I became aware of Sam Harris after his recent editorial where he wrote,
At its most extreme, liberal denial has found expression in a growing subculture of conspiracy theorists who believe that the atrocities of 9/11 were orchestrated by our own government. [...]
Such an astonishing eruption of masochistic unreason could well mark the decline of liberalism, if not the decline of Western civilization. [...]
I don’t know how many more engineers and architects need to blow themselves up, fly planes into buildings or saw the heads off of journalists before this fantasy will dissipate. The truth is that there is every reason to believe that a terrifying number of the world’s Muslims now view all political and moral questions in terms of their affiliation with Islam. This leads them to rally to the cause of other Muslims no matter how sociopathic their behavior. This benighted religious solidarity may be the greatest problem facing civilization and yet it is regularly misconstrued, ignored or obfuscated by liberals.
At the time, I wondered if he was just trying to make a splash because he has a new book coming out. After reading a few more of his articles, I concluded that he was sincere. He really does recognize the danger of Islamofacism or whatever we’re calling it this week. I saw an ad for Harris’ book, Letter to a Christian Nation that intrigued me and on his website I found this list of quotes (emphasis added):
More than 50% of Americans have a “negative” or “highly negative” view of people who don’t believe in God.
70% think it important for presidential candidates to be “strongly religious.”
44% of Americans think Jesus Christ will return in the next 50 years.
(22% are “certain” that he will, another 22% think he “probably” will.)
Only 28% of Americans believe in evolution (and two-thirds of these believe evolution was “guided by God”).
53% are actually creationists.
87% of Americans say they “never doubt the existence of God.”
“Had the residents of New Orleans been content to rely on the beneficence of the Lord, they wouldn’t have known that a killer hurricane was bearing down upon them until they felt the first gusts of wind on their faces, but a poll conducted by The Washington Post found that 80% of Katrina survivors claim that the event has only strengthened their faith in God.”
28% of Americans believe that every word of the Bible is literally true.
49% believe that it is the “inspired word” of God.
80% of Americans expect to be called before God on Judgment Day to answer for their sins.
90% believe in heaven.
77% rate their chances of going to heaven as “excellent” or “good.”
65% of Americans believe in the literal existence of Satan.
73% believe in Hell.
83% of Americans believe that Jesus Christ rose from the dead.
(11% disbelieve. 6% don’t know.)
That’s not the entire list, it’s only a selection. I left some out, including the ones where he really seems panicked about the religious whackos like myself. To Christians, these stats may “sound” good, but do they really reflect our society? I thought the list was interesting because I would never have dreamed that so many people believe those things – I would have expected the numbers to be much lower. What intrigues me is that as a society we profess to be far less secular than our behavior indicates. Or perhaps it is that people truly believe these things, but they don’t care enough to change their behavior, in the same way a drug addict knows he’s hurting himself but won’t or can’t stop using. I can see how statistics like this would horrify an atheist or secularist, much like the way I’m horrified by MTV and what passes for “culture” these days.
It really is a culture war. In spite of some hysteria about the American conservative Christian “Taliban,” we are increasingly secular and liberal every year. I don’t need statistics to prove that. Just memory. Compare our culture today with the culture twenty, fifty or a hundred years ago. Is there a single area where we are less religious, or more liberal? On the contrary – at any point in our nation’s history that you can select, we were more religious and more conservative.* On every hot button issue, we’ve moved to the left. Imagine reaction to a “Loose Change” crowd after Pearl Harbor. Could the Braceros program immigrants march and demand concessions? How about a gay marriage debate at the turn of the century? Partial birth abortion? Think about the clothing that the flappers were criticized for, and compare it to what you see children wearing in the mall on any given day. Divorce was a scandal, as was having a child out of wedlock until fairly recently, and now both are well on their way to being the norm. Imagine Jonathan Edwards or Andrew Murray’s reaction to today’s culture!
In short, no matter what statistics Sam Harris can quote in his atheistic proselytizing to illustrate how nut job religious whackos are running the country, the reality is that we are now less of a Christian nation than ever before. There has been an inexorable trend in our nation’s history, and it is decidedly not toward conservatism or Christianity. This is not, however, a reason for Christians to be discouraged or panicked. If God is sovereign as we believe He is, then we’re not in a race against the likes of Mr. Harris to covert as many people as possible to our way of thinking. (And we don’t have the power to convert someone, anyway.) We are in a battle, but our enemy is far more formidable than the ACLU.
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the world’s rulers, of the darkness of this age, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
(Ephesians 6:12 MKJV)
Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
(Galatians 5:19-23 ESV)
We need to keep our eyes on the prize, and remember that the real prize is not a Congressional majority for our preferred party, school-sanctioned prayer, or getting any law passed. There is a war being waged in our culture, schools and court system. But there is no law that man can ever pass to prohibit love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control and there is no worldly culture that can overrule the plans of a sovereign God.
*added the sentence “On the contrary – at any point in our nation’s history that you can select, we were more religious and more conservative.” for clarity, h/t Defiant Infidel.
In reference to the list which sounds so “good”, it makes me think of Jesus’ comparison of the one who built his house on the rock and the one who didn’t. They both heard his word (and that can include hearing and being in agreement), but only one put it into practice. If you think about it, two persons could sit side-by-side for twenty years in the same church, listen to the same sermons and teachings, copy down the same outlines, nod in agreement at the same moments during the services and sign-on-the-line the same Statement of Faith—and still one could have his house built on the rock while the other doesn’t. I’m speaking from experience. “Why do you say, ‘Lord, Lord’, and do not the things I say?” Jesus asked.
Excellent point!
Oh, to be surrounded by a society more full of “religious whackos” like yourself!