America: a Nation Struggling for Its Soul
We Americans badly need to restore those standards and values that made our nation great, that defined the United States as "the best place in the world to live." We have not totally lost those qualities, but we are in danger of doing so. If we are to hold strong to the constructive values that made our country great, we must start with respect for religion and its place in American life.
Renowned anthropologists Will and Ariel Durant, after spending forty years studying the development of civilizations around the globe, concluded this: "Even the skeptical historian ...sees (religion) functioning, and seemingly indispensable, in every land and age." Why indispensable? Because it comforts the suffering, encourages discipline of the young (to maintain order), confers meaning and dignity to the lowliest of peoples, and creates stability by transforming human covenants into relationships with God. Religion dispenses moral order (think the Ten Commandments). It teaches men that patriotism unchecked by a higher loyalty can be a tool of greed and crime. The Durants conclude that "There is no significant example in history, before our time, of a society successfully maintaining moral life without the aid of religion.*
Recent surveys by the Pew Research Center indicate the United States is among the most religious of the world's nations today, which is encouraging. Unfortunately, though a majority of U.S. adults polled say religion is very important in their lives, large numbers of them are largely uninformed about the tenets and practices of major faith groups, including their own.**
Capitalism cannot create a substantive long-standing healthy society unless it is tempered by the control of humankind's greatest sins--the lust for power and greed. Here is where the church comes in. Wealth is built upon the backs of many people, and these workers must in turn get due compensation for their efforts. Not only does this make for a more prosperous nation, it makes for people of fine character, whose nature is defined by goodness or even godliness, if you will. There are those who believe goodness is possible without godliness, and they may be right to a point. But goodness will find its greatest heights and depths when lived in tandem with faith in God.
Loving and wanting the best for my struggling country,
Margaret
* Will and Ariel Durant, Lessons of History, New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, 1968, pp. 43-51.
** http://pewforum.org/other-beliefs-and-practices/u-s-religious-knowledge-survey.aspx
