Modern America is anything but a religious society. Regardless of how you measure it, Americans are less religious now than ever before and the rate is accelerating[1]. Church attendance is down, the nation is in moral decline, and social trust is evaporating. For anybody old enough to remember the US decades ago, these trends are painfully obvious. But what are the causes of these trends, and why now?
There are numerous factors that contribute to these trends, like immigration, urbanization, culture, etc. Unfortunately, there is no objective way to measure the exact cause. But one source is unmistakable: public schools. Over the last 60 years, schools have slowly removed prayer[2]. Prayer in school wasn’t making people religious, but it serves as a good proxy for secularization and the growing hostility towards religion. As schools have pushed out prayer and religion, Americans have become increasingly secular. It is to the point now where many consider mention of God or Jesus as hate speech[3].
History of Public Schools
Since the inception of the American Public School System, reformers have used schools to manipulate children and mold them into “good” citizens. Initiated by Horace Mann, the early American school systems followed the Prussian model to generate compliant soldiers and factory workers[4]. Later, the Protestant elites of New England used schools to “Americanize” waves of immigrants from mostly Catholic countries. Instead of encouraging immigrants to send their children to Catholic schools, the elites passed Blaine Amendments in most states, which forbid public money from supporting parochial schools[5].
Another interesting development during the early periods of public schooling was the introduction of the Pledge of Allegiance[6]. With prayer in school, there was never a conflict between God and nationalism. However, now that prayer is gone, children are left with nothing but an admiration of the nation. In fact, public schools routinely teach history in ways that lionize US Presidents. Even though easily debunked, schools teach countless myths about American History, especially with regards to presidents[7]. The lies surrounding Lincoln are so outrageous that they stretch the credibility of public schools and expose their underlying mission of indoctrination.
Desegregation
Of course, it is impossible to review schools without recognizing the tremendous roll of public schools in desegregating American culture. Just as the schools were previously used to enforce racial differences, reformers used public schools to change culture[8]. Today, a segregated society is unthinkable, so something clearly had to be done. But the important lesson is to understand that reformers turned to the school system as their agent of change.
Since then, social changes have vastly accelerated. Racism was always the big ticket item of American reformers. But once it was largely defeated, reformers moved on to other pet projects. The fight against racisms did not pit schools against religion. However, the next wave of reforms challenged many long held religious beliefs.
Role of Women
The role of women in society was the next major reform. As with every reform before, the public schools lead the way[9]. Of course, here leftist egalitarianism and religious traditions are squarely in conflict. Like every challenge before it, the reformers won. In the US, women now account for more than half of the workforce[10].
With both parents out of the house, the State fully consolidated raising and educating children. The rise of after school programs (aka ASP) is an obvious consequence of this trend[11]. Instead of spending time at home with religious parents and family, more and more children spend their entire days at public schools immersed in secular environments which are openly hostile to religious beliefs.
Marriage
Finally, government destroyed the last remaining pillar of traditional, religious lifestyle with Obergefell v. Hodges [12]. Now, it is a hate crime to mention the religious nature of marriage. Like every other reform, the change is most extreme in public schools[13]. Schools across the country teach children that marriage is between any combination of genders and anything to the contrary is bigotry.
Conclusion
Thorough American History, reformers used public schools to push agendas. These agendas have always worked to displace religion with the modern egalitarian consensus. This consensus lionizes public leaders and minimizes the role of family and religion, especially in the public domain. They radically transformed America into a thoroughly secular culture and society.
If you care about religion, however, not all is lost. As the American government descends further into disfunction, people are waking to these trends and opting out of the system. More and more parents home school their children, especially since the nightmare treatment of children during the COVID pandemic. The recent wave school voucher laws which give parents the choice to send their children to private, religious schools using public funds is another beacon of hope.
Concordia
In my novel, Concordia, There Must be a better Way, a team of visionaries create a nation. One of their key accomplishments is the separation of education and state. This gives parents complete control over their children’s education, which is the only long-term solution to preserving religious beliefs. When concluding the book, the main character and hero, Paul Walters, says:
It is my hope that we can show the world that education is too important to leave to self-interested bureaucrats and corrupt politicians.
About the Author
Rudy Fenimore is the author of Concordia, There Must be a Better Way. A software expert by day, he writes on nights and weekends to connect with people and escape the boredom of the software world. A dedicated husband and father of three, Rudy enjoys spending time with family, especially in the great outdoors. When not working, he enjoys tennis, weightlifting, gardening, and hiking.
Connect with Rudy
Blog: concordia.blog
Twitter: @1concordia