New American Civic Religion Rejects Christianity--What it Means

A recent event in Los Angeles, California, bizarrely illustrates the madhouse that unfettered application of Political Correctness has created in America. Morality has become a land of shifting sands and anyone can get slapped down like a miscreant at a moment's notice. A local college sought a commencement speaker for their graduation ceremony.

The first person chosen was a homosexual male. Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black was invited to be Pasadena City College's commencement speaker. But, before the speech date, sex pics surfaced of this man with a boyfriend, and leaked onto the Internet. Embarrassed, the school invited another speaker--Pasadena Public Health Director Eric Walsh. Yet, before Walsh could deliver, tapes of him next surfaced. He is also pastor of a local Christian denomination, where he condemned the local school district for pandering to gays, and he slammed evolution. And so what did the school do? What any upstanding, modern, socially aware, educational institution would do in this situation--they re-invited the first man pictured performing homosexual acts. (The amateur gay porn star has yet to respond.) What is the message here? That being pictured doing reckless and obscene acts isn't nearly as bad as being a "bigot." Of course, being "bigoted" today means you simply agree with up to 70% of Americans that the Bible's statements about morality are correct. But is it sane, fair, or even safe to sanction anyone who dares criticize gay rights, while giving sexual adventurers a permanent green light? Is all morality now defined in PC terms? If so, why? And do all who run afoul of PC standards deserve to be driven into the wilderness? In the meantime, one site titled an essay: "Are the End Times Upon Us? Author Says 'Unrestrained Immorality' Mirrors 'Pandemic Godlessness' Seen in the Bible." Civil religion has also fallen to shocking depths, so we must commit ourselves to rebuild our public faith as we repair every other broken part of American society.

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I. What is a Civil Religion?

The civil religion of a nation is a combination of public religious statements, beliefs and symbols, along with the popular morality of the day. It is the most public and least arguable expression of the nation's many religious beliefs and ideals. One author describes it as the "transcendent universal religion of the nation." The term civil religion was first used by Jean Jacques Rousseau. But the ancient Greeks and Romans certainly understood the importance of the public display of religious figures and ideals, despite what any private person believed. For example, recent scholarship sheds new light upon the meaning of Greece's Parthenon, crown jewel of Athen's famed religious center, the Acropolis. In The Parthenon Enigma (2014), Joan Breton Connelly argues the building's famed frieze is a depiction of human sacrifice from the play by Euripedes -- "Erechtheus." Here, a mythical King went to the Oracle of Delphi, and was told he would have to sacrifice his daughter to save his city. (PBS clip) Such art gave important lessons to a city frequently menaced by war and death, not the least being that all must sacrifice for the "common good," for society to last, within the context of pagan religious beliefs.

II. American Civil Religion

A. Pilgrim & Puritan Civil Religion

In America, Pilgrims, Puritans, Founders and presidents have all made conspicuous use of public religious expression. The earliest European Americans cited God, the Bible, and religion in their first documents. For example, the first American agreement--the Mayflower Compact--bases the entire undertaking as a Christian mission. It also bases the laws upon a biblical covenant, in the name of God:

IN THE NAME OF GOD, AMEN...Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith...to plant the first Colony in the northern Parts of Virginia; Do by these Presents, solemnly and mutually, in the Presence of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick, for our better Ordering and Preservation, and Furtherance of the Ends aforesaid: And by Virtue hereof do enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions, and Officers, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general Good of the Colony; unto which we promise all due Submission and Obedience.

The first leader, William Bradford, realized that all the passengers were not respectful of the Pilgrim ways, and so he wrote the above to make sure all were aware of the larger picture. No one could move onshore from the Mayflower without entering into the "civil Body Politick" by signature, according to History.com. Such an auspicious beginning well outlines the origins of early America -- a place where the religious, separatists and even irreligious could all thrive, as long as respect was offered for the foundational Christian ideology. Upon the ship Arabella, John Winthrop and other Puritans were relocating from England to start anew in America. Winthrop, an English Christian delivered a sermon to those on the Arabella before they went ashore, titled A Model of Christian Charity. This is perhaps the most famous sermon ever delivered in America, and has been used as a model of the Christian mission in the States, ever since.

B. Presidents & Civil Religion

1. George Washington Consider George Washington's First Inaugural speech:

It would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official act my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the universe, who presides in the councils of nations, and whose providential aids can supply every defect, that His benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the people of the United States a Government instituted by themselves for these essential purposes, and may enable every instrument employed in its administration to execute with success the functions allotted to his charge. No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of man more than those of the United States. Every step by which we have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token providential agency.. The propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained.. The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model of government are justly considered, perhaps, as deeply, as finally, staked on the experiment intrusted to the hands of the American people.

2. Ronald Reagan John Winthrop's sermon was even cited by President Reagan as a model, in his farewell address. Here is an excerpt (video):

And that's about all I have to say tonight, except for one thing. The past few days when I've been at that window upstairs, I've thought a bit of the "shining city upon a hill." The phrase comes from John Winthrop, who wrote it to describe the America he imagined. What he imagined was important because he was an early Pilgrim, an early freedom man. He journeyed here on what today we'd call a little wooden boat; and like the other Pilgrims, he was looking for a home that would be free. I've spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don't know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, windswept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace; a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity. And if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That's how I saw it, and see it still. And how stands the city on this winter night? More prosperous, more secure, and happier than it was eight years ago. But more than that: After 200 years, two centuries, she still stands strong and true on the granite ridge, and her glow has held steady no matter what storm. And she's still a beacon, still a magnet for all who must have freedom, for all the pilgrims from all the lost places who are hurtling through the darkness, toward home. We've done our part. And as I walk off into the city streets, a final word to the men and women of the Reagan revolution, the men and women across America who for eight years did the work that brought America back. My friends: We did it. We weren't just marking time. We made a difference. We made the city stronger, we made the city freer, and we left her in good hands. All in all, not bad, not bad at all. And so, goodbye, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.

C. America Founded Upon Our Own Holy Writ

There is much good scholarship proving that the sacred documents of America are the centerpiece of our civil religion, and were written with biblical modelling from a religious viewpoint. For example, according to Donald Lutz in the Colonial Origins of the American Constitution: A Documentary History, the ultimate model of the Constitution was the biblical covenant as evolved through British history, moving from a religious to secular application. Jefferson's Declaration of Independence was heavily influenced by such Puritan authors as John Locke. Author Kim Ian Parker explains in The Biblical Politics of John Locke that Locke's philosophy was relentlessly scriptural. Interestingly, Locke is probably the most influential philosopher of the last 300 years, and his ideas have been especially important to American political theory.

III. Foundations of Beneficial Civil Religion

A. Universal Civil Religion

All nations have a civil religion. Even the USSR conscripted the state church, and then created a cult of the leader and of Marx, for example. Further, if ancient Rome had a public religion which supported pagan ideas and slavery, then it is obvious that there are positive and negative examples. For instance, the public beheadings in Deera Square in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, are a symbol of the intractable religious law of the almighty Muslim state. These are also an example of a lack of mercy in one world religion, displayed in "Chop Chop Square."

B. Positive Civil Religion

So if there are many negative examples of civil religion, what would be a positive example? Consider the transition from a pagan society to a Christian one. The ancient Romans considered themselves as the most religious of peoples. But when Emperor Constantine converted, things began to change in a state where slaves were not humans, and children could be abandoned to die without breaking the law. Things changed when Constantine made Christianity the state religion. The church brought in charity for the Roman underclass. The poor could, for the first time in Roman history, have important spiritual status. Everywhere, the symbols of Christianity were erected by Constantine. The handiest example of a civil religion would be the American variety, given the incredible success of the US in so many ways. Robert Bellah writes in his famous article Civil Religion in America:

While some have argued that Christianity is the national faith, and others that church and synagogue celebrate only the generalized religion of "the American Way of Life," few have realized that there actually exists alongside of and rather clearly differentiated from the churches an elaborate and well-institutionalized civil religion in America.

C. Founder's Essential Civil Religion

We see much of the Founder's belief in the efficacy of religion and morality in George Washington's Farwell Address:

Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, Religion and Morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labour to subvert these great Pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man ought to cherish and respect them. A volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths, which are the instruments of investigation in Courts of Justice? And let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that National morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.

D. Quintessential American Civil Religion

And so we would be remiss not to sum up the general elements of the classic American civil religion: Hard work, thrift, honesty, Christian forgiveness, sexual chastity, respect for authority, family mindedness, concern for justice, character over worldly success, courage, civic dedication, independence, knowledge of the Bible, military strength, church attendance, open mindedness, care for the poor, widow and orphan, prayer, faith, modesty, and patriotism.

IV. Effects of Changing Civil Religion

Extraordinary changes have riven America the last 50 years. Some include the sex revolution, the impact of such alien doctrines of Political Correctness--a foil for Marxism, in higher education, Feminism, the collapse of the traditional family, rejection of the Bible and Church as ultimate authority, and many others. But one of the most remarkable is the adoption of PC as a cypher for moral behavior, as mentioned above. But consider how much evil allowing the classic American civil religion to lapse has caused. To sum up, the American government is increasingly like the Roman state--indifferent, all-powerful, dispensing of any recognition of rights, and increasingly deified. The family has been parted out until there is no longer any expectation that children will live in the same house as their biological mother and father. Likewise, sex and gender have become so confused, that those choosing to challenge their birth identity are celebrated like Oscar winners. And sex itself has become a purely personal hobby, mostly disconnected from any relational, emotional, procreative or marital expectations. The use of recreational drugs is absolutely rampant while use of mental health medication is now skyrocketing, even among children. American opinions about what were once no-brainers, like the importance of capitalism, democracy, a strong military, or even the worth of America as a country or idea, are now all subject to intense debate.

Conclusion

Overall, it is obvious that unless America develops a renewed interest in God, religion, patriotism, capitalism, and self-defense, this country cannot last as a first-rate enterprise for more than a few more years. And at the heart of any American renaissance will have to be a revival which then recapitulates our beliefs, and allows virtue to be enshrined once again in the national religion.