Unzipped?

In every stage of our lives, information that we previously knew to be true takes on a whole new meaning. I was recently reminded of this at a meeting with my colleagues about my 11th grade book list. While I personally love A Tale of Two Cities, I might attribute that more to my own experiences than that it is a perfect choice for 11th graders to read. Regardless of what I bring to my reading of that book, it is still a timeless piece of literature that will be regarded as such for its commentary on Christlike sacrifice and the effects of revolution on a society. BUT, perhaps my devotion to that book (above all of Dickens' other works) would be difficult to transfer to 16 year olds who have not had the experiences that I have had. We're going to be reading Great Expectations instead.

In the same vein (sort of), my understanding of American history has broadened dramatically over the past few years. I'm thankful for the wisdom and counsel of so many Godly men and women who have shed light on God's sovereignty throughout America's history and have taught me to embrace it fully. I have re-learned so much since high school... probably because I have no choice as a history/English teacher. Nerdy. Bookish. Silly. Call it what you will!

My recent encounters with God working in history are numerous:

• Reading Unbroken and gaping at both God's humorous irony and complete control in Louis's life.
  
  
• Reading 1984 and being reminded of what a society looks like when God is rejected and exterminated, only to be replaced by the state.
  
  
• Watching The HBO series Band of Brothers with an overwhelming sense of awe, pity, grief, and THANKFULNESS for what my predecessors endured on my behalf. If you haven't felt the urge to spend 10 hours watching one film (don't worry, it took me three years to reach that point, and only after much petitioning from Michael), it is exceedingly worth your time to do so. I promise. (*caveat: the language is atrocious, but utterly poignant given their circumstances in battle*)
  
  
• My current read, Postmodern Times: A Christian Guide to Contemporary Thought and Culture, in which I've been pummeled with the reality that our culture has done something worse than reject God altogether. We have acknowledged that He might exist, shrugged our proverbial shoulders in apathy, and continued living our lives none the wiser.

The last of those bullets, Postmodern Times, has been a difficult read for me but greatly needed.

I was flipping through the Newsweek this afternoon (I signed up for a free subscription and usually don't waste my time reading it... God wanted otherwise today!), and here's the headline of the article that caught my eye:

"The Founding Fathers, Unzipped: The Constitution's Framers were flawed like today's politicians, so it's high time we stop embalming them in infallibility."


*Somewhat* dismayed, I read on only to find the article littered with postmodern thought, namely the idea that individualism is no more. Postmodernism advocates and glories in group identity. Consider the political, social, and cultural groups that exist today. To a postmodernist, your identity is found within those groups, and so is your amoral compass. I saw amoral because the postmodernist spurns absolute truths and hates authority. In particular, Jefferson would apparently have been a Republican (as defined by our culture), and a terrible one at that. And that's all he would have been. His identity would exist solely in his political party.


There is an intentional rewriting of history going on that is meant to accommodate and complement the changing tides of popular opinion, and this article was a perfect example of that.


The article assumes that the founding fathers, if alive today, would belong to some particular political group (read: Republicans) and that they (Jefferson in particular) would be crushed in the 2012 election. Author Simon Schama says this about Jefferson:
"It is incontrovertible historical fact, as is his absolute determination never to admit religion into any institutions of the public realm."

Was Jefferson a Christian? No, there is little evidence to prove that he believed in the God of the WHOLE Bible. Did he own slaves? Yes. What land owning man didn't at that time? Did he want to keep religion out of "any institutions of the public realm?" Not quite.

Unlike postmodernist academia today, Jefferson acknowledged the authority of a Supreme Being when he wrote that Jesus Christ's "system of morality was the most benevolent and sublime...ever taught, and consequently more perfect than those of any of the ancient philosophers."


He strongly believed that what a person believes about God, how he worships, etc. are outside of the jurisdiction of the State. You cannot force a person to believe what you believe. But Jefferson also realized that a person's actions CAN be regulated by the state... He wrote to the Danbury Baptists: "The legislative powers of government reach actions only." Ironically, this is also the letter in which the misunderstood idea of "separation of church and state" originated.


But Jefferson, despite the wreck that his personal life might have been, still acknowledged that a system of moral absolutes must be the foundation of any governing authority. His VA "Bill for Punishing Disturbers of Religious Worship and Sabbath Breakers" is evidence enough of that. The bill considered it a crime to work or employ workers on the Sabbath.


It is a dangerous thing to minimize the laborious work of the Founders and to attempt to dismantle the deep seeded convictions they held, as Schama does in this article. Primary documents are laden with proof that the country was established under the assumption that God exists. He has given us certain rights, which makes even the state under His authority. Men are fallen and must have moral parameters set on them to maintain order in a society. These things are foundational to our understanding of American history. We are lost without them.


I could go on and on but I'll close by quoting Schama's final statement, the irony of which appears to be completely lost on him...

"There is no surer sign of a country's cultural and political decay than an obtuse blindness to its unmistakable beginnings."


PS. Much of my understanding of the Founding Fathers, and much of the information above, was found in "America's Christian History: The Untold Story" by Gary Demar. Wonderful book that is an apologetic on what the postmodern media will not tell you about our history... :-)