Who Is The God In Whom We Americans Trust?

As  noted yesterday, I do not plan to participate in any so-called ecumenical National Day of Prayer tomorrow, regardless of where it is located. That's not because I'm unpatriotic or do not believe in prayer. It has to do with more basic beliefs.

We Americans have our own unique religion. That was recognized and lifted up by Robert Bellah's essay, "Civil Religion in America," published in the Journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in the winter of 1967. Bellah starts,

While some have argued that Christianity is the national faith, and others that church and synagogue celebrate only the generalized religion of "the American Way of Life," few have realized that there actually exists alongside of and rather clearly differentiated from the churches an elaborate and well-institutionalized civil religion in America. This article argues not only that there is such a thing, but also that this religion—or perhaps better, this religious dimension—has its own seriousness and integrity and requires the same care in understanding that any other religion does.[i]

Writing against the background of President Kennedy's Inaugural address of January 20, 1961, Bellah continues,

It might be countered that the very way in which Kennedy made his references (to God) reveals the essentially vestigial place of religion today. He did not refer to any religion in particular. He did not refer to Jesus Christ, or to Moses, or to the Christian church; certainly he did not refer to the Catholic church. In fact, his only reference was to the concept of God, a word that almost all Americans can accept but that means so many different things to so many different people that it is almost an empty sign. Is this not just another indication that in America religion is considered vaguely to be a good thing, but that people care so little about it that it has lost any content whatever? Isn't Dwight Eisenhower reported to have said "Our government makes no sense unless it is founded in a deeply felt religious faith-and I don't care what it is,"[ii] and isn't that a complete negation of any real religion?

Bellah goes on to quote from Benjamin Franklin's autobiography and George Washington's Farewell Address to point out that religion, particularly the idea of God, played a constitutive role in the thought of the early American statesmen. Then he continues,

What we have, then, from the earliest years of the republic is a collection of beliefs, symbols, and rituals with respect to sacred things and institutionalized in a collectivity. This religion—there seems no other word for it—while not antithetical to and indeed sharing much in common with Christianity, was neither sectarian nor in any specific sense Christian. At a time when the society was overwhelmingly Christian, it seems unlikely that this lack of Christian reference was meant to spare the feelings of the tiny non-Christian minority. Rather, the civil religion expressed what those who set the precedents felt was appropriate under the circumstances. It reflected their private as well as public views. . .  

. . . But the civil religion was not, in the minds of Franklin, Washington, Jefferson, or other leaders, with the exception of a few radicals like Tom Paine, ever felt to be a substitute for Christianity. There was an implicit but quite clear division of function between the civil religion and Christianity.

Read the essay yourself. I think Bellah is correct. We Americans do have a "civil religion" with some fundamental beliefs about us being God's chosen nation with a destiny to preserve and spread democracy in the world. Our president is almost our national high priest whose duty it is to call us as a nation to pray to "God" at least once a year. Further, we believe that "all men are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights" and have a right to equal protection under our laws. We sing "God bless America," and close our political speeches with that same phrase. We even put the phrase "In God we trust" on our money.

But who is this God in whom we trust? 

My allegiance is to but one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And when I pray I am guided by these words of my God, my Savior and my Lord,

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. - Jhn 14:6 ESV

How then can I pray to some other God or gods or join in with those who reject my Lord and God? I shall pray for my nation. I do pray for my nation, but I will not pray to any other god than the Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, regardless of what law is passed!

Freedom Of Religion Or Freedom From Religion?

Christians around the world are still persecuted for their faith. Youcef Nadarkhani, an Iranian Christian pastor who was originally sentenced to death for holding on to his faith in that Islamic fundamentalist country, was acquitted of apostasy charges and released from prison on Sept. 8, 2012. His charges were lowered to evangelizing to Muslims, which carried a three-year sentence. . . Read more

Our Lord Jesus walked directly into the path of such persecution during the Jewish Feast of Booths or Tabernacles (Sukkoth - Hebrew). 

¹⁰ But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private. ¹¹ The Jews were looking for him at the feast, and saying, “Where is he?” ¹² And there was much muttering about him among the people.While some said, “He is a good man,” others said, “No, he is leading the people astray.” ¹³ Yet for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him. . . ²⁵ Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, “Is not this the man whom they seek to kill? - John 7:10-25 - ESV

Why the hatred? Why did the Jews seek to kill Jesus? Because he was leading the people astray! From their point of view Jesus' teaching was contrary to God's revelation. According to Mosaic law, such false teaching brought the penalty of death, as is still so in most Islamic countries (Deut. 13:1-5).  

We who have freedom of speech and religious liberty here in the United States have difficulty in understanding such persecution. The United States Courts website says this about Freedom of Speech.

For example, freedom of speech includes the right:

• Not to speak (specifically, the right not to salute the flag).

West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624 (1943).

• Of students to wear black armbands to school to protest a war (“Students do not shed their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse gate.”).

Tinker v. Des Moines, 393 U.S. 503 (1969).

• To use certain offensive words and phrases to convey political messages.

Cohen v. California, 403 U.S. 15 (1971).

In turn, the First Amendment to the American Constitution has two provisions concerning religion: the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause. The Establishment clause prohibits the government from "establishing" a religion. 

The precise definition of "establishment" is unclear. Historically, it meant prohibiting state-sponsored churches, such as the Church of England. 

Today, what constitutes an "establishment of religion" is often governed under the three-part test set forth by the U.S. Supreme Court in Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U.S. 602 (1971). Under the "Lemon" test, government can assist religion only if 1) the primary purpose of the assistance is secular; 2) the assistance must neither promote nor inhibit religion; and 3) there is no excessive entanglement between church and state. 

The Free Exercise Clause protects citizens' right to practice their religion as they please, so long as the practice does not run afoul of a "public morals" or a "compelling" governmental interest. For instance, in Prince v. Massachusetts, 321 U.S. 158 (1944) the Supreme Court held that a state could force the inoculation of children whose parents would not allow such action for religious reasons. The Court held that the state had an overriding interest in protecting public health and safety. 

Across the centuries church and state were always tied together. The Latin phrase cuis regio ejus religio, (whose realm, his religion) was the operating principle. In the days of the Reformation the various rulers of the German-speaking states agreed with the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, that this would be the principle in all their divided lands. In the Religious Peace of Augsburg (1555) this agreement finally ended the long conflict between Catholic and Protestant armies in the Holy Roman Empire. But this agreement also marked the beginnings of religious freedom as known in the United States.

In the following two centuries scientific and philosophical developments brought about what came to be called the Enlightenment. During those years diversity of thought brought many also to accept diversity of religion. In their search for new knowledge scholars and political leaders emphasized human reason. Enlightenment thinkers questioned all sorts of established ideas about God, religion and the fundamental laws of nature. Many rejected the concepts of supernatural revelation and miracles. Instead they thought of God as above and outside the world, acting only as the rational architect of the universe. This rational belief, known as Deism, was in sharp contrast to revealed religion as preserved in such books as the Bible and the Quran. 

People like Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and Benjamin Franklin were avid readers of the great philosophers of the European Enlightenment. They treasured the ideas found in the works of such thinkers as Descartes, Voltaire, Bacon and Locke. These ideas came to be included in the American Constitution. To them religion and worship of God were matters of personal opinion. The state was not to be involved. Each man was alone accountable to his God.

With this background one can easily see why Muslims, Hindus and other religions are so agitated when Christians seek to spread their religious views. In their eyes there can be no separation between religion and the affairs of state. The religious beliefs of the rulers and their people must be intertwined with all public and political matters. Anything less disrupts and destroys peace and unity in the land. Christian convictions and morality destroy the harmony of families and lands. Christians are seen as traitors who tear apart the basic religious beliefs that hold the nation together. In such countries there is no room whatsoever for Deistic or rationalistic views about religious issues.

Even here in the United States where we practice religious liberty tensions continue to arise over race, abortion, the death penalty, religious holidays and a wide variety of related issues. And yet what can we who follow Jesus do but speak out about our faith in him and in the teachings of the revealed Scriptures? Listen again to the words of Jesus:

For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. - Luke 9:26 ESV

Impressions of New York By A Midwesterner

One of my favorite correspondents sent me a paragraph from Mary Hollingsworth's delightful book of stories by children, Little Wonders. She writes that at the end of each year, she and other Sunday School teachers give the children pencils and paper and ask them to chronicle what they have learned in Bible study. This assignment never fails to elicit some intriguing responses.

In case you're a little foggy on your biblical history, here's a sample of what her junior church students compiled from their essays.

"Another important Bible guy is Moses, whose real name was Charlton Heston. Moses led the Israel Lights out of Egypt and away from the evil Pharaoh after God sent ten plagues on Pharaoh's people.   These plagues included frogs, mice, lice, bowels, and no cable.   God fed the Israel Lights every day with manicotti.   Then He gave them His top ten Commandments.  These include don't lie, cheat, smoke, dance, or covet your neighbor's bottom (the Bible uses a bad word for bottom that I'm not supposed to say.  But my Dad uses it sometimes when he talks about the President. Oh, yeah, I just thought of one more:  Humor they father and thy mother."

Though I'm not your father, humor me a bit further, because I have a serious concern. Sylvia and I just returned from a weekend in New York City to visit our son. While there we wandered around in Manhattan and visited the site of the former World Trade Center. By the way, there's a lot of building activity going on there, but the builders are a long, long way from finishing the proposed memorials and other buildings. There is a new Trade Center building however.



What struck me--again--about NYC and especially Manhattan is the lack of certain types of buildings. Millions of people are crowded into row after row of apartments and condos. The streets are lined with every possible kind of restaurants and shops. Huge sky scrapers are filled with offices. Businesses of every kind are booming. Listen to the people passing by and you will hear many strange languages. Watch the people sitting across from you on the subway and you will observe people of all races.

But where are the churches? We saw a few pushed in among the multitudes, a synagogue urging Sabbath observation, a Seventh Day Adventist church advertising 11 AM Saturday morning worship and an Episcopal chapel directly across from the WTC site. But if I were to venture a totally non-scientific observation, I would have to say that, based upon their lack of religious buildings, these New Yorkers are not a religious people. And yet Americans as a nation are. It's just that this vast city does not reflect it in their buildings.

Geitner Simmons, the editorial page editor of the Omaha World-Herald is a Midwesterner, a Southerner, a husband, a father, and a son. In his Blog he posts maps, developed by the Cincinnati-based Glenmary Research Center, showing religious adherence to be greatest in the middle of the country — from Texas and Louisiana up through the Dakotas. Religious adherence in the Southeast, long dubbed the "Bible Belt," is more spotty that one might expect.

He also posts maps of the influence of religious bodies upon various parts of the country. As I knew, we Lutherans are located largely in the upper midwest. Baptists dominate the South. There is a general Catholic presence around the country. Mormons are strong in the West, particularly Utah. Methodist have strong holdings in various parts of central and eastern United States. And so it goes. Over 80% of the religious people in this country are Christian.

And yet I have a hard time shaking off my impressions of New York City. Perhaps that has to do with my being born in Minnesota and spending all of my professional life in the midwest. Nevertheless I have a question that must be addressed regardless of where one lives. Who is your God and what do you worship? Answer that question and you will answer many questions about morality, life styles and dreams.