2012: An Irrational Devotion To Secularism

Pundits say that Hispanics, single women, young people, and blacks delivered a victory for President Obama’s re-election. However, these are only external differences that do little to explain the internal unity that each group shares in their irrational devotion to secularism. The devotion is irrational because the reduced economic fruits (and social decay) it brings cannot be sustained, thereby threatening its ultimate survival.

Secularism is the worldview that elevates the state as a source of redemption. Secularists strongly adhere to a moral construct based upon moral relativism. Secularists favor government intervention in markets. They also believe in legal positivism (the Constitution is a living document that evolves based upon the interpretation of activist judges.) They also believe in social justice, a state intervention that exchanges freedom for outcome equality. This exchange has never ended well throughout history. It invites a form of utopianism. Students of history understand that utopianism always leads to tyranny.

The irrational devotion to secularism in the 2012 Presidential election can be seen from the following facts:

1) When President Obama took office, the unemployment rate was 7.9 percent and stayed there for his term.

2) Real median household income has decreased over $4,000 during Obama’s term.

3) When Barack Obama took office, the average price of a gallon of gasoline was $1.85. Today, the average price of a gallon of gasoline is over $3.71.

4) Since becoming president, the number of long-term unemployed Americans has risen by 2.5 million.

5) For the first time in the post-World War II era, the employment-population ratio has not recovered after a recession. The percentage of working-age Americans with a job has been below 59 percent for three years in a row. The labor participation rate plummeted to almost 50-year lows.

6) The number of Americans on food stamps has grown from 31.9 million to approximately 47 million.

7) The U.S. government has run a budget deficit of well over a trillion dollars every year under Obama.

8) The U.S. credit rating was downgraded from AAA status for the first time ever.

9) Since Obama took office, the U.S. national debt has increased by almost 60%.

10) The combination of high unemployment, increased debt, division based upon identity politics, establishment of an unprecedented number of czars that circumvent congressional review, the appointment of two progressive Supreme Court justices, the inability to submit a budget, the reverence for redistribution, the bowing before other heads of state, the denial of America being a Christian nation, the radical associations before taking office, the radical appointments after taking office, etc. all clearly suggest that President Obama is a secularist who believes that man was born good and simply requires the state to perfect his existence. He has even stated that he believes his salvation is tied to “collective salvation” based upon a utopian secular ideal. Despite stating that he is a Christian (with the doctrinal requirement that salvation is through Christ alone), President Obama has stated he believes his mother, Stanley Ann Dunham (an avowed atheist), is in heaven and that Christ may not be the only way to heaven. Obama’s theological confusion arises from the fact that he is a secularist. He believes in the state.

Given the foregoing record of failures, it is difficult to make a case that this president has a better plan for the next four years than he did for the last four. Certainly, his re-election does not solve the problems in the economy. Why would people rationally vote for more of the same? The reason that he won the election is that a majority of Americans have now embraced the philosophical construct of secularism with its component attributes of government intervention and entitlements, as well as moral relativism. Some say it is a devotion to the man. Facts indicate it is a devotion to his worldview. This is why the Democratic leadership wrestled with the inclusion of God in its platform, elevated abortion to a state-funded right, and attacked the capitalism of the Republican nominee. This is why a secularist-controlled state of California just raised their state income tax rate to 13.3%, a decision likely to stimulate emigration, slow growth, and serve as a catalyst for economic despair. The Obama strategy is not about addressing the economic challenges overwhelming the country. It is not about targeting different demographics. It is about the promises of the secularist worldview, which is the unifying principle of these different groups. This strategy always leads to economic and social decline.

Unfortunately, this strategy was pursued by Europe over the past few decades with disastrous results. Secularism destroyed economies (and people) throughout the 20th century. America, for its part, had a brief affair with secularism after the Revolutionary War when the church-going population dropped substantially, prompting Thomas Jefferson to state that the evangelical religion would be replaced by Unitarianism. Within a short time of Jefferson’s flawed prophecy, America entered the Second Great Awakening. Jefferson was largely secular in his worldview and was clearly no prophet.

Recent Barna Group research indicates that approximately 19% of Christians have a biblical worldview, and Pew says that 73% of Americans are Christian. If 19% of 73% have a Biblical worldview, this equates to approximately 14% of Americans with a Biblical worldview. Recent Pew survey data indicates that approximately 20% of Americans are “secular.” Consequently, it is clear that secularists (20%) exceed the number of Christians with a “Biblical worldview” at 14%. This explains why secularists are driving national elections and why Obama won re-election. It is also supported by the fact that secularism is pervasive in the Northeast and West Coast. Coincidentally, it is those two regions that substantially delivered a second Obama presidency. Furthermore, an increasingly secular education establishment, supported by media and judiciary institutions hostile to the Judeo-Christian worldview, explains why a troubled America has an irrational devotion to secularism. Secularism promises what it can’t deliver, and the historical record confirms that freedom always declines in the face of secular advance.

Future success for conservatives does not depend upon targeting the “externals”, i.e. the demography of different groups and making promises that can’t be kept. It is about focusing on the “internals”, i.e. worldview-graphics that reflect the common worldview of the many groups. The problem arises in that if Americans are truly secular in their worldview, it will be difficult for conservatives to win national elections from a population that is in the process of abandoning the Judeo-Christian worldview (which has dominated America for more than the past two centuries.) There may be local and state elections where conservatives can still enjoy electability, but they are unlikely to dominate the national election unless either concessions to secular interests are offered or the electorate returns to a biblical worldview.

There are many similarities between the formation of Israel and the formation of the United States. Both countries were established under the guiding principles of a transcendent and sovereign God. The Old Testament of the Bible is clear in its teaching regarding the relationship between God and Israel. The pattern goes something like this. Israel rebels. God intervenes with retributive justice. Israel repents. God rewards their repentance with restoration. Rebellion brings judgment, which yields repentance followed by restoration. If you believe that model is true and that America has become increasingly secular, it should be no surprise that God’s judgment may be the next step in America’s journey. Questions about what form would such a judgment take and when will it happen cannot be answered here and are for the reader to ponder.

The secularism that enabled President Obama to win re-election from so many groups interested in their own secular agenda (immigration amnesty, abortion rights, social justice, utopianism, etc.) may actually be his own undoing. He will not be able to satisfy their expectations. In fact, economic conditions are likely to deteriorate in a way that resembles other European countries such as Greece, Spain, etc. Economics has a way of sustaining or destroying a nation. The study of civilizations shows a relationship between economics and morality. Even the founding fathers knew that freedom required virtue, and virtue required morality. Secularism rejects absolute morality in favor of moral relativism.

Conservatives would be prudent to consider worldview analysis in their political strategy if they seek to return to national prominence. All Americans would be prudent to examine their own moral condition and ask if the Bible is correct in Proverbs 14:34: “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin condemns any people.” It is unlikely that secularists (who survey the national landscape) would state that our nation is a healthy and righteous one. Secularists live off the social and economic capital that those with a Judeo-Christian worldview have built. Some argue that secularists are better stewards of the environment given to them rather than the social and economic capital they inherit. The latter clearly take precedence when examining the success and viability of civilizations.

Faith in secularism has reached a tipping point in America. Yet, it is a blind faith that secularists expressed in their re-election of President Obama. A successful faith depends upon the object in which the faith is placed. Placing that faith in a second Obama term, for economic and social advance, represents long odds that even gambling addicts would be hard-pressed to justify.

Photo credit: Dan Jacobs (Creative Commons)