Dirt Roads Scholar: Christianity's Influence on Civilization

Michael Kilpatrick

Michael Kilpatrick is a painting contractor in Macon, husband of one wife, father of nine children. He is a firearms enthusiast, troubler of the 'progressive' elite, and a Christian, Southern, Constitutionalist.

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Dirt Roads Scholar: Christianity's Influence on Civilization – Commentary by Michael Kilpatrick

The following was my letter to the editors of The Macon Telegraph to be published on or near Independence Day.

Editors: Western civilization in general, and America in particular was, and still is in the case of the U.S., predominantly Christian. That is the foundational reason for its success as evidenced by a quick look around the globe. Our virtues, character, general worldview, system of law, philanthropy, and economics, are inextricably tied up in Christian principles, beliefs, and ideals. It has made for a unique population, who have had a sufficient degree of internal restraint to forge documents such as the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution into more than just words on paper, and render effective the institutions of freedom and liberty. This is not the case in the rest of the world, nor in history.

All that said, America is not, nor has it ever been a theocracy. Christian principles prohibit that - unlike I might add any other belief system you could name, and especially that most odious of religious faiths, atheistic secular humanism, whose believers have slaughtered an estimated 100 million 'dissidents' since it gained the means to do so with the rise of the U.S.S.R.. Warts and all, our country still stands head and shoulders above any other grouping of individuals the world has yet known...although it won't for much longer if the socialists are successful here. Atheocracy is on the ascendant.

No doubt this all sounds like hokey patriotism, not to mention intolerant Christian exclusivity. But the incontrovertible fact is that, due in the largest part to Christians, this is the most tolerant, open country on the face of the earth, in many ways to its own detriment. Deny it if you will, and disdain what we have here for whatever reason, but without Christianity and Christian people this country would be no different than any other tin pot backwater tyranny on the planet, and there are many of all faiths, within and outside the U.S., who know it and appreciate, or at least respect it.

"We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future of all of our political institutions...upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God." --James Madison

This piece above was printed, but edited yet again, despite my vehement previous protests to either print as is, or don't print. The editors changed "Atheocracy" (atheist/theocracy...godless theocracy...get it?) at the end of the second paragraph to "A theocracy", and moved it to the beginning of the third paragraph. Also, apparently the Madison quote is unverifiable, of which I was unaware.

No doubt Mount Olympus is made of fifty-five gallon drums of ink wrapped in newsprint, and the Divine inhabitants reach down from The Palace of the Editors to bless the mortals with help they don't even know they need. Such compassion.

There were several responses, of which all that were printed were in the same category of this gem:

Where has Michael Kilpatrick been living with his ears stuffed and his eyes blindfolded?

Christianity has been responsible for countless campaigns of violence, slaughter, forced Christianization, enslavement, disenfranchisement and that's just on this continent.

It is the self-righteous malevolence of Christian leaders throughout our history which has blackened the United States' reputation throughout the world.

The main victims were Indians and African Americans. But let's not forget the unchristian treatment of immigrants - though Christian themselves - like the Irish, Italians, Greeks, Mexicans and Puerto Ricans.

Those who remember that Christian validation from Christian pulpits encouraged the atrocities of our American history do not hold with the fantasy Kilpatrick too often spouts.

Watch "Into the West," now showing as a series of programs on TNT by Stephen Spielberg. It demonstrates the complex relationship between white Christians, Indians and the chinese. It vividly shows how various people behaved during the move west in the 19th Century.

Some were good and maintained their values, but too many others became power-driven and brutal. The false idea that it was good for the Native Americans to give up their language, culture and religion shows how dangerous even good Christians can be.

It is wrong and dangerous to insist that one's religion is above all wrongdoing and atrocities. This same kind of self-righteousness is too evident today among many powerful Christians, and we must all guard against its growth."

--Nancy Engel

I have responded by U.S. mail, with all the respect a Southern gentleman deems appropriate, to those whose addresses were available on the Internet, and hope for some entertaining replies. I dream of gathering them all together at some local coffee emporium, throwing out questions (like those below) to the floor, and sitting back to listen.

My reply to the paper is also unlikely to be printed:

Editors: My apologies for passing on a questionable quote attributed to James Madison. I will attempt to verify any future submissions - as I have with this one;

"This duty is precedent, both in order of time and in degree of obligation, to the claims of Civil Society. Before any man can be considered as a member of Civil Society, he must be considered as a subject of the Governour of the Universe... If this freedom be abused, it is an offence against God, not against man: To God, therefore, not to man, must an account of it be rendered." --James Madison, "Remonstrance".

Or this one,

"Our laws and our institutions must necessarily be based upon the teachings of the Redeemer of mankind. It is impossible that it should be otherwise; and in this sense and to the extent, our civilization and our institutions are emphatically Christian." -- U.S. Supreme Court, 1892.

Look it up.

At the same time I have some questions unlikely to be answered by Messrs. Mahr, Huckeba, Dodson, or anyone else who may be a recluse in the amen corners of intellectually gated PC enclaves, who make public pronouncements and then retreat to their bunkers:

Should the multitude of other verified quotes by men of similar standing as Mr. Madison now be dispensed with and declared 'revisionist' history or myths?
Should atheistic secular humanism, which is being codified by law (abortion as 'privacy,' homosexual 'marriage' as a 'civil right,' child pornography as 'free speech,' etc.), be considered a neutral position and not the imposition of a blatantly quasi-religious ideology on a people the majority of whom oppose such things?
If Christianity is such a threat that it must be resisted, marginalized, and eventually erased, what is proposed to replace it - and what is history's record of that replacement's desirability over what we once had?
How often have you ever been personally compelled to defend your views, face to face, and when was the last time?
Finally, when the spiritual capital that better men acquired for us is exhausted, will we enjoy a new Eden fashioned by godless men...or have we 'been there, done that' already?

In that New Eden, self-assessed pinnacles of evolution may preach the gloriousness of the Emperor's new clothes loudly and at length, but rational people still know he's just another naked tyrant.

Webmaster's Note: Mr. Kilpatrick's question about personally defending one's views is especially relevant in the Heritage wars. Our beliefs, values and traditions (and Liberties!) are under assault. As General Forrest has shown us, it is time to go on the offensive.

The enemies of our heritage are winning. Evidence of this is illustrated in the letter (above) from Ms. Engel. Apparently, her knowledge of American history and world history comes from public education and Hollywood. She cites Spielberg as her authority on American history. Enough said.