Losing the Faith of Our Fathers

By Jordan A. Monge

As I strolled through the Yard the other day, rhythmic tones calling people to prayer in Arabic reminded me that Islamic Awareness Week was beginning. The efforts of the Harvard Islamic Society to encourage an understanding of Muslim tradition and belief are certainly valuable. Yet it is troubling that the spirit of tolerance and desire for comprehension that is granted to Islam is not extended to the faith that most Americans share, Christianity. 

Hanukkah, Christmas, Passover, and Easter get much more publicity than Ramadan or Kwanzaa. Yet this attention seems well focused, considering that the overwhelming majority—over 75 percent, in fact—of Americans are Christian.

Yet I was surprised to learn that people’s knowledge of Christian history and tradition are sorely lacking, even at Harvard. I spoke to one Catholic who did not know that Christians celebrated Lent in order to remember Christ’s forty days in the wilderness when he was tempted by Satan. I spoke to a Jewish girl who was unaware that Easter always occurred near Passover because Christians believe that Jesus was crucified on Passover and resurrected three days later. I spoke to a Muslim who did not know that Jewish people eat matzah during Passover to commemorate the original journey out of Egypt when God commanded the ancient Israelites not to eat leavened bread. Regardless of the truth of these stories—there is wide disagreement over whether they represent actual, historical events—the fact is that many people at Harvard are unaware of their value to millions of Americans.

These details may not number among the most central tenets of Christianity and Judaism, but they are indicative of the general lack of knowledge in our society about our Judeo-Christian tradition. Ironically, this ignorance is particularly present at Harvard, despite the fact that it was founded as a seminary for Puritan ministers. It is important to understand the Islamic faith as well, but it seems unreasonable to do so at the expense of understanding the religion that has primary influence upon modern American culture. Before we focus on learning the traditions of Islam, we ought to learn the fundamentals of the religions that form the core of our society. If we lived in a Muslim nation, I would advocate an emphasis on comprehending Mohammad’s life and its significance for the majority of the population before learning about Jesus and his importance to the Western tradition. However, because our nation is fundamentally founded on Christianity and is composed mostly of Christians, it is necessary to learn about those ideas that are key to the people around us.

Christianity is not anathema to Harvard, as events like the Veritas Forum and the presence of numerous chaplains demonstrate. Yet there is not a large outreach of Christians to explain themselves to the large body of Harvard students who neither know nor understand their beliefs. Most of the events here are advocating tolerance of all religions, instead of education about each particular one. The emphasis on interfaith events promotes tolerance rather than understanding. Instead of seeking out religious truths, students are inculcated in liberal ideas of salvation theology, which focus on the ability of all religions to find “truth.” Such events suggest that there is not one correct religion, but different paths through which we may reach relative truth. They espouse liberal ideals like tolerance and relativism rather than encourage the search for absolute religious knowledge, furthering the post-modern sentiment of the university at large. Perhaps Harvard’s motto should be slightly altered, from veritas to veritates.

This push for tolerance is expansive, extending not only throughout Harvard, but also to public schools, and even to the White House. There was an uproar over President Obama’s choice of Rev. Rick Warren and Rev. Joseph Lowery to deliver the inaugural prayer. Many called for having a wider range of prayers, including Jewish, Muslim, and even humanist representation, while others demanded the abolition of inaugural prayer altogether to cement the separation of church and state. 

Increasing calls for the separation of church and state are already indicative of an ignorance of the importance of Christianity to our Founding Fathers. Many liberals want to forget that prayer has been present at virtually all events in the history of our government, from the first Constitutional Convention to the daily opening session of Congress. It is impossible to separate our government from the religious sentiment upon which it is founded. 

Jefferson, Madison, and Adams believed in the Christian ideal that all men “are endowed by their Creator with inherent and inalienable rights,” not the secular principle of man deriving rights from nature or from human consensus. Even the fairly secular holiday of Thanksgiving was stripped of God only recently. In 1789, George Washington issued a Thanksgiving proclamation to encourage all Americans to devote November 26 of that year “to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be.” 

Despite the importance of Christianity to our Founding Fathers, and its significance to the majority of Americans, Harvard students seem woefully ignorant of it. Frequently they are more interested in exploring Islam, Buddhism, or the Humanism rather than discovering Christianity. Students ought to recall G.K. Chesterton’s suggestion in The Everlasting Man, to “judge [Christianity] as [we] would judge Confucianism” instead of fostering anger or misunderstanding about its tenets.

To rectify this problem, I encourage the establishment of a Christianity Awareness Week, which would seek to educate Harvard students about the fundamental tenets and traditions of the Christian faith. Considering that Muslims and followers of other religions are often granted greater acceptance than Christians—especially conservative Christians—I think this would be helpful in fostering the true spirit of tolerance. 

Harvard encourages Interfaith Week, Islamic Awareness Week, and Human Rights Week, so it should extend the same acceptance to a Christianity Awareness Week, which would be more valuable to the majority of students on campus. Otherwise our lack of knowledge about the largest religion in the world will prompt us to lose an understanding of our own history as well as isolate us from the majority of Americans. Harvard’s students will lose the faith of our fathers if we allow tolerance of all religions to overcome the necessity of understanding our core tenets.