A Short History of American Culture

1. A Short History of American Culture Bill Perry InterFACE Ministries

2. Western Word: Guilt 3 Primary Organizing Values of the world’s cultures:

3. Western Word: Guilt Asia & North Africa: Shame 3 Primary Organizing Values of the world’s cultures:

4. Western Word: Guilt Asia & North Africa: Shame Sub-Saharan Africa and South America: Fear 3 Primary Organizing Values of the world’s cultures:

5. Western Word: Guilt Asia & North Africa: Shame Sub-Saharan Africa and South America: Fear Need Innocence 3 Primary Organizing Values of the world’s cultures:

6. Western Word: Guilt Asia & North Africa: Shame Sub-Saharan Africa and South America: Fear Need Innocence Need Honor 3 Primary Organizing Values of the world’s cultures:

7. Western Word: Guilt Asia & North Africa: Shame Sub-Saharan Africa and South America: Fear Need Innocence Need Honor Need Power 3 Primary Organizing Values of the world’s cultures:

8. The Western World • “Rule of Law” = guilty or not guilty • Magna Carta (the “Great Charter”) of 1215AD, signed by King John of England.  Made the law supremeauthority  Protected individuals from the king’s abuses  Was the first example of “rule of law”  Began to weaken the idea of “divine right of kings”

9. The Western World • Johannes Gutenberg’s movable type printing press in Germany ~1440AD • “The invention of the printing press…fostered the modern idea of individuality, but it destroyed the medieval sense of community and social integration.” -- Neil Postman (1931-2003), American author, media theorist and cultural critic in a talk given at the German Informatics Society (Gesellschaft fuer Informatik) on October 11, 1990 in Stuttgart.

10. The Western World in America • 4 movements shaped American culture: • The Protestant Reformation (16th-17th Centuries) • The Renaissance (18th Century) • The Industrial Revolution (18th-19th Centuries) • The Westward Movement (17th-19th Centuries)

11. The Western World in America • The Protestant Reformation (16th-17th Centuries):  Roman Catholic priest Martin Luther (1483- 1546) challenged his church’s teaching and focused on the Bible’s emphasis on the individual, not the church.  His emphasis on the individual led to ideas such as equal rights under the law, freedom of conscience, competition, free markets, a future orientation and personal improvement.

12. The Western World in America • The Renaissance (18th Century):  A secular revival of the discovery of knowledge using the human mind and logic.  Emphasis on human thinking led to new philosophical and political ideals, and the ideas that change was always good, mankind can control the environment and the future, greater scientific discoveries, and improvements in the quality of life.

13. The Western World in America • The Industrial Revolution (18th-19th Centuries)  Machine-made products replace man-made products.  Control over the time and the environment.  “Bottom line” all important.  Practical and efficient become new values.  Competition and materialism result.

14. The Western World in America • The Westward Movement (also called “Manifest Destiny”, 17th-19th Centuries) • Settlers that moved west lived independently and established the “frontier line”, where cities stopped and the wilderness began. Settlers in the frontier had to live by these values:  Individuality and independence  Self-help and control over the environment  Improvement in quality of life  Open and direct communication

15. Individualism Equality/Fairness Directness/Openness Future Orientation Control Environment Change is natural and good Control over time Group Orientation Rank/Status Indirect / Save face Past Orientation Fate Stability/Continuity and Tradition Human relationships American / NonWestern Values Values

16. Informality Self help/Personal improvement Competition “Doing” orientation and achievements Practicality/Efficiency/ “Bottom Line” Materialism Formality/Ritual Birthright inheritance Cooperation “Being” orientation Philosophical considerations Spiritual considerations American / NonWestern Values Values

17. Is the United States a “Christian nation”?

18. President Barack Obama in Turkey, April 6th, 2009: “One of the great strengths of the United States is…we do not consider ourselves as a Christian nation, or a Jewish nation, or a Muslim nation. We consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound together by ideals and a set of values….”

19. President Barack Obama in Turkey, April 6th, 2009: “…And yet what we’re seeing in both countries [Turkey and the US] is that promise of a secular country that is respectful of religious freedom, respectful of the rule of law, respectful of freedom of upholding these values and being willing to uphold them on the international stage.”

20. President Barack Obama in Turkey, April 6th, 2009: “We are no longer a Christian nation…”

21. President Barack Obama in Turkey, April 6th, 2009: “We are no longer a Christian nation…” President Obama is the first US president to make such a statement!

22. How is the United States considered a Christian nation?

23. Supreme Court Justice David Brewer (1837-1910) • Not because Christianity is the official religion (it isn’t) • Not because all citizens are Christians (they aren’t) • Not because only Christians can be in the government (they don’t have to be) -- David J. Brewer, The United States: A Christian Nation (Philadelphia: John C. Winston Company, 1905), p. 13

24. Supreme Court Justice David Brewer (1837-1910) “In fact, the government as a legal organization is independent of all religions. Nevertheless, we constantly speak of this republic as a Christian nation – in fact, as the leading Christian nation of the world.” -- David J. Brewer, The United States: A Christian Nation (Philadelphia: John C. Winston Company, 1905), p. 13

25. Constitutional law professor Edward Mansfield (1801-1880) “In every country, the morals of a people – whatever they may be – take their form and spirit from their religion…. In the United States, Christianity is the original, spontaneous, and national religion. -- American Education, Its Principle and Elements (New York: A. S. Barnes & Co., 1851), p. 43.

26. Founding Father and U. S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall [W]ith us, Christianity and religion are identified. It would be strange, indeed, if with such a people our institutions did not presuppose Christianity and did not often refer to it and exhibit relations with it. -- The Papers of John Marshall, Charles Hobson, editor (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2006), Vol. XII, p. 278, to Rev. Jasper Adams, May 9, 1833.

27. David Barton “In the early sessions of the Congress, the founders separated the government into three branches. They derived this idea from Isaiah 33:22.”

28. David Barton “In the early sessions of the Congress, the founders separated the government into three branches. They derived this idea from Isaiah 33:22.” “For the LORD is our Judge, the LORD is our Lawgiver, the LORD is our King; He will save us.”

29. President’s Statements John Adams (2nd, 1735-1826): “The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were. . .the general principles of Christianity.” -- The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States, Charles Francis Adams, editor (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1856), Vol. X, pp. 45-46, to Thomas Jefferson on June 28, 1813.

30. President’s Statements Theodore Roosevelt (26th, 1858-1919): “[T]he teachings of the Bible are so interwoven and entwined with our whole civic and social life that it would be literally… impossible for us to figure to ourselves what that life would be if these teaching were removed.” -- Ferdinand Cowle Iglehart, D.D., Theodore Roosevelt, The Man As I Knew Him (New York: The Christian Herald 1919), p. 307.

31. President’s Statements Woodrow Wilson (28th, 1856-1924): “America was born a Christian nation – America was born to exemplify that devotion to the elements of righteousness which are derived from the revelations of Holy Scripture.” -- Paul M. Pearson and Philip M. Hicks, Extemporaneous Speaking (New York: Hinds, Noble & Eldredge, 1912), p. 177

32. President’s Statements Harry Truman (33rd, 1884-1972): “This is a Christian Nation. More than a half century ago that declaration was written into the decrees of the highest court in this land” [the 1892 Holy Trinity Church vs. the United States decision]. -- “Exchange of Messages with Pope Pius XII,” American Presidency Project, August 6, 1947 (at: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=12746).

33. Jewish statement: Jeff Jacoby, Jewish columnist, Boston Globe: “This is a Christian country – it was founded by Christians and built on broad Christian principles…. It is in precisely this Christian country that Jews have known the most peaceful, prosperous, and successful existence in their long history.” -- “The freedom not to say ‘amen’,” Jewish World Review, February 1, 2001 (at:http://www.jewishworldreview.com/jeff/ jacoby020101.asp).

34. This Christian nation created: • A republican rather than a theocratic form of government • The institutional separation of church and state (not today’s institutional secularizing of church and state) • Protection for religious toleration and the rights of conscience • A free-market approach to religion, ensuring religious diversity

35. This Christian nation created: • A distinction between theology and behavior, allowing religious principles in public policy that promote good behavior but which do not require theological beliefs, which promote positive civil behavior but do not impose ecclesiastical rites -- “Is America No Longer a Christian Nation?” by David Barton, www.wallbuilders.com/LIBissuesArticles.asp?id=23909

36. The Oldest! The US Constitution is the oldest government of any nation in the world! All other governments developed their constitutions after 1787.

37. The Oldest! The US Constitution is the oldest government of any nation in the world! All other governments developed their constitutions after 1787. “Constitution Day” is September 17th!

38. First US President: “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion [Christianity] and morality are indispensable supports. It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible.” -- President George Washington (1732-1799)

39. New ideas in the last 40 years • Relativism: nothing is absolutely true and permanent; therefore all ideas are acceptable, and change is necessary.

40. New ideas in the last 40 years • Relativism: nothing is absolutely true and permanent; therefore all ideas are acceptable, and change is necessary. • Multiculturalism or Diversity: no one culture or society is better than another; therefore all should be equally respected.

41. New ideas in the last 40 years • Relativism: nothing is absolutely true and permanent; therefore all ideas are acceptable, and change is necessary. • Multiculturalism or Diversity: no one culture or society is better than another; therefore all should be equally respected. • Tolerance: used to mean to allow or permit other beliefs and behaviors; now you must accept them and not try to change them.

42. To function as a successful society, people must decide: • What is true and false? • What is good and evil? • What is beautiful? • What is right and wrong? • How do we live in community? • Who is in charge, and why? • What values and beliefs hold us together as a people, a society and a nation?

43. What Past Leaders Have Said “…[T]he freedom we are talking about is freedom based upon moral principles. Without a firm moral foundation, freedom degenerates quickly into selfishness and license. Unless men exercise their freedom in a just and honest way, within moral restraints, a free society can degenerate into anarchy.” -- President Harry S. Truman(1884-1972) in 1951, http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=14048

44. What Past Leaders Have Said “History fails to record a single precedent in which nations subject to moral decay have not passed into political and economic decline. There has been either a spiritual awakening to overcome the moral lapse, or a progressive deterioration leading to ultimate national disaster.” -- General Douglas MacArthur (1880-1964) in 1951, http://www.azquotes.com/quote/571902

45. Historians Will & Ariel Durant “The greatest question of our time is not communism versus individualism, not even East versus West; it is whether man can live without God.” -- Will (1885-1981) and Ariel (1898-1981) Durant in The Lessons of History, 1968; Pulitzer Prize winners

46. The “Debate in the States” • Should the US return to its roots and become a more “Christian” nation? Some Americans say the US never was a Christian nation! • Or should the US continue to move forward as a secular nation with relativism, multiculturalism, diversity and tolerance as the new values?

47. The “Debate in the States” • Perhaps the ultimate question is, should the US be a nation of people that has self-control or government control?

48. The “Debate in the States” • Should the US be a nation of people that have self-control or government control? “That government is best which governs the least, because its people discipline themselves.” -- PresidentThomas Jefferson (1743-1826)

49. Conclusion “The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time.” -- President Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)