America’s Road to Secularization

Last week’s Supreme Court’s decision to rewrite the definition of marriage shocked many Filipinos who still think of America as a Christian nation. They were asking me, “Why?  How did that happen?” Because of America’s status in the world, decisions made by our leaders have far reaching consequences worldwide, and this recent pronouncement maybe even more so, especially for us who work to share God’s Word to a lost world.  But our nation’s road to secularization (the absence of God) has been a long one.

When forming the laws of our nation, America’s founding fathers relied heavily upon the Bible.  One researcher found that, when explaining our laws and form of government, 94% of our founding fathers’ quotes were either directly from the Bible, or from those such as Blackstone, Locke, and Montesquieu, who quoted the Bible as their primary source of authority. 

Early in our nation’s history, Supreme Court justices used these sources as the basis for their decisions.  As late as 1892, a ruling of the court said, “Our laws and our institutions must necessarily be based upon and embody the teachings of the Redeemer of Mankind.  It is impossible for us to do otherwise; and in this sense and to the extent our civilization and our institutions are emphatically Christian.” The early curriculum of America’s law schools, such as Harvard, Princeton, and Yale, were based upon Biblical principles.

But the seeds of change began to germinate in the late 1800’s as new secular philosophies and worldviews, pioneered by men such as the agnostic Charles Darwin, the socialist Karl Marx, and the philosopher Freidrich Nietzsche, denied the existence of God.  Although rejected by the populace, their beliefs attracted the attention of intellectual elites.

Once such elite, Charles Eliot, a Unitarian, served as Harvard University’s president from 1869 to 1909.  He, more than any other, cemented Harvard’s transition from a Christian to a secular institution, severing all connections with its religious past.  Eliot adopted the practice of ‘tenure’ to shield new left-leaning professors from academic accountability.  Harvard’s curriculums, especially its law school, were changed to reflect strong humanistic / secular beliefs.  Moral absolutes gave way to situational ethics.  During the early 1900's, other universities adopted Harvard's curriculums.

By the 1940’s, our Congress and Supreme Court were well represented by graduates of these humanistic / secular education systems.  The moral principles used by our country’s founding fathers were no longer respected.  An example of this was a 1952 Supreme Court decision that declared movies were a form of free speech and therefore exempt from censorship.  This overturned a previous 1915 court case that said movies were a form of business that should be censored according to accepted moral standards.

During the 50’s and 60’s, many of Hollywood’s studios became internationally owned.  Money rather than morals took priority.  The conservative producers from the golden age of Hollywood were replaced with left-leaning writers and directors who, free from legal restraints, produced movies that challenged moral standards.  In 1969, for example, the film Midnight Cowboy touted homosexual themes that repulsed many critics.  But the Hollywood elite awarded the film Best Picture of the Year and gave its director, John Schlesinger, a homosexual, the Best Director award.

By the mid 1990’s, the entertainment industry had produced hundreds of pro-homosexual themed films that were viewed by millions.  As standards were lowered, TV producers presented homosexuality in a positive light with such programs as Will & Grace, which Vice-President Biden said help shift public opinion in favor of homosexuality more than “anything anybody has ever done so far.”  During this time, the LGBT community were launching propaganda that shifted homosexuality from a moral issue to a discrimination issue. 

Today, older Americans are shocked by the rapid changes in our culture: the increase in homosexuality, the legalization of narcotic drugs, disrespect toward police, violence in our streets, proliferation of sexual immorality, disobedience toward parents, unbelief in God, the mocking of Christians.  But for the past forty years, these have been common themes in the rock music industry as well as Hollywood.  The entertainment industry (which is more than just entertainment) has reshaped our culture.  This reshaping is spreading worldwide and is having a devastating effect on church growth.

Last week on Fox news, in response to the Supreme Court’s decision, Pulitzer-price winning commentator Charles Krauthammer was asked, “Why is America becoming secular?”  His first word was, ‘technology’.  Technology has given every American daily access to a secular values education program brought to us through music, TV, movies, and the internet.  He went on to say that “The secular left, realizing it wasn’t going to win through politics, decided to march through our cultural institutions: the universities, the media, and Hollywood.  Young people are no longer raised by their parents.  They get outside influence through their eyes and ears from the internet, through television, as never before in human history, 6 to 8 hours a day.  The left controls the culture, and the culture, in the end, drives the politics.”