Monthly Archives: September 2015

Kevin Kruse writes a fascinating overview of the 1950’s-1980’s and the growth of what he describes as the corporate invention of Christian America.[1] Drawing on extensive research Mr. Kruse, a professor of history at Princeton University, makes the claim that our understanding of America as a ‘Christian’ nation only dates back to the 1950’s.

He seeks to draw a straight line between businessmen and other leaders who were opposed to President Roosevelt’s ‘New Deal’ and the development of a revisionist history claiming that America was founded upon Judaeo-Christian values and ideals (p. xvi). Tying together business leaders, important religious figures, and political leaders Kruse seeks to explain how phrases like ‘One Nation Under God’ and ‘In God We Trust’ have etched themselves into what others have called America’s ‘civil religion’[2].

The book is a fascination behind-the-scenes look into the connections between business leaders and prominent clergymen such as Billy Graham and how they were able to rally Americans for political change. The section describing how the phrase ‘One Nation Under God’ was added to the pledge is unrivaled in political history writing. Kruse also describes how all branches of the US government were working with and against one another in the battle over prayer in schools. His detailed description of the congressional hearings regarding a prayer amendment illuminate how congress truly works.

Also worth reading is Mr. Kruse’s description of how President Eisenhower in particular set a tone of religiosity unlike presidents before him. Kruse describes the partnerships of business and congressional leaders that were able to work together in setting a religious tone for Pres. Eisenhower’s inauguration and his establishment of the National Prayer Breakfast. He explains Eisenhower’s first inauguration as setting the tone for the entire administration. President Eisenhower instituted beginning every Cabinet meeting with prayer and many Cabinet Secretaries followed suit in their own departments.

His thesis that the “rites of our public religion originated not in a spiritual crisis, but rather in the political and economic turmoil of the Great Depression” misses the spiritual dimension of the very event. Certainly the alteration of our pledge and the acceptance of a motto are recent developments historically. However to assert that they are simply expressions of a newly found faith obscures the facts of history. The original pledge did not contain the phrase, ‘One Nation Under God,’ but a careful reading of American history would suggest that the idea was implicit from the era of America’s origin. Even Kruse acknowledges that President Roosevelt’s first inaugural contained explicit biblical themes. President Lincoln was also adept at calling for national days of prayer and thanksgiving during the Civil War. As Carawardine writes, “[B]y a short proclamation Lincoln could use one of his most supportive networks [i.e. Northern Protestantism] to secure a national charge of adrenaline.”[3]

Certainly a national motto and the addition of words to our pledge are relatively recent. The adoption of those phrases, however, seems to suggest something deeper than merely businessmen and politicians seeking power and influence.

[1] Kevin M. Kruse, One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America (New York: Basic Bools, 2015), 352 pp.

[2] Putnam and Campbell write, “Embedded in the American psyche is an implicit article of patriotic faith that the nation owes its very existence, and survival, to a God in the heavens.” Robert  D. Putnam and David E. Campbell, with the assistance of Shaylyn Romney Garrett, American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2010), 517.

[3] Richard Carawadine, Lincoln: A Life of Purpose and Power (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006), 298.

Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis

Robert D. Putnam

New York: Simon & Schuster, 2015

387 pages

Weaving statistical analysis with stories from families all across the economic spectrum Mr. Putnam makes a compelling case for the danger that income inequality poses for ‘our kids.’ Drawing on his own experiences growing up in Port Clinton, Ohio, and his classmates he illustrates the growing divide between the haves and have-nots and the impact this inequality has on succeeding generations.

Interspersing interviews with upper class families and not-so-upper class families Putman illustrates differences between families. For example, he cites research that indicates children of well-off parents hear some 19 million more words than children of working-class parents. The statistics he presents clearly illustrate a growing divide in our country.

The interviews and statistics illustrate that the divide is not primarily about racial differences, though racial issues are still prevalent. He notes in particular the continuing neighborhood segregation than has been part of our social fabric for the past half-century. Our neighborhoods, he writes, have a pronounced impact on our kids primarily during infancy and later adolescence.

Of particular interest to me were the comments about religious influences and the role of the public schools in failing to take positive action about the growing inequality. First, using statistics and anecdotal information Mr. Putnam writes, “poor families are generally less involved in religious communities than affluent families.” This impacts childhood development in a variety of ways. Research indicates that young people involved in religious activities are less likely to abuse drugs or alcohol and they tend to have better academic scores than those children who are not involved in religious activities.

Second, the public school system comes under scrutiny by Mr. Putnam, an educator himself. The issues challenging public schools are complex and often difficult to untangle. Neighborhood sorting, i.e. segregation, continues and creates unequal schools which result in radically different outcomes for students. Putnam writes, “there’s no denying that rich and poor kids in this country attend vastly different schools nowadays.” He notes that experts indicate that school funding has no appreciable impact on student performance. The most important factors in student performance are the things the student brings with him/her into the school: income level, the parenting skill of parents, neighborhood influences, and funding for extra-curricular activities.

The book closes with a chapter devoted to suggesting solutions, or as he writes “a menu of complementary approaches that have some collective promise of changing our current course.” The suggestions make for interesting reading. However, most of them involve at one level or another the redistribution of wealth. He writes, “[S]imply providing relatively small amount of additional cash to porr families can improve the achievements of their kids at school….” Where will that cash come from? He suggests extending the Earned Income Credit and existing child tax credits. But to extend those credits means that someone else has to pick up to slack. Who might that be?

He also suggests that schools make significant investments in student guidance counselors. Given current school budgets, at least in Oregon, that might require letting core subject teachers go in order to hire guidance counselors.

Ultimately as the statistics and anecdotes remind us, the single most influential aspect of student achievement is not the income gap but the ability of parents to spur their kids on to greater achievement and the ability of communities to foster an environment that is more conducive to providing family stability. Indeed, our kids need more than we often are providing.