Elon Musk is correct that America is that pillar holding up Western Civilization. Christianity is the indispensable support to that pillar, and something Americans neglect to the destruction of the values we hold most dear
During a recent interview with Brett Baier, Elon Musk answered the important question of what most keeps him up at night. Musk first mentioned the catastrophic dangers of the quickly diminishing birthrate. He then made one of the most profound of statements:
"I worry generally about the strength of America. America is the central column that holds up all of Western civilization... If that column fails, it's all over. You can't run off to New Zealand or some other place. It's over. So either we strengthen that column and make sure America is strong, and we'll be strong for a long time, or that roof's coming down," he told Baier. (Fox News, March 25, 2025)
As the world’s most successful man, who grew up in Africa and Canada before coming to the United States, Musk’s insights on this should hold great weight. I agree that America is now Western Civilization’s pillar, but must add that Christianity is the support holding up the pillar, which falls down without it.
Despite the steep decline in Christianity throughout the West, the United States still has the greatest number of Christians of any nation in the world at 230 million. The next closest country is Brazil, at 181 million, and the closest traditionally Western country is Italy at 53 million. The United States also holds the highest percentage of Christians among the large Western nations World Population Review --Countries with highest percentage of Christians
The history of the United States being most Christian of nations goes back to the foundational period. Alexis de Tocqueville noted of America in 1831: “There is no country on earth in which the Christian religion retains greater sway over the souls of men then in America, and there can be no greater proof of its utility and its conformity to human nature than that its influence is powerfully felt over the most enlightened and free nation of the earth.” (University of Chicago Press)
Christianity’s influence on America was noted by various American and foreign thinkers and historians, including late 20th century British historian, Paul Johnson, who wrote in his renowned “History of the American People”: “America is a God-fearing country, with all that implies”.
In the modern world, the Regions generally considered to be part of the West are the USA, Canada, European countries, Australia, and New Zealand World Atlas.
However, “Western Civilization” goes beyond geography. Other nations outside those regions, including far-flung nations like Japan, hold to many Western values. The values of Western Civilization are more important than geography.
Western Civilization is generally believed to have started with the ancient Greek City States and their unique rationalism, individualism, and early Democracy. Greek values were in contrast to the collective, mystical, and authoritarian Asian cultures like the Persian Empire. The succeeding Roman Empire carried this early Western distinctiveness throughout much of Western Europe. In AD 313, Roman Emperor Constantine brought tolerance and then eventual supremacy of Christianity within the Roman Empire. This permeated throughout Roman Europe before Rome’s collapse in the west, and later the Germanic, Celtic, and Scandinavian peoples who became Christian.
According to theInterdisciplinary Encyclopedia of Religion and Science, Christianity brought Western Civilization “a vision of the human person as a subject of freedom, whose inherent dignity is rooted in their common relationship with God. Regardless of social status… all individuals share this fundamental bond. Another crucial concept is the development of a philosophical-theological doctrine of natural law, notably articulated by thinkers like Albert the Great and Thomas Aquinas.
Moreover, Christianity has progressively emphasized the importance of recognizing and defending the ‘human rights’ of all individuals. The idea of individual rights and freedoms, which holds central importance in many Western democracies, finds its roots in Christian theology, particularly the belief in the equality of all human beings in the eyes of God.” Christian Origins Of Western Culture
Though Western Civilization was influenced by secular extremes of the Enlightenment of the late 17th and 18th centuries, the primary Christian values and ideals, like individual rights (including property rights), equality leading to Democracy, and justice under a fair legal system remained the mainstay of Western Civilization. At its birth, America declared to the world we were “endowed by our creator with certain unalienable rights” which government was to protect.
Further, that government could be changed if it became a danger to those rights. These were the epitome of Western Civilizational values. Unlike the American Revolution, the secular “enlightenment” French Revolution failed miserably in attempting to overthrow Christianity with the “religion” of reason. Atheist (and alleged enlightened) Marxist and Nazi Revolutions, like that in Russia and Germany, were not considered part of Western Civilization.
In fact, in defeating those ideologies Europeans allied with America distinguished themselves as the Christian West facing those who wanted to destroy Western Christian civilization. President Franklin Roosevelt’s D-Day prayer called it “a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our (western) civilization.”
Similar quotes can be found from the Presidents facing the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
Elon Musk is correct that America is that pillar holding up Western Civilization. Christianity is the indispensable support to that pillar, and something Americans neglect to the destruction of the values we hold most dear.
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