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Frank Allnutt
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November 27, AD 2010 American Civil Religion: The State of the Union American Civil Religion can be traced back to the time Columbus claimed the New World for the “Catholic Monarchs”—Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon—who were major financial backers of the explorer’s expeditions. The Colonial Dream of a Christian Nation Following Columbus, European Christians brought with them to the New World a dream for a Christian nation. It was born out of belief that they were among the “Lost Tribes of Israel” and that America was the “New Promised Land” and the “New Jerusalem,” all of which contributed to the idea of American Exceptionalism. But those were false extrapolations of some particulars the Bible applies exclusively to the Jewish people and the land of Israel. Bolstering the Puritan’s American Dream was Puritan minister John Winthrop (1606-1676) who fostered the idea that America was “a city upon a hill.” He was misapplying to America a quote from the Sermon on the Mount, in which Jesus told His disciples and a large crowd of mostly Jewish listeners: “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill...” (Matthew 5:14). Following Winthrop came the British evangelist, George Whitefield (1714-1770) who had helped spread “The Great Awakening” in Britain. He preached American Exceptionalism throughout the Colonies to Puritans as well as to separatist Pilgrims who favored independence from Britain. What developed was the merger of religious and political aspirations for freedom of religion in a constitutional republic in which government would rest in the hands of mostly Protestant Christian citizens and not a king. That brought together a mass of Christian people and the political elite (some of whom were Christians) to back a Declaration of Independence from Great Britain and a Constitution for the United States of America. Alexis de Tacqueville observed in his 1835 book, Democracy in America: “The greatest part of British America was peopled by men who, after having shaken off the authority of the Pope, acknowledged no other religious supremacy: they brought with them into the New World a form of Christianity which I cannot better describe than by styling it a democratic and republican religion” (Vol. 1, p. 311). Before America’s founding, Jean-Jacques Rousseau coined the term “civil religion.” According to Wikipedia, the term was in chapter 8, book 4 of The Social Contract, “to describe what he regarded as the moral and spiritual foundation essential for any modern society. For Rousseau, civil religion was intended simply as a form of social cement, helping to unify the state by providing it with sacred authority. In his book, Rousseau outlines the simple dogmas of the civil religion: life to come, the reward of virtue and the punishment of vice, and the exclusion of religious intolerance.” The Bible addresses the civic responsibilities of Christians (e.g., Matthew 22:21, Romans 13, 1 Peter 2:13-20), but participation in Civil Religion crosses the biblical line of engagement with the world (1 John 2:15-29). (For further reading, please click: The World Vs. God’s Kingdom.) Most American Colonists were adamantly opposed to a theocracy—a state religion; they had their fill of that with King George in Britain. However, the Declaration of Independence left room for a de facto Christian government, in which Christians could be elected to governmental offices. Furthermore, the Declaration’s equality clause was pandered to Colonial Christians to guarantee that the new nation would regard all Christian denominations, large and small, as equal under the laws of the land. That particularly appealed to those Colonies in which a majority of their citizens were affiliated with relatively small Christian denominations, as compared with, for example, the Massachusetts Colony in which the majority of believers were affiliated with Congregational churches, which comprised one of the largest denominations in all the Colonies. No single denomination would be favored by the government; all would be treated as equals under law. That concept of Freedom of Religion later was enshrined in the “Establishment Clause” of the First Amendment to the Constitution. Of course, the wording of the First Amendment was not “Legal Equality of Christian Denominations,” though to many the intent and meaning was assumed as such. Few Christian Colonists envisioned the future influx of non-European people of other religions or the ensuing multicultural issues it would raise. The State of America’s Religious and Political Union Over time the interpretation of the First Amendment has shifted 180 degrees—to “Separation of Church and State” or, in other words, from protection of religion from government to protection of government from Christianity. There also has been a gradual shifting of emphasis in Civil Religion from the religious to the political—from Civil Religion in America to American Civil Religion. And it is experiencing booming growth. The reason is due to the swelling ranks within its three major political/religious camps. Since those camps are nameless, I will give them descriptive labels to facilitate quick reference:
Barack Obama is the current face of Progressive Civil Religion and Glenn Beck is the current face of Pluralistic Civil Religion. For Christian America Civil Religion, the “face” is that long-ago, conjectural ascription to Jesus Christ. Generally, the worldviews of the three camps deviate, in varying respects, from the biblical worldview—most notably with regard to some essential biblical doctrines, among them those about God, Jesus, the world, natural man, Christians, and the future of America. As reported in one of my recent articles, the Barma Group found that only 4 percent of Americans and 9 percent of American Evangelical Christians claimed to hold the biblical worldview. As diverse in worldviews as Civil Religionists are, they have this in common: they strongly uphold the “equality” and “unalienable rights” claims of the Declaration of Independence and the “freedom of religion” intent of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, though interpretations and applications of those differ from camp to camp and even within the individual camps. Progressive Civil Religion In an April 5, 2004 Chicago Sun-Times interview Barack Obama professed to be a Christian—though his beliefs are unorthodox and not altogether biblical. He also stated that: “Alongside my own deep personal faith, I am a follower, as well, of our civic religion.” While Obama did not elaborate on what he meant by “civic religion,” his Progressive ideology, rhetoric, policies and practices, and political and religious bedfellows are compelling indicators. Obama’s most ardent followers are largely drawn from Progressive Faith-Based Organizations, Community-Based Organizations, and ethnic minority churches that preach and practice a socialist gospel that among some draws heavily from Marxist Liberation Theology. Understandably, many of them are politically active in furthering the Obama agenda. Some in the Obama camp say he is on a messianic mission to accomplish his stated goal of “fundamentally transforming America” as part of what he envisions to be “a new international order.” However, among his detractors there are claims that his mission is just the opposite of messianic—that it is anti-America, anti-Christian, and anti-Israel. A Convoluted Messianic Mission “Many paths to the same place” is neither rooted in orthodox Christian tradition nor in the Bible. Further belying Obama’s claim to Christianity, is that sometimes he speaks as a humanist and other times as a universalist. But rarely with language indicative of an authentic Christian. Consequently, many people are left wondering where Obama is coming from and where he wants to take America. Pluralistic Civil Religion Pluralistic Civil Religion enjoys an abounding resurgence, due in part to its most prolific and prominent evangelist, the Mormon/Libertarian/Traditionalist/commedian/Fox News commentator Glenn Beck. For in less than a year, the cable news phenomenon has leaped into the spotlight on the populist stage to become the top dog nemesis to Barack Obama and his brand of Progressivism. One of Beck’s favorite revolutionaries-without-violence is Moses, the reluctant leader of the Hebrew exodus from Egypt (three others favored by Beck are Jesus, Ghandi, and Martin Luther King, Jr.). In identifying with the humility of Moses, Beck portrays himself as an ordinary guy who is sacrificially answering the call of Providence to lead America out of Progressive Land and back to the Colonial Promised Land. To do that, he preaches we are to rediscover our historical roots, who we are, and what we stand for. For back then, as Beck teaches on TV:
Obama’s Nemesis Ironically, Beck preaches his own gospel of Civil Religion—Pluralistic Civil Religion. Beck bases its raison d’être on what he believes are the irreproachable character traits of the Founding Fathers and the veracity (if not infallibility) of the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and a vast assortment of related historic documents and books that he contends are foundational to his worldview. Though admittedly drawn toward Libertarianism, Beck seasons it with a dash of Mormon theology and a worldview that brings to mind Freemasonry. “Not a Jesus Day” Evidently, Beck doesn’t want anyone to get too carried away with Jesus, though he considers Jesus to be a “good man” as opposed to the “evil man” Hitler. Maybe that is why Beck makes frequent references to “Divine Providence” and “God” (presumably of the Mormon concept) and considers Jesus to be a lesser god. Beck said on TV, in promoting his August 28, 2010 “Restoring Honor” rally at the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.: “This is not a Jesus day; it’s a God day!” To me, it was Beck’s invitation to bring along any god you want, but Christians should leave Jesus at home. As it turned out, the event was not exactly what Beck had envisioned, because Jesus was in fact there—in the hearts and on the lips of true Christians in attendance. Glenn Beck must bring a smile of approval to the face of long-ago departed Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon Church and reportedly a Freemason. Christian America Civil Religion Christian America Civil Religion, while so vividly pervasive in our nation’s history, today lacks the face of any human being measuring up to the visibility and influence of a Barack Obama or Glenn Beck. But there are many lesser-knowns in the dominionist tradition of three late stalwarts: Rev. D. James Kennedy, author of The Evangelism Explosion; Rev. Jerry Falwell, father of “The Moral Majority”; and Dr. William R. Bright, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ International. Essentially, Christian Americanism idealizes (if not idolizes) America. It cherishes the belief that America has always been—and is, today—a Christian nation that is Divinely favored and set apart from the fallen world that is destined for the wrath of God. Furthermore, Dominionists believe the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19, 20) is their call from God to Christianize America and other nations of the world. Their strategy is to do so through political activism with the aim to spread democracy and capitalism around the world, which they believe will help till the soil for planting the seeds of mass evangelism. Some Dominionists believe the Church is called to establish God’s Kingdom on earth. From the earlier-mentioned Barma Group’s survey, it can be deduced that 96 percent of Americans (many if not a majority of whom are professing Christians) either are oblivious to, or reject, the biblical worldview. And that offers statistical validation to what has long been apparent to some of us: that the vast majority in this country do not consider themselves to be accountable to God, and many in government likewise are neither accountable to God, nor to the people, nor to the Constitution. Encroaching anarchy, apostasy and anti-Christian sentiment are deaf to insistent cries of “Christian America” and “American Exceptionalism,” and that has awakened some to the reality that America is in the throes of becoming what they never thought it would be. I urge my brothers and sisters in Christ to heed the words of Jesus in his explanation of the parable of the sower: "And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word and it becomes unfruitful" (Matthew 13:22). Meanwhile, the remnant of Christians in American and around the world who hold to the biblical worldview will continue answering their call to be instruments of God in rescuing people out of the world and strengthening that which remains and cannot be shaken. _______________ ©Copyright AD2010 Frank Allnutt. All rights reserved. Content herein may be quoted, subject to the "fair use" doctrine of U.S. Copyright Law.
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