Why Americans Can’t be Free Without the God of Christianity?

Polling the American population about what makes America so special will inevitably result in many saying “freedom.” What people never think about is where does freedom come from and how did America get it?

In 1776 America declared its independence from Great Brittain. The Declaration of Independence listed all the tyranny that the American colonists were experiencing and that they could no longer endure it peacefully. What was most significant about this document is who the Founding Fathers were appealing to. In the preamble of the Declaration of Independence it states:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness."

The Founding Fathers appealed to God for having certain rights that the government had no business infringing upon. They knew that they could only be free from a governments’ tyrannical authority if there was a higher power to hold a government accountable to. The Founding Fathers knew they had these God given rights and freedoms and they were willing to die for them. This makes a compelling argument that America’s freedom today is due to the faith of its Founding Fathers. The faith of Christianity.

Liberty Bell - Philadelphia, PA

America Today is No Longer the America of Yesterday

Today, America appears to be turning away from its Christian foundation in the name of tolerance toward other religious beliefs. The government is now approaching its rules and law making through a secular approach. The definition of secularism is indifference to, rejection to, or exclusion of religion and religious considersations¹.  Secularism in essence pulls religion, including God, out of the equation as one attempts to take a neutral position between all religions. The reality is that there is no neutrality or imaginary middle line between all religions.

In the name of tolerance there is now an intolerance towards belief in God when it comes to making political decisions or the decisions being made by the government. A government that makes decisions through a secular worldview is actually embracing a worldview of there being no God. All of this is done in the name of neutrality and the worldview that is being embraced is actually called atheism.

The First Amendment of the Constitution states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” America appears to be trying to break that first amendment principle by ordaining atheism as the nation’s religion under the guise of secularism and in the name of tolerance to all other religions.

Unbeknownst to most, this is destroying the concept of their being any absolute truth. It’s one thing to say everyone has a right to believe what they want, but it is another to say everything is true. Saying that all religions are true and valid is the same as saying none of them are true. Saying mankind, not God, is the creator of moral laws is the same as saying there is no moral truth, as it all just becomes a matter of opinion. Removing the idea of there being a true religion or there being objective right and wrong is actually removing God from all authority, as mankind tries to become god.

Can America Be Free Without Christianity? 

For a nation to be free it needs 2 things:

1.       The people need to be able to self-govern themselves to do what is right.

2.       The government needs to be held accountable to a higher moral authority to ensure it doesn’t infringe on the rights and freedoms of the people.

Moral character is essential for self-governance and the survival of the republic. The Founding Fathers knew this and constantly emphasized the importance of virtue in maintaining a free and just society.

• John Adams: “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious People. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other.”

• Benjamin Franklin: “Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom.”

• James Madison: “To suppose any form of government will secure liberty or happiness without virtue in the people is a chimerical idea.”

In the name of tolerance, people like to believe that removing objective truth and the moral authority of the God of Christianity will bring freedom; as people embrace their supposed “truth.” For a nation to be free the people need to be trusted to self-govern themselves to do what is morally right, but they can no longer do that if there is no standard to say what is morally true. If all beliefs are looked at as being true or valid then this will bring nothing but chaos as people try to justify any wrong doings with the idea that they are following “their truth.”

A nation that can’t self-govern themselves morally will result in the government stripping the freedoms of the people as it takes total control to keep order. Without God, there are no God given rights that the government should be held accountable to for protecting. Instead, mankind and its government become the highest authority in deciding what is legal or not legal and is also the highest arbitrator over what is moral or not. This will then give those in power complete control to enforce whatever they deem. The rights and freedoms of the people will then be no more as they can no longer appeal to a higher moral authority that the government must adhere to.

Countries like former Russia and China first established that they were atheistic countries before they became totalitarian. If God is removed from the government, then it makes the government god. A world where there is no God and/or truth will lead to a world of complete government control with no freedom. Christianity and the Bible bring freedom that those seeking totalitarian control must suppress if they want total control. This is why year after year one of the most banned books in the world is the Bible.

The God of Christianity is the only way to be free

People may claim that they believe truth is relative to an individual or certain group of people or government, but in reality, their actions will always say otherwise. If a moral relativist was told that the government is going to take their property, abuse their children, and then take their life, how quickly they would claim there is objective right or wrong as they know deep down their God given rights are being violated?

Laws including moral laws don’t just appear out of thin air. If there are objective moral laws then there must be an objective moral law creator. A creator powerful enough to have these objective moral laws written on all our hearts that we all just know. Coincidently these laws just so happen to be written down in the Bible.

For the longest time America has defaulted to the Judeo-Christian belief that God is the creator of moral laws that should be followed. Since America’s founding, the people have always appealed to God’s objective morality, as found in the Bible, as the higher moral authority on political issues. The only way people can be free is if there is an objective moral authority above it that the people hold themselves and their government accountable to. The Founding Fathers knew this and that is why they appealed to God in the Declaration of Independence. With the Bible and Christianity comes freedoms such as:

• Freedom in knowing mankind doesn’t decide a person’s value, since mankind was made for a purpose in Gods image and is inherently valuable with God given rights.

• Freedom in knowing that mankind or its governmental authority should not inhibit those God given rights or devalue a person based off of their personal preference.

• Freedom to choose what is right and understanding the consequences for doing wrong.

• Freedom from sin’s control over a person's life and the burden of guilt that comes with it.

• Freedom of religion. Everyone gets to decide if they want to spend eternity in heaven with God by choosing whether to accept or deny Jesus’s free gift of grace when he took the punishment for our wrong doings.

• Freedom from the fear of death.

Final Words

Moral relativists like to embrace and use the freedoms and rights the God of Christianity provides; while saying they don’t want Him in their government. Under the guise of tolerance, this will only result in the government stripping those freedoms as the government becomes more in control to keep order.

America has been able to hold on from government tyranny and keeping mankind’s lust for control in check. This is due to the biblical worldview engrained in it foundationally. Knowing the depravity of man, that all mankind is sinful, has kept the American people in constant suspicion of the government striving for more power. Most of the population is also still grasping onto the concept of objective morality by holding on to the Judeo-Christian principles of what is moral and not fully embracing the morally bankrupt idea of moral relativism. As secularism and the concept of relative truth continue to grow in America, this won’t last. The harsh reality is if Christianity falls in America, then the freedoms of America will fall as well.

Without God, people will always be controlled by mankind’s constant lust for power. A person can only truly be free if there is a God. With God comes knowing that all of mankind is valuable and endowed with unalienable rights from our Creator. Those rights and freedoms are engrained in all of us not just a relative few. Mankind can try to strip those God given rights and freedoms from individuals but they will always be met with adversity as the truth of God's objective absolute moral standard will always shine through.

Be thankful for the freedoms you have and those that have fought to secure them and embrace the truth of where your freedoms come from.

America's freedom is anchored in the faith of its Founding Fathers, which is anchored in the faith of Christianity.

_______________________________________________________________________________________ 

¹ Merriam-Webster. 2019. “Definition of SECULARISM.” Merriam-Webster.com. 2019. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/secularism.