Tolerating Racism, As Christians

SLIGHTLY MORE than seventy percent of we the American people describe ourselves as "Christian", down from eighty five percent twenty years ago. The cult is in decline, and will slowly but inevitably die, as all cults do. Throughout American history, on average, the percentage of Christians has hovered at about or just above ninety percent. In that sense, the United States is indeed a Christian country", though not in any constitutional legal sense. Qe have a secular democracy, with a strong Christian component. Culturally, Christianity ha been and remains a major, indeed dominant influencer, the movers and shakers, in American life. And as a rule, Christians ascribe their motivations and behavior to their faith. Furthermore, politically, the Christian community is far more closely associated with conservative than progressive values and ideology. liberal are all over the religious map; atheists, agnostics, Buddhists, godless communists. Render unto Caesar, give unto the poor are values found in both the new Testament and liberal propaganda, but not in conservative politics. Conservatives prefer tax reduction, independent job seeking, the freedom to get rich, but not welfare for the poor. Christian doctrine, as articulated by Jesus, and conservative ideology, as articulated by Rush Limbaugh, mix together no better than fresh water and motor oil. In other ways, conservatism meshes well with the Bible. Slavery, segregation, and racism are all traditional, fundamental American values, both historically and in today's society, whether we admit it or not. Slavery is condoned in the Bible, both Old and New. The Bible provides rules for how masters and slaves should treat each other. With Christianity the dominant force in American culture, why did slavery ever exist, let alone thrive, and why did segregation flourish, and why does racism linger today, as we all know it does? Precisely because they at fundamental biblical values as well as American institutions. The Christian community in America could stamp out racism from the pulpit next Sunday if it decided to. The Christian community could have prevented slavery from ever taking root. Instead, every slave owner used the Bible to condone and justify slave ownership, because the Bible does indeed condone it. Christian ended slavery in the north, much to their credit, but only because economic circumstances made it necessary. With an industrial economy and a ready made white labor supply, jobs needed to be filled by paid albeit exploited white people, and slaves would have provided too much completion for jobs, supplying free labor. In the agrarian south, slaves made more economic sense, and besides, as the plantations owners and preachers repeatedly preached; by bringing Africans to American and giving them work and Christianity, a great favor was bestowed upon them. Some favor.