America was founded by Christians seeking religious freedom. More than half of the men who signed the Declaration of Independence held seminary degrees. As a result, our nation was built on a foundation of Christians principles. This doesn’t mean America was established as a theocracy. It wasn’t. Rather, America was established as a country where all people were free to choose their own religion and practice it without interference from the government or any other source.
Then, beginning in the 1960s Christianity became the target of secular humanists, agnostics, atheists, and other unbelievers. People who reject God became vocal in their belief that we can do just fine without the “stifling influence” of God. They saw themselves then and see themselves now as their own little gods able to function on the basis of human reason without guidance from Holy Scripture or any other source. This point of view is warned of in Proverbs 14:12 where we read: “There is a way that seems right to man, but its end is the way of death.”
As these unbelievers increased in number and influence, they used their political power to push God out of our public schools, colleges and universities, the public square, and our lives. They began by challenging prayer in schools, at graduations, and before ball games. Successful in this campaign, they moved on to eliminating prayers in public meetings. The biggest coup of anti-Christian crusaders in America was to transform colleges and universities into centers of anti-Christian indoctrination; institutions where Biblical teaching and principles are not just unwelcome but scoffed at.
Before long, the academic freedom and freedom of speech that were long the cornerstone values of higher education, applied to everybody but Christians and to every belief system but Christianity. So how have these attacks on God, the Bible, and Christianity affected our lives in America? The answer to this question is simple: pushing God out of our lives has had tragic consequences. Let’s look at a few of these consequences.
Christians value human life because the neighbors we interact with are children of God and God expects us to love them as ourselves. Those who reject Christianity, on the other hand, have devalued human life. As a result, mass shootings, road rage, workplace violence, and abortion have become so common in our culture they no longer even raise eyebrows. These things happen so frequently they are viewed by many as “normal” aspects of our culture.
Then there is the mob violence that has become so prevalent in America. Without the restraining hand of God, a lot of Americans now believe the way to air their grievances is to riot in the streets; to loot, burn down businesses, and violently attack the police. Other consequences of pushing God out of our lives include rampant drug abuse, epidemic cheating, character assassination in politics, vicious personal attacks on social media, gratuitous violence in computer games and movies, sexual abuse, pornography, ubiquitous profanity, and public incivility.
The America we see around us these days and on news programs at night is not the America envisioned by our Founders. We cannot restore human decency and human dignity to everyday life in America by relying on politicians. Politicians are often part of the problem not the solution. The only way to resurrect the America envisioned by our Founders is to turn back to the God of Holy Scripture and do what America’s Founders did: let every aspect of our lives be guided by his Word. The answer to the ugliness we see in American culture today is found in 1 John 1:9 where we read: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Dr. Goetsch is the author of Veteran’s Lament: Is This the America We Fought For? and Christian Women on the Job: Excelling at Work without Compromising Your Faith, Fidelis Books, an imprint of Post Hill Press.
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