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One Nation Under Man?: The Worldview War Between Christians and the Secular Left

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so much truth here
i totally recommend this book as well as Brannon's newer book, "Grave Influence"

In One Nation Under Man? Brannon Howse clearly spells out the religious worldview battle that is vying for the heart and soul of America. Mr. Howse makes the keen point that this worldview battle in our culture is not between religionists and secularists, but between two competing RELIGIOUS worldviews-theism and secular humanism. These two opposing religious worldviews both have an agenda for America. Secular Humanists want to create a society void of religious influence, whereas Theists believe our nation can only thrive it if returns to its biblical roots.

Mr. Howse rightly identifies that the core issue regards which worldview is true. It is not fact versus faith, but fact versus fact. Mr. Howse explains: "The issue is not that one worldview (theism) requires faith while the other (atheism) does not-both do. The question is: Which worldview is based on a more rational faith? (125)" Mr. Howse lays out a convincing case for why the theist (Christian) worldview is not only true, but the key to America's faith, family, freedom, and future. Let's briefly consider some of the key points in Mr. Howse's case:

First, Mr. Howse demonstrates through quotations of the Founding Fathers and the Declaration of Independence that America was built on biblical ideas. The wall between church and state was originally erected by the Fathers to keep the government from interfering with religion, not vice versa. The majority of the Fathers were theists, and they relied on their beliefs to form our great nation. Second, humanist organizations, such as the ACLU and NEA have deeply hurt our nation through their anti-religious and sometimes even socialist agendas. Third, many judges today have usurped the powers of our legislature and have become unelected lawmakers-forcing their philosophical, political, and religious worldviews on our nation. Fourth, not only are their deep flaws in Darwinian evolution, but it has also had a destructive impact on law, ethics, and human dignity. Fifth, Mr. Howse makes a convincing case for why "Humanism is a lie and Christianity is the truth."

One Nation Under Man is an important book for old and young alike. I would recommend it to parents, educators, and all other citizens concerned about the direction our country is headed. Mr. Howse lays out a challenge for Christians to take their worldview seriously and to use whatever means they have to fight for our great nation to remain under God, not man.

Directed at the evangelical and conservative reader, Brannon Howse's "One Nation Under Man" is unique: readers finishing this book will have a poorer understanding of Humanism and other issues than if they had never picked up the book. The reviewer is a member of the Northern Virginia Ethical Society, a religious Humanist congregation.

There are so many problems with the book they would be difficult to list. The bibliography shows the author made unfortunate choices for sources, such as books by fellow evangelicals and conservatives for information about Humanism rather than primary sources or more scholarly texts. The book has an amazingly incoherent organizational structure. No scholar himself, Howse stumbles from the introduction, where is mis-defines Humanism, and quickly proceeds downhill from there.

The first chapter scattershots at several minor issues, but the aim point is the claim that America was founded as a Christian nation, and that Liberals and Humanists kicked God out of schools and the public square. Howse appears not to have understood why our constitution called for secular governance. This reviewer recommends "The Godless Constitution" by Isaac Kramnick and R. Laurence Moore to those readers interested in this issue.

The second chapter claims that separation of Church and State is a "liberal lie" and a modern creation. Howse claims that states may institute official state religions notwithstanding the Fourteenth Amendment, apparently not considering that possibility that Utah, a Mormon majority state could, under his arguement, mandate all voters to be LDS members. Howse also seems to believe that Liberals and Humanists initiated most cases involving prayer in schools. In fact, it has always been religious minorities-Catholics, Jews, Mormons and other devout people who started the cases, and in whose behalf the government has correctly sided. I direct readers who are interested in this topic to "Between Church and State," by James W. Fraser.

The nadir of the book is the next two chapters dealing with Humanism and Liberalism. Howse makes sometimes bizarre assertions, including: true Republicans must be Christians fundamentalists and that Liberals are anti-Christian. Like many conspiratorialists, Howse props up both John Dewey and the NEA for exposure as Humanists and Socialists aiming to brainwash children. These claims are terribly out of date considering the Department of Education and many local school boards are under control of Christian conservatives.

Then there is a chapter on Evolution, a chapter claiming secular humanism is the state religion, and so on. Edited in a cut-and-paste manner, the sections are oftimes wrong and oftimes not relevant to the topic.

Howse doesn't know the histories or definitions of Humanism, Liberalism, Marxism, Secularism or any other "ism" he uses, and therefore conflates one with the other. All things that are not approved by his evangelical worldview are liberal, or socialistic or secular or humanistic (which he believes are all the same). Never one to seek out new and better sources, he relies upon Tim LaHaye for much of his history of Humanism. This is equivalent to using a Wahhabist to explain Judaism.

Howse makes much of the assertion that Humanism is a religion, but like LaHaye, he doesn't understand that there are diverse views on this point even within the Humanist community. I'm a religious Humanist, part of the Ethical Culture movement that has been recognized as a religion for over one hundred years. Paul Kurtz is a Secular Humanist. Some Secular Humanists reject the religious connotation, believing religion has only furthered discord, bigotry and prejudice. Howse has provided more evidence to support their view. Indeed, it is almost impossible to see how someone who claims to follow the Prince of Peace could have written a book so filled with error and venom.

If you are an evangelical Christian or a conservative, I do not recommend this book. It is filled with falsehoods and omissions. Aside from the books cited in the review, I would recommend "The Humanist Way" by Edward L. Ericson, or visits to the American Humanist Association website (www.americanhuminst.org) and American Ethical Union (www.aeu.org). But better yet, find a local Ethical Society or secular humanist group to visit, and talk with its members. You will not agree with our views, but you will also find people completely different from those depicted in these pages. We are not your enemies; we are your fellow citizens.

The book contains no photographs, endnotes but no bibliography, four appendices (non useful to the reader and containing errors) and no index.

Brannon Howse has provided a great service to the Christian community and to America as a whole. This book thoroughly and accurately describes the two competing philosophies driving virtually every public debate in our country today: Christian Theism vs. Secular Humanism. Howse rightly points out the Christian history which made America the great nation that it is, but he also warns that this Christian foundation is strategically being undermined by the agenda of the Secularist worldview. Anybody interested in today's cultural debates needs to read this book; and certainly every Christian who desires to be equipped to respond to the challenges presented by the Secular Humanist worldview. I highly recommend this book!

This is an excellent book that walks the reader through the problems of the secular humanist worldview. There is a very clear distinction made between Christian and man centered world views and a clear history of how the Supreme Court has basically rewritten our Constitution. This is NOT a boring book about legal cases and Psychology - rather it is a succinct look at how our country is headed for trouble unless we return to the worldview held by our Founding Fathers - a Christian World View.

Brannon Howse does an excellent job in exposing the humanist agenda for what it truly is. The research is excellent and the conclusions are aggressive, uncompromising and well-stated. The legal scholarship is superbly well-documented, as well. The only reason people say that this book should not be found in public is because they are trying to hide behind the very thing which Mr. Howse so clearly exposes. This is NOT even remotely close to hate literature (as some critics have painted it); Mr. Howse very strongly opposes things such as racism and bigotry. However, he does not compromise on the teachings of the Bible. This book is highly recommended as a work in modern conservatism.

If you want to know fundamentally who the players are and what ideas are at odds in what is commonly called the "culture war" going on in America today, this book is a must read. It is very comprehensive and sourced. Each chapter in One Nation Under Man? can be used as a topic of discussion in a small group or Sunday School setting. The secular left hates Christianity. Sadly, too many Christians have their proverbial heads in the sand. Brannon Howse has done an excellent job of laying out the battlefield and calling Christians to arms.

I am weary of those who misrepresent the role Christianity played in the founding of this nation!
I am tired of our public schools rejecting a public discourse on alternatives to evolution!
I have had enough of those with a hypersensitivity who expect the greeting "Happy Holidays" in place of "Merry Christmas"!

So, who's responsible? As a Christian and a conservative, I highly recommend reading "One Nation Under Man" to grasp the truth and to distinguish those involved.

Brannon Howse is a pundit extraordinaire!

As I started to read the Preface to this book I found an invitation to take a test to find out my "World View" score. I basically failed from his point of view, and if I wanted to improve my biblical worldview I should attend a Worldview Weekend, or maybe consider a week long Summit experience somewhere. I think I'll decline.

While this is a very interesting book, it is very, very one sided. I see a lot of material that talks about what the founding fathers were thinking when they set up the United States Constitution. Mr. House's opinion is that they were God fearing Christians who set up a Christian country.

My own views are a bit different. The founding fathers were a bunch of revolutionaries rebelling against the 'legitimate' government who ruled the country. They had the wisdom to set up a system with a bunch of guaranteed freedoms. Remember this was just after the Inquisition, just after Galileo was sentenced to life for saying that the moons of Jupiter went around Jupiter. It was just after a time when the Christian religion had gone crazy. It was just after a time of all but endless religious wars. They set up a country with no state religion, go believe what you want. I understand that most of the founding fathers were Deists with the core belief based solely on reason, in a God who created the universe and then abandoned it, assuming no control over life, exerting no influence on natural phenomena, and giving no supernatural revelation.

The good part of this book is how it explains the right wing Christian point of view. His view of the left is that it is "Communist/Marxist/Socialist/Secular Humanist". That's what his on-line test rated me (I got -53 points out of a possible +170). It couldn't be further from the truth. I have a set of liberal friends who consider me to be the most conservative person they know. I have a set of conservative friends who consider me to be the most liberal person they know. I'd guess that puts me pretty well in the middle.

I had a good time reading this book.