David Limbaugh, nationally syndicated conservative political columnist and public speaker, spoke in the Fillius Events Barn at Hamilton on April 3. Limbaugh's talk, titled "Persecution: How Liberals are Waging War Against Christianity," outlined his arguments in a book of the same name about secular liberal hostility towards America's cultural and political roots in Christian ideals. The event was hosted by the Hamilton College Republicans, and was sponsored by Student Assembly, the Office of the President, and Young America's Foundation.
Limbaugh was introduced by Ben Noble '08, president of the Hamilton College Republicans, who noted his three New York Times bestselling books: Absolute Power: The Legacy of Corruption in the Clinton-Reno Justice Department, Bankrupt: The Intellectual and Moral Bankruptcy of Today's Democratic Party, and the aforementioned Persecution.
Limbaugh began his talk by saying that he hoped to present to the audience a different view of America's founding than he believes is often heard in the mainstream media and academy today. He said that while historical revisionists today often argue that secular ideals drove the founding of the United States, the evidence points to the fact that American political ideals and structures were actually a logical and natural outgrowth of Christian principles. Limbaugh then paused to note that he does not make this argument to be deliberately controversial or provocative, nor to make a claim to absolute truth. Instead, he said, he wants to share what he believes is a preponderance of evidence that America's greatness is related to its Christian values and heritage.
"America is the freest nation in the world," Limbaugh continued, "and we have to ask why that is." While secular humanists often claim that the ideals of the Enlightenment were prevalent in the American colonies at the time of the founding, Limbaugh said that Enlightenment ideology was vastly overshadowed by the prevalence of Judeo-Christian thought and ideals in our nation's founding. "If our freedom is owing to Judeo-Christian principles," he said, "if we value our freedoms it follows that we should protect these principles."
Limbaugh discussed the colonization of America by British citizens who were seeking religious freedom. Because of their belief in The Fall of Man, these colonists sought to create governments by, of and for the people that would protect citizens from mankind's tendency to oppress one another. The early American colonists, he said, were largely devout Christians who had biblically-based governments, and it was these governments that in part formed the model for our modern state and federal governments. "Secularism at the revolution is a myth," Limbaugh said.
Even more persuasive, Limbaugh said, is the fact that America's founders were Christians whose political ideology was informed by this worldview. The authors of such important documents as the Declaration of Independence and the Federalist Papers believed that man was created in God's image and is therefore endowed with certain rights, he said. Though historical revisionism today will often have us believe that such founding fathers as Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Ben Franklin were not traditional Christians, Limbaugh presented evidence that nearly all of the founders were Christians and that their ideas were informed by Christian ideology. For example, he said, references to the Bible in the great political texts by the founders greatly outnumber the references to all other political and historical texts.
Limbaugh said that secularists often argue that faith and freedom are antithetical. In fact, he said, faith and freedom are harmonious, and indeed it is anti-religious thinking that has often led to tyranny throughout history. In fact, freedom is the logical consequence of Christian principles and the belief in both human worth and human weakness. The American political structure, with federal levels of government and horizontal checks and balances, seeks to balance the power of the government and the freedom of individuals based on this worldview. Part of the reason he is such a strong advocate for an originalist and non-activist judiciary, Limbaugh said, is that the relationships between our branches of government are precariously designed to preserve this balance and should be respected.
While Limbaugh believes that our freedoms depend on a cultural commitment to Christian values, he said that he does not necessarily think that these values should be imposed by the state. This does not mean, however, that he believes in a complete separation of church and state in the way secularists conceive of it. In fact, he said, the "grand tradition of separation of church and state" to which secularists often refer is mere sophistry. While the framers did include clauses in the first amendment prohibiting the establishment of a national religion or infringement on free religious exercise, they did not intend this to mean that Christianity could not appear anywhere in government. From its first days, he said, Congress and the federal government have regularly engaged in public, taxpayer-funded prayer and religious observance. The "establishment clause" has been extrapolated by secularists to mean that government can have no association with religion at all, and this can lead to disastrous consequences where citizens' right to free exercise of their religion is actually infringed upon.
American religious liberty and political liberty are interrelated and distinctly Christian concepts, Limbaugh said. He emphasized that he is not advocating a theocratic state, but rather a respect for our robust Christian heritage. Secularists believe that they can "piggyback" on the political benefits of Christian ideas while simultaneously undermining them, he argued. This is the opposite of the truth, he said. Instead, the farther we get from appreciating our Christian heritage, "the more we will approach tyranny at an ever accelerating pace." He concluded his talk by encouraging people of all faiths to stand up for their religious beliefs and "stop cowing to political correctness."
-- by Caroline Russell O'Shea '07
