From Pine View Farm

One Nation, under Capital 2

At The Boston Review, Richard White reviews two books that attempt to trace the myth that the United States is “a Christian nation,” despite the blunt statements of the Founders to the contrary. Here’s a bit about the most recent incarnation of that myth; follow the link to read the rest.

In the 1930s and early 1940s, worried about a decade of political losses and their own deep unpopularity, a group of conservative industrialists—as conservative rich are wont to do—began to grow anxious about American values. They came up with the idea of freedom under God, which was a kind of Christian libertarianism that emphasized a religious understanding of the Fourth of July and America’s founding. Realizing their own limits as spokespeople for freedom under God, they recruited—largely but not entirely—Protestant clergy, the most notable being Abraham Vereide and eventually Billy Graham. The goal was to argue for individualism and individual salvation and against claims of a larger public good. They wanted to restore self-reliance and oppose unions and welfare. Just as the first advocates of Christian America had sought to intertwine republicanism and Christianity, the advocates of this new version sought to intertwine capitalism and Christianity.

Share

2 comments

  1. Racer X

    October 6, 2015 at 8:53 am

    The world is divided into “me” people and “we” people. Which do you think Jesus was?

     
  2. Frank

    October 6, 2015 at 11:02 pm

    Heh.

    These folks who so publicly call themselves “Christian” worship no Jesus that I know.

    Matthew 6:5.