For a number of years there has been a discussion among many about whether the United States is or is not a Christian nation.
What the recent elections have established is that the United States is no longer governed or overwhelmingly influenced by Christian values and that a culture that opposes the Christian culture has become entrenched.
One political party has embraced same-sex marriages/unions as a viable and legitimate lifestyle. The same party has produced a President that is, arguably, the most pro-abortion chief executive in the history of the nation. The majority of Americans have affirmed and embraced that policy by their votes.
An ever-increasing number of states are legalizing same-sex marriages and it is reasonable to assume that the issue will eventually go to the Supreme Court. Whether the Court will make same-sex marriage a constitutionally protected right (as was done in the case of abortion in 1973) remains to be seen.
Whatever one may personally believe about same-sex relationships and the ending of human life through abortion, one cannot argue that the Church has ever been supportive of these two practices during its long history.
Only in recent years have certain groups and denominations within Christianity rejected biblical and historic tradition and embraced these two positions.
There has been low-level hostility toward the historic Christian faith for some time and one can anticipate that this cultural hostility will continue and will, in fact, increase.
In certain nations in the world, a pastor who teaches the biblical and traditional view of marriage can be charged with a hate crime. Could it happen in America?
Once, such a proposition was unthinkable but, in a progressive, relativistic, and hostile culture, such a scenario becomes not only possible but eventually probable.
Not so long ago, evangelical Christians and conservative Catholics could comfort themselves with the thought that the majority of Americans shared their traditional values.
However, it has been reported that, in the last election, 25 million evangelicals abandoned their historic values and embraced the values of the liberals. And the Catholic bishops have discovered that politicians — Catholic politicians — regularly reject the values of their church and flaunt their dissent publicly. Many Catholic priests and bishops continue to serve the sacraments to politicians whose public positions violate Catholic dogma, serving only to further confuse their flocks.
So, is the United States a Christian nation (or a nation governed by Judeo-Christian values)?
The answer to the question is, “No, it is not.”
The majority of Americans have made a choice and continue to make that choice. There is a new reality in the land — a reality that Christians and the Church must come to grips with.
The Scriptures are no longer the foundation for belief or for conduct — even among many Christians. Biblical Christians are now a minority in the United States, and there will be ramifications.
What will this new reality eventually produce? That remains to be seen, but the future will be different than the past.
One small businessman said last week, “America is not now the country in which I grew up.”
No, it is not. But it is the new reality.
We are not a Christian nation. Not any more. Maybe never again.
David Epps is the pastor of the Cathedral of Christ the King, 4881 Hwy. 34 E., Sharpsburg, GA 30277. Services are held Sundays at 8:30 and 10 a.m. (www.ctkcec.org). He is the bishop of theDiocese of the Mid-South (www.midsouthdiocese.org. He may be contacted at frepps@ctkcec.org.]
