By Stephen McDowell

The response of many Americans to the election and early administration of Donald Trump reveals there is a great divide among the American people. One may think that the left side of the divide—those opposing Trump—are predominant since their actions and words make the headlines of the major media outlets and their ideology is embraced by a large majority of academia and Hollywood. Moreover, a majority of voters supported Hillary Clinton and, by default, her progressive, liberal, and secular ideas.[1]

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The left has become increasingly hostile, radical and perverse, not only pushing homosexuality as normal and requiring special protection for LGBTs, but also attempting to force transgenderism upon the nation and encouraging the harboring of illegal immigrants. Their tactics of violence and intimidation, suppression of free speech, and lying about positions of their opponents are becoming the daily norm.  While they have cried out in the past, there is a new savagery in their words and tactics.

Divisiveness in politics is not new, but the left’s illogical justification for its uncivil and unlawful behavior is new. And the rants and raves from liberals are louder than ever. That a majority of voters support such people and that a large percentage of the American people agree to such tactics is disheartening.

However, amidst the left’s acrimony and deplorable action, there is some good news. A map of the results of the 2016 Presidential election by counties shows most areas of the nation reject the extreme liberal ideas of the progressive left, since only 16% of counties supported Clinton. While President Donald Trump is not a paragon of virtue, he does support many Biblical virtues (life, property rights, freedom of religion, parental rights, the rule of law), and he has appointed many Christians and Biblically thinking people to his cabinet.  The “red counties” also reflect growing conservatism in government, with the GOP now controlling both the U.S. House and Senate, 33 Governor’s mansions, and 32 state legislatures. While all of the Republican leaders are certainly not Christians nor principled conservatives, there is, in general, a clear difference in the worldview and morality of the people represented in the red and blue counties on the map.

Apparently, “Americans are no idiots, and they appear determined not to be slaves,” to use the words of Presbyterian Pastor John Zubly warning the British in 1775 to not deprive the American people of their liberty.[2]

Interestingly, but not surprisingly, if we compare the election map with a map showing the most Christian are as of the United States, we see that the red states/counties generally coincide with the highest proportion of evangelical Christians. The worldview of this large voting sector (26% of all voters identified as evangelical) certainly affected who they supported, with about 81% of white evangelicals voting for Trump, and only 16% for Clinton.[3] While it is likely many of these voted against Clinton rather than for Trump, either way, most evangelicals reject the secular, liberal worldview because it is contrary to Biblical thought.

There is a clear divide in the nation – a divide that seems to be more distinct than ever. The divide is not just about the role of government in issues like helping the poor and public education (where Christians may have different positions). The divide is much more pronounced. It centers on such important issues as life, the family, and morality, views on which the Bible is clear. It also involves ideas on property rights, the role of government in business, and Constitutional laws and liberties.

The blue-state liberals have general agreement of worldview. They are pro-abortion, pro-homosexuality, for big government, and against Biblical morality. There are some “socialist Christians” who are pro-life and pro-family but who voted for Clinton because they perceived she supported their positions on social justice (government provision of the poor and standing up for the oppressed), which to them outweighed the issues of life and traditional family.

The red-state conservatives do not all have a Biblical worldview—while about one-half of these voters were evangelical, their depth of Biblical reasoning varies greatly—but a majority do adhere to a common set of principles rooted in a Biblical philosophy of man and government and expressed in the Declaration of Independence. They believe in truths rooted in God, embrace limited government, support freedom of religion, conscience, and speech, and are for Creator-endowed rights to life, liberty, and property. Throughout most of our history, the vast majority of Americans believed these principles, which, unfortunately, has been changing in recent generations.

Why is this? Why do an increasing number of Americans think homosexuality and transgenderism are okay?[4] Why are an increasing number of Americans embracing a socialist/secular worldview? One primary reason is that public schools and most colleges have been controlled by the left for many generations.[5] The control of ideology and moral development has been so absolute that it is a wonder that more of the American people do not embrace secularism. The great tool of socialist indoctrination has not had the overall effect its proponents had hoped it would. Yet, it is also a mystery that so many people still embrace leftist/socialist ideas because they always produce bad fruit wherever they are tried.  They do not work.

What is behind this great divide in the nation? Why is there an ever-growing hostility among the “red” and “blue” states/counties? Why do so many Americans embrace ideas contrary to our founding principles and antithetical to Biblical morality? At the root of the conflict is a war of worldviews, between one that is Christian and one that is humanistic.

A Humanistic View of Law: the Reason the Leftists Rage

Comparing the Christian and humanistic philosophies of law reveals why the left has such apoplectic rage at having lost power and why they are willing to do anything to regain it, while conservatives accept liberals ruling with relative calm.

Law, from a Christian perspective and as the Founders of America viewed it, originates in the will of God, revealed in general to man through nature and his conscience, and more specifically in the revelation of the Scriptures. Law from a humanistic view is rooted in man, ultimately autonomous man, but practically in the state, and in the consensus of the majority, or of a powerful minority.

From a Biblical perspective man is fallen and fallible, has a sinful nature, and thus needs to be restrained. The Biblical purpose of civil law is to restrain the evil action of men in society. True law reveals what is right and wrong, and hence, exposes law-breakers. But law in itself cannot produce what is right, nor can it change the heart or attitude of man; therefore, the Christian acknowledges the inability to legislate “good,” or to make people moral by passing laws. However, the Christian recognizes the moral basis of all laws. All laws everywhere are based upon the moral presuppositions of the law-makers. Laws against murder reflect a moral belief. Laws against theft are based upon the command to not steal. All law has a moral concern. The important question to the Christian is “whose morality does it legislate?”

From a Christian presupposition then, the law cannot change or reform man; this is a spiritual matter. Man can only be changed by the grace of God. He cannot be legislated into a new morality.

Humanists see the evils in society and in man, but explain them differently than Christians. To the humanist there is no higher being than man. There is no incarnate Savior. From a humanistic perspective there is no hope of internal regeneration to save man, therefore, any salvation or transformation that occurs in men or nations must come from man. Historically, humanistic man has tended to use the instrument of law and government to attempt to bring such a transformation or “salvation.”

Having no other means of provision, of salvation, or of peace, humanistic man attempts to regulate and provide all things through government and law. It is only through the force of law that evil will be eliminated and utopia established on earth. Humanistic law is used to promote and advance humanistic morals. Such law, in conjunction with a corresponding educational system, is the only hope humanistic man has of establishing a “saved” or “righteous” — that is, good and progressing — society.

To restate this, if there is no God who redeems man internally, then any elimination of problems brought on by what is in the heart of man must be done by man — often collective man and his government. The attempt will thus be made by government (at least those that have a vision for a progressing society) to use the instrument of law to bring more peace and goodwill among men and to eliminate all that is negative, such as poverty, crime, war, disease, prejudice, and ignorance. People with this worldview will also often look to government to provide their own personal material needs, and they usually vote for those who promise them the most. Therefore, it is not surprising that in the last election (as well as all recent elections) the vast majority of people receiving food stamps, public housing, medicaid, disability, Obamacare subsidies, and various welfare benefits voted for liberal Democrats, who promised to continue and/or expand such programs.[6]

From a Christian perspective, law can restrain sinful man from acting evilly, for the fear of punishment is a deterrent, but he cannot be changed by law. Unless the evil heart of man is changed, there will be no advancement toward a better society. Humanistic law seeks to save and change man internally. Since the government (and laws issued thereby) is the instrument for such change, the government becomes the savior in a humanistic society. Therefore, the humanist tends to see law (and the state from which it comes) as savior. This might not be overtly proclaimed, but is demonstrated by actions.  Certainly man is the highest authority and the source of law in a humanistic society, and hence he is the god of that society, for the source of law of a society is the god of a society — and man will look to his god to assist him, to provide for him, and to save him.

Understanding the two views of law and government presented above reveals why the leftists are much more outspoken than conservatives about loss of power. Leftists will be much more radical and even militant in their opposition to conservatives governing than conservatives would be in the opposite position, because to leftists, government is their “church” and is a primary place where they can execute their god’s (that is, man’s) vision for life. To them, government is the place to advance man’s kingdom in the earth. Government is their highest source of authority, their highest place to appeal. They have no higher power or savior to trust in – no belief in a sovereign God who works in the hearts of men and events in history. To them, no savior exists outside of man; therefore, they think, “we must save ourselves,” and to do so, they must control the places of power and influence in the nation. Many are sincere in their beliefs and convictions, but they have a wrong view of what is good and how to bring about their vision of utopia on earth.

Conservatives only want to get control of government to slow it down, to keep government from trampling upon the unalienable rights of man. Christian conservatives have God as the highest source of power to which they can appeal. They have a savior Jesus Christ who brings positive transformation by first changing the heart of man, and then changing his mind as he studies His precepts in the Bible.

Red vs. Blue, Christian vs. Humanistic Worldview

While the worldviews of those people reflected by the red and blue in Map 1 vary greatly, the general ideologies can be reduced to two positions: Christian verses humanistic. In short, a Biblical Christian worldview has been the source of liberty in history, while a humanistic, man-centered worldview has promoted tyranny. The Founders of America believed, in the words of Thomas Jefferson’s pastor Charles Clay, “the sacred cause of liberty [is] the cause of God.”[7] Those who oppose God and freedom of worship, oppose true liberty.[8]

John Adams summarized the struggle between freedom and tyranny: “The world, the flesh, and the devil, have always maintained a confederacy against [liberty], from the fall of Adam to this hour, and will, probably continue so till the fall of Antichrist.”[9] Adams admonished the American people to fight against this demonic plot to destroy their liberty.

To more fully understand this war of worldviews, we must first understand that every nation is built upon some set of presuppositions, some basic ideas of right and wrong, which are ultimately rooted in the religion of the people. The laws of a society will reflect these foundational principles.

On one side of the war is a humanistic worldview. With this religion (and all worldviews are religious), there are no absolutes. Right and wrong are based upon what a majority says or what a minority in power says; hence, law is evolving. Law is whatever the people or courts or legislators say it is. This view began to be taught in various law schools and colleges around the turn of the 20th century, with the state secondary schools following in succeeding decades. Over time this evolutionary view of law began to impact the courts’ actions. Judges began to see our law as evolving. In the words of Charles Evans Hughes, Supreme Court Chief Justice from 1930 to 1941: “We are under a Constitution, but the Constitution is what the judges say it is.”[10]

Most people are not aware of how much a humanistic worldview permeates our society. It is predominant in the market place of ideas — in movies, newspapers, television, public schools, civil government, and most books, including dictionaries. As an example let’s compare the definition of immoral from a modern dictionary and from America’s first exhaustive dictionary produced by Noah Webster in the early 19th century and first published in 1828. Webster, as most of our Founders, had a Christian worldview which is reflected in his definitions. Under his definition of immoral he writes: “Every action is immoral which contravenes any divine precept.” To him, divine precept is the standard to judge immorality.

The modern Webster’s New World Dictionary defines immoral as “not in conformity with accepted principles of right and wrong behavior.” What is the standard for immoral action here? It is what the consensus of the population thinks. Immorality today is usually presented in this light where man determines right and wrong conduct. He is his own god.

Since man is the source of law in a humanistic society, man is the god of such a society. Historically, when man is his own god, the outcome is not freedom, but tyranny and destruction. Consider the fruit of the French Revolution or the gradual decay and collapse of the Roman Empire after the Caesars began to be viewed as gods.

In great contrast is the Christian worldview, where there are absolutes, right and wrong.  Since God is the source of what is right and wrong, He is the source of law. To those with a Christian worldview, God reveals His truth in the Bible. This was the view of law in America for most of our history. William Blackstone, whose Commentaries of the Laws of England (1765) was the primary resource for those studying law in America until the 20th century, said that “no human laws are of any validity, if contrary to [the] law of nature [which is] dictated by God himself . . . [or to] the law of revelation [which is] to be found only in the holy scriptures.”[11]

A Christian worldview was predominant in America from our founding in the seventeenth century up until the twentieth century. During the past century the Christian worldview has gradually been replaced by a humanistic worldview. As our worldview has changed, our law-system has changed. This changing of law-systems reflects a changing of religions.

Some would ask, “What difference does it make, if we have a Christian or humanistic foundation? Just as long as I have my freedoms.” We must understand that ideas have consequences. The fruit we get is determined by the seeds we plant. The fruit of America has been liberty and prosperity beyond that of any nation in history. It is important that we understand the seed principles upon which America was built. If we change seeds, we will get different results. The external state of nations today, as in all of history, has been determined by the foundational principles of the nations. Since these foundational principles are primarily rooted in the religion of the people, we should ask in what religion was America’s foundation rooted?

If you base your answer on what is taught in government schools, you would think we are a product of the secular European Enlightenment. But if you were to examine the laws, the schools, the writings, and the lives of early Americans, you would conclude, as did the United States House of Representatives in 1854 that “the great vital and conservative element in our system is the belief of our people in the pure doctrines and divine truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ.”[12]

This same view was summarized by President Andrew Jackson when he said on June 8, 1845, “that book [the Bible] is the rock on which our Republic rests.” Early Americans would almost universally agree that the religious, social, educational, and political life of America was primarily shaped by the Bible.[13]

Our states were colonized by people who desired to freely worship the God of the Bible; our schools were begun so that everyone would be able to read and understand the Bible for themselves; our universities were founded to train ministers who were knowledgeable of the Scriptures; our laws and constitutions were written based on Biblical ideas; and our Founding Fathers overwhelmingly had a Biblical worldview.[14]

In early America there were those who attacked Christianity, for the war of worldviews has gone on since the fall of man. But they were few, and even the non-Christians fought against them.  Toward the end of his life, Benjamin Franklin (who was not a Christian) wrote a reply to Thomas Paine seeking to dissuade him from publishing a work of an irreligious tendency which spoke against Christian fundamentals.  He told Paine that no good would come from his publishing his ideas, writing that “He that spits against the wind, spits in his own face.” Franklin pointed out to Paine that “perhaps you are indebted to…your religious education, for the habits of virtue upon which you now justly value yourself….Among us it is not necessary, as among the Hottentots, that a youth, to be raised into the company of men, should prove his manhood by beating his mother.” Only evil would result if Paine’s ideas succeeded, for, as Franklin wrote, “If men are so wicked with religion, what would they be if without it.”[15]

Many today in America are “beating their mother” when they seek to remove Christianity from our public life. Christianity is what has produced the liberty and prosperity that has allowed people to pursue such unwise action.

The winner of the present battle of worldviews in America will have great impact upon everyone in our nation. If the forces of humanism prevail, the fruit will be loss of liberty, increased crime, more broken homes, and less prosperity. These bad results will affect the humanists as much as the Christians (really more, due to God’s providential protection of His people), and in that sense they are “spitting in their own faces.”

The leftists rage because they have a wrong worldview. We must not only oppose them in the political arena, but we must also teach and demonstrate the principles and ideas that made America exceptional. Christianity has been the life-blood of America. If the Christian worldview prevails it will once again nourish every aspect of the life of this nation producing freedom, justice, prosperity, and life for all. (Used with permission)

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[1] Just consider her positions on a few important moral issues: she is for abortions up until the time of birth; she embraces same-sex marriage; she supports forcing Christians via fines and civil punishments to embrace homosexuality as normal behavior.

[2] Thomas S. Kidd, God of Liberty, A Religious History of the American Revolution, New York: Basic Books, 2010, p. 86.

[3] http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/11/09/how-the-faithful-voted-a-preliminary-2016-analysis/

[4] A recent survey shows that 43% of Americans think it is morally okay to change the gender you were born through either surgery or taking hormones; 42% think it is wrong to do so. afaJournal, October 2016, Tupelo, MS: American Family Association, p. 4.

[5] While most colleges are liberal, conservative colleges are on the rise. See: https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/02/the-hot-new-brand-of-higher-education/515316/

[6] http://rare.us/rare-politics/issues/democrats/81-of-people-receiving-public-housing-benefits-vote-democratic-and-thats-just-the-tip-of-the-handout-iceberg/

[7] Quoted in Stephen McDowell, The Bible: America’s Source of Law and Liberty, Charlottesville: Providence Foundation, 2016, p. 181. See Chapter 12 for more on “Liberty.”

[8] For historic support of this, see Thomas S. Kidd, God of Liberty, A Religious History of the American Revolution.

[9] John Adams, “Governor Winthrop to Governor Bradford,” February 9 and 16, 1767, quoted in Kidd, p. 35.

[10] Charles Evans Hughes, speech at Elmira on May 3, 1907, The Autobiographical Notes of Charles Evans Hughes, David J. Danelski and Joseph S. Tulchin, editors, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1973, p. 144.

[11] Sir William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England, Philadelphia: Robert Bell, Union Library, 1771, vol. 1, 38-42.

[12] B.F. Morris, Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States, Philadelphia: George W. Childs, 1864, p. 328.

[13] Stephen McDowell, The Bible: America’s Source of Law and Liberty, p. 15. See Chapter One for more on the influence of the Bible in the history of America.

[14] See various books published by the Providence Foundation that document the Christian foundation of America, including America a Christian Nation, America’s Providential History, and The Bible: America’s Source of Law and Liberty.

[15] The Works of Benjamin Franklin, by Jared Sparks, Boston: Tappan, Whittemore, and Mason, 1840, p. 281-282.