Never Without a Religion

Contrary to popular belief, the birth of the American nation was a profoundly spiritual event. America has an ethical but incomplete platform for faith. We must remember it!

The American Spirit Essays #4

(continued from last week’s What are we Going to Do About it?)

Out of Order

Sometimes there are compelling reasons to take things out of order.  In the opening essay of this series, I introduced a three-prong argument:  One, America is mired in a deep spiritual crisis.  Two, Wokeism is a new religion, attuned to our times, that has arisen to meet the spiritual need of the most spirit-starved Americans.  Three, only a revival of America’s founding spirit can preserve the American nation and the American republic.

All three prongs are critical.  We need them all to understand our current morass.  We need them all to steer our way out of it.  We need them all to navigate towards a positive, productive, prosperous future as a free people.  I am acutely aware, however, that many people—including most of today’s American elite—has a very different vision for the future.  I thus accept that much of the material I present in this essay series will be attacked—at times on constructive substantive grounds, likely more often in categorical and defamatory terms. 

The placement of this essay on the American Spirit is thus strategic.  Perhaps the most controversial part of my formulation is my claim that contrary to popular opinion, the American nation was not founded “without a religion.”  I believe that the American nation was founded, quite intentionally, with an incomplete, skeletal religion.  The Declaration of Independence is replete with references to a “Creator,” “natural law,” and “rights.”  Such beliefs may be shared widely, but they are not remotely universal.  Any faith comfortable with such basic beliefs may complete the American identity—allowing genuine, full Americans to manifest themselves in very different ways.  Any denomination of any faith that rejects those beliefs is, by definition, incompatible with the American identity. 

In past times, people have referred to these skeletal beliefs as America’s “civic religion.”  That terminology feels dated; I prefer “American spirit.”  Either way, with every element of our foundational skeletal beliefs under attack, it’s important to lay them out clearly.  That’s what I attempt to do in this essay.  In fact, I do it twice: I present the short version below to give you something that fits on a single page, suitable for framing and poster-making.  Next week’s part 2 of this essay will provide a detailed, footnoted enumeration of the beliefs I consider central to American national identity.