\u201cMy people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.\u201d \u2014Hosea 4:6<\/p>\n
Republicans are still on track<\/a> this morning to regain control of the House, though numerous races are still undecided. Three seats are still undetermined in the Senate as well, where Republicans hold a 49\u201348 edge.<\/p>\n It has been said that \u201cdemocracy is a slow process of stumbling to the right decision instead of going straight forward to the wrong one.\u201d As our latest exercise in democracy continues to unfold, a relevant Wall Street Journal<\/em> article caught my eye today. In \u201cLincoln\u2019s Vision of Democracy<\/a>,\u201d famed Princeton historian Allen C. Guelzo shows how Abraham Lincoln\u2019s \u201cGettysburg Address\u201d summarized American democracy concisely but brilliantly in his now-famous triplet: \u201cgovernment of the people, by the people, for the people.\u201d<\/p>\n As Dr. Guelzo explains, \u201cThis wasn\u2019t merely a rhetorical flourish. In that triplet, Lincoln lays out the three fundamental elements of democracy.\u201d The first is consent\u2014government of<\/em> the people. The second is the people\u2019s voice in the work of governing\u2014government by<\/em> the people. The third is government that serves the interests of the people it represents\u2014government for<\/em> the people.<\/p>\n President Lincoln believed that a new commitment to these three ideals would lead to a \u201cnew birth of freedom\u201d for our land. According to Dr. Guelzo, \u201cThat new birth is the task that lies before every succeeding generation of Americans. In it, we find our way not only back to Lincoln but to democracy itself.\u201d<\/p>\n How can we experience this \u201cnew birth of freedom\u201d in these divided and divisive days?<\/p>\n I consider The Abolition of Man<\/em><\/a> to be C. S. Lewis\u2019s most prophetic book. In it, he consistently warns against the rising moral subjectivism that he believed would lead to the downfall of democracy. Lewis\u2019s insights relate directly to our \u201cpost-truth\u201d culture today.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s one example: \u201cFor the wise men of old the cardinal problem had been how to conform the soul to reality, and the solution had been knowledge, self-discipline, and virtue. For magic and applied science alike the problem is how to subdue reality to the wishes of men [and] the solution is a technique.\u201d<\/p>\n The fact that scientific techniques are more successful than magic tricks in subduing reality to our wishes makes his point more relevant. Amazing medical and technological advances have improved all of our lives immeasurably. As a result, we have been conditioned to believe that unaided human effort can \u201csubdue reality to the wishes of men,\u201d whatever<\/em> those wishes are.<\/p>\n For example, in his first inaugural address, President Bill Clinton declared<\/a>: \u201cOur democracy must be . . . the engine of our own renewal. There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America.\u201d He then called on Americans to embrace \u201cthe conviction that America\u2019s long heroic journey must go forever upward.\u201d<\/p>\n Such self-reliance lies at the heart of Western culture. Socrates claimed that to \u201cknow thyself\u201d is the path to knowledge. Aristotle asserted, \u201cMoral excellence comes about as a result of habit. We become just by doing just acts, temperate by doing temperate acts, brave by doing brave acts.\u201d<\/p>\n How is such self-reliance working for us?<\/p>\n In a democracy, we are tempted to invest politics with the same power and authority we have assigned to science, asking our leaders to \u201csubdue reality\u201d to the wishes of those who elect them. But politics in a democracy cannot solve our greatest problems because leaders are elected by voters to do what voters want, and voters are just as fallen as the leaders they elect.<\/p>\n What, then, is the answer to our deepest challenges and needs? Richard John Neuhaus observed: \u201cCulture is the root of politics, and religion is the root of culture.\u201d This is why renewing America requires renewing America\u2019s religion.<\/p>\n I often quote from George Washington\u2019s 1796 Farewell Address<\/em><\/a> because this observation is so critical for our nation: \u201cOf all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable <\/em>supports\u201d (my emphasis). Here\u2019s the problem: in our secularized, post-Christian, even anti-Christian culture, many would divorce religion from morality. As I noted<\/a> recently, more Americans think morality should be based on \u201cwhat you feel in your heart\u201d than any other source, including the Bible.<\/p>\n But Washington had a prophetic word for this dangerous fallacy: \u201cLet us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.\u201d<\/p>\n So, renewing American democracy requires renewing American culture, which requires renewing American religion. Spiritual awakenings across our history have brought about such moral and even political transformation, but they always begin within the church.<\/p>\n God\u2019s familiar promise to Israel in 2 Chronicles 7:14 to \u201cheal their land\u201d begins, \u201cIf my people who are called by my name . . . .\u201d The Lord warned the religious leaders of Hosea\u2019s day, \u201cMy people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. . . . you have forgotten the law of your God\u201d (Hosea 4:6).<\/p>\n In a day when religious leaders and entire denominations reject biblical sexual morality<\/a> and endorse elective abortion<\/a>, when just 37 percent of America\u2019s pastors hold<\/a> a biblical worldview, does Hosea\u2019s warning apply to us?<\/p>\n However, I must admit that there is a personal downside to today\u2019s article: it is tempting for me to criticize political and religious leaders for their failings and so avoid honesty about my own. I have no right to ask others to do what I am unwilling to do.<\/p>\n So I must ask, Is my heart \u201cwholly true to the L\u1d0f\u0280\u1d05\u201d (1 Kings 8:61)?<\/p>\n Am I willing to serve my King whatever the risk?<\/p>\n Am I willing to do whatever he asks, go wherever he leads, and serve whatever the cost?<\/p>\n Are you?<\/p>\n\u201cAmerica\u2019s long heroic journey\u201d<\/h2>\n
\u201cReligion is the root of culture\u201d<\/h2>\n
Does Hosea\u2019s warning apply to us?<\/h2>\n