Ministry News

Can We Be Less Christian?

Details: Tuesday, 07 April 2009 10:57

QUOTE: "While we remain a nation decisively shaped by religious faith, our politics and our culture are, in the main, less influenced by movements and arguments of an explicitly Christian character than they were even five years ago. I think this is a good thing-good for our political culture, which, as the American Founders saw, is complex and charged enough without attempting to compel or coerce religious belief or observance. It is good for Christianity, too, in that many Christians are rediscovering the virtues of a separation of church and state that protects what Roger Williams, who founded Rhode Island as a haven for religious dissenters, called ‘the garden of the church' from ‘the wilderness of the world.' As crucial as religion has been and is to the life of the nation, America's unifying force has never been a specific faith, but a commitment to freedom-not least freedom of conscience. ... Let's be clear: while the percentage of Christians may be shrinking, rumors of the death of Christianity are greatly exaggerated. Being less Christian does not necessarily mean that America is post-Christian." -Newsweek editor Jon Meacham, writing in the magazine's cover story this week declaring "The End of Christian America" [newsweek.com, 4/4/09]

Subscribe to Ministry Today magazine

Comments

0 #1 David Walker 2009-04-07 23:31

He could not be more wrong. We were way better off when Christianity was the unifying force in our nation, and it was until the mid 20th century. In fact, as recently as 1892,our own Supreme Court in the case of Church of the Holy Trinity v. United States dealt with this question. Justice Brewer eloquently stated, "Our laws and our institutions must neccessarily be based upon and embody the teachings of the redeemer of mankind. It is impossible that that it should be otherwise:and in this sense and to this extent our civilization and our institutions are emphatically. . .Christian. . . This is a religious people ...We find everywhere a clear recognition of the same truth. . . This is a Christian nation." In those days the Bible was revered, and to a far greater extent obeyed resulting in less crime, less immorality, less addictions, etc. As the influence of the Bible declines, society deteriorates.

Quote

Refresh comments list
RSS feed for comments to this post