{"id":402,"date":"2012-10-14T22:10:53","date_gmt":"2012-10-14T22:10:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/victorhanson.com.108-166-28-151.mdgnetworks.com\/wordpress\/?p=402"},"modified":"2013-02-11T22:14:21","modified_gmt":"2013-02-11T22:14:21","slug":"one-nation-under-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/one-nation-under-god\/","title":{"rendered":"One Nation, Under God?"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Bruce Thornton<\/p>\n

Defining Ideas<\/i><\/p>\n

The role of religion in American social and political life is an ever-present element in our civic conversation. The recent controversy over the contraception mandate ignited a smoldering conflict over just this issue.<\/p>\n

On the one side, people of faith decry the government\u2019s violation of their First Amendment rights to practice freely their religion and express publicly their beliefs. On the other, secularists protest against the intrusion of faith-based belief into public policy, which they interpret as a violation of the \u201cseparation of church and state,\u201d presumably warranted by the same First Amendment. Whether the issue is the display of the Ten Commandments in public buildings or legislating restrictions on abortion, this clash of beliefs illustrates just how fundamental religion remains in our political dialogue.<\/p>\n

Ross Douthat\u2019s\u00a0Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics<\/a><\/em>\u00a0offers a fresh argument that cuts through the clich\u00e9s and received wisdom usually characterizing this debate. Douthat, a columnist for the New York Times and a film critic for National Review, argues that our problem isn\u2019t the disappearance of religion, as religious conservatives argue, or an excess of religious fervor threatening our freedom, as the secularists and religious liberals counter. Rather, our problem is \u201cbad religion: the slow-motion collapse of traditional Christianity and the rise of a variety of destructive pseudo-Christianities in its place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Challenging both sides of the debate, Douthat\u2019s well-researched, fiercely argued, and elegantly written book provides a genuinely new and illuminating perspective on this contentious political argument.<\/p>\n

Those who believe that, whether for better or for worse, contemporary America is a \u201creligious\u201d country may be surprised by Douthat\u2019s description of the post-war United States of the 1950s, \u201cthe lost world of American Christianity,\u201d as Douthat calls it. Measured by high levels of church attendance, the building of new churches, the public celebrity of Christian spokesmen like Fulton Sheen and Billy Graham, and the public presence of Christian belief and doctrine everywhere from Hollywood blockbusters to the speeches of politicians, the great heyday of Christian influence in modern America occurred in the 1950s and early 1960s.<\/p>\n

The success of the Civil Rights movement \u2014 led by the black churches and church leaders like the Reverend Martin Luther King, and actively supported by most Christian denominations \u2014 testified to this influence, as did the absence of any secularist complaints about creeping theocracy or excessive religious interference in politics.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this best of all possible worlds,\u201d Douthat writes, \u201cpoliticians could learn from preachers, theologians could take instruction from the secular world, and there need be no contradiction between Christianity and progress, between dogma and democracy, between the\u00a0vox populi<\/em>\u00a0and the voice of God.\u201d<\/p>\n

Religious Decline & the Sixties<\/p>\n

In the late 1960s, however, this influence began a decline unprecedented in American history, which had seen religious adherence steadily expand for nearly two centuries. The data on church membership testify to this reversal of Christianity\u2019s historical trajectory. Eight out of eleven Protestant churches with more than a million members declined in numbers between 1965 and 1973. The Presbyterian Church lost 1.5 million members by the late 1980s, and by the early 1990s, 60 percent of Methodists were over 50 years old, and Muslims outnumbered Episcopalians.<\/p>\n

Beyond its numbers, Protestant Christianity\u2019s \u201ccomplex web of communities and institutions simply disintegrated\u201d in the 1960s. \u201cChurch school enrollment plunged. Seminary enrollment declined. Donations dried up, budgets were cut, and churches ran enormous deficits.\u201d Missionary work, church-building, and denominational periodicals likewise declined. So, too, with Catholicism, which suffered similar declines in church attendance, new church construction, and parochial school and seminary enrollments, which fell by two-thirds by 1980.<\/p>\n

Only the evangelical denominations escaped this trend. But despite their success, Douthat writes, \u201cthe era witnessed an extraordinary weakening of organized Christianity in the United States and fundamental shift in America\u2019s spiritual ecology\u201d towards \u201ca more do-it-yourself and consumer-oriented spirituality.\u201d<\/p>\n

Douthat offers five reasons for this decline. Increasing political polarization made finding consensus on contentious issues like the war in Vietnam increasingly difficult for people of faith. The sexual revolution, which midwifed the birth control pill, easier divorce, and the legalization of abortion, collided with traditional Christian teaching about sexuality and chastity.<\/p>\n

A new global perspective wrought by novel information and travel technologies fostered cultural and spiritual relativism, along with a cultural self-loathing and doubt, which made Christianity seem the minion of imperialist aggression; by comparison, exotic non-Western religious beliefs offered a more attractive and authentic spiritual option. The phenomenal growth and wider distribution of wealth in America left Christianity\u2019s \u201ccritique of greed and acquisition\u201d and its \u201cemphasis on renunciation and asceticism\u201d less resonant \u201cfor a generation that came of age amid the cornucopian abundance of postwar American life.\u201d<\/p>\n

And finally, the new economic and social elites rejected Christianity as a retrograde superstition unsuitable for the enlightened: \u201cAll Serious People,\u201d Douthat writes, \u201cunderstood that the only reason to pay attention to traditional Christianity was to subject it to a withering critique,\u201d and eventually contemptuous neglect.<\/p>\n

The Christian denominations themselves responded to this catastrophe by trying either to resist it, by returning to Christianity\u2019s fundamentals, or to accommodate it, by adapting theology and ritual to the new cultural trends. Though Douthat is equally hard on both sides and their excesses, it is the accommodationists that worsened the catastrophe, if only because they had more cultural clout, and were already inclined to interpretative license and relativism.<\/p>\n

The Rise of Bad Religion<\/p>\n

Douthat\u2019s history and critique of both approaches are fascinating. But more relevant for our predicament today is the analysis of the alternatives to traditional Christian churches, what Douthat calls \u201cbad religion,\u201d which comprises the bulk of his book. These are the various \u201cheresies\u201d that attracted Americans whose religious needs hadn\u2019t faded away into the secularism, humanism, or atheism that religious conservatives feared and liberals celebrated as the consequence of Christianity\u2019s decline.<\/p>\n

These heresies arose across the cultural spectrum, from academic research to the \u201cprosperity gospel\u201d that reaches millions through television, bestselling books, and the Internet. For example, the hype in 2006 over the discovery of the ancient Gnostic Gospel of Judas made extravagant claims about its influence in the development of Christianity and the light it shed on \u201chow diverse and fascinating the early Christian movement really was,\u201d as one scholar claimed.<\/p>\n

Yet more careful study revealed that dubious dating, tendentious interpretations of the text, and a bad translation of the document had shaped it to create a more modern Jesus, one more attractive to a sensibility eager for a non-judgmental spiritualism defined by therapeutic self-actualization. The same occurred with other \u201creal Jesus\u201d scholars and popularizers like best-selling novelist Dan Brown. Their anti-orthodox Redeemer looks suspiciously like a blue-state Unitarian Democrat.<\/p>\n

Another popular and lucrative heresy is the \u201cprosperity gospel.\u201d The credo of the \u201cpray and grow rich,\u201d Douthat writes, is \u201cGod gives without demanding, forgives without threatening to judge, and hands out His rewards in this life rather than the next.\u201d In the doctrine of preachers like Joel Osteen, Jesus \u201cseems less like a savior than like a college buddy with good stock tips, which are more or less guaranteed to pay off for any Christian bold enough to act on them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then there are the vaguely spiritual self-help guides, like Elizabeth Gilbert\u2019s bestseller Eat, Pray, Love, a combination of travel guide, spiritual quest, and soft-porn adventure, one of many \u201cGod Within\u201d tracts that preach a deity who is essentially an avatar of the writer\u2019s own self and her desires and feelings. These faiths veer toward solipsism and narcissism, offering little guidance about how people can live morally, strive for the larger good, and fulfill their obligations to other people.<\/p>\n

As Douthat observes, the reduction of religion to the God Within \u201cjust provides an excuse for making religious faith more comfortable, more dilettantish, more self-absorbed \u2014 for doing what you feel like doing anyway, and calling it obedience to a Higher Power.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Heresy of American Nationalism<\/p>\n

Douthat\u2019s survey of his various heresies includes a withering critique of what he calls his \u201cheresy of American nationalism,\u201d a species of idolatry that theologizes American identity and politics. Two strains of such excessive exceptionalism have, in Douthat\u2019s view, tarnished American history. The liberal messianic strain from Woodrow Wilson to Barack Obama \u2014 and evident in the foreign policy of George W. Bush \u2014 assumes that human perfectibility is possible and that \u201cAmerican democracy can actually fulfill God\u2019s purposes on earth \u2014 whether by building a New Jerusalem at home, or by spreading the blessings of liberty to every race and people overseas,\u201d in the words of Douthat. Democracy becomes a religion \u201ccapable of carrying out the kind of redemptive work that orthodoxy reserves for Christ and his Church.\u201d<\/p>\n

In contrast, the conservative apocalyptic strain \u2014 most successfully embodied in the career of radio talk-show host Glenn Beck \u2014 sees America as the new chosen people: \u201cThe Founding is our Eden and our Sinai; everything else is a tragic falling away, a descent into idolatry that God will justly punish.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Douthat\u2019s analysis, American politics has historically been shaped by these two nationalist heresies, one warping politics with \u201cunwarranted optimism\u201d and utopian delusions, the other with \u201cunwarranted paranoia\u201d and dark conspiracies. And both have corrupted not just politics, but orthodox Christianity itself. Though, as Douthat argues, the messianic strain has had more impact, for good or ill, on our domestic politics and foreign policy because of its greater influence among the educational, political, and economic elite.<\/p>\n

Perhaps even more important, both major political parties today harbor, at times, both heresies. Many progressives indulge \u201capocalyptic scenarios\u201d about overpopulation and environmental degradation, and obsess about paranoid conspiracies hatched by the military-industrial complex. To them, fascism is \u201clurking behind every right-wing policy proposal.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for the right, messianic utopianism is epitomized in the career and policies of Ronald Reagan. In Douthat\u2019s view, Reagan legitimized a utopianism usually viewed with suspicion by traditional conservatives, who look askance at a corrupt human nature that precludes human perfection in a fallen world.<\/p>\n

Douthat counsels Christians to accept that there is \u201cno single Christian politics\u201d or \u201cperfect marriage of religious faith and political action.\u201d They must instead \u201cstrive in political affairs, as they strive in all things, to do what God would have them to do.\u201d Such advice is salutary in a world that is increasingly secular, materialist, and more and more impatient of admitting any supernatural limits and responsibilities.<\/p>\n

Bad Religion<\/em>\u00a0argues powerfully for turning from our modern heresies and recovering a Christianity that respects both those responsibilities and limits \u2014 a Christianity that restores to our most cherished political ideals and freedoms the only foundation that can keep them strong and sure, what John Adams called a \u201cmoral and religious people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\u00a92012 Bruce S. Thornton<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Bruce Thornton Defining Ideas The role of religion in American social and political life is an ever-present element in our civic conversation. 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Thornton Private Papers Acceptance of a double standard has always been a sign of inferiority.To let someone behave according to one set of principles or values while demanding that you be subjected to others is to validate a claim of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Bruce S. Thornton"","block_context":{"text":"Bruce S. Thornton","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/our-contributors\/bruce-s-thornton\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5290,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/the-faith-of-our-fathers\/","url_meta":{"origin":402,"position":1},"title":"The Faith of our Fathers","author":"victorhanson","date":"December 9, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"There is another fundamentalism to worry about. by Bruce S. Thornton Private Papers For those Democrats still licking their electoral wounds, a soothing narrative has emerged among the liberal commentariat. According to this tale, the Republicans triumphed because they were able to \"energize their base\"\u2014that is, all those \"fundamentalist\" or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Bruce S. Thornton"","block_context":{"text":"Bruce S. Thornton","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/our-contributors\/bruce-s-thornton\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5278,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/fighting-for-free-speech\/","url_meta":{"origin":402,"position":2},"title":"Fighting for Free Speech","author":"victorhanson","date":"January 9, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"FIRE's guide to defending student rights on campuses by Bruce S. Thornton Private Papers If you have a child in college the most important book you both should read is available free of charge. The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) has just released on-line its\u00a0FIRE's Guide to Free\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Reviews","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/opinion\/reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1004,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wars-of-religion\/","url_meta":{"origin":402,"position":3},"title":"Wars of Religion","author":"victorhanson","date":"December 30, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bruce S. Thornton RightNetwork.com This holiday season we have pretty much been spared the usual peevish cranks campaigning against any public celebration of Christmas. The attacks on public cr\u00e8ches, school pageants, Christmas music, and even the greeting \u201cMerry Christmas\u201d have been few this year. Yet we shouldn\u2019t think that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Bruce S. Thornton"","block_context":{"text":"Bruce S. Thornton","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/our-contributors\/bruce-s-thornton\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1226,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/jihadists-get-the-veto\/","url_meta":{"origin":402,"position":4},"title":"Jihadists Get the Veto","author":"victorhanson","date":"October 2, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bruce S. Thornton RightNetwork.com The best lack all conviction while the worst are full of passionate intensity\u00a0\u2013 Yeats, The Second Coming Florida pastor Terry Jones called off his Koran-burning after President Obama and others in his administration joined the chorus of Americans asking him not to go through with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Bruce S. Thornton"","block_context":{"text":"Bruce S. 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