Christianity...useless?

  I get so weary of hearing this message...how about you? The message that pins all of humanity's social ills on faith and Christianity and claims that we would all be "better off" without God. Really? Let's think about the reality of this statement. Aside from the fact that these individuals are even ALLOWED to make that statement because of the Constitution and its roots in the Judeo-Christian understanding of and individual's right to free expression, let's consider some other facts...

Christians, when functioning properly, within the context of the Church, have always has been the moral consciousness of American life, informing the policy of our nation and steering the ethics of our dealings, both within our nation’s borders and beyond. While the involvement of [true] Christians in government is another issue that won’t be explored in this post, their voice is one that must not be silenced and is in fact, incredibly valuable. 

Let’s consider the effects of the Church acting on the moral consciousness in our nation’s history. Consider the following facts: 

-The Western legal system, with its limitations of governmental powers and Constitutionalism owes it origins to religious, Judeo-Christian ideals and Biblical principles.

-The Western tradition of the sanctity of human life owes its origins to the concept of being the "image-bearers" of God himself. (Gen. 1:26).

-The concept of "adoption" is a concept granted to us by the religious tradition (Rom 9:3-5).

-The abolishment of Slavery and the advent of the Civil Rights movement were spurred on by pastors and religious leaders, both black and white, most notably, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and before that, William Wilberforce in England. This concept was set forth in the New Testament when Paul told Philemon to treat his slave, Onesimus, as his brother.

-The Gladiatorial games of the Roman Empire were boycotted by early Christians, due to their brutality and inhumane treatment of prisoners.Eventually, the entire civilized world's (Rome) view changed as a result of the influence of the Christian worldview on the treatment of people.

-Women’s rights, contrary to public perception, go back to the respectful treatment of women in both the Old and New Testaments. The 10 commandments require children obey both father and mother; Deborah was a prophetess and judge in early Israel; Jesus treated women much differently than the customs of the times would have dictated; Paul commended women such as Priscilla in their contending for the faith.

The list goes on: concepts of labor and vocation, work and fair compensation, property rights and free trade, public education and the educational footings of the American university system, modern medicine and more all owe the Bible and the Christian faith for their underpinnings.

This, of course, is not an exhaustive list of all that Christianity has done for our nation, but it is imperative that we clearly grasp the fact that because of Christian ideals, we are much better off than we would be without them-and you won't have to go too far, either, to find compelling evidence of this...


-Communism-failed.
-Fascism-failed.
-The Third Reich-failed.
-Other "Police States"

Fact is, the further a nation [or movement] moves away from Biblical principles for governance and conduct, the higher the propensity for the oppression of peoples, increase of poverty, the abuse of power, etc.

Perhaps a a better question would be this: where would we be WITHOUT the Christian faith? It's scary to think.