Our Christian Culture
by Dr. Phil Stringer (Florida)
"If the foundations be destroyed, what can the
righteous do? (Psalm 11:3)
It is clear that the Founders of our country understood that the
system of government and the institutions of government they were
putting into place were based on the Christian culture that was
mainstream American life in the colonies.
• John Adams wrote, "Our Constitution was made only for a moral
and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of
any other.
• Noah Webster wrote, "The moral principles and precepts
contained in the Scriptures ought to form the basis of all our civil
constitutions and laws."
• Patrick Henry said, "It cannot be emphasized too strongly or
too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists by
Christians, not on religions but on the gospel of Jesus Christ."
MULTI-CULTURALISM
A few years after the founding of the United States, preacher
Jedediah Morse, considered the father of American geography, wrote:
"Whenever the pillars of Christianity shall be overthrown, our
present republican form of government, and all the blessings that flow
from them, must fall with them." Nevertheless, for the last 30
years, multi-culturalism, a companion myth to secular neutrality, has
been moved and pushed to the forefront of American life.
Multi-culturalists proclaim that all cultures are equal and demand
that all of our educational programs be adjusted accordingly. Political
candidate and commentator Pat Buchanan created a firestorm when he
declared, "Our culture is superior. Our culture is superior because
our religion is Christianity, and this is the truth that makes men
free." A parade of media figures, TV comics, and Democrat and
Republican politicians immediately declared that statement to be bigotry
and pledged their loyalty to multi-culturalism.
ARE ALL CULTURES EQUAL?
• Is the ancient Canaanite culture of Baal-worship and child
sacrifice really equal to the Christian concept of loving parents?
• Is the ancient Shawnee tradition of burning captives at the stake
really equal to the Christian concept of forbidding government the
option of "cruel and unusual punishment"?
• Is the ancient Aztec practice of human sacrifice really equal to
the Christian concept of the sanctity of human life?
• Is the ancient Hindu concept of suttee (throwing the wife on the
funeral pyre of the husband) really equal to the Christian concept
of comforting the widows and orphans in their affliction?
• Is the Viking concept of plunder really equal to the Christian
concept of charity?
The list of examples could go on and on. Of course, it can be pointed
out that professing Christians have, at times, done terrible things.
Nevertheless, when a Christian plunders, he does so in rebellion against
his religion. When an ancient Viking (or modern socialist) plunders, he
does so in obedience to his religious and cultural teaching.
Every American -- Christian, Jew, Moslem, atheist, or pagan -- enjoys
the fruits of America’s Christian culture. It is tragic that so many
now take it for granted. America has been tolerant previously because it
has been Christian.
THE RESULTS OF MULTI-CULTURALISM
Many Americans take for granted the incredible freedom, prosperity,
and blessings that all Americans share (even those who deny their
origin). Modern multi-culturalism seeks to divide America into
fragmented segments by focusing on our differences instead of focusing
on the great commitment to freedom that used to unite all Americans. As
Indianapolis Mayor Stephen Goldsmith said (while holding up a coin with
the Latin phrase E Pluribus Unum), "’One out of many.’ We used
to talk about the melting pot, but we do not talk about the melting pot
much anymore. We talk about differences. Too much pluribus, I guess, and
not enough unum." Modern multi-culturalism seeks to replace
tolerance (permitting everyone to follow their own values as long as
they do not use force upon their neighbor’s) with pluralism (the
exalting of all values to an equal place in society). However, the
motive for proclaiming multi-culturalism does not seem to be promoting
freedom but, rather, the gaining of power -- raw power. As Robert Royal
(Intercollegiate Review, Spring 1992) writes:
Despite its widespread currency, the term multi-culturalism remains
a murky concept. In theory, it suggests a substantive pluralism, a
quintessential modern American culture of cultures in which no voice
predominates -- save the voice that says no voice shall predominate.
Nevertheless, in fact, as it is widely used on campuses and at other
cultural venues, multi-culturalism means promoting certain elements in
the American mix -- primarily black, Hispanic, feminist, and
homosexual elements -- while demoting what is thought of as a white,
male, heterosexual monolith. Multi-culturalism, properly understood
then, has little to do with culture or cultures, and quite a lot to do
with special interest politics.
America is increasingly being divided into factions were
self-proclaimed leaders can exercise influence and authority and gain
wealth. Pulitzer Prize winning historian David J. Boorstin writes:
The menace to America today is in the emphasis on what separates
us, rather than on what brings us together . . . I am wary of the
emphasis on power, rather than a sense of community. The separate
groups in our country are concerned about their power -- whether it be
black power or white power -- the power of any particular group. I
think the notion of a hyphenated American is un-American. I believe
there are only Americans. Polish-Americans, Italian-Americans, or
African-Americans are an emphasis that is not fertile.
A person may object to America’s historic Christian culture, but to
deny its existence is to live in a liberal fantasy world. For the first
190 years of our nation’s history, America’s culture was already
Christian. For the last 30 years a "Culture War" has been
taking place between those who want to replace our Christian culture and
those who want to conserve it.
Radicals may criticize America’s historic culture, but their
criticisms must be put in perspective. It is true that there has been
poverty in Christian America. Nevertheless, what is considered poverty
in America is middle-class living or better in much of the non-Christian
world.
It is true that slavery was an inconsistency in America’s Christian
heritage. Writing about slavery, Thomas Jefferson said, "Indeed I
tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just and that His
justice cannot sleep forever." However, the United States bears the
unique distinction of being the only nation in the history of the world
where a majority fought a civil war that ended with a minority being
given their freedom.
Feminists may chafe at the idea that our historic culture assigns
different roles to men and women, but they should take note of how women
are treated in non-Christian countries. Because women are usually
physically weaker, they are consigned to lesser roles in most countries.
Try espousing the ideals of women’s liberation in a Communist, Moslem,
Hindu, or Buddhist country. In our Christian past, womanhood was exalted
to an ideal in the United States.
As our historic American culture disintegrates, life in America is
undergoing drastic changes. We cannot agree on the basic principles to
be taught in our school systems. Our courts have no clear foundations
upon which to make decisions; our juries have no common consensus for
delivering verdicts. Factions in our society complete with one another
for privileges and dollars from government programs.
Politicians pit groups of Americans one against another. Violence and
crime run rampant. As our people struggle with the answers to our modern
dilemma, two completely different sets of answers are presented.
Those whose primary faith is in government seek more government
programs and more government control. They envision a common culture
stemming from a wise, all powerful government. On the other side of the
"Culture War" are those who seek a return to America’s
historic Christian culture. They believe our problems extend from the
collapse of this culture. This controversy is over whether or not
America should be a Christian nation.
IS AMERICA A CHRISTIAN NATION?
Controversy rages in political, legal, and educational circles.
Nevertheless, before you can answer the question, you must define what
you mean by this statement. The phase, "America is a Christian
nation," could have several possible meanings. It could mean:
- When America was founded, a majority of its Founders were nominal
Christians.
- When America was founded, a majority of its Founders were
practicing Christians.
- A majority of Americans are nominal Christians today.
- A majority of Americans are practicing Christians today.
- Christianity is the religion officially established by our Federal
Government.
- The American system of government was shaped and formed by the
Christian world view.
- American culture is shaped by the Christian world view.
The first and third possibilities are obviously true. The fourth and
fifth possibilities are obviously not true, while the second is
debatable. The sixth obviously was true, but that system is certainly in
a process of change from those principles upon which it was founded.
Tragically, the seventh was true, but certainly it is not true any
longer.
Conservative Jewish columnist Don Feder said it well:
I observed with sad amusement the furor several years ago when a
hapless conservative leader declared that America was a Christian
nation, inciting the intense agitation of a near hysterical
establishment. By this, he was not suggesting that the United States
either had or required an official religion, comparable to the Church
of England, or that the machinery of government should be harnessed to
the propagation of religious dogma.
His statement was a recognition of certain historical/social
realities: that America was founded by individuals inspired by the
Biblical world view, that most Americans at least pay lip service to
those concepts, while many still order their existence by the same,
that our national survival depends upon the triumph of those values
whose proponents are locked in a fierce competition with their
opposite number.
The establishment can rest easy. Thanks to its good offices, this
is no longer a Christian (or Judeo-Christian) nation. More’s the
pity. The paganizing of America, a process commenced in the [1960's]
(but whose intellectual antecedents can be traced back decades) is
already well advanced.
Upon this simple foundation from our Christian culture are our
institutions of government and society based:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created
equal, that they are endowed by their Creator, with certain
unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness.
Nevertheless, as Psalms 11:3 says, "If the foundations be
destroyed, what can the righteous do?" As the foundation of our
Christian culture has faded, so has our respect for human life (which is
based upon the self-evident truth of creation). As our historic
Christian culture has been swept away, so has our liberty (to be
replaced with dependence upon big government).
A Culture War rages in the United States to determine whether the
last vestiges of our Christian culture will be swept away, or whether
there will be a return to our foundations.
[Let us seek] to sound the "Alarm of War" in the spirit of
Jeremiah 4:19b, "I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O
my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war."
Dr. Phil Stringer is Executive Vice President of
Landmark Baptist College, Haines City, Florida.
