The Enlightenment Changed Everything
Ed Brayton has a great post The Athiests are Coming, the Atheists are Coming! up at his place. In it, he points out a tendency among at least some conservative Christian writes for:
vaguely hysterical writings that get his credulous followers without ever actually identifying what they should feel threatened by, as brilliantly displayed in his latest screed. He begins by expressing just how baffled he is that atheists could actually publish books in Christian America . . .
Ed highlights the way in which conservatives have long misrepresented America as “Christian nation”, and refutes it using a wonderful hundred year old quote:
But in what sense can it be called a Christian nation? Not in the sense that Christianity is the established religion or that people are in any matter compelled to support it. On the contrary, the Constitution specifically provides that ‘Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.’ Neither is it Christian in the sense that all of its citizens are either in fact or name Christian. On the contrary, all religions have free scope within our borders. Numbers of our people profess other religions, and many reject all. Nor is it Christian in the sense that a profession of Christianity is a condition of holding office or otherwise engaging in public service, or essential to recognition either politically or socially. In fact, the government as a legal organization is independent of all religions.
I was surprised Brayton didn’t also refer to the US Treaty with Tripoli, which in Article Eleven states (btw - writte in 1796):
As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquillity, of Mussulmen; and, as the said States never entered into any war, or act of hostility against any Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties, that no pretext arising from religious opinions, shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.
Brayton observes that the flood of major books written by and espousing atheism today are in the tradition of the great enlghtenment thinkers - including our own Thomas Paine. Hitchens, Dawkins, Stenger, and other public and outspoken atheists today are writing in a god-besotted America, drunk on the intoxicating lies spread by Christian idiots from the president on down that we are doing Gods’ work.
[Dennis] Prager notes that free societies are rare wherever Islam predominates, [James] notes that prior to his day, there was not a single example of a nation dominated by Christianity that remained free. What changed that for Christianity was the influence of the Enlightenment, something Islam has yet to undergo.
And just as Prager and Kupelian think the threat of theocratic Islam provokes a literary backlash today, centuries of oppression under theocratic Christianity led to a literary backlash during the Enlightenment as well. Hitchens, Dawkins, Harris and others are walking in the footsteps of Voltaire, Paine, Condorcet, Diderot, d’Holbach and, yes, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and James Madison as well.
Since at least the 1970s, there has been a movement in America that sees current events through the distorting lens of “Biblical Prophecy” - you see it in any number of two-bit televangelists and crap novelists (Left Behind anyone?) who tell us that war in the Middle East is part of God’s plan for the rapture, for the second coming and at any minute Jesus is going to descend from Heaven and reward all his most loyal followers. Bruce Bawer describes it as the comic book version of faith. Inspired by a method of reading the bible that looks for passages in disparate books, then stringing them together and arguing that they are hidden biblical prophecy that must be properly interpreted. The whole method of reading the bible this way is in almost complete opposition to the way in which actual scholars read the book but it appeals to people who insist there must be meaning in world events - especially a hidden, deeper, divine meaning.
Problematically, this tendency lead millions of people down a dead end path in understanding world events and leaves them vulnerable to such vacuous nonsense as “They hate us for our freedoms.” It leads to irrational claims about the Bible that negatively impact our society (when people claimed, for instance, that the Bible ordains that women not work outside the home or that marriage is one man one woman or that the races were meant to be separate). Supported by a theology built around claims about biblical accuracy and mandates, millions of people spend their time looking for God’s hand in current events. The outcome is a constant drumbeat of tribalism, of us against them, of wars, of madness, of refusing to negotiate, of refusing to work for everyone’s improvement. In the US, we see this in claims that the Constitution is a sacred document, divinely inspired, in desperate attempts to prove that the Constitution establishes America as a christian nation because it uses the common formula “in the year of our Lord.” It leads to a credulous worldview in which one slowly descends into the rabbithole if illogic, superstition and nonsense.
There’s a joke:
I was walking down the street one day and saw this man about to jump off a bridge. Being a Christian, I couldn’t let him commit suicide. So I stopped and said, “Friend life is worth living. Are you a Christian?”
He said, “Yes.”
I said, “Me too. Which denomination?”
He said, “The Church of God in Christ.”
“Me too! Church of God in Christ Nashville Tennessee or Church of God in Christ St. Louis Missouri?”
“Nashville,” he said.
“Me too!” I cried. “And do you use the 1870 prayer book or the 1920 prayer book?”
“1920,” he said.
To which I replied, “Die heretic scum!” and pushed him off the bridge.
July 16th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
I try not to think about the possibility that President Bush and his pals could be wasting thousands of lives and trillions of dollars waging pointless wars in an attempt to make The Rapture happen. That’s not even in the Bible.
July 16th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
Glen, Rich? Some body forgot to close an italics tag ( /em between the greater than less than brackets )
July 16th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
Cliff - sorry I didn’t realize I’d opened the Italics tag .
July 16th, 2008 at 2:13 pm
Glendon - You can’t look at the Enlightenment without acknowledging the Reformation. On the shoulders of Giants….
My European history isn’t great, but it was the rise of Protestantism(?) that freed folks to criticize dogmatic Catholic faith. It took the power to absolve sin from the Church and invested it in the individual. Thus, it planted the idea that the indivudual, not the state or the organization was supreme.
If I remember correctly (and I have no doubt I’ll be corrected if I don’t) the first democratic nations in Europe (not including ancient Greece) were Protestant.
Protestantism therefore influenced the thoughts of the Enlightenment scholars and is, in great part, responsible for the ideas that permeate this nation.
I’m not suggesting that the US was some evangelical political creation, only that it’s a bit myopic not to acknowledge the massive influence of Christianity.
July 16th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
One of the funniest things I ever saw on television was some girl saying she was worried about vast, organized armies of atheists she thought actually existed. I was flipping through the channels the other day and came upon the station called TV20. I sort of had the idea it was sort of a community station, but on this occasion it was broadcasting a program featuring a guy who looked to be in his thirties speaking in an academic setting, giving every argument possible to make the case that this is a Christian nation.
Is TV20 owned by Christians or was this just one of many programs featuring a point of view?
July 16th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
This is a keeper for all the wishful thinkers who have gladly begun parroting the brand spanking new idea that the US is a Christian Nation or that the founders meant to make it so.
Here is also a critical piece of reference who would like to review some historical facts surrounding the invention of Jesus Christ.
Reality Check - Jesus Story Copied
The video might be easier for some.
July 16th, 2008 at 2:54 pm
Cliff - as much as you complain about others pushing their religion on you, don’t you see that you are doing the same?
What’s the harm in Christian belief?
Anyway, even Albert agrees that you can’t prove the non-existence of Christ.
July 16th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
Start with the victims of the Crusades and work forward through time.
Actually, I stated you could not prove the existence of Christ through lack of evidence to the contrary, although I will concede for purposes of this comment only that the non-existence of Christ is, similarly, not provable through lack of evidence that he does.
July 16th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
We’re delving into history here and it’s been a while since I studied European history.
The Protestant Reformations roots lay in Religious Medievalism with a variety of splinter groups and sects but also in the Renaissance. Reformation theology placed a large emphasis on the individual conscience (hence in many congregational traditions, you hear the idea of the priesthood of all believers) but especially in the English tradition a strong anti-Clericalism. I’m reluctant, however, to argue that Democracy and Protestantism go together. They share certain intellectual values, however, concerning things like individualism and authority.
Democratic movements would, I think, do better in nations in which the religious values also de-emphasized authority and hierarchy.
As for TV20 - it seems to me it’s one of the Christian channels that specializes in decadent evangelicalism.
July 16th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Good point jd, every religion as nutty as it appears, apart from catholicism, in America, can trace its roots directly to the Reformation. 1520 to give context. Not really relevant if Jesus was real or not. If “man” didn’t ascribe to actual higher power, he would have to invent one. The species doesn’t do so well believing in itself.
Long live Erasmus. Christian Humanism is the answer. Secular humanism always gets hi-jacked, as there is nothing higher than “man” to strive for.
It, secular humanism, lures to it the unbelievers, and then stacks them like cord wood.
Their lives to be burned as fuel for the elite.
July 16th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
Is not Ed Firmage one of the “insanes” minions Cliff? In your view of course. If Jesus doesn’t exist, how is it Ed gets air time? Hard as it is, I have read through his more detailed posts. If what you believe is true…what a nutbar he would be to your supposed opinions. Leave this out and edit as you must, to preserve the gravitas of Ed.
Given the rope you have given him to hang himself, and you…does not such sponsorship assume a rather schizoid character?
Glendon, The Reformation stems from tribalism, and the traditions of tribes to have some common sense concerning the justice of the Gods. Simple Germanic folk could not settle well with the concept of simply having sins forgiven with some mumbo jumbo consequence. Nor could they stomach or make sense of the sale of indulgences.
In Luther’s time there was a papal legate running around claiming the power of his catholic indulgences was so great, that a man could fornicate with the Virgin Mary and still aspire to the lofty heights of heaven.
No Glendon, it was hardly the Renaissance in German lands, your time frame is wrong, as the Reformation begins in 1520. It was the elements of PAGAN society that was incorporated into emergent Catholicism that brought The Reformation to its inception, and subsequent conclusion.
The advent of worldly based consequences to a life well or badly lived. The here and now. Very unlike catholicism which places consequences in the hereafter apart from muttering phrases, self flagellation, and rolling beads in ones hands.
One aspect to comment on democracy and protestantism that is telling, is that the Germanic tribes were “democratic” far earlier than any other form of social arrangement in Europe. Not to say that all had a vote, but resembling the Grecian form of government with important people and free men(and some women) being considered in decision making.
Protestantism truly is separate movement from the Enlightenment, though it shares elements. It traces its origins to the common sense approach to actual sin, drawing on the animist, tribal traditions of the Germanic peoples, and then joining, amalgamating with the orthodoxy of an encroaching catholicism.
Cool subject, filled in many a gap in my understanding of history of those times. It stresses the absolute importance of tribalism, and the independent thoughts of heterogenous peoples, in the face of religious fascism, and indeed, to fascism of all kinds.
Long live the Tribes. They freed us from Rome, and the catholics.
Long live Erasmus!!
July 16th, 2008 at 4:06 pm
Oops. Forgot that my inclusion of most religions in North America did not include Native American Indian religious animist traditions.
I hope that it isn’t construed as a “hate crime”.
July 17th, 2008 at 6:59 am
JD,
I have not complained about people pushing faith. I have a problem with people pushing faith into my government. I could couldn’t care less if you believe in the flying spaghetti monster.
Whats wrong with Christian belief? Let me count the ways.
Its the doctrine that causes group think that presents on obstacle to progress I have a problem with. Its lack of scientific basis is a bit of a problem eh?
The more religious a society, the more backward. Thats why the US has fallen far behind in soooo many areas.
One of which is education, especially science. Another is health care.
Oh yeah, and we are still doing crusades thanks to you Bush lovers.
July 17th, 2008 at 7:19 am
I’m praying for a much grander ‘godscape’. And it WILL be good (and enlightening).
July 17th, 2008 at 7:23 am
Oh thank God (or the flying spaghetti monster) you’re back.
We are in serious need of a sense of humor around here.
How was vaca?
July 17th, 2008 at 8:34 am
Everyone who has ever predicted the end of the world has been wrong. But that won’t stop today’s Christians. “The Rapture is coming… any day now!” (I think end-of-the-world-ism is a result of wanting to be more important than one actually is. It’s an ego boost to be living in the “end times,” unlike all those other schmucks who lived during the bland parts of history.)
July 17th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Yup…all those flood myths had to be made of whole cloth….sure….
Cliff, by pushing your “pure secularist” government, you are pushing your “religion”. You just don’t want to acknowledge that the stuff you’re shovelin’ is just as offensive as that of the sweaty minister asking for a wad of cash.
It’s also easy to point at the historical faults of Christianity, but why do you omit its triumphs and heroes? Here’s a few.
the idea of divine Love
Forgiveness
Advances in the science of agriculture (Monks)
Advances in beer making (Monks)
Advances in distillation and the creation of medicines (Monks)
Treatment of disease
Hospitals
The proffesion of Nursing
Abolition of Slavery
Promotion of religious liberty (Sebastian Castellio; Constantine)
Self Determination
Thomas Aquinas
Social Contract Theory
Libraries
Human Rights
I’ll grant that there were other religions and communities that also made significant postive contributions to humanity, but they also are not without fault.
Finally, why are you so hung up on the Crusades, Cliff? Really, the Cursades weren’t much of a victory for Christianity. The Christians only won one of them. The rest were military disasters. The Crusades also contributed to intellectual and mercantile trade between East and West.
July 17th, 2008 at 1:07 pm
jd:
You are not suggesting that Christianity is responsible for the successes you cite, are you?
July 17th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
Not wholly, but in part. And in some cases, in great part (genetics and distillation, beer making, human rights, social contract theory).
Surely you’re familiar with the work of Gregor Mendel?
And you must be familiar with the contributions of monks to the brewing of beer (addition of hops, Trappist Ales, etc.).
Distillation of medicinals…
no?
July 17th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
lucidity:
Good point!
July 17th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
Well, thank Jesus for that. I had no idea!
July 18th, 2008 at 8:39 am
Gregor Mendel didn’t use a religious method to discover the principles of genetics. He didn’t pray, or fast, or meditate, or sit under a tree waiting for enlightenment. He noticed some interesting properties of plants, constructed a hypothesis, tested his hypothesis with carefully designed experiments, and tracked the results. That’s not religion, it’s the scientific method.
And listing “the abolition of slavery” as one of the triumphs of Christianity is just daft. How do you think Southerners justified slavery? It’s in the Bible!
July 18th, 2008 at 10:34 am
Sorry, lucidity. Apparently you can’t see the forest. There are no heroes. You’re right. Isolating the triumphs of men, without acknowledging the foundations of those triumphs are the hallmarks of nihlism.
Without the Judeo/Christian construct that man is master over plant and animal, Mendel would never had the notion to experiment. Without the isolation, encouragement and financial support of the monastary, he never would have had the time. Further, without the financial support of the Augustinian order, he never would have had the opportunity for of the education. “On the shoulders of Giants…” lucidity.
All of the abolitionist movements were religiously based. The vast majority were Christian. The first in Britain was founded by Quakers. Sure, there were non-Christians in the movements and there were even Churches that supported slavery - but denying the heavy influence of Christians and Christianity in the anti-slavery movement is simply to deny reality.