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More Americans are rejecting Christianity - just like the Founders - Tuberville blames the left
On Newsmax's “The Balance”, host Eric Bolling told his guest, Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) the invasion of brown people from the South could be called the Great Replacement Theory. But he was not a racist because in his version of the conspiracy, this...
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More Americans are rejecting Christianity - just like the Founders - Tuberville blames the left
On Newsmax's “The Balance”, host Eric Bolling told his guest, Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) the invasion of brown people from the South could be called the Great Replacement Theory. But he was not a racist because in his version of the conspiracy, this horde was not replacing whites but replacing conservatives.
Tuberville replied that he agreed. However, he maintained the left would be drailed in their attempt to rid America of Christianity because many of these immigrants were more conservative and Christian than liberals believed. Bolling’s passion is political. Tuberville’s passion is religious. And it is typical of someone whose understanding of the role of religion in American political life is so completely wrong.
The Founders did not create America as a Christian nation. Their values were rooted in philosophy and history — not in religion. Thomas Jefferson’s language in the Declaration of Independence was informed by John Locke’s belief in natural and inalienable rights of life, liberty, and property. Or, as they became in the Declaration, “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
Montesquieu, an admirer of Locke, was the first to outline the concept of the separation of powers — the governing philosophy the Founders used to structure the Constitution.
John Jacques Rousseau’s belief that sovereignty was not vested in a monarch but collectively in the people themselves — and that the people then exercised their “general will” to make laws for the “public good” — underpinned the Constitution. And it informed Lincoln’s observation in the Gettysburg Address that the government was “of the people, by the people, for the people."
None of this political philosophy comes from the Bible. And none of these men could be described as unquestioning Christians. Locke appreciated the divinity of the Bible but thought that an individual’s freedom of religion demanded a separation of church and state.
Montesquieu thought that law should be manmade, and while religion could provide guidance, it should not be a basis for law.
Rousseau was a Catholic before converting to Calvinism. However, we must note that his famous work “The Social Contract” was reviled by the faithful for its religious heterodoxy.
Now we have that civics lesson out the way, let us contemplate the state of Christianity in America today. And discuss if the modern political philosopher, Senator Tuberville, is on to something when he says the left is “trying to wipe Christianity out in this country.”
It is fair to question Tommy Tuberville’s ability for insightful political analysis. After all, he once declared the three branches of government were “the House, the Senate, and the Executive.” And that “our government was not set up for one group to have all three branches of government.” Really? By Tuberville’s definition of the three branches, that has happened frequently. The first time was in 1796 when the Federalists won the presidency (John Adams), the Senate, and the House.
It is hard to rebut Tuberville’s claim because he provides no proof that liberals are doing anything of the kind. He does not even outline the atheist strategy for tearing down the temple. But that is a conservative for you. “I feel it is, so therefore it is — even if there is no evidence it is.”
Statistically, there is evidence that Christianity is on the skids in America. People confessing to being Christian have declined from 90% in the 1970s to 64% today. However, when you judge religiosity by attendance at houses of worship, the number is a dismal 47% (and that includes Jews, Muslims, et al.)
Even these numbers are probably overstating the case. In many religious communities, social pressure inspires atheists to go to church. And many people are Christian by habit, not conviction. And it is not getting better for the pro-religion folks.
Statistical modeling bases future Christian belief on four sets of conditions. By 2070, the best result is that 54% of Americans will be Christian. The worst has the number at 35%.
Is it the fault of liberals that the religious are rushing for the exits? Hardly. What have Democrats done? What laws have they passed? Perhaps some municipalities have enacted “anti-crèche on government property” laws. But no matter what, it is small potatoes.
Overall America’s governing bodies remain overwhelmingly Christian. Trump is the only unChristian President in living memory, and Congress is 88% Christian. Conservative Christian legal philosophy dominates the Supreme Court. And 40% of Americans would not vote for their party’s well-qualified candidate if that candidate were an atheist. The only group that does worse is socialists.
Tuberville says his problem is that the left is trying to destroy Christianity. His actual problem is that many Americans — a majority I warrant, including many Christians — do not want to live in a theocracy.
The Founders were crystal clear on the matter. They would have thought a religious government was an evil anathema. They lived in a time when Europeans were subjugated to monarchs in cahoots with state religions, crushing both the individual’s spiritual and temporal souls. They had nothing against religion. They just thought it should stick to its lane.
Most modern liberals — many religious — think the same. Prayer belongs in church, the privacy of your own home, or even the workplace if you keep it to yourself. If a private prayer gets the work juices flowing, why not? However, it does not belong on the 50-yard line of a high school football field — or in science class. Or, heaven forbid, directing American law-making.
If Tuberville wants to know why so many Americans are bailing on their faith, he should look in the mirror. And ask if he is the best representative for the majority of Americans who think that people should be allowed to love, live with, and marry whatever consenting adult they choose. Who believe that an individual's gender identity is their own damn business. Who view a woman’s bodily and reproductive autonomy as inviolate. Who think LGBTQ+ youth should be recognized as healthy, normal citizens and not defective — who should be encouraged to be who they are and not hounded to the point of suicide.
These horrible people and their perverted take on religion may paradoxically be the cause of the people’s increasing rejection of Christianity. I have no evidence that the ascent of the Moral Majority caused America’s declining religiosity. However, the embrace of religious fundamentalism as social policy by one political party correlates with the shedding of faith by an increasing number of Americans. And the connection is worth exploring.
Meanwhile, Tuberville and his shrinking, increasingly desperate band of bigots will remain blind to the role their fanaticism may have played in convincing many Americans that they should no longer associate with that brand of hate.
The moral of the story might be that if more Christians in America had acted Christian, there would be more Christians in America.
