What Makes America Exceptional?
November 16, 2009 at 10:00 am | Posted in Podcast | 12 Comments
Claims of American exceptionalism tend to evoke either knee-jerk patriotic fervor or “intellectual” bemoaning of unwarranted arrogance. Either reaction misses the point. America does stand exceptional among the nations of Earth. This is not a rhetorical claim without substantiation, but an indisputable historical fact. What makes America exceptional is no cause for arrogance, pride, or self-adulation. It is the unique source of philosophical pillars which have contributed to an unlikely continuity of government for nearly two and a half centuries. Knowing the secret to our success, which has been made secret through concerted effort by domestic enemies of our Constitution, is an essential prerequisite to restoring and maintaining the republic. One cannot repair or perpetuate that which they do not understand.
12 Comments »
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI
Leave a Reply
Follow & Contact:
-
As Seen On:
Become a fan on:
Blog at WordPress.com. | Theme: Pool by Borja Fernandez.
Entries and comments feeds.
[...] <Click here for the podcast> Sphere: Related Content Share on: Facebook | digg_url = 'http://www.redstate.com/walterscotthudson/2009/11/16/what-makes-america-exceptional/'; digg_title = 'What Makes America Exceptional?'; digg_skin = 'compact'; | Reddit [...]
Pingback by What Makes America Exceptional? - walterscotthudson’s Diary - RedState— November 16, 2009 #
Let’s take a look at what some of our founders said about religion in general and Christianity in particular as we examine this question of whether or not the United States of America is a “Christian nation.”
“As the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion” — Treaty of Tripoli, drafted in 1796 under George Washington and signed in 1797 by John Adams
“Christianity is the most perverted system that ever shone on man” — Thomas Jefferson.
“During almost 15 centuries has the legal establishment of Christianity been on trial. What has been its fruit? More or less, in all places, pride and indolence in the clergy, ignorance and servility in the laity; in both, superstition, bigotry and persecution.” — James Madison
In this context, can you explain how it is an “indisputable historical fact” that we are and were founded as a “Christian nation?”
And if we weren’t founded as a Christian nation, what, exactly, are the “indisputable historical facts” that prove or demonstrate that the “source of our culture, institutions, and philosophy,” and the thing on which our “liberty” is based and recognized, is “Christian in nature?”
Putting aside David Barton’s interpretation of the personal musings (not “official writings”) of some of our founders, and his points about obscure Mass Bay Colony “education” laws or what the Congress did in order to memorialize Robert Aitken, of course…
Comment by Guess Who?— November 16, 2009 #
I stand by the evidence already provided. The conclusion is self-evident. Instead of responding, you demean and minimize the facts presented by Barton and highlight disparity in opinion which he plainly acknowledges. That’s fine, but it does not change the plain historical reality that our culture, our principles, and our politics have all spawned and been perpetuated by Christianity. We can waste time tossing quotes and references back and forth. I have no desire to do so, as you clearly intend to dismiss anything that doesn’t support your position as “musings.”
Comment by Walter Scott Hudson— November 16, 2009 #
With all due respect, the conclusion isn’t self-evident; that’s why I ask. When you make a statement like “indisputable historical facts” in a forum such as this, don’t you feel some obligation to present these facts?
Comment by Guess Who?— November 24, 2009 #
The facts were presented, in the podcast. You have not addressed those facts. You ask for more as if none have been provided.
Comment by Walter Scott Hudson— November 25, 2009 #
Two of the three quotes you have provided speak to Christianity as an established state religion. Neither Barton or I have contested whether Christianity is the established religion of the US. On the contrary, it has been plainly stated that what constitutes a Christian nation is not an established state church. As for Jefferson, his opinion is acknowledged, but drowned among his peers. The question at issue is not whether every single founding father was a devout Christian, but from where the overall political culture emerged.
Comment by Walter Scott Hudson— November 16, 2009 #
I don’t think that’s the question at issue. I think the question at issue is: on what do you base your belief that American culture (which is pluralistic by design and by law), institutions, philosophy, and the thing on which our liberty is based “Christian in nature?”
Comment by Guess Who?— November 24, 2009 #
Facts. In. Podcast. If you have a contention with them, let’s hear it. Otherwise, please stop asking for evidence when evidence has been presented.
Comment by Walter Scott Hudson— November 25, 2009 #
[...] of David Barton’s fantastic presentation on the founding of our nation, which I excerpted in my latest podcast, it is apparent CC2009 is being conducted in the same spirit of reverence for Nature’s God [...]
Pingback by Sins of the Founding Fathers «— November 18, 2009 #
[...] of David Barton’s fantastic presentation on the founding of our nation, which I excerpted in my latest podcast, it is apparent CC2009 is being conducted in the same spirit of reverence for Nature’s God [...]
Pingback by Sins of the Founding Fathers - walterscotthudson’s Diary - RedState— November 18, 2009 #
I’ve gone back and listened to the podcast paying particular attention to any factual statements David Barton made. The unifying theme of most of his factual representations is that many (if not most) of the Founders were Christians whose faith was a big (if the biggest) part of their lives. It is, of course, impossible to take issue with that.
So by his definition of what makes America a “Christian nation,” which is “nation whereby the Christian religion had a dramatic impact in the shaping of the culture and the institutions and the society of that nation,” it certainly does follow that by being an important part (if not the most important part) of the lives of the men who “shap(ed)” that culture, those institutions, and that society at the time.
But you went further. You said the Christian religion is the “source of our culture, the source of our institutions, the source of the philosophy upon which our liberty is based and recognized.”
Is your statement also based on the role religion played in the lives of our Founders, or do you have some other reason to believe that our Bill of Rights is based on the Ten Commandments and not the English Bill of Rights of 1689, for example? Or that Thomas Paine’s bookends of “Common Sense” and “Rights of Man” weren’t equally influential as any other text at the time?
AFter all, “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” does sound an awful lot like the cries of “liberte, egalite, fraternite” that were ringing out around Europe at the time, doesn’t it?
Comment by Guess Who?— December 12, 2009 #
I never said “the Bill of Rights is based on the Ten Commandments.” I assume you’ve read Common Sense? It largely relies on a reading of scripture as literal and unchallenged history, with particular emphasis on the ancient nation of Israel and its folly at failing to value what made it exceptional and desiring to be like surrounding nations.
You rightly cite secular influences on our nation. I do not dispute the existence or importance of those influences. Neither does Barton. The point he makes, which I echo, is that these foreign ideas did not coalesce anywhere else like they did here. Was the English Bill of Rights adequate for Paine? No. He lambasted the English constitutional system as a mockery. It still supposed some men inherently superior to others, even to the extent of blasphemy (divine right of kings). It was American Christian theology which differentiated America’s adoption of Enlightenment political ideals.
To provide direct answer to your specific question, yes, my statement is based on the role religion played in the lives of our Founders, with particular note that it was not merely their personal private lives, but also their public institutional lives. They lived out their Christianity in the public square shamelessly. We may regard this either as a direct contradiction of their own law or evidence the modern interpretation is flawed. I find it far more reasonable to embrace the latter.
I believe we wouldn’t even be having this conversation 100 years ago, because there was no question then of our status as a Christian nation, what it meant, and how it was distinguished from a theocracy or Christian country. In essence, we have become like that ancient nation of Israel, suddenly enthralled with the surrounding nations, ashamed of our exceptionalism, wanting to disown it to become more like others. This is folly. Like them, we will get what we want. Like them, we will pay the price.
This other recent post may provide more insight (and references) regarding how these questions were addressed prior to the 20th century.
Comment by Walter Scott Hudson— December 13, 2009 #