The Bible in American Law and Politics. John R. Vile
and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their land” (cited in Carson 2014, ix). Carson’s favorite verse, from Proverbs 22:4, says that “by humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, and honour, and life” (Winder 2019, 25).
In a book that he wrote prior to his 2016 campaign, Carson highlighted each chapter with a passage from Proverbs. Although he continually lauded the value of education in combatting ignorance, in his book, Carson presented his own political stances simply as common sense, which he often contrasted to what he referred to as the views of “the secular progressive movement,” which he portrayed as attempting to expunge all biblical references and teachings from the public square (Carson 2014, 41). He opposed Obamacare as giving important health-care decisions to the government rather than to private individuals, advocated a simple flat tax based on the principle of biblical tithing, opposed welfare for able-bodied individuals who could provide for themselves, and generally argued for moderation and civil discourse. Carson believes that individuals should care for themselves and their families rather than over-relying on the government to do so.
Carson generally takes a fairly literal view of the Bible and bemoans what he believes is the nation’s departure from this belief. He noted, “For years, most Americans have turned to a belief in God and the Bible for answers. From the Creation story to the Ten Commandments to the Gospels to the Epistles, the Bible provided an explanation for the meaning of life and instructed us in moral principles. We held to a Judeo-Christian standard while respecting the beliefs of those who didn’t share them” (Carson 2014, 192). By contrast, he observed that “today, fewer people believe in the Bible, or even in absolute truth, and our rejection of an objective moral standard has thrown our society into disarray. If in fact we do really believe in God and His Word, many of the moral ‘gray’ issues of today become black and white” (Carson 2014, 193). Citing the prohibition in Exodus against murder and the admonition in Matthew 22:39 to “love your neighbor as yourself,” Carson indicated that “abortion is rarely a moral option” (Carson 2014, 193). Similarly, he opposed homosexual conduct, expressed his belief in creationism without taking a position on the age of the earth, and argued that “many of our laws are based on the Ten Commandments” (Carson 2014, 200).
Carson is often known for making provocative off-the-cuff remarks, sometimes involving matters of religion and morality (Gass 2015). Critics like Bible scholar Pete Enns, while lauding Carson as a good man, charge that he often simplifies or misapplies biblical truths, as when Carson tweeted, “It is important to remember that amateurs built the Ark and it was the professionals that built the Titanic.” Enns also questions whether one can apply the principle of the biblical tithe to contemporary society.
See also Abortion; Creationism and Evolution; Ten Commandments
For Reference and Further Reading
Carson, Ben, with Candy Carson. 2014. One Nation: What We Can All Do to Save America’s Future. New York: Sentinel.
86
Devi, Gayatri. 2014. “Candidates Use the Bible to Justify Their Views. We Must Respond with Reason.” The Guardian. November 5. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/nov/05/candidates-bible-views-noahs-ark-donald-trump-ben-carson. Accessed May 29, 2019.
Enns, Pete. “Ben Carson and the Bible: Maybe He Should Get a Second Opinion.” https://peteenns.com/ben-carson-and-the-bible-maybe-he-should-get-a-second-opinion/.
Gass, Nick. 2015. “Ben Carson’s 15 Most Controversial Quotes.” Politico. October 9. https://www.politico.com/story/2015/10/ben-carson-controversial-quotes-214614. Accessed May 29, 2019.
Winder, Mike. 2019. Favorite Scriptures of 100 American Leaders. Springville, UT: Plain Sight.
Carter, Jimmy
Jimmy Carter (b. 1924), who served a term as president of the United States from 1977 to 1981, was a long-time Southern Baptist. He came into office as a professed evangelical Christian but found that after a single presidential term, he was outflanked by Ronald Reagan, whose rhetoric and policies (especially on issues like abortion, prayer in schools, and opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment) had greater appeal to the evangelical right and to such organizations as the National Christian Action Coalition, the Moral Majority, the Religious Roundtable, and Christian Voice (Smith 2006, 318; also see Freedman 2005).
Raised in a small town in Georgia, Carter had a conversion experience at a revival meeting as an eleven-year-old and was baptized. He was accepted into the Naval Academy where he taught Sunday school, a practice that he has continued through most of his life (Holmes 2012, 148–49). After serving in the Georgia state legislature, Carter was devastated when he was defeated by segregationist Lester Maddox in a race for governor, but he engaged in mission work and resumed Bible reading after being challenged by his sister who was an evangelist, and by a sermon that asked “If You Were Arrested for Being a Christian, Would There Be Any Evidence to Convict You?” (Holmes 2012, 152).
As an evangelical Christian, Carter considered politics to be a vocation, or form of ministry, and believed faith to be “not just a noun but also a verb” (Berggren 2005, 44–45). He further identified his role as president as that of being “First Servant” (Berggren 2005, 46). Perhaps because, as a Baptist, Carter put strong emphasis on the separation of church and state, he did not use religious rhetoric as frequently as such successors as Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush. He did, however, invite Martin Luther King Sr. to preach at a People’s Prayer Service that he held on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial (Holmes 2012, 154–55). In his presidential inaugural address, he opened the Bible on which he took his oath to Micah 6:8: “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God” and cited this passage in his address. Carter faithfully attended church throughout his presidency.
Identified by Berggren as one who preferred the role of a prophet to that of a priest or pastor, Carter is particularly known for advocating energy independence at a time when the nation was more preoccupied with high inflation, unemployment, and interest rates, and for identifying a “crisis of confidence” in 87the American people, which he thought came in part from forsaking traditional values. Although he stressed humility, he sometimes came across as someone who was holier than thou, especially in his relations with Congress, whose members he thought were too focused on the personal interests of their states and districts.
Carter often rested on universalistic themes of equality and liberty, which he found in the Declaration of Independence and other founding documents, but he believed these were firmly grounded in Scripture. In a speech to the World Jewish Congress, in 1977, Carter thus said,
In large measure, the beginnings of the modern concept of human rights go back