Just what were the causes of the Civil War? Westward expansion? Sure. Slavery? That was a part of it too. Keeping the union together? Absolutely. Evangelical Christianity? According to the conversation that Dr. Albert Mohler had with Historian David Goldfield, yes. The thesis that Goldfield presents in his book America Aflame: How the Civil War Created a Nation is fascinating and has significant implications for the way in which we view the current political struggle taking place in Washington today.
In short, in the mid-1800s northern fervent evangelical Christianity campaigned to exterminate two “sins” from the national landscape in order to “save” the country, and those sins were Roman Catholicism and slavery. This large societal reform from the North ran contrary to what southern evangelicals’ focus: the salvation of the individual. With the political process in Washington overwhelmed by fervent religious energy from the Northern Right, the moderates, like President Lincoln, were eventually forced to choose sides: North or South. Historian David Goldfield argues that our government has historically worked best from the center, but the evangelical movement of the North overloaded the political system and took the controversy and issues of slavery and blew them up into the Civil War.
This perspective on the origins of the Civil War is interesting, but also grabs our current culture by the throat and forces us to stop and look at the similar “overwhelming” of our federal government as they wrestle in partisan politics. Instead of the northern evangelical Christians’ goal of exterminating sins from the country (Catholicism and slavery), our America now struggles with the fair pursuit of happiness through the issues of entitlements, taxes, the economy, class warfare, the definition of life, the definition of marriage, and America’s continued role in foreign affairs. With both political parties demonizing the other, just how much longer can this government withstand this polarization until it is, like in the 1800s, overwhelmed? And what then? What happens when our modern American political system breaks down and nothing can get done in Washington?
Am I being a whistle blower for the collapse of America? Certainly not, but constant division from our leaders will have some important result. I appreciate this conversation between Dr. Albert Mohler and Historian David Goldfield for sharing their conversation and sparking some important questions for all of us to consider.