by Rev. Mark Creech… 

(Special to EP News) — Back in 1999, Mississippi Governor Kirk Fordice said, “America is a Christian nation.” For his comments the governor was castigated by media pundits as an intolerant bigot. Yet, as Gary DeMar writes in America’s Christian History: The Untold Story, the governor was right about America’s origins and first 250 years.

DeMar establishes this fact beyond question. Before Governor Fordice ever thought about America’s origins, the U.S. Supreme Court declared in 1892, “This is a Christian nation.” While governor of New Jersey, Woodrow Wilson said, “America was born a Christian nation…born to exemplify that devotion to the elements of righteousness which are derived from the revelations of Holy Scripture.” As late as 1931, Justice George Sutherland reaffirmed the 1892 decision of the Supreme Court, calling Americans “a Christian people.”

Unfortunately, however, America today is in a post-Christian era. How did it get that way? There are a myriad of reasons. But the single most significant factor has to do with the judicial ideologues that have sought to reshape our society.

Shock rocker Marilyn Manson once said, “Each age has to have at least one brave individual that tries to bring an end to Christianity.” Cheer up, Marilyn, the court’s today are in your comer -especially the Supreme Court.

In his book, The Death of the West, Patrick Buchanan sums up the matter well, saying: “Where the first Amendment prohibited Congress from making any law ‘respecting an establishment of religion,’ and required Congress to respect the ‘free exercise’ of faith, the Supreme court reinterpreted the words to justify a preemptive strike on Christianity. All Christian Bibles, books, crosses, symbols, ceremonies, and holidays were ordered out of the public square and public schools. Out went Adam and Eve; in came Heather Has Two Mommies. Out went paintings of Christ ascending into heaven; in came pictures of apes ascending into Homo erectus. Out went Easter; in came Earth Day. Out went Bible teachings about the immorality of homosexuality; in came the homosexuals to teach about the immorality of homophobia. Out went the Commandments; in came the condoms.”

This may sound harsh, but Christians need to wake up if we are not to lose our country entirely. We need leaders prepared to fight to save our nation. C.S. Lewis warned: “As Christians we are tempted to make unnecessary concessions to those outside the Faith. We give in too much…there comes a time when we must show that we disagree. We must show our Christian colors, if we are to be tree to Jesus Christ. We cannot remain silent or concede everything away.”

Yet, the church seems more than willing to concede it all away. Rather than call our nation back to its moral foundations, the church as tried to reconcile Christianity with the counterculture. We have tried to make ourselves more relevant, only to make ourselves look ridiculous.

No court has ordered the church to rewrite her prayers, hymns, or Bibles to make them more politically correct. But we have done it most eagerly.

“Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me” is the opening line of perhaps the most beloved of all hymns. In some hymnals those words have been changed to “that saved and strengthened me,” or “that saved and set me free.” Why? Because certain elements within the church think we should abandon the old-fashioned idea of man’s sinfulness and his need for redemption in Christ.

“Whiter than Snow, dear Lord, / Wash me now..” from “Have Thine Own Way Lord” is now rejected. It seems that “whiter than snow” has racist connotations. “Father, Son and Holy Ghost” is being replaced with “Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer” to make the phrase more gender-neutral. Then there’s the New International Version’s gender-neutral Bible.

“Onward, Christian Soldiers” and “Am I a Soldier of the Cross” have been denounced as too militaristic. “Dear Lord and Father of Mankind” is too chauvinistic. “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” is too exclusionary and sexist. Those who like the hymn “Faith of Our Fathers,” but don’t like the lyrics may sing, “Faith of Our Mothers” or “Faith of Our Ancestors.”

In 1980, the National Council of Churches established a committee of feminists to write a nonsexist lectionary. “Lord” was replaced with “Sovereign One.” And God’s decision to create Eve for Adam was rewritten to read: “It is not good that the human being should be alone: I will make a companion corresponding to the creature.”

It’s not just the nation that needs to regain its moral compass; it’s the church! On his deathbed, the atheist Voltaire said, “I have never made but one prayer to God: ‘Oh Lord! Make my enemies look ridiculous.’ God has answered that prayer.” When the church ought to be the component for change, instead it has become the object of change. And my, oh my, doesn’t the church look silly!