Man as God: The Triumph of Secularism in American Culture

         Christianity is in crisis in America. The percentage of Americans who identify as Christian is declining and declining rapidly. In just the last decade, Christianity lost over 11,000,000 people—a 12% decline.  Of those raised in a Christian home, 23% have abandoned the faith.  At the current rate by 2040 most Americans will no longer be Christians.  

      This decline of Christianity is not because America is becoming a melting pot of different faiths. Christianity is not losing ground to other religions. In fact, people of other faiths—Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and others combined make up only 7% of Americans, and their numbers have remained relatively stable.  If Americans are not leaving Christianity for other religions, where are they going? The numbers tell the story:

       In the 1950s, over 90% of Americans identified as Christian. As recently as 2009 more than 80% of Americans identified as Christian. But by 2019, barely more than a decade later, that number had shrunk to 65%.  During that same period of time, those who identify as having no religious beliefs—a group pollsters refer to as “Nones”—has increased from 17% of the population to nearly 30% of the population.  This is an increase of over 30,000,000 people who say they have no religious affiliation whatsoever. There are now more Nones than there are Evangelicals in the United States—and Nones are growing much faster.  Even worse is the fact that the younger one is, the more likely they are to reject Christianity. Among Millennials (those born between 1981 and 1996), we have already reached a tipping point: about half of Millennials proclaim to be Christians and about half do not. 
         

        What is perhaps most extraordinary is that this mass rejection of the Christian faith did not occur gradually over a long period of time. Rather, much of this abandonment of faith has taken place in the last 5 years and almost all of it has occurred within the last decade. The percentage of people in Generation Z (those born between 1999-2015) who claim to be atheist is double the percentage of Millennials who identify as atheist. This is a 100% increase in the number of atheists in the span of one generation. 

        This indicates a recent cultural shift that has caused a dramatic change in the way Americans view Christianity.

        This profound change is evidenced not only in the rejection of Christianity by large numbers of people but also in the fact that many of those who remain Christian suffer a crisis of confidence in their faith. In truth, many Christians are more than a little embarrassed about being Christians. We want to be true to the faith of our fathers, but think it ridiculous to believe in the supernatural. We want to believe that Jesus is the way to heaven, but think it intolerant to believe he is the only way. We like what Jesus said about loving our neighbor, but are uncomfortable with his comments on sin, judgment, and Satan. We resolve this conflict by revising our faith to conform to our secular beliefs. We are still believers, but we believe in a god that is subject to man's reason, man's science, and man's morality. If God does not conform to our understanding of reason, if His justice is not consistent with our sense of justice, if His will does not align with our will—then we ignore, reinterpret, or reject Him.

     This dramatic shift is readily evident in our culture. We are “spiritual,” rather than “Christian;” “seekers,” rather than “believers;” and Jesus has been demoted from “Lord and Savior” to “wise philosopher and life counselor.” Many churches have substituted the concepts of sin, redemption, and salvation with the more culturally acceptable concepts of equality, tolerance, and social progress. In short, Christianity is tolerated so long as it is indistinguishable from secular humanism. We imagine ourselves to be progressive Christians, or liberal Christians, or modern Christians—but the truth is that one who does not believe in the words of Jesus is no Christian at all. And so we find ourselves in this middle ground—this no-man’s land—where we believe in the “truths” of secularism, but we still cling loosely to our Christian faith in spite of the fact that is runs counter to everything we think we know. But with each passing day our Christian beliefs are pushed further and further to the periphery of our lives.

     Why are so many people rejecting Christianity? Have there been amazing archeological findings that cast doubt on the Christian story? No, in fact the opposite is true.  Have there been new scientific discoveries that make the existence of God unlikely? Again, the opposite has actually occurred.  Have philosophers shown that Christian orthodoxy is illogical, inconsistent, or in contradiction with itself? Not in the least.  What then, has occurred that would explain the greatly increased skepticism about a faith that has withstood critical scrutiny for over 2,000 years? 

        The answer: Americans have accepted a secular worldview that is entirely consistent with atheism and entirely inconsistent with Christianity. These beliefs include religious irrelevancy, scientific materialism, moral relativism, and radical individualism. For ease of analysis, I call this set of beliefs Secular Materialism and describe them, broadly, as follows:

 

1.    Religious Irrelevance
Religious belief is based on faith, tradition, and ritual. Since the Enlightenment humankind has endeavored to throw off these chains and use the tools of reason, logic, and science rather than relying on the authority of the church. This is why the United States was founded as a secular nation with an impenetrable wall of separation between church and state. One’s religious beliefs should have no influence on public policy and should, preferably, be banned from the public square and restricted to the confines of church, home, and individual conscience.

 

2.    Scientific Materialism
   The material, natural world is all we can know, and the scientific method is the             only legitimate way of discerning facts about this world. Anything outside of the             material world (the supernatural) is at best unknowable, and at worst, illusory.
       
3.    Moral Relativism
Morality is a social construct, relative to time, place, and culture. One person's “truth” may not be another person's “truth.” Because this is so, making universal truth claims is exclusionary and intolerant.

 

4.    Radical Individualism
Man is the ultimate source of authority, and his betterment is our highest end. The individual and his self-actualization is our greatest goal, and his desires are to be limited only when they infringe on the rights of others or when superseded by the greater good of the society as a whole.

 

        Secular Materialism, like any worldview, is complicated, complex, and includes many other subsets of beliefs that emanate from these as logical corollaries. The degree to which any individual subscribes to each subset of the Secular Materialist worldview will, naturally, vary with the individual. However, the maxims of Secular Materialism have become increasingly accepted as true among all Americans, and especially so among younger Americans with college degrees.  This group is nearly synonymous with Nones who have abandoned the Christian faith. The degree to which Nones have been influenced by Secular Materialism is clear: 76% of Nones believe that religion is inconsistent with science,  68% believe that morality is relative,  and 84% believe that man’s highest goal in life is to “enjoy it as much as possible.”  It is certainly more than a coincidence that those who have accepted the precepts of Secular Materialism have rejected Christianity. A comparison of the beliefs of Secular Materialism with the beliefs of Christianity reveals that Secular Materialism directly contradicts the Christian worldview:

 

1.    Religious Irrelevance v. Religious Reverence 
Christian theology holds that not only is Christianity reasonable and logical but that reason and logic emanate from God. Christians point to the historical fact that the Constitution does not call for a separation of church and state but rather protects religious belief by prohibiting the establishment of any religion by the government while at the same time guaranteeing the free exercise of religion by all. Religion in America was, up until very recently, an almost omnipresent and ubiquitous part of our culture, present nearly everywhere and influencing practically every aspect of public life, from our schools to our courts. This is consistent with the Christian belief that God is omnipresent and not only created the world but sustains it. Secular Materialism’s attempt to limit the influence of God is irrational, sinful, and impossible.

 

2.    Scientific Materialism v. The Transcendent and Supernatural
The Christian view is that God is imminent and transcendent and reality consists of the material and spiritual, the natural and supernatural. God is here in this material world and God transcends the material world. God is supernatural and eternal and one can know God in many ways including through the supernatural intervention of the Holy Spirit. Jesus believed this world was passing away and the faithful would live forever in the eternal, supernatural kingdom of God. Secularism rejects any knowledge of the supernatural and thereby rejects any belief in miracles, angels, demons, heaven, hell, or God.

 

3.    Moral Relativism v. Absolute and Eternal Truth
Christians not only believe in absolute, eternal, and unchanging truths, but that Jesus himself is the truth. Christians believe God ordains morality and that God cannot act immorally. Whatever God does is moral because morality is part of His essence. Christians believe not only in absolute truth and God-created morality, but in sin, redemption, and salvation. Secularism holds that morality is relative and truth is subjective to time, place, and culture. Man establishes what is right and wrong, true and false, good and evil—not God.

 

4.    Radical Individualism v. Self-Denial and Submission to God
Jesus taught that individuals must deny themselves and live for God to find meaning in life. He taught that our highest goal is to know and love God and that the purpose of life is to have a relationship with Him and accept His free offer of eternal life in the everlasting kingdom of God. Secularism teaches that man and his social progress is the highest goal and greatest cause.

         It is clear that the Secular Materialist view of the world and the Christian view of the world are not simply two worldviews, they are two opposing worldviews. One can either believe the truths proclaimed by Secular Materialism or the truths proclaimed by Christianity, but one cannot believe the truths of Secular Materialism and believe in Christianity. The acceptance of the worldview offered by Secular Materialism is, I believe, the major reason belief in Christianity is declining so rapidly in America. One simply cannot, logically, adhere to both Secular Materialism and Christianity simultaneously. This explains all 3 cultural phenomena we are currently facing: the rise in Nones, the rejection of Christianity, and the cognitive dissonance experienced by so many Christians who want to believe but think their faith is inconsistent with science and reason.

        The doctrines propounded by Secular Materialism are a worldview, as subjective and filled with assumptions and presuppositions as any other worldview. They are not a set of scientific facts based on experiment, evidence, and logic, but simply a set of assertions about the way the world is. We will explore in great detail these assertions to reveal that not one of them has been proven by science and that they often are inconsistent with reason, logic, and experience. And yet the propositions of            Secular Materialism are often taught, directly or indirectly, as if they were unbiased discoveries about the nature of our universe.
         Secular Materialism, or some variation of it, constitutes a major part of the curriculum at most colleges and universities.  Any college student who is paying attention knows that she is supposed to believe these things—or at a minimum give them very serious consideration. Having a visceral dislike for all religious truth claims, rejecting the supernatural, understanding that morality is relative, and venerating the individual and his self-actualization is nearly synonymous with having a liberal education in our current culture.  Believing these things is what constitutes being enlightened, tolerant, and sophisticated. Unfortunately, these “truths” of Secular Materialism are, for all practical purposes, identical to the “truths” of atheism.  

          Students are not taught that God is irrelevant; they are taught that our religious beliefs are to be strictly separated from our public lives. Students are not taught that God does not exist; they are taught that the supernatural does not exist. Students are not taught that God is not the author of morality; they are taught that morality is a man-made construct relative to time and place. Students are not taught that Man is God; they are taught that the individual is the highest authority and his self-actualization is the purpose of life.

          Christianity and its rich theology and philosophy is considered, like all other religious beliefs, to be unworthy of academic discussion for the simple reason that they are religious beliefs.  This explains why such a dramatic number of students enter college as Christians and leave as Nones. 

           It is no wonder that millions of Americans—including millions of Christians—are struggling with their faith in God. They have not been told that God does not exist, but they have been indoctrinated with views that make belief in God intellectually impossible.

           The acceptance of a secular worldview—combined with a bombardment of scorn, derision, and mockery for those who dare question it—has left millions of Christians feeling alienated and confused, like strangers in their own land. Christianity—as an influence on the public life of the nation—is being systematically removed from our culture at large and limited to the confines of our churches and homes. The mere mention of Christianity is considered boorish in social settings, a distraction in the business world, inappropriate in policy discussions, and outright illegal in the classroom. It is as if an agreement has been struck where belief in God is tolerated so long as this belief plays no significant role in our lives. We have, it seems, acquiesced to a radical separation of faith from everything else, such that the space left for Christianity is so minor that even most atheists would be comfortable with it. God has been given one hour of worship on Sunday morning, but He is strictly forbidden from showing up anywhere in our culture outside of the walls of the church. The tacit agreement is: sing praises to your God all you like on Sunday, but leave Him at the church when you return to the real world on Monday.

 
          Deep in our inner being we know that something has gone horribly awry. We feel a sense of profound loss—a loss of vitality, of vibrancy, of significance. Like a person afflicted with Alzheimer’s, we know Christianity has lost something, but we don’t quite know what.

 
         Tragically, the secularization of America has been so successful that we are only vaguely aware of what we have lost. There was never a moment when Christians went to battle with secularists for the life of our culture. Rather, Christians embraced Secular Materialism because we believed the lie that our faith life is separate from our intellectual life. We succumbed to the indoctrination we received in our secular schools that faith has its place, but that place is confined to the personal and the private. We bought the myth that this ghettoization of faith is appropriate because faith is neither rational nor scientific and therefore should play no role in government or academics. But most importantly we have been taught a set of beliefs that make Christianity intellectually impossible.

         But it doesn’t have to be this way. There is another path. This alternate resolution is to concede that our Christian beliefs and Secular Materialism are in conflict, but to conclude that it is Secular Materialism that is unreasonable, not our Christian beliefs. This is a difficult path. Not because the case for Christianity and against Secular Materialism is so difficult, but because even to consider that our secular beliefs may be misplaced requires that we question what we think we know. This takes a good deal of thought that is at once contemplative, critical, and creative. In other words, it requires that we engage in the rarest kind of thinking: that we question what we have been taught.

        Because our culture has become so secularized, we mistakenly feel that our Christian faith is inconsistent with science and logic. The truth is one can believe in God and not give up an ounce of reason or logic. Secular Materialism is radical and new. It was not the view held by Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Copernicus, Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Galileo, Descartes, Pascal, Locke, Newton, Beethoven, Hegel, Kant, Madison, Jefferson, Lincoln, or Kierkegaard—to name only a few! After all, most of the world’s greatest philosophers, artists, writers, and scientists were Christians—not secularists.  Their genius and their Christianity were not at odds with each other. The only reason we feel the tension between our knowledge and our Christianity today is because we have been taught a view of the world that is opposed to Christianity.

        The great irony of our blind allegiance to Secular Materialism is that it fails to stand under close scrutiny. While it parades itself as the rational choice and sets itself up as the irrefutable champion in the battle between reason and Christianity, the fact is that much of Secular Materialism is intellectually bankrupt. The secular emperor has no clothes but no one dares question his intellectual nakedness.

        I had the privilege of serving as a college professor for almost 20 years. My students inspired me to write this book. Even though I taught at colleges in the Bible Belt, a disturbing number of my students had blind faith in the “truths” of Secular Materialism. It was through listening to the worldviews of these students that I realized an entire generation of people had been indoctrinated with a philosophy that not only made Christianity untenable, but also could not itself survive critical analysis. When I asked them to defend their secular worldviews, most of them had no defense whatsoever. Instead, they looked at me as if I were insane. These were not views to be defended; they were absolute truths to be accepted without question. (I know, it is ironic that one of the secularist absolute truths is that there are no absolute truths.) When I asked an open and sincere question about these beliefs, this did not usually result in an intellectual discussion wherein postmodernism, secularism, and relativism were intelligently defended. Instead, the mere fact that I dared to question these truths invited personal attacks on my alleged lack of “tolerance.” (I know, it is ironic that tolerance is one of the hallmarks of secularism—unless one questions the truths of secularism.) If I dared to mention the Bible in these discussions, I was immediately informed that using the Bible as a source was illegitimate. Never had my students suggested the same of the works of Freud, Marx, or Dawkins. Indeed, never had any other source been regarded as “illegitimate.” Aside from the Bible, all thoughts from any and every source were considered not only legitimate, but equal. This was part of their indoctrination. If I mentioned Christianity I was informed—or often even warned—that any discussion of Christianity was violation of the “separation of church and state” and was illegal in the classroom. 

        What was particularly alarming about the standard response of students to any discussion of religion was that with few exceptions the responses were adamant and uniform. While I could barely get a hand to raise if I asked questions about the day’s assigned reading, and while it was sometimes even difficult to have students share their own personal opinions on issues related to the course, they were as certain as they were bold about their opinion on matters relating to Christianity: Religion is based on faith, not reason; it is a personal matter, the claims of which are entirely subjective; it is unverifiable scientifically, and therefore of little use in intellectual discussion; and, its discussion in the classroom is prohibited by the separation doctrine of the United States Constitution. These sentiments (and sentiments is what they may most generously be described as because not one of them is a fact) were expressed with such glee that my students acted as if I should affix a gold star to their foreheads for providing the perfect answer.

         My friends, this is not education—it is indoctrination. The fact was that while almost all of my students knew the secular answers very few of them could defend these answers. The secular mantra my students had on the tip of their tongues was, alas, not the result of protracted, arduous philosophical discussion during their high school years. No, far from it. My students came to me indoctrinated with a dogma that had been fed to them by the current authority in power. The final irony being that Secular Materialists (the current authority in power) have successfully dispatched the Church (former authority in power) under the premise that people should make up their own minds and not be dictated to by the current authority in power. Of course, exchanging one authoritarian dogma for another is not much progress. The king is dead, long live the king. Or as Peter Townshend sings in We Won’t Be Fooled Again: “Meet the new boss; Same as the old boss.” 

        The truth is our children are being taught a worldview that is belief masquerading as fact, indoctrination masquerading as education, and subjective opinion masquerading as objective truth. Most parents, teachers, and students are not aware of it, but make no mistake: our schools are teaching atheism under another name. And the result is that our children—even those who consider themselves Christians—are finding it very difficult to believe in a faith that runs counter to everything they think they know.

        Having spent nearly 20 years of my life as a teacher and more than 20 years as a student, I am unaware of any topic, save religion, that is so discriminated against in our classrooms. I have engaged in (or sometimes merely endured) discussions on homosexuality, lesbianism, transgender issues, transvestite behavior, sado-masochism, masculinity, femininity, racism, sexism, xenophobia, nationalism, imperialism, capitalism, socialism, communism, Marxism, nihilism, liberalism, conservatism, libertarianism, fascism, genocide, anorexia, bulimia, suicide, euthanasia, global warming, sociopathy, psychopathy, criminal deviance, sexual deviance, totalitarianism, apartheid, ethnic cleansing, child labor, human trafficking, sexual harassment, and the patriarchy. Indeed, the above list of topics reads like a college course catalogue—and I have no problem whatsoever with the discussion of these topics. What I strongly object to is that faith, belief, religion, and God are not included in this rather inclusive list of important social topics. Particularly when it is indisputably true to say that nothing else comes even close to Christianity in the impact it has had—for better and for worse—on Western culture.

       The purpose of this book is not to turn our schools into churches. It is not to teach that Christianity is the one true religion, the best religion, or even better than other religions—although I believe it is all of these. It is not to teach that the Christian worldview is “right” and secular worldviews are “wrong.” It is certainly not to eliminate any subjects from being taught in our high schools, colleges, and universities. My purpose is just the opposite: to teach more, not less; to broaden, not narrow what our children are taught; and to seek more context, more depth, more questioning; not merely indoctrinate our children with atheist dogma.

 

        Our current educational system from high school through graduate school has all but eliminated any mention of the single most significant event of the Western world: Christianity. This is ludicrous. This not only weakens our understanding of Christianity, but it weakens our understanding of Secular Materialism, atheism, and every other worldview. Indeed, forbidding Christian thought from the classroom diminishes all of us—believers, doubters, and unbelievers alike. It is a preposterous position for any institution of learning. It is never wise to prohibit thoughts, viewpoints, and worldviews. To prohibit discussions about Christianity is nothing less than the censorship of what is objectively the single most important topic in the history of humankind. It is the moral equivalent of burning books. And it is time it stopped.

       There is a war waging for the very soul of America and most of us are not even aware of the battle. This is not a struggle over land or wealth, but a fight between worldviews. It is a war about the way Americans think and what they believe. Secular Materialism replaces God with science; truth with relativism; and salvation with self-actualization. It is atheism wrapped in scientific clothing and our children are being indoctrinated with this worldview—softly and indirectly in elementary school and stridently and directly by the time they reach graduate school. And this atheistic worldview teaches them that there is no God, there is no moral truth, and there is no purpose aside from grasping for some happiness in a very short life.

       This war of worldviews battling for our hearts and souls is waged with words, but it will determine the fate of our nation as surely as if it were waged with bullets. The enemy is well-armed, well-trained, and well-organized. And they are winning. Adherence to an exclusive secular worldview is not only an enemy of Christianity, it is an enemy of education. Eliminating Christian thought from our schools is not only an assault on Christianity, it is an assault on truth. It requires the rewriting of history, the reinterpretation of literature, the prohibition of free speech, and the suppression of free thought.

       What began decades ago in elite universities has now completely infiltrated our entire public education system. It is no longer just the radical atheist professor at Yale who espouses Secular Materialism, but the talk-show host, the stand-up comedian, and the barista at our local coffee shop. We have learned our lessons so well that schools no longer need teach an atheist worldview—it is firmly and deeply engrained into our culture. All “educated” people know that it is one thing to hold Jesus in respect as a man of great wisdom and kindness and that it is quite another to believe in such anachronistic and superstitious things as miracles, sin, redemption, and salvation. We “know” in every fiber of our sophisticated selves that such things are unreasonable, illogical, and unscientific. As such we can continue to believe in them as a matter of faith, but we can no longer consider them as actual possibilities in the real world. 

       And so we trudge through our lives devoid of purpose or meaning and sophisticated enough to know it is naïve to believe there is any purpose or meaning. We read novels and watch television programs whose characters are equally filled with angst and anxiety and who seem to have no spiritual lives whatsoever. We have succeeded in completely removing our religious beliefs from every aspect of our lives save church—and even there it is often hollow and ritualistic. We mistakenly blame this emptiness on our faith itself, thereby confirming our secular teaching, when in fact it is our secular teaching that has made our faith seem false. 

 

       One cannot long hold onto rituals that have no meaning, onto a belief we no longer believe. And how can one believe? We have been taught the truths of Secular Materialism and we have believed them. Ironically, these truths are not based on any scientific discoveries, rational conclusions, or logical inferences. They themselves are dogmatic beliefs, not proven, but merely accepted. Secularism is our new national religion and to doubt its doctrines is heresy. 

      The hour is late. It is well past time we critically examined these culturally accepted truths. It is time we recognized that what we have been taught directly contradicts our Christian beliefs. It is time these “truths” were challenged—as all truth claims should be challenged. Only then will we discover whether secularism provides a more reasoned, more logical, more rational explanation of our world than does Christianity. Until we do this, Christians will continue to lose a battle we do not even realize is being waged. 
     

       While this book is specifically a call to action for Christians, the same fight against Secular Materialism should be joined by all believers of any faith. A study of the worldviews of Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, Jews, and others as well as Christians would enlighten the minds of students and provide a contrast to the only philosophy currently permitted in our schools: secularism. The elimination of all “God-talk” from the classroom impoverishes the souls and minds of our children. It is a bias against even the possibility of the existence of God. As all totalitarian states know, the best way to eliminate a point of view is not to argue against it—it is to never mention it. And that is, whether intentionally or accidentally, what happened in our public schools. This, in turn, has resulted in our schools being soulless places where not only has the study of God been eliminated, but also the search for meaning and purpose, because one cannot discuss such topics in any serious fashion without at least considering the possibility of a Creator.

       While I welcome and encourage the discussion of all faiths in our public schools, as a Christian, I write this book for those Christians and those seekers who want to accept Christianity but think that their reason gets in the way of their faith. As we will discover, one can be a Christian and an intellectual at the same time. “Come, let us reason together, says the Lord.”  Come indeed. Christianity does not fear critical inquiry. It does not prohibit questions. An authentic Christian journey is an exhilarating discovery of the truth that will enable us to once again share our faith with confidence so that we may proclaim the words of Jesus, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free!”

DO YOU WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW OUR SCHOOLS HAVE INDOCTRINATED AN ENTIRE GENERATION OF STUDENTS IN AN ATHEISTIC WORLDVIEW?

THIS IS THE FIRST CHAPTER FROM, POST-CHRISTIAN NATION: THE SECULAR INDOCTRINATION OF AMERICA. IT IS AVAILABLE ON AMAZON.COM OR ANY OTHER BOOKSELLER WEBSITE.