Signs of Hope: The Rational vs the Religious

“His belief system insists that the individual person is all important, is sacred. Everything in life that is created is created for his welfare... this belief system is so deeply imbedded in the average American.”

Americans care most about making money and the opportunities available to them to make money. The amount of money they make determines their lifestyle. Education and everything else is subordinated to this end.

The present economic crisis must be resolved in such fashion that Americans can continue to pursue their principal aim which is the making of money and the pursuit of their desired lifestyle. The present economic crisis presents a threat to the things the American cherishes.

Yet, at the same time, the average American is deeply religious, a committed Christian. Actually, his belief system is valuable to him and the basis for everything else in his or her life. He does not see the contradiction between his belief system and his principal aim in life.

His belief system insists that the individual person is all important, is sacred. Everything in life that is created is created for his welfare. The individual person is created in the image and likeness of God, the highest good of all. God, in his Christian understanding, is endlessly benevolent and forgiving, and desires his welfare above all. Therefore, he is called to be freely generous and forgiving in his turn.

This belief system is so deeply imbedded in the average American that he rarely thinks about it. Yet, his whole life is guided by it. For example, he believes that he is truly a son or daughter of God, and that the present life is but the shorter part of his total life. He has an eternal destiny, of that he is sure, although he as little idea of what that involves. Consequently, what happens in this life is of importance, but not final.

This belief system fills him with hope and confidence and allows him to enter into the present life fully. He can give himself to his elected representatives with a genuine if limited confidence. What they do or fail to do will be important and affect him and his children, but only within limits. His basic trust is placed elsewhere.

As a result, the average American belongs to and attends a Christian Church and the Church is an important part of American life. It is actually more important than the government. Because the press pays so much attention to the government and so little attention to the Church this is easily overlooked by the public. Yet, it is a fact of American life.

Many Americans who do not attend a Church share this belief system. That is true among most Americans who claim to be spiritual although not religious in the usual sense. It is the belief system that is of great importance for it determines the life of most Americans.

Those who are puzzled by the religiosity of Americans fail to appreciate this fact, and, as a result, they copy American economic practices without appreciating the seriousness of American spiritual and religious realities. It is these realities that are paramount in American's thinking.

This also explains the high regard in which Christian ministers are held. They are among the first ranks of public persons for they bring forward the person and message of Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth who is held to be the Redeemer, the Savior of the human race. Whether or not a person is a member of any Church, the center of his faith is this belief in Jesus.

Jesus is totally unique in the minds of most Americans. He and he alone deserves their total loyalty. This places Jesus above any other figure, even the most honored in American history and society.

Their knowledge of Jesus' person and teaching might be minimal, and frequently is, but their belief that he alone is the Redeemer is none the less real. Failure to appreciate this fact results in the failure to understand the average American citizen today.