Where are we, as a country and as Christian churches, headed? There are, of course, many answers to that question, but for my part, I recently read Dr. Francis A. Schaeffer’s address entitled “A Christian Manifesto,” and feel compelled to comment on it and the present religious and political situation.(1)

Among other things, I will describe what I consider ominous trends in our society, trends that Schaeffer and other religious conservatives have not addressed.

The primary strength of Dr. Schaeffer address is his recognition that we now live in an age in which the Judeo-Christian world view has given way to a humanistic world view based on the belief that ultimate reality is matter which by chance gave rise to present life forms through evolution.

By humanism, Schaeffer means the notion that human beings are the measure of all things. Once God is denied and the materialistic doctrine is accepted, there is no source of understanding beyond human beings themselves, so that, logically, humans become the judge of all things. One corollary is that human beings decide right and wrong as they see fit.

The result of that is that there is nothing to protect the vulnerable among us, the unborn, the old, the unfit, and the useless. Therefore, he expects, unless something is done about it, Western Civilization will continue to erode, arriving at a condition, not unlike that of Nazi Germany, where certain races and groups are exterminated. This is Schaeffer’s primary conclusion and it makes a great deal of sense with one caveat which will be given later.

There are a number of weaknesses in Schaeffer’s analysis. First, his recognition of the evil in our society is quite limited. The evils he mentions are “over-permissiveness, pornography, the problem of the public schools, the breakdown of the family, abortion, infanticide (the killing of newborn babies), increased emphasis upon the euthanasia of the old and many, many other things.” These are evils and I agree that they are evils. As his address develops, abortion occupies the center of his attention, followed by lack of prayer in schools. He also mentions, in the context of his discussion of abortion, that abortion is basically “no different than Stalin, Mao, or Hitler, killing who they killed for what they conceived to be the good of society.” He points out that the materialistic world view will lead to tyranny, and gives as an example, the teaching of evolution in the public schools. On the basis of an opinion poll of the American people, he notes that 76% of the American public thought creationism should be taught in the public schools along with evolution, and the fact that the courts will not allow this is a form of tyranny.

This analysis of the evil that infects U.S. society characterizes a certain subset of the American public, that is, the conservative Christians. Schaeffer reflects and shapes that perspective. Conservative Christians have addressed certain evils, but they leave out others. That is why their understanding is so limited. They are, for example, essentially blind to the evils of corporate America, to the evils of government from the right, and to the evil inherent in some of the political agendas they themselves promote. They see liberal evil, but not conservative evil.

For example, many conservative Christians apparently believe that if a corporation like Wal-Mart wants to hire a million part-time employees with minimal wages and no health care, that is their right.(2) They will apply “Thou shalt not kill” to the unborn, but they will not apply the founding revelation of the entire Old Testament — liberation from economic oppression and the distribution of the land according to tribes, clans, and families with laws to prevent permanent foreclosure. Distribution of wealth is anathema to the right, and as a corollary, accumulation of vast wealth is perfectly acceptable. The New Testament is just as rigorous as the Old.

“Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts” (James 5:3-4). Not only do religious conservatives believe employers have the right to pay wretched wages, they want to make sure governments are equally tight-fisted. As stated in principle seven of Glen Beck’s program for reforming America, “I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who [sic] I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable.”(3)

What ideology often justifies the present economic order? It’s economic Darwinism, the belief that economic entities exist in a competitive environment, and in order to survive and expand, they must be ruthless. Religious conservatives may deplore the teaching of Darwin in the public schools, but when it comes to the economic order, they overlook its operative principles. They really believe that those in positions of power have the right to pay as little as possible. When it comes to abortion, they are against “pro-choice,” but when it comes to money, they are thoroughly “pro-choice.” Fundamentally, they and the liberals agree, “It’s my money, or my body, and I can do with it as I please.” Or, to use Schaeffer’s term, they are out and out humanists. Schaeffer and the religious conservatives, however, will only apply this term to the liberals, not to themselves.

Or, when it comes to foreign policy, it is widely believed that the United States exists in a competitive and brutal world, and in order to survive, America must, at times, be ruthless. This is out and out Darwinism, and religious conservatives go along with it.

For example, George W. Bush, after leading the nation into two wars, got nearly 80% of the white evangelical vote in 2004.(4) Conservative Christians may be against the killing of the unborn, but they apparently believe that America has the right to bomb, kill and main, without being accountable to the notion of a just war, international moral norms, or the teachings of Jesus. Nor was cost a deterrent. Joseph Stiglitz, winner of the Nobel Prize in economics, estimates the War in Iraq will cost some three trillion dollars,(5) to say nothing of the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who died, or the tens of thousands of Americans killed and maimed, or the devastation of the country of Iraq. When it comes to war, religious conservatives, and conservatives in general, are for it all the way.

This, however, brings us to another weakness of Schaeffer’s Manifesto. Humanism is a shallow analysis of what is amiss. From a biblical perspective, the world is in the power of the evil one, and further, the nations are governed by the godless principalities and powers. God rules supreme over all, but in this time before the eschaton, the devil goes about like a prowling lion seeking whom he can devour. Our culture is not really a humanistic culture, except in a superficial sense. Our culture is dominated by pagan powers, and the principle powers dominating American life are Mars the god of violence, Mammon the god of money, and Venus the god of sex. When Schaeffer says that the problem is humanism, he gives the impression that theists are exempt from his critique because they believe in God and do not advocate the materialistic philosophy. But this is a superficial analysis, and that is the caveat mentioned in the second paragraph of this essay. Like everybody else, religious people are dominated by the gods of this age. Among other things, religious conservatives show little resistance to Mammon, some even preaching a gospel of wealth. Many applaud the corporate juggernaut, and virtually all of them get on board when it comes to wars and supporting the bloated war budget. As for the religious liberals, they have capitulated to the goddess of sex, seen in their stand on homosexuality. This is the real state of affairs.

Schaeffer recognizes that a number of the founders of our country were deists and not really Christian, but he insists that they did believe in God, and therefore, they believed in some foundation for ultimate ethical norms. I agree with him as my second paragraph makes clear. It must be said, however, that their deist view of “nature’s God,” to quote the Declaration of Independence, was shaped by a Christian culture which ultimately believed in God’s goodness, not because of nature, but because of the revelation in Jesus Christ. Since then, it has become increasingly clear that, as far as nature is concerned, the quest for “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” is carried out by a Darwinian struggle in which the strong dominate the weak. Nature, history, and even genetic studies, for example, have shown that invaders normally kill off the men and keep the women, seen in the relative frequencies of genetic markers in the maternal and paternal lines in places like Latin America, Iceland, and India.

Theologically, these issues came to a head in Germany in the Nazi era where the German Nazi church appealed to nature — blood and soil. The great majority of the German Christians went along with the Nazi program, and if things go that way in the United States, you can expect the majority of Christians to get on board. In Germany, a few, the Confessing Church, held to the revelation in Jesus Christ. In other words, “nature’s God” is a god of war, and if the founding and expansion of this country teaches us anything, it is that revolution, war, and violent conquest belong to the nature of things.

From this perspective, this country was pagan from the beginning. It was founded in blood. It had many Christians in it, and many of the founders were Christian, but its principles were grounded in creation, not the redemption of Jesus Christ. It is not, nor was it ever, the Kingdom of God on earth, nor was it the God-ordained light to the nations. That honor belongs to Jesus Christ and him alone, and he calls his church, not a nation founded in blood, to be “the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14). The belief of many religious Americans that America is ordained by God to bless the world is idolatry. Other nations can learn many good things from America, especially our Bill of Rights, separation of powers, and orderly transfer of power, but this does not mean that America is except from serious and terrible evils. From the beginning and even now, pagan powers continue to animate our national life. The imperial agenda of the neo-cons, for example, who dominated the administration of George W. Bush, was consistent with America’s heritage, namely, militaristic expansion. Those who suffered the consequences know very well that America is not the “light on the hill.”

There is one aspect of Schaeffer’s essay that seems to me to be very, very important. The freedoms we enjoy in this country, and in other countries shaped by the Protestant Reformation, are unique in the history of the world. This is a very significant point and it bears quoting,

I say to you (those of you who are Christians) that too often you take all too much for granted. You forget that the freedoms which we have in northern Europe after the Reformation (and the United States is an extension of that, as would be Australia or Canada, New Zealand, etc.) are absolutely unique in the world. … Go back into history. The freedoms which we have (the form / freedom balance of government) are unique in history and they are also unique in the world at this day.(6)

I believe there is a great deal of truth in this statement. He is right to think that Western Civilization is under attack and that the materialistic philosophy is a part of it, as are other forces, Islam being one of them. What he did not realize in 1982, and many today do not realize, is that the political right represents the greater threat. Why do I say this? Within the reigning pantheon, Mammon and Mars are far more powerful that Venus, and the political right represents the monied, militaristic agenda.

How might this threat manifest itself to our harm? Since 9/11, and especially since the election of President Obama, a number of trends have become increasingly visible. Let me summarize:

1. We are feeling the effects of the worst recession since the Great Depression and there are strong indications that when a recovery occurs, significant portions of the population will be left behind. The economic situation, as well as the event of 9/11, which may well happen again, creates feelings of insecurity.
2. Insecurity produces hate and fear, and of late, there has been a marked increase in hate, fed in part by mainstream media figures and politicians who have used their platforms to spread propaganda and lies.(7) Most of this hate is found on the political right.
3. The Republican leadership knows about the lies, but in order to regain power, they will not publicly repudiate them, but rather, seek to benefit from the rhetoric. The Democrats will not be far behind. A climate of propaganda is emerging.
4. Both parties are subject to money, and most of the money represents corporate interests. There is no magic wand that harmonizes corporate interests with the interests of the working public. The recent court decision relaxing campaign disclosure laws will make it even easier for money to dominate American political life.
5. Owing to the feelings of insecurity, there will be an intensification of war fever, leading to further wars and subversions. We already have a military budget nearly equal to the rest of the world’s combined, 700 plus military bases worldwide, and we are frequently involved in police actions, subversions and wars. Not all these wars were just.
6. Given the idolatry of so many church members, identifying America with the City of God, we can expect the majority, as well as many Americans, to go along with the foregoing trends.

Where will this lead if these trends continue — the dwindling of individual rights, persecution of the “wrong sort” (the administration of George W. Bush was willing to use torture), a growing impoverished underclass, and the transformation of both political parties which, if they appear to compete for votes, are actually both subservient to the emerging regime.

It may seem to some that I am an alarmist and that there is no real evidence that we will arrive at such a wretched state. Perhaps not. One thing is certain, there will be no end of political leaders, economists, and religious figures who will tell us that we are the world’s greatest nation, that we will regain our prosperity, that all our wars are just, that the loss of our freedoms are necessary for our security, and that we need only repent of a few sins for God to bless us. It is highly unlikely that these prophets will get to the essential point: the Father of Jesus Christ rules the destiny of nations. For our own good and for his own glory he accepts no rivals. He may well, unless there is true repentance, allow the gods of Mars, Mammon, and Venus to have their way with us. These deities are terrible masters. They promise power, wealth, and true love, but in the end they create the exact opposite — poverty, internal and external violence, and utter emptiness. Once they have devastated us, we might come to our senses, repent, and seek forgiveness from the One who died for us.

Lest my readers think I am a liberal who doesn’t like the present course of our county, let me be somewhat autobiographical. I’ve spent years living among religious conservatives and liberals, and am more at home with the religious conservatives because they believe Jesus is risen from the dead and that he grants life and eternal life to those who live for him.

I am also an Anglican priest. I was once an Episcopal priest. I spent years of study and economic hardship to train myself theologically, earning a Ph.D. in theology so that I could get a job in one of our Episcopal seminaries in order to counter their liberal trends. I interviewed at several of these Episcopal seminaries and am convinced that I did not get the jobs in question because of my biblical, conservative stand on homosexuality. I stood against the liberals on more than one occasion, writing a number of essays for this column.

I left the Episcopal Church because of its denial of the faith and morals, without knowing how I would support myself financially as I had a child in college and a house payment. I fought against the tyranny in the Episcopal Church, and frankly, I now feel compelled to signal what I consider ominous trends in our society, trends that originate with the unification of political power, corporate money, a bellicose foreign policy, and bigotry and hatred masquerading as piety and patriotism.

Whatever happens, the Kingdom of God will remain when all else fails. Believers belong to that Kingdom, and the church, the body of Christ, is called to reflect the Kingdom. We are the light on the hill, the hope of the world, and our witness, our testimony, has been seduced from both right and left. I fought against the left, but now, I must say that it is outrageous that Christians have let the Religious Right dominate our public discourse for so many years. In so many ways, in public as well as private, they worship Mars and Mammon, and this has had a terrible effect on Christian witness, especially to the Muslim world. When an American president wears his evangelical faith on his sleeve, uses religious code words to get elected and reelected, and launches invasions of two Muslim countries, all the while applauded by the Religious Right, the witness of the church to the Muslim world is severely compromised. If any religious body wants to support these actions, let them first point out to all Americans and to the world what the “Christian” Western powers did to the Islamic countries beginning early in the last century — invasions, subversions, carving a new state out of their territories and supporting it with billions in military hardware, corrupting their societies with violent and sexualized entertainment, and supporting elites who live like princes (and sometimes are) with oil money.(8)

Of late, I have heard rumblings from conservative Christians about the dangers of Islam. Yes, they represent a threat. Yet, when it comes to the West’s relations with Islam, the words of Jesus hold true, “You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:5).

As churches, where are we headed? I think we need to do several things. First, politicians have been using the Religious Right for the last forty years. Nixon used Billy Graham, Reagan used Jerry Falwell, and, to a lesser degree, George W. Bush made use of Pat Robertson and Ralph Reed. Perhaps this is coming to an end. The “Contract from America” championed by the Tea Party has left the old social issues behind, although Glen Beck’s conservative 912 Project claims that “I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life.” This is the second principle, the first being “America is Good,” a clear indication of the Project’s priorities.(9)As things stand now, politicians will doubtless continue to manipulate religious people to further the rule of wealth and power. Against that, the churches need to become more prophetic, beginning with America’s sins rather than the sins of America’s enemies. We need to recognize that America, in its political, social, and economic life, really has chosen Mars, Mammon, and Venus.

There is, however, an alternative to these gods — the Kingdom of God as proclaimed in Scripture and realized in the Church. The churches need to be about the Kingdom, and one of our weaknesses in America is that we have so little sense of history. The church of the first few centuries has addressed the issues that lie before us. In their efforts to proclaim and live the good news in a world dominated by the gods of war, wealth, and lust, they formed communities which held to the highest norms of chastity. They took care of the poor, the sick, the weak, and they protected the unborn. They cast out demons and healed the sick. They sought to live at peace with one another and some would not serve in the emperor’s armies. They developed powerful liturgies to the glory of God and beautiful intellectual systems formulated in creeds. They spread the gospel and they served the pagan world around them. We need to be about all that. I especially think we need to form monastic and semi-monastic communities ordered around worship, mission, ministry, and work, where Christian land and businesses will make work available, subject to Paul’s declaration that those who won’t work should not eat (II Thessalonians 3:10).

Further, the early church did understand that the Kingdom of God leavens all dimensions of life, and therefore, once the Roman Empire adopted Christianity, Christians sought to bring the Kingdom to culture. We need to do that today, and the Religious Right points us in that direction, although their vision is rather narrow and constrained, if not coercive. We need a wider vision, a theology of church, state, and work, and the recognition that God calls Christians to work for the Kingdom in their spheres of influence, their families, their churches, their work, their politics, everything More needs to be said on this vital topic.

Where is the country headed? I really don’t know. Over the last few centuries economic power, and resulting political and military power, has gravitated toward those nations that mass produced goods most cheaply and penetrated the markets of other nations. The United States protected herself in the 19th century against cheap mass-produced British manufacturing by tariffs, but South America did not. Her manufacturing (crafts) was destroyed, leading to a large impoverished underclass and a wealthy elite in league with the British and then the North Americans.

Since the post-WWII economic boom, however, American markets have been steadily penetrated by cheaper imports, leading to the loss of millions of U.S. jobs. Further, for the sake of the bottom line (cheap labor and freedom to pollute) U.S. corporations have moved a number of their operations overseas. Due to these two developments, we have lost significant portions of our light manufacturing, then heavy manufacturing, then clerical and white-collar jobs, and now, entire U.S. labs are being located overseas staffed by foreign engineers and scientists. Millions of Americans have lost good paying jobs, and under free trade, it seems likely they will never return. Initially, many of these jobs were lost to Japan. Japan was once an economic powerhouse, but now she has been undercut by cheap Chinese labor. She is suffering a protracted economic decline with significantly lower living standards, and some economists think this could happen to America.(10)

Economically, the world is a jungle, and what surprises me is how fast nations rise and decline under the conditions of global capitalism. We are in a political and military jungle as well, and like empires of the past, America presides over a vast network of military bases and alliances. The cost in lives and money is enormous, and this coupled with the economic conditions, makes our future uncertain, to say the least.

My perspective is limited, but I would favor a reduced military budget, letting our allies defend their part of the world, as well as selective use of tariffs to restore jobs. This may or may not work, but one thing seems utterly clear to me: Unless we repent of our massive violations of the ninth commandment and end the endless propaganda, lies, character assassination, half-truths, suppression of facts, distortion, and political grandstanding that daily infects our political discourse, we will walk in the dark and never find our way.

God does, however, in spite of their sins, allow certain nations to endure and even be blessed. God allowed the pagan Roman Empire to endure nearly half a millennium. There is, however, a significant difference between Rome and America. Although Rome was pagan, worshipping the state in the image of the emperor, she did not, at least not before Constantine, take the Lord’s name in vain by using Christian rhetoric to further pagan aims. America has done that, from Manifest Destiny to the recent war in Iraq.(11) This is dangerous as it places the nation before the judgment seat of God. This, to my mind, places us in greater danger than anything military or economic, and the only way out is repentance.

God forgives the penitent and he does use nations, even sinful ones who profane his Name. I have lived overseas, and I personally believe that America, in spite of our sins, has done great and good things. Our freedoms are one of our greatest treasures. I do not believe, however, that America has any special claim to being used by God, and if America wants to be blessed or used by the the living God, our best bet is to repent in dust and ashes and not proclaim our values or achievements as worthy of his praise.

Endnotes

1. This essay can be found at: http://www.peopleforlife.org/francis.html It is an address was delivered by the late Dr. Schaeffer in 1982 at the Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It is based on one of his books, which bears the same title.
2. Wal-Mart employs some 1.2 million Americans, and an additional 300,000 overseas. The vast majority, from everything I have learned, are part-time with minimal salaries and no health benefits. For the number of Wal-Mart employees, see http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/walmart/secrets/stats.html.
3. http://ready2beat.com/educational/glenn-beck-9-principles-12-values-912-project-the9projectcom.
4. Drew Westen, The Political Brain (New York: Public Affairs, 2007), p. 401.
5. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/07/AR2008030702846.html
6. http://www.peopleforlife.org/francis.html.
7. For example, since 2000, the number of hate groups has grown by 54%. This, in the view of the Southern Poverty Law Center is due to four factors: 1. Latino immigration. 2. Election of the country’s first African-American president. 3. The economic crisis. 4. “This growth in extremism has been aided by mainstream media figures and politicians who have used their platforms to legitimize false propaganda about immigrants and other minorities and spread the kind of paranoid conspiracy theories on which militia groups thrive.” http://www.splcenter.org/what-we-do/hate-and-extremism
8. On the evening of 9/11, President Bush made this comment: “America was targeted for attack because we’re the brightest beacon for freedom, and opportunity in the world.” (http://www.cnbcfix.com/bush-speech-ovaloffice-911.html) If you want to know why American was attacked, let me suggest, among other things, Steve Coll, The Bin Laden’s. New York: Penguin Press, 2008.
9. http://www.the912project.com/the-912-2/
10. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/17/world/asia/17japan.html?src=me&ref=general
11. http://rsanders.org/A Profound American Idolatry.htm

The Rev. Robert J. Sanders, Ph.D. Church Planter, Christ Church, Anglican, August, 2006-present, Jacksonville, Florida
Source (used with permission: http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=13451

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