(10 minute read)

“One of the biggest changes in politics in my lifetime is that the delusional is no longer marginal. It has come in from the fringe, to sit in the seat of power in the Oval Office and in Congress.”

“For the first time in our history, ideology and theology hold a monopoly of power in Washington. Theology asserts propositions that cannot be proven true; ideologues hold stoutly to a worldview despite being contradicted by what is generally accepted as reality.”

“The offspring of ideology and theology are not always bad but they are always blind. And that is the danger: voters and politicians alike, oblivious to the facts.”

– Bill Moyers, Blind Faith, In These Times, Feb. 9, 2005 (emphasis mine, retrieved 12/21/2024)

(From previous post): It is a dangerous proposition to claim “we are an empire.” How egotistical must one be to claim that “real-world observations” are no longer relevant? “We make our own reality?” Can you imagine the chaos that would ensue should every student proclaim that to a teacher after testing?

An empire based on a subjective reality? In war, how much “reality” does one need to march around a walled city to take possession of it? “Encircle the city with an army, march seven times around it, blow a horn, and watch the wall come down.”

Who wants to propose that strategy at the next U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff meeting? Even Leroy Jenkins knows that is a bad move.

“That Is The Danger. Voters And Politicians Alike [Are] Oblivious To The Facts”

False realities (“alternate facts”) leads to wacky conspiracy theories.

• Chemtrail paranoia
• Climate change deniers
• Flat-earth beliefs
• Fake moon landings
• Jewish space-lasers igniting California wildfires
• Vaccine deniers

What are we left with? An appalling “death of expertise” that leaves American citizens believing that every opinion and perspective is equally valid.

What total and utter bullshit!

“Make America Great Again” arouses nostalgia. It reminds you of a time when you think Christians were “politically and socially in charge.” The “golden age” of Christian beliefs and values guiding lawmakers. A time when there was belief in one nation “under God” and “in God we trust” were guiding principles.

The idea of flaunting that power and being in charge is appealing to people that otherwise are not. But how far back should we go to make America Great? In what era should we point to and say, “Yes, let’s be like THAT again!”

How about we go as far back as The First Great Religious Awakening between 1730-1740? No, that won’t work. That one fizzled out, didn’t it?

Or should we go as far back as the birth of our nation? I don’t know. The founding fathers went to great lengths to instill that whole separation of church and state. Despite the knuckleheads that occasionally forget that fact, so far it’s held up.

Or was America Great during The Second Great Religious Awakening in the mid 1800s (because the First one was sooooo FFFnnnn good)?

Maybe America was great in 1925? You remember? The Monkey Scopes trial in Tennessee pitted evolution and creationism in the courtroom. The creationists won that one only to later lose in the Court of Appeals. Science has done well for itself ever since.

The first Amendment prohibits the government from making laws establishing a national religion. Despite that there are those revisionists who for the past forty years that insist otherwise.

As for making America great, maybe we don’t have to go back that far. Maybe America is already great. In a 2022 survey the Pew Research Center sought out Americans’ attitudes about “religion’s role in public life.”

One of the questions asked was did the founders “originally intend” for the United states to be a Christian nation? Sixty-percent of the respondents said the founders originally intended for America to be a Christian nation. When asked about the current status of the States a third said the U.S. is ALREADY a Christian nation, and 45% said the country SHOULD be a Christian nation.

So far it is looking good for your side. Except for one, tiny, small, teeny weeny, minor detail.

All of those sentiments about America being a Christian nation? Well, they’re based on lies created from a public relations bullshit stunt. But don’t take my word for it.

In his book One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America (emphasis mine) Princeton Professor of History, Kevin M. Kruse, writes about the origins of the current rise of religious nationalism in America.

After the Great Depression the tug of war between business and government was in full swing. Business leaders believed that the economy would recover more quickly if they were left alone with no oversight. Capitalism will fix itself.

FDR thought differently. He and his administration blamed the economic hardships on the unchecked, unfair, and unscrupulous practices of corporate leaders and oligarchs. He insisted they needed oversight.

FDR’s administration instituted higher taxes on the rich. They built roads and bridges. Created the Social Security Administration guaranteeing dignity in retirement for workers. The start of unemployment insurance and welfare benefits also began. They cracked down on unfair business practices and created safer working conditions. The Food and Drug Administration was created in 1938 to make sure food and drugs were safe for American citizens.

Business leaders opposed these changes (and more) and set out to punish FDR for his sins. With funding from wealthy industrialists, major corporations, and lobbyists they fought back. By recruiting several clergymen they created a public relations campaign built around democracy, religion, and patriotism.

They settled on the central message that the government was “only interested in enslaving its people.” The public relations campaign “Freedom Under God” was launched.

The Pew Research numbers suggest a direct correlation with that campaign.

For over 40 years, people have intensely debated about the religious intent of the founding fathers. Prior to the campaign the birth of our nation was seen as a political and civics issue. “Taxation without representation.”.

There were several prominent clergy in the midst of America’s revolution. Most were interested in justifying the separation from the Monarchy. Others whether it was a just war. They were mostly centered on reasoning for acts of disobedience to the Crown. Christians were obligated to obey kings and governors because “they were appointed by divine providence.” To rebel against authority was a direct assault on that providence.

That America was always a Christian nation is also refuted by hard numbers. Facts.

In 1850 only 16% of Americans claimed membership in a church. Fifty years later and the numbers increased only another 20%. Over the next two decades those numbers peaked at 43%. In 1930 and 1940 they bumped slightly to only 47% and 49% respectively.

By the end of WWII America was more religious than ever. In 1950, 57% of Americans considered themselves members of a church. By 1960 that number reached an impressive 69%.

Those numbers are telling and in the public relations industry would consider numbers like that as a very successful campaign. In a little over 30 years church membership nearly doubled.

Before that campaign America was more secular than ever. The numbers don’t lie.

Prior to the 1930s church membership was dismal and it is clear that America was not a Christian nation..

Our contemporary ideals of religion and country was born out of the “Freedom Under God” public relations campaign. As it grew legs politicians hitched their wagon to it. Emboldened by it or quick opportunists, they began to speak more openly about faith, riding the religious tide.

The link to “piety and politics” was embraced by both major political parties.

Despite being built on half-truths and lies the extensive reach of the PR campaign permeated American society. To legitimize their message the strategy included creating assumptions of the founding father’s religious intentions.

To justify their stance, the campaign rewrote history. They made assuming statements, insisting that the Revolution was a religious war first. For many evangelicals that twisted interpretation was enough.

As the campaign churned most denominations offered little resistance. The majority didn’t agree with the militancy of the campaign but gave in to the ideals of encouraging church membership. Despite what criticisms was written about the superficiality of the campaign, membership rose across all denominations. People “voting with their feet” by showing up for services eventually won out.

Twenty years later when D.D. Eisenhower was elected, and re-elected, the movement sunk its teeth into the White House. Eisenhower’s administration was instrumental in implementing one nation “under God” into the Pledge of Allegiance. “In God We Trust” was also added to our mint.

Is it finally sinking in? The lie that we started as a Christian nation belongs with all the other origin myths. It is no more valid than the Pilgrims landing on “Plymouth Rock” (a legend created in 1740). Or a young George Washington chopping down a cherry tree (it never happened). Or Paul Revere’s ride to Concord (he never got there).

The “Freedom” campaign was so successful that the assumptions stuck for decades and are reflected in the Pew survey numbers.

The lie (what else should we call it?) has been foisted upon the rest of the American public by a minority of its own citizens. There is more evidence proving it a 40 plus year sentiment than all the evidence that exists two centuries prior.

Facts over feelings, facts over lies, should be the only reality we embrace.

I get it that the go to argument at times like this is, “well that’s just your opinion, man.” This is what philosopher and neuroscientist Sam Harris calls “a crises of meaning.”

Looking at the same set of facts or events, people spend large amounts of time gathering information from competing outlets. Each side thinks their news and information is grounded in reality. They believe the opposing side’s information is not.

Therefore, as Harris argues, we are left with the argument, which group is the one living in reality?

But of course none of this matters for a majority of fundamentalists.

They’ve bought into a belief system built on an invisible man in the sky. A system of rewards and punishments where their enemies become god’s enemies.

Where a group uses cruelty as the currency to inflict judgment on others. A cruelty bought and paid for with a perverted sense of empowerment.

Where hypocrisy runs deep and the largest card carrying members of the Dunning-Kruger effect proudly show them off.

Epilogue

If this article seems a little harsh, you should have seen my first draft!

You did stick around though so congratulations. I suspect most have long since scurried away “faster than a jack-rabbit on a date.”

The purpose of the bluntness? That you start to wake up from your nightmare. That your days of Zombie Christianity eventually come to an end.

F. Scott Fitzgerald famously said that the sign of intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing viewpoints in mind. He also said having the ability to still function while considering them was also important. But it is the next line of the quote that is equally interesting.

It reads, “…to see that things are hopeless and yet be determined to make them otherwise.”

I suppose that these articles are my feeble attempt to do just that.

(Read the Madness Of Modern Life)

Sources

• The Age of American Reason, Susan Jacoby, Pantheon Books/Random House, 2008
• PR! A Social History of Spin, Stuart Ewen, Basic Books/Perseus Books Group, 1996
• One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America, Basic Books/Perseus Books Group, 2015
• The End of Democratic Delusions, George Packer, The Atlantic, December 2, 2024