That God Might be Glorified Through Us
A Different Kind of Prophetic Voice
Nothing is Impossible with God
The Fulfillment of Worthy Work
The American Standard of Living
Only That Which Is Given From Heaven
Human Efforts -- Human Results
“And all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” Genesis 12:3
American society is becoming increasingly secular; most of us know that. It has been the intent of many to ostensively separate religious belief from public life. The most obvious reasons for this are two-fold. On one hand, it is believed by some that the separation of religious and secular insures that no one single religious expression dominates the American scene so that people will not be forced against their will to adhere to its tenets and practices. Secondly, it is hoped that by the effective elimination of religion from matters of government, education, and social policy, it might somehow assuage the ideological animosity which threatens to tear the world apart. No one of reasonable mentality or character advocates religious tyranny and no one who actually cares for people wants a holy war. There are, however, certain dangerous and unchallenged fallacies associated with this line of thinking.
One of the fallacies is the belief that there is such thing as a completely secular society in which there is no religious expression in public life. When traditional or even non-traditional religious beliefs and expressions are gone, what fills the vacuum is a kind of secular humanism which is itself as much of a religion as is Catholicism, Protestantism, Hindu, or Buddhism. Secular humanism is most certainly religious in that it provides a framework for which truth is determined and makes statements about personal and social behavior. The Council for Secular Humanism defines its belief as “a way of thinking and living which aims to bring out the best in people so that all people can have the best life. Secular humanists reject supernatural and authoritarian beliefs. They affirm that we must take responsibility for our own lives and the communities and world in which we live. Secular humanism emphasizes reason and scientific inquiry, individual freedom and responsibility, human values and compassion, and the need for tolerance and cooperation.” Its use of words like “responsibility” and “compassion” and its use of terms like “bringing out the best in life” make it sound ideal in a world wracked by religious strife. The reality is that secular humanism is as much of a religion as those it proposes to supplant and every bit as dogmatic as the religions doctrines it purports to abhor. Humanism is a step of faith as well – faith in the supposition that the universe is rational and that ultimate truth, if there is any, can be assessed or determined by human thought alone. It is based on the assumption that people are essentially good if they simply maintain rational perspectives. When they use the term “scientific,” it touts the rather arrogant presupposition tthat hey have the “facts” on their side.
But an even greater concern is the fact that the move toward secularization in society provides for the separation of public and private behavior. The society in which we now live believes that religion is a personal and private matter which must not become the norm for public life. It is fine to be religious as long as it remains in the privacy of your own home or place of worship if your religion has one. Matters of personal behavior are therefore immune from the scope of public scrutiny or judgment – everyone is free to do as he or she pleases as long as it does not affect anyone else. Again, most people readily comply with this because they do not want the “morality police” to tell them what they can or cannot do. What the separation of public and private behavior does, however, is exactly that: it separates one’s public and private behavior and forces religious belief to remain individual and personal, having little or no effect on one’s actions in the context of society.
It is distinctly Western and particularly American to promote such radical individualism and separate the person from the social context in which he or she lives. Christians have played into this mindset by being distinctly individualistic in their approach to the faith. We simply do not see ourselves as belonging to one another. The essence of Christianity is less about individual belief in certain doctrines and more about how one relates to God and others. The result is twofold: for many American Christians there is little connection between their personal beliefs and their social action and there is often a marked difference between our public and private behavior.