calls for, just so long as it does not impose on the freedom of others or bring harm to another. There are many laws protecting the religious rights of the individual- no one can discriminate because of religion (legally), no one can deny an individual a day off because of their religion, and so on.
Notice the second half: "Congress shall make no law... prohibiting the free exercise thereof." What this is establishing is that all citizens of the United States have the freedom to practice whatever religion or religious beliefs they so desire to, and the government is not allowed to make laws restricting which beliefs may be practiced or when. (Of course, this is as long as those beliefs do not oppress or impose on the freedom of others or bring harm to others.)
Of course, the term "religion" does not solely apply to those who follow a religion in the case of the legal rights. The Constitution also protects the rights of agnostic and atheistic individuals, and the amount of agnostic and atheistic individuals has grown over the past few decades. In some countries, people can be executed if they announce their belief that no god or higher power exists. In America, people are allowed to state what they believe or don't believe without fear of consequences from the government. (Unfortunately, there are individuals who still get taunted or abused for what they believe and don't believe, but that is from other individuals. Hopefully, we will someday learn to truly coexist and be able to have civil discussions about differences in beliefs without fear of judgment or persecution from others.)
Whether you believe in the Christian God, Zeus, Allah, or even the Flying Spaghetti Monster, you are free to worship them as you choose. If you are atheist, Buddhist, or even think that you are a god, you are free to believe that and express that. You can thank Separation of Church and State for that.
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