Why the American fall ? How the Americans fall?

After the birth of Protestantism, many Protestant sects emerged. They naturally took advantage of the separation of church and state, which already existed in the Catholic world. They opposed the Established Church, the state standing for any sect, and intervening in religion. After Protestantism had been born, Christianity was inevitably divided into several sects because of the separation of church and state. It was hard to imagine how the protestant sects could coexist equally if the state intervened in religion. Therefore, a more advanced concept of separation of church and state was born out, which required that the state can not interfere in any sects’ affairs and only present as a neutral. Therefore, the concept of religious freedom also appeared. It can be seen that religious freedom, like the separation of church and state, is a unique concept in a Christian society. There is no separation of church and state in other societies, so it is impossible to have religious freedom.

Moreover, I want to emphasize here why the separation of church and state at that time was more advanced than the traditional two-headed snake-like separation of church and state? Because it was one-way, it only required the state not to interfere in religious affairs and did not object to the religions interfering in state affairs. For now, we call this separation of church and state advanced.

This advanced separation of church and state differed from the traditional two-headed snake-like separation of church and state. The traditional society was a single Christian or single denomination society. For example, there was only one religious belief in Catholicism, while in Puritan society in Massachusetts, there was only one sect – Puritan Congregationalism. Therefore, it was clear that the church held the spiritual sword and used it to help the secular regime establish its authority. At that same time, the secular regime held the material sword from God to protect the church, helped the church execute church laws, punish heretics, and repelled the invasion of heresy. After twists and turns, the Constitutional Convention passed the First Amendment finally. The founding fathers of the United States finally wrote no establishment of the state religion and no obstruction of religious freedom into the Constitution of the United States. In the view of contemporary leftist thinkers, this marked the establishment of the complete separation of religion from politics and religious freedom. However, the United States’ founding fathers did not use the word separation of religion from politics or separation of church and state; its original text was simply” not establish a national religion and does not hinder religious freedom.”

Such a complex expression had deep reasons and background. In fact, what these founding fathers wanted during the constitution-making process was not the complete separation of religion and state as the left thinkers thought, but the advanced separation of church and state as discussed above; that is, politics could not interfere with religion, but religion could interfere in politics. During the American Revolution, the religious atmosphere was still very strong. Massachusetts was the base camp of Puritans, which was the locomotive of the revolution. Many of the founding fathers from Massachusetts were devout Puritans, such as Samuel Adams and John Adams. In such an atmosphere, most people still believed that The Christian Church should effectively supervise and restrict the state, judge and monitor the moral standards of government officials, limit the state’s power to the minimum, and give the maximum space to the church. John Adams even proposed a religious test for the president; he believed that a person who was not a devout Christian was unworthy of the presidency of the United States. Washington also believed that Christianity shaped the spirit and soul of the country, and the United States promoted Christianity and morality; the two sides worked together to push the harmonious development of American society. These notions lacked concepts of complete separation of church and state but similar to the traditional two-headed snake-like separation of church and state, church and state supported and promoted each other. Moreover, these notions were more advanced than the traditional two-headed separation of church and state; they inclined that the church could intervene in the affairs of the state, but the state could not interfere in religious affairs. ①

Initially adopted by the Constitutional Convention, the Constitution did not contain any religious content. In this environment, this Constitution encountered fierce opposition from some anti-Federalists. They hoped to ensure that the federal government would not interfere in religious freedom so that religion could operate more freely at the state level, assume greater responsibility, and supervise more government behaviors. That’s the reason the first amendment came into being. Thus, Madison, the radical Federalist and founder of the Constitution, had to explain why the original Constitution did not include religious freedom. He worried that too few words could not reflect the actual influence of religion and wanted to leave religious affairs to the people. ② In fact, Madison’s explanation did not fully express his difficulties. Due to the sensitivity of religious issues, the discussion of religions caused the constituent conference several times on the verge of collapse and dissolution. Franklin hoped that the constituent conference should pray for God’s blessing daily, just like the previous Continental Congress . the proposal was finally abandoned because no matter how to select the pastors, there would be some hint of establishment religion. ③ We can imagine how sensitive the issue of religion was at the constituent conference. In order to generate a constitution, the founder fathers reached a tacit agreement that religion was not discussed at the constituent conference and was left to the states to deal with. therefore, when the Constitution was published, it did not mention religious issues, which is the most fundamental matter of humans. Even the Constitution did not refer that all the people in America then were Christians who believed in the same Bible. It has been a pity for thousands of years and has also sparked numerous disputes today.

Except stressed that the fundamental issue of religion would be left to the states themselves, Madison also said with great piety that the United States Constitution was completed under God’s guidance. because the completion of such a constitution is a miracle itself, it is difficult to imagine that humans have such ability unless under the direction of God. ④ He also noted that the Constitution was actually a kind of aristocratic government that benefited the aristocracy rather than the ordinary people. These aristocrats were deemed as devout Christians and high moral people. From these arguments, we could see that even Madison, the most staunch Federalist, believed that the church could intervene in politics, and his idea was similar to the Puritans‘ rule of the saints. He believed that only devout Christians and nobles could enjoy the right to serve as civil officials. The Constitution of the United States was used to ensure that devout Christians and nobles could serve as social leaders, not the opposite to promote populism. ⑤ Therefore, the actual situation at that time was that most people wanted the federal government as little as possible to interfere in religious affairs and that religion could influence the government more. Therefore, it was difficult to write the word “separation of church and religion” into the Constitution. This is the historical basis and historical fact of the United States Constitution; rather than what contemporary jurists and left-wing thinkers suggest, religion and politics are entirely separated.

In the discussion of the first amendment, there were also disagreements on the use of words. In the end, founder fathers could only use this extremely awkward expression. It meant that the state could not interfere in religious affairs. At the same time, it did not prohibit religion from interfering in state affairs; that is to say, it allowed the church to interfere in politics. Moreover, the state’s non-interference in religious affairs didn’t result from the separation of church and state. A multi-denominational Protestant country could make a fair environment where the state could not interfere in religious matters, which was the only way to ensure all sects competed freely. The Roman Empire established Christianity as the national religion in a multi-religious environment more than a thousand years ago. With the glorious victory of Christianity in Europe, there was no need to establish a national religion. Christianity was naturally the national religion. The concept of the national religion never appeared in the Christian world until the Anglican was taken as the national religion in England. There were many Protestant sects in England at that time, The Presbyterian of Scotland, the individual Puritans, the Presbyterian Puritans, etc. Because there were many sects, it was necessary to confirm one of them as the established religion. Then the concept of the established religion reappeared. The British experience showed that the established religion monopolized most religious resources, such as religious taxes and church places, and attacked and persecuted other sects. The Anglicans seriously persecuted Puritans, Quakers, and Catholics who came to North America late, so they all hated the established religion.

By not establishing the national religion, we can ensure all sects’ fair and free competition and development. Therefore, the first amendment only said that there should be no established religion and obstruction of religious freedom. It did not use the words separation of church and state. This was also the real idea of the founding fathers. They just didn’t want an established religion, not the complete separation of state and church. What kind of separation of church and state did they want? It was similar to the traditional two-headed snake-like; the state and religion could support and promote each other. In the special environment of many Protestant factions, they even hoped for a more conducive separation of church and state; that is, the state could not interfere in religious affairs, while religion could interfere in state affairs. As discussed above, I think it is an advanced concept of separation of church and state.

From the later practice, the state can not interfere in religious affairs, but religion can interfere in state affairs is the ideal relationship between politics and religion in human society. At this time, the two swords of God, the material sword and spiritual sword, were the most potent in combination. Why say so? Let’s take a look at the social facts of the period from the founding of the United States to the Second World War. As the state can not interfere in religious affairs, the church court has lost its executive bodies and naturally does not survive. The church and secular courts merged, and the church law integrated into the secular law. Because there was no national religion, there would be no heresy and no state punishment for heresy. The church could only resolve disputes through unlimited division, and various sects had sprung up like bamboo shoots after a rain, so the spiritual sword was most vital and most prosperous. Thoughts were always closely related to religious beliefs. As the state no longer interfered in religious affairs, the state also lost the reason to interfere in thoughts. With the complete liberation of human thought, people enjoyed the pleasure of free-thinking and exploration, swimming in the ocean of thought. At the same time, each new sect believed that the spiritual sword of God had been handed over to them from the Catholic Church, and they were the only successors of the spiritual sword. The new sects preached everywhere, set up schools, and built hospitals and other charities. They competed fairly to attract more believers and expanded by providing more religious services. From the founding of the United States to World War II, the period was a time of prosperity; all flowers were in bloom, flourishing and thriving. Many people thought that the millennium was coming. In fact, this phenomenon was reasonable and understandable.

When The material sword deals with human’s secular affairs, the material sword is related to human desires and human pleasure, so it is more likely to cause greed and degeneration. The state couldn’t interfere with religion, which naturally made the material sword in the weakest state. While religion could intervene in state affairs, so the spiritual sword was in the most vigorous state. The whole state and society were in the best period. For the multi-sect competition, the spiritual sword could not engender monopoly , fall into tyranny and barbarian, and it could supervise the secular government fairly and justly. Therefore, the whole state and society were the most prosperous, making the United States like the rising sun. This was the real society after the founding of the United States before the Second World War, a society full of ideals while very practical and secular. The church of representing ideals flourished, while the material economy of representing the secular society also developed rapidly. Many people can’t understand why this young country has such strong power of development and soon surpasses all other countries, even leaving Britain, the sun never setting Empire, behind and becoming the most powerful country in the world. This is because the American society in this period is in the ideal state of human society. It is not only the traditional separation of politics and religion. We know that the traditional separation of politics and religion has ensured the stable and sustainable development of the whole European society for more than 1000 years. At this time, the United States was a more advanced society than the traditional society of separating politics and religion. In other words, the church could intervene in the affairs of the state, but the state could not interfere in religious freedom. Its material sword was the weakest, but its spiritual sword was the strongest. The whole society was in an atmosphere of political purity, moral nobility, simplicity, and diligence. Were there countries and empires in human history in such a best state? It was difficult for such a society not to develop into the most powerful country. However, no one thought that the crisis had already lurked in the prosperity, and the crisis was fatal.

The period draws from the founding of the united states to the Second World War is the time when the state can’t interfere with religion, but religion can interfere with state affairs. I can’t ensure it is absolutely right. However, Americans didn’t come up with the ideas for a long time after the foundation of the United States, which the government no longer held God’s material sword, no longer protected them, and even became their enemies. Americans also suggested that the United States was still a Christian country; Americans were Christians no matter what happened. They couldn’t imagine what life would be without Christianity. Although the state couldn’t interfere in religion, it was just for the fair competition of all religious sects. The meaning of the state remained to protect every American and every Christian. At that time, there were many non-Christians in the world, but they were far away from the United States. Some fought with Christian countries in Europe thousands of miles away, and some lived in seclusion in Asia and Africa tens of thousands of miles away. In the American society at that time, no matter how fanciful people were, they could not imagine that these non-Christians would come to live with them in distant North America. They could not imagine that these non-Christians would bring significant sea changes to their lives.

Various sects developed freely with the unlimited division of sects, and human minds were emancipated utterly. Different secular philosophical idealogic continuously emerged. The whole country was gradually non-Christian and secularized. The concepts of separation of church and state and freedom of religion had steadily left the embrace of Christianity and became a universal and abstract philosophical concept. Because of the greed and depravity of human nature, the American government composed of laymen naturally wanted to get rid of the shackles of the church. Therefore, the American government colluded with secular philosophy. These secular philosophies ignored that there was no provision in the Constitution that religion should not interfere in the affairs of the state. They also Ignored the historical fact that the separation of politics and religion was born in the embrace of Christianity. They demanded that religion should not interfere in politics to achieve the complete separation of politics and religion. There is nothing we can do about it. When humans enjoy freedom, they must also bear the cost of freedom because depravity and corruption are also one of freedom.

In the same way, when people enjoy free-thinking bringing vitality to the Christian world, they have to bear its negative impact – secularization, because they are also the result of free-thinking; there is nothing perfect in the world. In fact, secular philosophical thoughts are not bad for Christianity; they stimulate people to think more deeply, make the doctrine more perfect, and make the belief more firm. However, too much of a good thing, excessive secularization has to bring serious disaster. Unfortunately, the United States is going on the road of extreme secularization like most Christian countries, so the crisis appears. The American government gradually became the enemy of the Christians.

As a result, unimaginable things happened slowly. Due to the need for economic development, a large number of non-Christian people poured into the United States. They well seized the opportunity of secularization of American society, took root, sprouted up in the soil, and their population grew rapidly. In this way, Christians and non-Christians lived together, and the proportion of Christians in the United States became less and less. At this time, a fatal crisis also emerged. The reduction of the Christian population combined with the secular philosophical thoughts made the social earth-shaking change. The American government had separated entirely from the Christian Church, representing the country. It had become its own master, the master of all people, Christians and non-Christians. It not only protected the Christians but also protected non-Christians. In an original Christian country, no matter how secularized, Christians still accounted for the majority, and the Christian Church still undertook many social functions. This was what the secular government, which had become the master of the country, did not want to see. Therefore, the American government united all non-Christians to suppress Christians, tried to minimize the social functions of the Christian Church, and diminished its influence. Thus the American government attacked Christians everywhere constantly and eroded the rights and fields formerly belonging to the church. Moreover, it oppressed Christians on the grounds of complete separation of church and state and religious freedom. It felt like Murong Fu’s peerless martial arts beating you with your weapon, paying you back in your coin.

At this time, the U.S. government claimed that the National aim was to protect all religions, not only Christianity. Christians were the members of the nation first, and they must first obey the will of the nation. So far, the nation was no longer a Christian state and no longer only protected the Christian Church. It had its own will and had become its own master. In fact, it is the will of a few secular elites, a small number of secular elites, and the will of a few people in power. Why do I say so? Here I repeat the ideas of Mosca’s famous book “the ruling class” . “in any society, there are two absolutely opposite classes – the ruling class and the ruled class. The ruling class is generally composed of warriors, priests, land nobles, riches, and knowledgeable groups. They manage national affairs, monopolize state power, and all kinds of honors. Because the small number of people were organized, and the masses were unorganized. Therefore, it is inevitable for the organized minority to reign over the unorganized majority. When a particular ruling class loses power, another ruling class will replace them. ” This is the real essence of the nation, which always represents the interests of a few elites. No matter what name the elites use for the nation, the so-called protection of the interests of all people is nothing more than a mask and a gentle veil. When you tear it open, you will see the grim face of the nation. Today, if now anyone says that the American government is still holding the material sword of God, protecting the Christian Church and Christians, he will be regarded as ridiculous as an idiot. This situation can only make people look up to the sky with deep sighs and tears. Human beings once again leave the embrace of Christianity, leave the separation of politics and religion in the Christian society, which is the most reasonable society to promote human civilization step by step. And humans once again go on the old road of secularization indomitably. This old road is a circle of turbulence, which has brought endless disasters to humans. Maybe it is the fate of human beings, always struggling in tribulation and tragedy, and the reason is the greed and depravity of humans.

Free thinking and exploration are absolutely the only way humans can reach the truth. The punishing of heresy and the suppression of thought can never make people find the truth in any case. I never deny the religious freedom of bringing the wings to humans soaring in their dreams. But I also insist that the ideal society is that the state cannot interfere with religion, but religion can interfere with the society and state. The secular government is composed of corrupt and degenerate people and has a powerful military, police, and other violent institutions. If the secular government isn’t restricted, it would inevitably expand endlessly. Society eventually degenerates and collapses, unrest, war, and finally ruin. In the beginning, American society was short of secularisation, and the American government was still weak, with a few staff and incomplete functions. At this time, perhaps the spiritual sword of a single Protestant sect could restrict it. However, each Protestant sect thought that they were the only descendant of the spiritual sword instead of condensing their spiritual swords into a more powerful spiritual sword, which could strongly restrict the American government. The secular government of the United States took the chance to develop and become a giant monster.

At this point, all single sects had been unable to restrict it. Not only that, more innumerable divisions and endless quarrels erupted among various sects, making their own weaker and more powerless. What’s sad was that under the attack of the U.S. government, these Protestant sects even recognized the concept of complete separation of church and state. They did not capitalize that there were no provisions in the U.S. Constitution stipulating that religion should not interfere in state affairs to strive for their rights. Instead, they completely withdrew themselves from politics and gave up the role of supervision and restriction on the U.S. government. All of these were a huge regret to human history and caused great disaster to human society. We oughtn’t to blame religious freedom or the influx of non-Christians into the United States. We should blame ourselves first. Because of the greed and degeneration of human nature, we don’t unite as one.

In fact, internal disputes were the root cause of the fatal crisis in the Christian world. When every Protestant sect suggests that they were in charge of the sword of spirit and self-complacency, they didn’t recognize that a sword had lost its initial power when it turned into countless swords. Of course, if these countless swords were stabbed at the same goal, they might still maintain their power, but the fact was far from that. These Protestant sects quarreled endlessly, and the goals of their swords were also scattered and disordered. Even if a few swords hit the target, they were useless, like beating the wind. It is because we were self-defeating martial acts, failed to form a powerful spiritual sword, failed to defend our rights, allowed the secular American government to develop, and constantly eroded the rights of the Christian Church. It is because we had not declared to non-Christians that this is a nation built by Christians, and no one was allowed to shake its foundation – the belief in God and the Bible. We also didn’t claim to non-Christians explicitly that to live in this country, they must believe in brotherhood rather than hatred. As a result, the United States, the city on the hill, a God’s city, the Kingdom of Jesus on earth, a society carrying countless dreams of Puritans, and the Holy Land of Peach Blossoming, lost the restriction of the spiritual sword of the Christian Church. The secular regime continued to expand and become a monster. In the end, it devoured the Christian Church and eventually the whole society. If you look at the Democratic Party’s big-government agenda, high taxes, all things arranged and controlled, you can see what I said is very accurate.

What’s more, what is unacceptable is that this monster first devoured the birthplace of God’s city, the four Puritan states of New England – Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. Now, none of these descendants of the Puritans knows why their ancestors came to this land? or think that ignorant religious passions drove them. New England has become the radical and liberal Democrats’ storehouse of votes, and Massachusetts is the first state to approve same-sex marriage, the first state to legalize marijuana. How sadly God silences in heaven.

Note

①Thomas S. Kidd, “God of Liberty A Religious History of the American Revolution”, Basic Books  p216

②Thomas S. Kidd, “God of Liberty A Religious History of the American Revolution”, Basic Books  p222

③Thomas S. Kidd, “God of Liberty A Religious History of the American Revolution”, Basic Books  p213

④Thomas S. Kidd, “God of Liberty A Religious History of the American Revolution”, Basic Books  p217

⑤Thomas S. Kidd, “God of Liberty A Religious History of the American Revolution”, Basic Books  p218