Atheist offers ironic cure for America’s woes: More biblical Christianity

A prominent atheist writer has an ironic prescription for American democracy.

Despite eschewing God, writer Jonathan Rauch believes the Christian expression in America has embraced secularism and liberalism, to the detriment of not only the American church but of American democracy and society.

As the Roman world learned, the gospel of Jesus Christ is transformative. Its power transforms not only people but whole societies.

The solution, he argues, is for Christians to live out their faith authentically, not blown by the winds of progressivism.

“What really needs to happen to get our country on a better track is for Christianity not to become more secular or more liberal, but to become more like itself, to become more truly Christian,” he said recently in a New York Times interview.

Specifically, Rauch highlighted three “fundamentals of Christianity” that he believes overlap with fundamentals of Madisonian liberalism.

1. “Be like Jesus. Imitate Jesus.”
2. “Don’t be afraid.”
3. “Forgive each other.”

Those are fundamental principles on which the Founding Fathers built this country, Rauch argued, and they ultimately produce other foundational virtues like “truthfulness and lawfulness and the equal dignity of every individual.”

Importantly, Rauch explained the problem with abandoning Christian principles in American society: “Once Christianity begins caving in, people begin looking other places for their sources of values.”

That a committed atheist would admit that America needs more Christianity — biblical, authentic Christianity — is a telling sign that secularism is a glaring failure. Not only is it an ironic admission, but it underscores the larger crisis in our society: that anti-Christ progressivism, which promises adherents a path to the good life, is a failed project.

As an ideology, anti-Christ progressivism is built on individual autonomy and moral relativism, producing the illusion that each person can be his or her own god.

Live your truth. Do what’s best for you. Make yourself happy. Prioritize número uno at the expense of others.

That’s the mantra of secularism and anti-Christ progressivism.

The problem, of course, is that not only is this the path to chaos, death, and destruction, but the secular progressive framework lacks, as Rauch observed, the moral and communal cohesion that Christianity provides. And if America is built upon objective principles tied to Christianity like truth, justice, and equality (i.e., every human is created in the image of God, made with inherent worth and dignity), then embracing anti-Christ progressivism and secularism ultimately erodes our society.

The fruit of the secular project is clear to those with eyes to see and ears to hear.

Rauch’s critique cuts to the heart of the issue. Not only is it paramount that American society not abandon God to embrace anti-Christ progressivism, but the Church must be an authentic witness or, in Rauch’s words, be “truly Christian.”

Remember what Jesus said about his followers in the Sermon on the Mount about salt and light?

Matthew 5:13-15 records Jesus’ words:

You are the salt of the earth. But if salt becomes tasteless, by what will it be made salty? It is good for nothing any longer except to be thrown outside and trampled under foot by people. You are the light of the world. A city located on top of a hill cannot be hidden, nor do they light a lamp and place it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it shines on all those in the house.

When Christians embrace secularism and anti-Christian progressivism — like many of the liberal mainline Protestant denominations — their salt becomes tasteless and they are like a light hidden under a basket.

But to be salt and light is to resist the temptation to conform to secular and/or progressive cultural trends that compromise the essence of authentic Christianity.

It is even more ironic, then, that a Rauch recognizes this important aspect of Christianity.

While Rauch is by no means a Christian, his call to action — to imitate Jesus — is the right prescription for both Christians (of course) and American society as a whole.

Christians should hear this ironic endorsement of Christianity as a compliment: That even a skeptic like Rauch sees the value and truth of authentic Christian faith and understands that genuine Christianity, not secularism, leads to the good life — for you, me, and all of our neighbors.

As the Roman world learned, the gospel of Jesus Christ is transformative. Its power transforms not only people but whole societies.

That’s what it has always done, and it will happen again if American Christians rise to the occasion.