Easter brings Christianity, the heartbeat of American liberty, to center stage. Our Founders were almost unanimous in their Christian beliefs. America’s Constitution is centered on the civil laws—the statutes—of ancient Israel’s Law of Moses, found in the Old Testament. Common principles flow through ancient Israel and America: the right to own private property, the private duty of individuals to help the poor, wise judges, laws to protect the people, fair economic principles that avoid debt, and more.
For the past 100 years, America has dabbled in, and then embraced the alternate religion of secular humanism, where man worships himself rather than God. Its doctrines are explained in the Humanist Manifestos of 1933, 1963, and 2002. The American Humanist Association uses the byline “Good without a God”. (www.americanhumanist.org)
Humanists spurn Christianity. The first Manifesto advocates “…radical changes in religious beliefs…(which) have lost their significance and…are powerless to solve the problems of human living…” The Manifesto’s 15 points declare the universe to be self-existing, not created. Man evolved through a “continuous process” of evolution.
The manifestos render “unacceptable any supernatural…guarantees of human values,” so they erase God and universal truth. The manifestos declare, “No Deity can save us; we must save ourselves.” “Religious institutions…must be reconstituted…rapidly…to function effectively in the modern world”, because Christian religions don’t work. Mankind’s “fulfillment is in the here and now” and “a heightened sense of personal life” replaces worship and prayer.
Some Christians and their churches have succumbed to anti-Christianity; more than two dozen religious leaders originally signed the manifestos. One way we embrace humanism is by “the redefinition of religious beliefs”, as explained by R. Albert Mohler, Jr, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, who addressed this disturbing trend with BYU students on 25 February of this year. He said those who “claim to be religious…think, emote (feel), analyze and reflect as if they were secular people”.
Humanists believe a “radical change in methods, controls, and motives” is necessary—“a socialized economic order…(for) the equitable distribution of the means of life (redistribution of wealth).” The second Manifesto declares “The state should encourage maximum freedom for different moral…values in society” and encourages a “minimum guaranteed annual income” (socialism) and a “system of world law and world order”, which would erase our Constitution and national government.
Those who hold these beliefs now lead our politics, morals, education, and economy. John Dewey, the Father of American Education, was an original signer of the first Manifesto and first president of the American Humanist Association. Numerous national and international educators signed the three closely related versions of the Humanist Manifesto, plus worldwide representatives from the media, literature and the arts, medicine, science, and business.
Christians believe in universal, unchanging religious and moral principles given by God, who knows all things. The strength of divine laws is not altered by time, whim, or the weaknesses of human nature. To Christians, abortion is wrong, biblical marriage predominates, and the future is for the next generation. Freedom and wise protective laws are God’s gift, personal choices are respected, and leaders are obligated to be moral—to do what is right—and be honest.
Humanist beliefs are flexible. Morals change according to circumstances. Some lives are expendable, so the unborn can be sacrificed and governments can decide who lives and dies, as happened in Ukraine in 1933-1934 when 7 million people were starved to death. Marriage is about individuals, not the culture and future generations. Leaders tell the people what they want them to hear and change it later. Government controls, rather than protects so people can create their own lives, liberties, and happiness. Truth fluctuates; rights and freedoms are disposable. In a puzzling dichotomy, humanism claims the Christian virtues of peace, prosperity and universal well-being while disavowing their source, and the worship of oneself becomes the sacrifice of the individual for the good of the state.
Christians make mistakes; they are not perfect. Their principles are, and they provide the best chance for happiness. The Christian principles in our Constitution, applied to government, business, education, church and individual lives, bring peace, prosperity, and freedom—if we live them.