Christianity and Morality

I receive a publication from Hillsdale College called Imprimis that has authors writing articles regarding current events, culture, politics, and worldviews. I read an interesting article written by Dinesh D'Souza titled, Created Equal: How Christianity Shaped the West. It was the end of the article that grabbed me and I wanted to write about it here.

"The ideas that define Western civilization, (Frederich) Nietzsche said, are based on Christianity. Because some of these ideas seem to have taken on a life of their own, we might have the illusion that we can abandon Christianity while retaining them. This illusion, Nietzsche warns us, is just that. Remove Christianity and the ideas fall too."

This statement is thought provoking in and of itself. It has more power, to me, that Nietzsche said it. After all, this is the same man who made the infamous claim that "God is dead".

So, what does this mean and how does it apply to our current world? When I look at the United States of America, I see a culture that is becoming increasingly secularized and Christianity is becoming increasingly villianized. We have people in our government stating we are not a Christian nation. On the one hand, I agree with that statement. We are not a nation that forces any religion on another person. However, this country was found on Christian principles. If a person were to study the founding fathers, it would be obvious that they looked to the Bible to help them form this republic. As we start to distance ourselves from these Christian principles, what will happen to the morals that have directed and guided this country successfully? The guiding principle of this nation is that "all men are created equal" and that all me are "endowed by their Creator to pursue life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness". The founders did not come up with this principle out of the blue. They based it off the Bible. God created male and female in his own image. What an amazing thing to know! We are created in God's image which makes us unique from all other creation. By being in God's image, we are given the attributes that parallel God. Unfortunately, sin entered the world and marred that image, thus skewing our image of God. If we no longer see people as a creation of God in His own image, how will we respond to people? D'Souza says it well:

"In sum, the eradication of Christianity - and of organized religion in general - would also mean the gradual extinction of the principles of human dignity.

The Christian idea of equality in God's eyes in undeniably largely responsible. The attempt to ground respect for equality on a purely secular basis ignore the vital contribution by Christianity to its spread. It is folly to believe that it could survive without the continuing aid of religious belief."

When we take a secularized worldview, we forget that God created humans in his image and equally. When this is forgotten, the rights of people become trampled on and selfishness and pride take over. We become either tyrannical or anarchists.