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On The Evolution of Society

If one studies history one would discover remarkable differences between the human generations. If we study the founders of our great country we would notice even greater discrepancies in comparison to ourselves. Some call this study "Social Darwinism," the idea that small changes occur in our culture from one generation to the next, and over time we see the collective impact of these changes. This evolution of society is understood to be positive. But one must beg the question, is it positive? Does it even happen?

Since we acknowledge there is observable change from the founding of the United States to present day we must now address the issue of the quality of this change. Basically we must discern if this change is positive or negative. As with many complicated issues, the simple question posed has a not-so-simple answer; it is probably both, positive and negative. Let's take a closer look.

It seems unnecessary to discuss the reality of social Darwinism. There are changes in culture, which add up over time. We can see the results of break throughs are industry, science, philosophy, and many other disciplines. However, the term "Darwinism" seems to imply something more that what is. This collective change in society is a result of conscious effort, feeding off of other creative processes of the human mind. Using Chuck Darwin's name in the description of this social phenomenon creates a false sense of reality. Evolution, by definition, is a random process. Social Darwinism is the antithesis of randomness. Collective conscious efforts have produced the microwave oven, plastics, aircraft, and even put men on the moon. These industries to do not exist because the cards were allowed to "fall where they may." Deliberate design is the key to our modern progress, not "Social Darwinism." We must keep in mind the partisan misuse of this moniker applied to this field of study. It gratuitously creates an atmosphere favorable to the atheist/evolution worldview.

In 1776, which we will call the year the United States of America was born, was a year in which the culture was dominated by a masculine mentality. Our founders were white, conservative, Christian men who openly advocated a love of God and country. According to David Barton's video America's Godly Heritage (http://www.artisanpublishers.com/vid_americas_godly_heritage.html) 52 of the 55 founding fathers were active in their churches. Of all that has been said of Thomas Jefferson, in the attempt to condone the detestable actions of a former president, it is interesting to note that the late President Jefferson was not one of these 52 ardent church goers. Today many consider the reality in which these men lived to have been cruel and harsh. True they did live very disciplined lives, in comparison to ours. There was far less toleration for criminal activity, wrong doing was punished, and their children were taught to think about their actions before taking them. There was no "standard" education program, and yet many agree that this generation was the most educated and most intelligent in the history of the United States.

One must wonder what was different with this so-called "archaic" educational system. John Quincy Adams was so well educated that he became a secretary to the Ambassador at age 14, representing the newly formed United States in Russia. Keep in mind there was no such thing as a "wall of separation between church and state" at this time. This popular phrase was taken, out of context, from a personal letter by Thomas Jefferson--in January of 1802. At the time the Bible was used as an actual textbook for the students of the classic "school house" educational system. David Barton's research also tells us that a vast majority of the nation's laws were based in the Bible itself. The law books of Blackstone show quite clearly that the institutions of government in the early years of the United States were fused with Christian doctrine. From the level of the Oval Office and Supreme Court all the way to the rustic schoolhouse Christianity was a staple of the American people. Most individuals were taught even as a child to respect others, discipline is essential, that wrong doing would be punished, and to think before acting. Society was dominated by a masculine frame of mind.

What happened then is something that has changed the face of the American culture. At the time no one could have realized the implications of the moment. It was a question of religious liberty. The former colonists were well aware of the few generations preceding them. The American people remembered their parents and grandparents fled from Europe so as to escape religious persecution. By "religious" our founders referred to the several denominations of the Christian church that had split during the Reformation. The Christian population was still suffering religious persecution, but now the same was also inflicting it. In England, for example. If the king or queen were Catholic, then England's people had to be Catholic. Those who did not convert were harassed, imprisoned, and killed. If the next monarch was Protestant, the English people had to be Protestant. Those who did not convert were harassed, imprisoned, and killed. The English colonists were a motley crew of European pilgrims who were tired of this religious intolerance. Then there was the fear that this persecution might spread throughout the new free, American nation.

In December of 1801 the Danburry Baptists of Danburry, CT wrote a letter to then President Thomas Jefferson. In their letter they expressed concerns about members of the Congregationalist denomination gaining control in the government. The fear was not in regard to "religous" people gaining influence (by our standards almost all these men involved in politics would be branded as members of the radical religious right), but instead the worry was over whether or not the Congregationalists would eventually declare their denomination as the "official state religion". This would mean that any other members of any other Christian denomination would be in violation of the law if they did not convert. To assure that the persecution suffered in Europe would not be realized here in the new world President Jefferson wrote back to the Danburry Baptists declaring that the first amendment had erected "a wall of separation between church and state" (http://w3.trib.com/FACT/1st.jeffers.2.html ) and that no official state religion could be established. The term religion in this context was still used to mean a denomination of the Christian church.

In studying the practices of our government institutions from their beginning we can see very well that our founders were Christian and intended this nation to remain so. Look at the first constitutions of the original 13 states; there one will find the obvious emphasis on God and being Christian. The founders never intended for Christian principles to be separated from government. Through out most of its history the Supreme Court of this nation has upheld this interpretation of the first amendment. In 1878, in the case of Reynolds v United States, the Supreme Court made it unmistakably clear that an attack on Jesus Christ or on Christianity was equivalent to an attack upon the United States itself. This was a case where there was an attempt made to teach morality without the religious emphasis on Christianity, which had been incorporated in education from the beginning. The court case Church of the Holy Trinity v United States (http://members.aol.com/TestOath/HolyTrinityOp1-2.htm ) of 1892 is another example, where the Supreme Court sited 87 precedents to the fact that this is a Christian nation and that it was to remain so. But in 1947, in Everson v Board of Education, the Supreme Court had forgotten what Thomas Jefferson meant when he said "a wall of separation between church and state." Those eight words were taken out of their context, which created an entirely new meaning--the meaning we think of today. This new interpretation of the first amendment has been repeated so often and so strongly that it is very difficult for most people to even entertain the idea that this nation was ever founded on Christian principles, which brings us to the role of the use of misinformation.

In 1946 a book about children was published about raising children. This book became very popular almost immediately upon release. At the time pediatricians had to recommend strict solutions to problems of the day. Young parents who lived in cities were cut off from their families and generations of practical knowledge learned in the slow paced country life. The busy city life made it hard on these parents who were eager to find help to their child rearing difficulties. Questions were being asked and answers had to be found. Solutions such as making strict dietary schedules were necessary decades earlier, until refrigeration was available to the mass public. However, the reasoning behind the idea that being shown affection by their parents would spoil children is still a mystery. All of these solutions (generated from the sophisticated and educated elite of the day, especially the new "science" of psychology) came from studies and supposed experts. One such expert was Dr. Benjamin Spock. His book is what taught the city dwelling population how to raise their children. Dr. Spock's opinions applied a more up to date method than the advice given by the "experts" of the day. Parents felt less harsh to their children while employing the advice of Dr. Spock. This is probably one of the main reasons why the people stopped taking care of their own lives and began relying on the experts to take care of problems for them. The new industries of the day made it difficult enough to take care of personal problems, but having poor communication with families made it even easier to ask an academic rather than one's own family or church, who had real experience in such matters. From now on the people would seek "expert" advice.

This movement to seek advice from research and studies was only strengthened by an educational system designed to produce "cookie cutter" diplomas. This educational system* taught students how and what to think, rather than teaching children to think for themselves. This lack of thinking skills in the mass population was quite obvious to those in power. The people could be controlled by misinformation, or at least controlled information. This new understanding of Jefferson's "wall" was being preached loudly and often; so much, in fact, that a Supreme Court judge in the 1958 case of Baer v Kolmorgen had to state that if government didn't stop talking about this separation of church and state the people would start to think it was in the constitution. He was right. Dr. Spock's book taught the people to rely on education so solve problems while the educational system grew further and further away from traditional Christian values. Dr. Spock did not at first advocate eliminating discipline from the upbringing of children, but with the lack of thinking skills in the population at large, people learned from his advice to reject traditional teachings. This meant the idea of punishing one's wrong doing was out of date; it was cruel and abusive. People decided they didn't need to teach their children right from wrong, they needed to understand their children instead. Showing compassion and building self-esteem and teaching tolerance was now more important than teaching children to think before they act. Feeling became more appropriate than thinking. Then in 1962, government finally took an open stand against God, and they told Him He is not welcome in our public schools. David Barton also shows research on the results of this case, Engel v Vital. In every moral category the United States sees a dramatic plummet. Academically the United States suffers terrible loss (today we call this the "dumbing down" effect of our public educational system). The United States even has the highest illiteracy rate of any industrialized nation. We have one of the poorest records of any industrial nation, but we have our separation of church and state. And we are now a nation of feminine logic.

* see Majordomo on Fox Enterprises Ltd.

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