by F.R. Duplantier

There have been three dramatic religious revivals in American history, and some social commentators claim that we are, right now, in the midst of a fourth.

Ralph Reed of the Christian Coalition believes that America is "a nation in which one becomes American not by accident of birth or by ethnic heritage, but by subscribing to an idea." In the April issue of Imprimis, the monthly journal of Hillsdale College, Reed argues that America is the embodiment of "a vision -- a vision of a society based on two fundamental beliefs. The first is that all men, created equal in the eyes of God with certain unalienable rights, are free to pursue the longings of their hearts. The second belief is that the sole purpose of government is to protect those rights."

Reed asserts that our Founding Fathers "possessed a view of the world and government that necessarily presupposed a people obedient to an internalized code of conduct . . . that made a large central government superfluous." That internalized code of conduct is based on the Ten Commandments. America was at the outset, and still is, "a nation undergirded by faith, built by faith, and enlivened by faith."

Today, the connection between faith and government "is a source of vigorous controversy," says Reed. He notes that "a crucial debate rages in the land over the role of religion in our public life and the role that religious believers should play in our politics. The religious conservative vote . . . is now one of the largest, if not the largest, single voting bloc in the electorate." Reed predicts that the election in November "will not be decided by the union vote, the feminist vote, the minority vote, or the third-party vote. It will be decided by the religious vote." The upcoming election will be characterized by "the largest mobilization of active religious believers in recent memory. And, if history is any guide, this mobilization is the sign of another period of great transformation in America, for political change in the United States has always been rooted in religious upheaval."

Reed concedes that "mainline church membership has declined by one-fourth" in recent decades. But this decline has been "more than made up for by the skyrocketing popularity of conservative and evangelical churches, in which membership has doubled." What has resulted "is a complete transformation of America's churchgoing population. Today, the typical American churchgoer is orthodox in faith, traditionalist in outlook, and conservative on cultural and political issues. Yet, as active religious believers move beyond the pews and into public life, a strange and disturbing hostility greets them," says Reed. "People of faith have become victims of the worst forms of stereotyping, marginalization, and demonology." It's time, he argues, to "reaffirm the role of religion in public life" and to "encourage those with strong spiritual beliefs to re-enter politics after too many years of self-imposed retreat. Religious believers must become full citizens."

America's Future 7800 Bonhomme St. Louis MO 63105

Phone: 314-725-6003  Fax: 314-721-3373

[ Select another May '96 column ]

[ E-mail America's Future ]