A Lesson on Culture for Bill O'Reilly
Brian Trent
February 05, 2007
Cultures - and the civilizations which give rise to them - don't remain frozen in time. They transform. They progress or revert, grow or retract, reach golden pinnacles of accomplishments or implode. On lengthy enough timelines, they can do all of the above.
And like a cast of vibrant characters in the greatest epic since Earthly life first crawled out of the muck, we've seen numerous models to learn from. Though few U.S. Congressmen and fewer Senators heed such lessons, they exist anyway. We see cruel despotisms and theocracies which smear the pages of history, but we also see astonishing progressive cultures which gave the world its highest art, science, and humanistic principles. Side by side, only an ignorant spirit would choose the former.
What do we choose for the United States? What will the history books say?
The United States of America is a civilization founded on Greco-Roman principles. The concept of democracy was derived from the ancient Greece under Pericles, and its functional republic is the Roman model perfected.
Pundits and strategists of the 21st century GOP campaign tirelessly strive to advance a different view. From the echo chambers of mass media, the evangelical Right pushes forward the fallacy that America is a Christian nation, founded on Biblical principles.
It is of course nothing of the sort. Not only is America founded on a secular Constitution (which in its own words is "the supreme law of the land"), not only do the first ten words of the First Amendment explicitly forbid a state-endorsed religion, but John Adams stated it for the global record in 1792: "The Government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion." The Founding Fathers left it up to the American people to be as religious or nonreligious, as Christian or Muslim, as Hindu or Wiccan, as they wanted to be. Government would remain neutral and secular.
Why is it important? Consider Rome at the height of its power, where freedom of religion was generally allowed. Having staked its eagle-headed standards into most of the western world, Roman civilization enjoyed multiple cross-pollinations with other cultures. The results were awe-inspiring, a free exchange of ideas fed a pluralist civilization best realized in one of the Roman Empire's grandest cities - Alexandria, Egypt.
When Christianity was declared the state religion of the Empire in 311, all that changed. The religious tolerance vanished, and in 391 the next "evanga-logical" step was taken: Other faiths were outlawed, and the subsequent forcible conversion of cultures, the destruction of pagan libraries, the crippling of humanity's artistic and scientific inquiries to understand the universe resulted in a culture of blind, unquestioning obedience.
This provides the unheeded message for American evangelicals today, who seek nothing short of a return to this medievalism. Capitalizing on both the
9-11 attacks and recent natural disasters, Crusader personas like Pat Robertson and long-time compatriot Reverend Jerry Falwell blamed the tragedies on secular society's abandonment of God. More evils would befall America, Falwell preached, unless we quickly embraced Biblical Law - the Old Testament code of ethics which in addition to condemning homosexuals also says citizens have the duty to stone disobedient children, sell daughters into slavery, and smite those who work on the Sabbath. It also relegates women to positions nearly as subservient as the Taliban imposed. Said
Falwell: "If we are going to save America and evangelize the world, we cannot accommodate secular philosophies that are diametrically opposed to Christian truth." The June 1999 issue of American Vision's Biblical Worldview magazine expressed the core thesis of Christian fundamentalism:
"We've been told that Christians cannot impose their religious beliefs on others. Since heaven is at stake, we have no choice."
Same battle-cry, new century.
For American civilization which historically champions liberty, a fundamentalist government would slay the Constitution itself and replace it with the Bible, the Koran, or whatever holy book the "holy elite" rally by.
The freedom of America is the freedom to be diverse, independent, even dissenting - indeed, it was formed as a nation from the very act of dissention. Yet evangelical philosophy is opposed to this diversity.
Possessing their own right to worship isn't enough for them; they feel it necessary to crush the beliefs of others and convert.
Consider GOP Majority leader Tom Delay telling a fundamentalist gathering at the First Baptist Church in Texas that, "God is using me, all the time, everywhere, to stand up for biblical worldview in everything that I do and everywhere I am. He is training me, He is working with me." And forget the debate over homosexual marriage - commissioners of Rhea County, Tennessee (the same county which arrested a teacher for teaching evolution) want the ability to charge homosexuals with "crimes against nature." In the words of Commissioner J.C. Fugate, "We need to keep them out of here."
In the evangelical mind, "them" is anyone who dissents.
But it's deeper than that even. What kind of future can we hope for when the leader of a nation believes in Apocalypse, not human progress? When disaster and tragedy are seen as advance shots of the End Times -- a concept which evangelicals embrace and desire?
A progressive society contrasts sharply with the poisonous culture of nationalistic fascism which fueled the Nazi regime, the totalitarian atmosphere of Stalin's Russia and Communist China, or the evangelical mania of medieval Europe - including holy wars, Inquisitions, and papal decrees to convert the Americas "by any means necessary" which, of course, allowed for the genocide of the Aztec and Inca civilizations.
America today is flirting with all three poisons. The unifying patriotism in the days following 9-11 has been exploited shamelessly. The culture of the George W. Bush Administration has pushed a fanatic jingoism which equates dissent (which Thomas Jefferson called the "highest form of
patriotism") with aiding terrorists. The natural fear of future terrorism has aided a new brand of totalitarian ambitions of which the renewed PATRIOT Act is but one example. And the evangelical agenda of the current White House is not only antithetical to America's fundamental fibers, but is a running leap towards theocracy and state-endorsed purges. It isn't by accident that the current president enjoys using the word "crusade" when speaking of his dealings with other cultures.
Progressive, humanistic civilization is not only possible, but it yields the greatest benefits to history. The Classical Age of Greece and the Italian Renaissance stand as vibrant bookends, while the millennia in between gave the world torturous Inquisitions, witch-burnings, holy wars, and a Lord-of-the-Flies-like degeneration of all the ancients had built.
Progress was heresy; blind faith was the only acceptable state of society, and the religious elite grew bloated and corrupt with each passing century.
The choice for America is spelled out in that contrast. Will we be a Crusader society, or a progressive Golden Age?
At this point, it's impossible to tell.
And like a cast of vibrant characters in the greatest epic since Earthly life first crawled out of the muck, we've seen numerous models to learn from. Though few U.S. Congressmen and fewer Senators heed such lessons, they exist anyway. We see cruel despotisms and theocracies which smear the pages of history, but we also see astonishing progressive cultures which gave the world its highest art, science, and humanistic principles. Side by side, only an ignorant spirit would choose the former.
What do we choose for the United States? What will the history books say?
The United States of America is a civilization founded on Greco-Roman principles. The concept of democracy was derived from the ancient Greece under Pericles, and its functional republic is the Roman model perfected.
Pundits and strategists of the 21st century GOP campaign tirelessly strive to advance a different view. From the echo chambers of mass media, the evangelical Right pushes forward the fallacy that America is a Christian nation, founded on Biblical principles.
It is of course nothing of the sort. Not only is America founded on a secular Constitution (which in its own words is "the supreme law of the land"), not only do the first ten words of the First Amendment explicitly forbid a state-endorsed religion, but John Adams stated it for the global record in 1792: "The Government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion." The Founding Fathers left it up to the American people to be as religious or nonreligious, as Christian or Muslim, as Hindu or Wiccan, as they wanted to be. Government would remain neutral and secular.
Why is it important? Consider Rome at the height of its power, where freedom of religion was generally allowed. Having staked its eagle-headed standards into most of the western world, Roman civilization enjoyed multiple cross-pollinations with other cultures. The results were awe-inspiring, a free exchange of ideas fed a pluralist civilization best realized in one of the Roman Empire's grandest cities - Alexandria, Egypt.
When Christianity was declared the state religion of the Empire in 311, all that changed. The religious tolerance vanished, and in 391 the next "evanga-logical" step was taken: Other faiths were outlawed, and the subsequent forcible conversion of cultures, the destruction of pagan libraries, the crippling of humanity's artistic and scientific inquiries to understand the universe resulted in a culture of blind, unquestioning obedience.
This provides the unheeded message for American evangelicals today, who seek nothing short of a return to this medievalism. Capitalizing on both the
9-11 attacks and recent natural disasters, Crusader personas like Pat Robertson and long-time compatriot Reverend Jerry Falwell blamed the tragedies on secular society's abandonment of God. More evils would befall America, Falwell preached, unless we quickly embraced Biblical Law - the Old Testament code of ethics which in addition to condemning homosexuals also says citizens have the duty to stone disobedient children, sell daughters into slavery, and smite those who work on the Sabbath. It also relegates women to positions nearly as subservient as the Taliban imposed. Said
Falwell: "If we are going to save America and evangelize the world, we cannot accommodate secular philosophies that are diametrically opposed to Christian truth." The June 1999 issue of American Vision's Biblical Worldview magazine expressed the core thesis of Christian fundamentalism:
"We've been told that Christians cannot impose their religious beliefs on others. Since heaven is at stake, we have no choice."
Same battle-cry, new century.
For American civilization which historically champions liberty, a fundamentalist government would slay the Constitution itself and replace it with the Bible, the Koran, or whatever holy book the "holy elite" rally by.
The freedom of America is the freedom to be diverse, independent, even dissenting - indeed, it was formed as a nation from the very act of dissention. Yet evangelical philosophy is opposed to this diversity.
Possessing their own right to worship isn't enough for them; they feel it necessary to crush the beliefs of others and convert.
Consider GOP Majority leader Tom Delay telling a fundamentalist gathering at the First Baptist Church in Texas that, "God is using me, all the time, everywhere, to stand up for biblical worldview in everything that I do and everywhere I am. He is training me, He is working with me." And forget the debate over homosexual marriage - commissioners of Rhea County, Tennessee (the same county which arrested a teacher for teaching evolution) want the ability to charge homosexuals with "crimes against nature." In the words of Commissioner J.C. Fugate, "We need to keep them out of here."
In the evangelical mind, "them" is anyone who dissents.
But it's deeper than that even. What kind of future can we hope for when the leader of a nation believes in Apocalypse, not human progress? When disaster and tragedy are seen as advance shots of the End Times -- a concept which evangelicals embrace and desire?
A progressive society contrasts sharply with the poisonous culture of nationalistic fascism which fueled the Nazi regime, the totalitarian atmosphere of Stalin's Russia and Communist China, or the evangelical mania of medieval Europe - including holy wars, Inquisitions, and papal decrees to convert the Americas "by any means necessary" which, of course, allowed for the genocide of the Aztec and Inca civilizations.
America today is flirting with all three poisons. The unifying patriotism in the days following 9-11 has been exploited shamelessly. The culture of the George W. Bush Administration has pushed a fanatic jingoism which equates dissent (which Thomas Jefferson called the "highest form of
patriotism") with aiding terrorists. The natural fear of future terrorism has aided a new brand of totalitarian ambitions of which the renewed PATRIOT Act is but one example. And the evangelical agenda of the current White House is not only antithetical to America's fundamental fibers, but is a running leap towards theocracy and state-endorsed purges. It isn't by accident that the current president enjoys using the word "crusade" when speaking of his dealings with other cultures.
Progressive, humanistic civilization is not only possible, but it yields the greatest benefits to history. The Classical Age of Greece and the Italian Renaissance stand as vibrant bookends, while the millennia in between gave the world torturous Inquisitions, witch-burnings, holy wars, and a Lord-of-the-Flies-like degeneration of all the ancients had built.
Progress was heresy; blind faith was the only acceptable state of society, and the religious elite grew bloated and corrupt with each passing century.
The choice for America is spelled out in that contrast. Will we be a Crusader society, or a progressive Golden Age?
At this point, it's impossible to tell.
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