These Christian Beliefs Are Invading American Culture and Politics

America has also always tried to be a nation where freedom of expression is a core tenet and, crucially, one where there is a separation between church and state. Here are the ways Christian beliefs are bleeding into modern culture and politics, for good or ill.

While a spiritual education is obviously an important part of full and proper development for many, there are those who fear that skewing teaching too far toward old ideas around faith and teaching the Bible as a literal interpretation of events could negatively impact the quality of education significantly.

Religion informs the stance of many Americans on Israel. Many Christians support Israel, viewing the nation as the fulfillment of biblical prophecy. Many politicians advocate strong U.S.-Israel relations, but critics fear that such faith-based support results in a lack of critical thinking regarding the conflict, Israeli policies and the plight of Palestinians.

Many Christians and Christian groups advocate that only a traditional marriage between a man and a woman should be recognized as legitimate, quoting the Bible as justification for their view on this contentious political and social issue.

These rights are believed to have stemmed from the Bible. For example, Matthew 7:12 states, “Whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” This essentially means treating people as equals and not giving one group more rights than another.

This includes innate human dignity, the right to self-governance, and the right to seek redress. For example, the Declaration states, “It is the Right of the people to abolish [and] institute new Government.” In comparison, Exodus 18:21 says, “Select capable men from all the people… and appoint them as officials.”

Civil authorities must obey the Constitution and uphold its principles while in office. This is similar to the Bible, where civil authorities and kings obeyed God’s law and upheld his principles during their rule.

However, many are claiming that the Supreme Court is putting Christians’ First Amendment rights ahead of others.  One such example was the 2023 ruling in 303 Creative v. Elenis, where the court ruled that a businessperson doesn’t have to create art that violates their religious beliefs, which in this case was a wedding website for a same-sex ceremony.

Critics argue that such a focus on advocating weapons for “self-defense” opposes and overshadows the more basic biblical teachings calling for peace and the prevention of violence.

They argue that these policies align with the Christian belief in hard work and personal responsibility. Others feel such economic views in fact ignore the Christian mandate described in Proverbs to provide care for the poor, marginalized and disadvantaged.

Despite disappearing from coins, the phrase reappeared in the 1950s and has remained on coins and paper money ever since. In 1956, “In God We Trust” was adopted as the first official U.S. motto, and it continues to affirm the importance of God and Christianity in the U.S. today.

This scripture is from Leviticus 25:10 and states, “Proclaim LIBERTY throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.” Christians view Jesus as a sign of freedom, and as Christian values were deeply rooted in American culture at the time that the U.S. gained independence, it makes sense for this scripture to be engraved in America’s most famous symbol of freedom.

Former Vice President Mike Pence has said that “God is not done with America yet,” with South Carolina Senator Tim Scott adding, “Our nation was founded upon the Judeo-Christian values that [have] made this the greatest nation on God’s green Earth.” One study found that 59% of voters who frequently attend religious services supported Donald Trump in the 2020 election, which shows that Christianity is a good way to unite the Republican Party and its supporters.

Christians often oppose comprehensive sex education, instead favoring initiatives like abstinence-only programs that can leave young people dangerously uninformed. This opposition will quote Bible verses to support their ultra-conservative approach to sex education.

Some feel this teaching that the reward of material gain is somehow the will of God somewhat distorts gospel teachings about the call to humility and service. Indeed, greed is often painted as a sin that “steals from life’s better joys.”

This is relevant to the typical American working week today. Even though the modern working week tends to be five days and then resting for two, Americans used to work six days a week and rest for one. Many believe that this working schedule was based on the Fourth Commandment.

It doesn’t just lead to losing your partner, as many friends and family members will stop or limit spending time with someone who is a cheater. It is especially seen as wrong to cheat on the person you are married to, as that is when you have made a commitment to your husband/wife in front of witnesses (and God in some cases) to stay with that person forever.

This concerns perjury, which is the element of giving a false testimony while under oath in a court of law. This is a punishable offense, as it can mislead the jury and the trial outcome.

Despite this core teaching of love and acceptance, many Christian groups oppose LGBTQ+ rights, typically quoting Bible passages like Romans 1:26-27 to support their prejudices.

Despite this advocacy of the sanctity of life, there are also Christian conservatives who find a way to use the Bible to justify support for capital punishment. There seems to be an identity crisis in some circles of Christianity, where they muster the cognitive dissonance to advocate that life is sacred in all circumstances, until it apparently isn’t.

This black-and-white view on abortion has far-reaching consequences beyond simply supporting a woman’s autonomy and her right to choose. It often ignores many medical and healthcare-related issues relevant to the debate.

However, there were many other Christians who were trying to push for the abolition of slavery. Quakers made it clear that everyone is “equal in the sight of God,” with various Quaker founders asking their congregants to stop owning slaves. The prominence of Christians calling for abolishment grew, and many believe it was this that helped lead to slavery being abolished for good.

Martin Luther King Jr was another prominent figure during this movement and was instrumental in involving different churches. To get people on board with desegregation, he pointed out that it was unequal, scarring to the segregator and segregated, and “it ends up depersonalizing the segregated.” Biblical quotes were used to back up each point.

Christianity is a crucial part of the American identity, but modern America is not a one-faith nation. Individuals, and indeed policymakers, need to critically examine Christian standards and how they permeate into different aspects of American life to ensure a community is built where all can prosper and core Christian values like compassion and justice win out over more insidious, conservative elements.