9/11: America’s 95 Theses Moment?

Martin Luther and his Ninety-five Theses

Martin Luther is credited with sparking the Reformation, according to legend, by nailing his Ninety-five Theses to the door of his local church on Halloween in 1517. He questioned many practices of the Catholic Church. In the years after his famous act, the Reformation swept through Europe and the power of the Catholic Church was challenged again and again, as schism after schism broke apart the Catholic Monolith and Protestantism grew, both in popularity and in the number of churches. Although there were differences within the Catholic Church prior to this, in different monastic orders, for example, the Reformation was a complete re-forming of the Christian religious landscape. Although there were likely events before and after that were also setting events for the Reformation, Martin Luther’s posting of his Ninety-five Theses is considered THE event that set off the conflagration that was the Reformation.

The Attacks of September 11, 2001

On September 11, 2001, change came knocking on America’s door, not in the form of statements and questions being posted, but in the form of horrific attacks that killed thousands. Although many people knew the world was changing, no one could have imagined how drastic the changes would be, to the geopolitical state of the world, or to the state of the American Civil Religion.

The American Civil Religion

Through most of the history of the United States, the nation had what could be defined as a pretty uniform Civic Religion. Wikipedia defines a Civic (or Civil) Religion as “the implicit religious values of a nation, as expressed through public rituals, symbols (such as the national flag), and ceremonies on sacred days and at sacred places (such as monuments, battlefields, or national cemeteries). It is distinct from churches, although church officials and ceremonies are sometimes incorporated into the practice of civil religion.”

Although there have always been differences, socially, religiously, and politically between American citizens, and these differences were sometimes expressed strongly and passionately, for the most part most people in the U.S. agreed on most things. Even where they disagreed on the way to get to a goal, they usually agreed on the goal itself. Most Americans believed in the basic founding principles of the nation that make up the foundation of the national Civic Religion.

Sociologist Anthony Squires, in his 2018 book The Politics of the Sacred in America: The Role of Civil Religion in Political Practice identified 14 characteristics of the American Civil Religion:

1. Filial piety or respect for one’s parents and ancestors specifically, and the family more generally
2. Reverence to certain sacred texts and symbols of the American civil religion (The Constitution, The Declaration of Independence, the flag, etc.)
3. The sanctity of American institutions
4. The belief in God or a deity
5. The idea that rights are divinely given
6. The notion that freedom comes from God through government
7. Governmental authority comes from God or a higher transcendent authority
8. The conviction that God can be known through the American experience
9. God is the supreme judge
10. God is sovereign
11. America’s prosperity results from God’s providence
12. America is a ‘city on a hill’ or a beacon of hope and righteousness
13. The principle of sacrificial death and rebirth
14. America serves a higher purpose than self-interests

American Schisms

Although there had increasingly been disagreements on many of these points previous to the 9/11 attacks, those disagreements were mostly civil in nature, and a feeling of American pride and camaraderie helped bind people together even through the disagreements. Soon after 9/11 however, things changed.

Disagreements became less civil. National pride and camaraderie diminished. The American Civil Religion began to experience schism after schism and change after change. Not all of these schisms and changes have been bad. Many have been good, and needed. Often the effects of societal changes are not seen or fully understood until years later.

The traditional family is no longer the societal foundation it once was. Fewer children are being born. Divorce rates have increased. Marriage rates are decreasing. Marriage between same-sex couples has been legalized, and many people are defining family as their tribe of people they choose to be their family, not the people they are related to by blood. More people are looking to government for support instead of their family.

Many people don’t understand, nor care to understand the foundations of the American nation and government. According to a 2017 poll from the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Public Policy Center:

• More than one in three people (37%) could not name a single right protected by the First Amendment.
• Only one in four (26%) can name all three branches of the government. (In 2011, 38% could name all three branches.)
• One in three (33%) can’t name any branch of government.

According to Pew, soon after 9/11 (October 2001) trust in the State was at 60%. However, in March 2019, the number was significantly lower: 17%.

These numbers dwindle despite the frequent holy days holidays of the American Civic Religion throughout the year: Presidents Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Flag Day, Constitution Day, Independence Day, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, Election Day, and most recently “Patriot Day”, the day marking the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

While civic engagement and trust in the government have diminished, violent rhetoric has increased since 9/11. The American people have become desensitized to violence and heartache. As long as it’s someone else’s family being killed, preferably in a foreign nation, many Americans don’t care. The “War on Terror” has been the longest lasting “War” in American history. Nearly 3,000 people died on 9/11, but thousands more have died or been injured since in this war that many doubt can be won. What began as a military operation to defeat Al-Qaeda has turned into a global effort to stamp out violent Islam. Most of the media has stopped bothering to keep track of the casualties anymore. Many who come home from serving in the US military come home with mental and emotional injuries and scars that they will deal with for the rest of their lives, just as people deal with the physical ones. Increasingly, people wonder just what all these deaths and injuries have accomplished, and doubt they were worth it.

The spread of the internet along with disgust for the deaths of the War on Terror and government abuses against privacy and other civil rights and an increased desire among some for government transparency has led to an increase in whistle blowers. People like Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning have had an impact on the political discourse in the United States, and Wikileaks has impacted the US and other nations.

During the Reagan and Clinton Administrations, Republicans and Democrats had significant disagreements on many areas of public policy, yet they were able to come together and often find ways to pass bipartisan legislation. Some examples that may come to mind are Welfare Reform under President Clinton, and the tax cuts and budget agreements under President Reagan.

Nowadays, it is nearly impossible to pass significant legislation with support of both Democrats and Republicans. The Senate has weakened the filibuster. Most bills are passed by nearly party line votes. Partisanship is increasing. Senator Rand Paul was attacked by his neighbour a couple years ago. An attack on Republicans happened as they practiced for the Congressional Baseball game a few years ago as well. Almost as soon as President Trump was inaugurated calls began for his impeachment. President Obama was verbally attacked mercilessly by many who claimed he was secretly a Muslim or was ineligible to be President because he wasn’t really a citizen.

Gone are the days of Elder Statesmen who were able to help bring the Republicans and Democrats together across the aisle. Gone are the days of bipartisan legislation. Gone are the days even when budgets would be passed without incident.

Deaths of political opponents are cheered (David Koch for instance). White Supremacists and racists have become more prevalent. Antifa regularly counter protests right wing protestors and violence happens to ensue. Political opponents have now become enemies.

Most of these changes found root as conflict increased between the George W Bush Administration and opposition groups like the Democratic Party, Code Pink, and others. The War on Terror, and the deaths and injuries that have come from it were a fertile soil for societal change and conflict. The internet has been an effective fertilizer as well to speed the growth of these changes and conflicts. Nevertheless, 9/11 was a moment that will be remembered as a turning point, an event marking the beginning of a new sociopolitical reality, just like Martin Luther posting his Ninety-five Theses.

The American Civic Religion is stagnating at best, and crumbling at worst. Neither political party is solely to blame. This goes far beyond political parties. The tenants most Americans held to are not so common anymore. Christianity is dwindling. More and more people are identifying more openly as “spiritual, but not religious”, Wiccan, Pastafarian, Jedi, and many other things. Politically, the extremes are becoming more extreme and those left in the middle are left feeling abandoned. Being proud of the United States, feeling patriotism, is almost automatically equated with hatred for other countries and people who are not natural born American citizens. People openly discuss violating the rights of others simply because they disagree or are different. Violence is becoming more and more acceptable, both in general, and as a method of conflict resolution. Commentators speculate there may be an increase in the number of assassination attempts, and more horrifyingly, the possibility of a second Civil War.  

The Reformation of the American Civil Religion?

Whether all this will end in things being better or worse remains to be seen. Some changes are good. Many are not. American society and the American Civil Religion, is undergoing a Reformation, and is splintering. It took many years for the different sects of Christianity to mostly be able to co-exist peacefully together. Likely, it will be many chaotic and difficult years before we see what the American Civil Religion looks like after its Reformation… presuming the Reformation of the American Civil Religion succeeds and the United States continues.

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Garrett Leeds is the founder of the Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness Project